Hi if I may bot in here. Macdonnell Street is renamed Jack Chow Street, the
late father of mrs Eileen Downes Thomas the wife of Felix Downes Thomas and
Ms Gracie Ngulu Chow.
>From: Prince Obrien-Coker <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Attn: Sidi - The Banjul Street Names.
>Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 16:55:54 +0100
>
>Sidi,
>It is funny you asked what the new name of MacDonnell Street is. In the
>late
>60's Eric Janneh (Now a Chief in the Kombos) and other MacDonnell
>"prominents" were advocating that the street should be named after your
>dad.
>I am honestly not joking. Kassy Janneh, M.I. (Kabba) Jallow and Oussou Njie
>(Seņor) are online and they can confirm this. You see, In the Gambia the
>people determine street names. No Government organ can change this fact.
>A good example is "Tobacco Road". The government then had tried everything
>to discourage the people from using that name. "Tobacco Road" is a song by
>rock group called "Rare Earth". "The Super Eagles" popularised the song in
>the Gambia. It is a song about a place you love so much, but it is being
>destroyed by "dirt and filth" - corruption and all other political
>iniquities. "The Super Eagles Band" was very good in using songs to
>"Garuwaleh" the government and "Tobacco Road" was one of the most implicit
>protest songs of the late 60's and 70's against politicians and their
>practices.
>When I was working at the BCC in the late 60's, I was partly responsible
>for
>the street name boards. One day Kutour Louis Prom asked us why we were
>putting up street name boards, with names that the people are not using. He
>said the street names should be the way people are calling the street. This
>was said at an informal gathering at the BCC. The Boards were ordered and
>when they came, we saw that some of the streets have completely changed
>names to the way people call them. It was not noticed for over 3 months
>until "The Gambia Echo" published it. I was called at the Mayor's Office to
>explain the changes. That was not difficult. I told the City clerk, Mr C.
>I.
>Jagne, to call the Mayor's wife and ask her the name of her street. Kelepha
>Samba was then the Mayor and I knew that his second wife was living at one
>of these streets. She did not only call the name but she also spelt it the
>way the new names were written. We all laughed and left the room.
>The street that originally was Spolding became Spalding, Rakin became
>Rankin
>and Lemon became Leman. Although Leman street existed but it was an
>extension of Lemon: from Hill street to the Brown Street mosque. But
>popular
>usage called the whole street Leman, from McCarthy Square (July 22 Square)
>to Brown Street.
>Kutour Prom would not have been the Kutour Prom we knew had he not been
>instrumental in this. He also proposed that the Health Service Offices by
>Russell Street should be call "Bordor Fell" (Board of Health).
>Note though, some street maintained the street board while the people call
>them by other names e.g Anglesea will always be "Angleseen", also
>Perseverance Street is still called "Pasiveeran". Kent Street, to the
>people
>will forever remain "Ken Street".
>When I just left school my mother used to advise me to go to Griffith
>Street
>to look for a job. It took me days to know where meant. Griffith Street was
>in the place that we used to call "PWD" or "PUD" and today it is part of
>the
>Ports.
>Among the streets that have, at present, changed names are Buckle, Leman,
>Anglesea, Cameroon, Independence Drive (formerly Clifton Road) and Marina
>Parade. Please do not ask me how they are called NOW. I only know Mandela
>Avenue (Cameroon), because I was there everyday when I was in town.
>I am sure you will say, "yes, but these are only the pronunciations of the
>illiterates", but never forget that in the Gambia, illiterates sometimes
>dictate to the literate how things should be said. The person who ordered
>that "Twenty-Five Dalasis" should be written on our bank notes is surely
>not
>an illiterate, while any literate person knows that "Dalasi" has no plural.
>You have never heard a mandinka person saying "Dalasis Kemeh".
>Another example is calling the wife of a knight by her first name. "Lady
>Chilel" was such a popular name that they name a ship after her. During
>KuKoi's fray, the BBC thought that Lady Chilel was Jawara's daughter.
>So don't ever under estimated the power of the Gambian people.
>
>Prince Coker
>
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