Price of Duty; Balangba
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Ebrima Chogan in the publication of his first book
"Balangba: The Price of Duty".
I have read Karamba's review of the book and i just want to add one or two words to it.
Indeed the Gambian history will judge Ebrima Chogan as a hero. For he served his duty to
his nation even for the price he had paid for that duty. If every soldier in the Gambia National
Army or officer of the Gambia Police Force had done what he did in defending our constitution
on 22 July 1994, the Dictator Yahya Jammeh would not be persecuting our people at present.
History will further recalled that on that faithful day of July 22 1994, when the whole Gambia
was celebrating what is now a bleak future; Ebrima Chogan was being arrested and detained
for trying to prevent that bleak future.
It's a tale of one man's vision against many. Indeed many who had tortured Chogan for his stand,
have now realised that what he stood against on that faithful day was the right stand they ought
to have taken. Therefore, when history recalled on the Jammeh era, it will recalled one man, Ebrima
Chogan as being among the first of Gambians, who opposed the regime from being born before the
rest of Gambia joined him in his opposition against the Jammeh regime.
It is sad that many had not foreseen what Ebrima Chogan had seen on the early morning of 22 July
94 that it was worth defending the constitution of the Gambia than supporting an illegal coup.
Therefore, if Balangba is a title, it is a title befitting for Ebrima Chogan.
Chogan has indeed served his duty to his nation on the day his country needed him most; whilst
the rest of his colleagues failed in their duty. The price Chogan had to pay for serving that duty
was indeed high, but he should be proud, as he did not stand on the wrong side of history.
Chinua Achebe stated in 1966 (A Man of the people) that "In such a regime, i say you died a
good death if your life had inspired someone to come forward and shoot your murderer in the
chest -without asking to be paid".
The price of duty is a gem that must be preserved and passed on to our children for they can stand
up for their country at all cost.
Bravo to Chogan.
Brethren Yanks
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:12:39 +0000
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [>-<] Karamba Touray's review of Price of Sacrifice by Ebrima Chongan
To: [log in to unmask]
Dear all,
Just a slight clarification, the correct book to order is the one with the Gambia flag on the front cover.
At www.lulu.com search chongan and balangbaa. The rest is self explanatory.
Many thanks and have a nice weekend.
Ebrima
------------------
From: Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:00:58 +0000To: <[log in to unmask]>Subject: Re: [>-<] Karamba Touray's review of Price of Sacrifice by Ebrima Chongan
Thanks Kejau.
Nothing is wrong with the story as carried on The Gambia Daily News in the sense it is identical to that carried on other outlets. My query is limited to the word "Sacrifice".
I strongly recommend you read the book before any interview with Mr Chongan. It may not be enough to rely exclusively on your personal knowledge of the man.
In any case, it is important we patronise Gambian authors by purchasing their products.
LJDarbo
--- On Sat, 10/4/10, Kejau Touray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Kejau Touray <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: RE: [>-<] Karamba Touray's review of Price of Sacrifice by Ebrima Chongan
To: "gambia post" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, 10 April, 2010, 8:39
Hi Lamin,
Thanks for pointing out the inconsistencies. I believe the book title is Price of Duty, and was written by E. I. Chongan, Lt. Col. aka Balangba. So I still stand by the story. Do look forward to the paper's interview with the distinguished author of this book coming out soon and questions are welcome on any clarifications needed in the book and at what price duty cost, among other things.
Regards,
Kejau
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 05:00:10 +0000
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [>-<] Karamba Touray's review of Price of Sacrifice by Ebrima Chongan
To: [log in to unmask]
CC: [log in to unmask]
Kejau
Again thanks, but may I draw your attention to the fact that other media reports the title of Mr Chongan's book as The Price of Duty - Balangba.
If this is the accurate title, as it would appear from the body of Karamba's material published by The Gambia Daily News, you may need to change the caption of the story, with particular reference to the word "Sacrifice".
LJDarbo
--- On Fri, 9/4/10, Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [>-<] Karamba Touray's review of Price of Sacrifice by Ebrima Chongan
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: "The Gambia and related-issues mailing list" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, 9 April, 2010, 21:53
Thanks Kejau. That was a fine introduction by Karamba Touray.
Although I reserve comment on the substantive issues discussed in the book, there is no question that Mr Chongan deserves celebration just for the effort. Accordingly, I congratulate our newest national author on taking a stab at a vital aspect of Gambian public life traversing the First, and Second, Republics.
I hope on-line Gambia, especially the Diaspora element, would patronise Mr Chongan by purchasing Price of Sacrifice. The title is well chosen, and that alone is quite encouraging.
LJDarbo
--- On Thu, 8/4/10, Kejau Touray <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Kejau Touray <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [>-<] Karamba Touray's review of Price of Sacrifice by Ebrima Chongan
To: "gambia post" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, 8 April, 2010, 21:22
Karamba Touray's review of Price of Sacrifice by Ebrima Chongan.Dear editor,
I'd like to submit the following book reveiw
for your kind consideration.I have added a subsiquent email containing
the book cover and jacket . I hope you will find value in the
submission. Thank you for your good work.
Sincerely
Karamba Touray
I'd like to begin this review by stating that the author, Ebrima
Ismaila Chongan formerly of the Gendarmerie and Gambia Police Force
and now resident in the United Kingdom is my maternal
uncle. His book
The Price of Duty - Balangba to be released on the April 2010 is his
account of the 1994 coup and it's immediate aftermath. The book opens
with a detailed description of the fateful day of the Coup on the 22nd
of July, outlining a sequence of events as experienced by the author
who at the time was Assistant Inspector General of The Gambia Police
Force. The reader gets a pretty good understanding of how a small band
of unremarkable soldiers got into a few army trucks and swept away a
decades’ old democracy. While in theory there existed a
national
security architecture that was supposed to safeguard the nation and
it's institutions, we learn from the book a combination of
dereliction, incompetence and the knack for self preservation had so
thoroughly undermined the overall security of the country as to make
the power grab a cakewalk. An honourable effort by the author and a
few police officers to forestall the Coupist at Denton Bridge was
doomed because of the qualitative desparity of weapons possessed by
the Army compared to the lightly armed police at the bridge.
Following the success of the coup, Ebrima Ismaila Chongan
was arrested
and subsequently detained at Mile Two Prison for thirty months. He
takes the reader through those months, days and events at a time
replete with gory details of torture, death, illness, cruelty, faith,
and the strength of the human spirit .In the
authors narration, we see
how seemingly ordinary Gambians intoxicated with power can turn into
overnight monsters thinking nothing of torturing and killing people
they know to be entirely innocent. Men groaning in excruciating pain
from broken bones or other acute medical conditions are left to rot in
the fetid and mosquito infested cells of the Prison while torturers
ply their trade as a matter of routine. The author reminds us that
even in the hell hole that Mile Two was with it's corrupt and brutal
Director of prisons Thomas Jarju, there existed the consummate good
Gambian in the person of a guard. This guard according to the author
took it upon himself to go to the Chongan household and assure them
that the author was alive and became the defacto line of communication
between the family and the detainee especially since security
detainees were for the most part denied family
visits.
Continuation of piece
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