FYI Courtesy of http://www.thegambiajournal.com/artman/publish/article_1533.shtml Malanding MOMODOU LAMIN SANNEH : A LIFE OF SPECTACULAR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. By KABBA M.O. NYANGADO Dec 10, 2007, 03:36 When I learned about the demise of Lamin Sanneh, my heart sank to the lowest depth of despondence in inverse proportionality to the numbness of my spirits. The incredible sorrow and unfathomable sadness concomitant with Lamin's departure can only be understood , if one has a modicum of insight into the life of this man, husband, father and public figure. Born in Brikama , to parents from Kaiaf; Kiang East in the Lower River Division of The Gambia, Lamin was raised by a father employed as an interpreter in the judicial service of colonial Gambia. Following his graduation from Armitage and Gambia High Schools , imbued with a passion to study civil engineering and a propensity to serve his country, Lamin began his career in the civi service as a Works Superintendent at the then Public Works Department(PWD). After a brief stint in the foregoing position , he won a scholarship to study civil engineering in the United Kingdom. It is noteworthy, that as an undergradute civil engineering intern, he participated in a monumental structural engineering project in Sweden and his subsequent phenomenal performance in that undertaking earned him an additional fellowship to pursue further professional engineering studies in the United Kingdom. Upon completion of his studies in the U.K, Brikama as he was affably refered to by contemporaries, was appointed Divisional Engineer Eastern ( DEE) , with jurisdiction over all infrastructural projects in the eastern half of the country, i.e , from Mansakonko to Basse. During his tenure in that position, he oversaw the planning, design and construction of the Soma- Basse highway which became one of the most, if not the most significant infrastructural endeavour in post colonial Gambia. One son of our beloved country who has earned what he got by dint of expertise, experience, sense of industry and seriousness of purpose is Lamin Sanneh. His unquestionable brilliance and unassailable integrity may not have endeared him to all , but it left no one indifferent. Murphy, as he was affectionately called by his Armitage School mates, put the service to his country to the frontburner against a multiplicity of odds and adverse circumstances. By July 1994, Lamin was already the Director of Technical Services, following the dissolution of PWD as part of a restructuring of the public service mandated by the Structural Readjustment Programme of the IMF in the 1980's. Shortly after the rape on our democracy on July 22nd 1994 , he was dismissed, arrested and detained on charges of sabotage and subsequently released and reinstated. Family, friends and well wishers admonished this technocrat of unalloyed credentials to accept jobs he'd been offered while in detention by IDB and BADEA , to no avail. True to his convictions, Lamin felt that he owes his country so much, for it is the Gambian taxpayers who educated him from Kaiaf Primary School through Armitage to the best schools of engineering in the United Kingdom and that they deserve better than putting the acquired knowledge and expertise to just his personal aggrandisement. What a man of conscience! Truth be told, how many half baked educated, briefcase totting bereaucrats across the quadrangle would decline an international appointment for a salary of the Gambia Integrated Pay Scale. In 2004, Lamin was confirmed by the Board of World Bank as Director- General of Gamworks. In less than twenty four months in that capacity, he was recalled by our Government of academically deficient and intellectually inadequate miscreants to run the Department of state for Infrastructure as Permanent Secretary. It is true that no one is more equipped, experienced and prepared to discharge the duties of that office than Lamin Sanneh. But the underlying intentions of such a recall were far more sinister. As Director- General of Gamworks, he may be beyond the reach of the wicked arms of Gambia Government and so it made sense for them to cajole this engineer of a superlative calibre and public servant of distinction to return to the inner core of the civil service in order to be toyed and played with, at will. All of a sudden , sometime last year , he was arrested and detained for an inordinate period of time, only for the charges against him to be dropped by the state. Lamin has succumbed to the wickedness, apathy and callousness of a despotic tyrant and a kleptocratic machinery. However, he died a man of fairness, impeccable decency and unblemished integrity with decades of service to his country with a high place in its history. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I have lost a loving brother and a true friend. On a broader level, The Gambia has lost not just a public servant or technocrat of substance, but a rare son of integrity, purpose and a mission .And a mission , Lamin has indeed fulfilled with honour and distinction. May his soul rest in eternal and perfect peace. Ameen! いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい