Mr
Darboe,
I just
saw your email and decided to quickly send you a short reply. Both Sheriff Bojang Snr
and myself are planning to separately send rejoinders to The Gambia Echo, in reaction to the allegations Matthew Jallow made in his Gambia Echo interview, against us (Sheriff Bojang and I).
My good
brother, be careful with some of the stuff you read online. I can tell you that Matthew Jallow’s
interview online is full of exaggeration, inaccuracies and misrepresentation of
the facts. In fact, I intend to send a rebuttal to The Gambia Echo, as soon as
possible, in order to set the record straight. Sheriff Bojang Snr, as I write
this email, is also writing a rejoinder, to be sent to The Gambia Echo for
publication.
To start
with, Matthew Jallow was never
appointed editor-in-chief of the Daily Observer newspaper by Kenneth Best. He
claimed in the Gambia Echo interview that he was once an editor-in-chief of the
Daily Observer. Well, as far as I know, and this can be confirmed by D.A Jawo,
Lamin Cham, Abdou Karim Sanneh and others, Matthew Jallow was not even a permanent
staff at the Daily Observer. He was a freelance reporter – only paid when his
stories/commentaries were published in the newspaper.
The
first editor-in-chief of the Daily Observer, when (it was) founded in May 1992,
was the late Cherno Michael Baldeh, one of the most prolific/gifted writers I
met. In fact, Kenneth Best would argue, at the time, that there was no better writer
on the African Continent than the late Cherno Michael Baldeh. During this period,
the late A.A Barry was the News Editor and Momodou Musa Secka (deceased) was
appointed Features Editor. However, both Cherno Michael Baldeh and Modou Musa
Secka were subsequently removed from their positions and following on from this,
Kenneth Y. Best himself became the editor-in-chief, a post he held up to 30th
August 1994, when he was deported to Liberia by the AFPRC. Matthew never served
as the editor-in-chief of the Observer, not even for a day. The rest is now history.
Matthew also
said, in his Gambia Echo interview, that he was appointed editor-in-chief but
got demoted because Sheriff Bojang Snr. and myself had approached Kenneth Best
and complained about his (Matthew’s) stringent editing style. Again, this is a
distortion of the facts. Matthew Jallow was never my editor-in-chief at the
Daily Observer. He was not Sheriff Bojang’s editor-in-chief, as well. Sheriff Bojang
Snr. is a very good writer himself and his writings do not in fact, need
editing.
As for
me, I cannot even count the number of times I have had to completely re-write
or edit Matthew Jallow’s news stories. From 1994 to 1996, when I became one of
the editors, I can tell you that every news story/item Matthew Jallow wrote for
the Daily Observer was either edited by me or the late A.A Njie. So I was
actually one of his editors at the Observer Newspaper. Matthew’s commentaries,
very well written in most cases I have to say, were handled by other editors - namely
Baba Galleh Jallow or Ellicot Seade, a Ghanaian. These are the facts and Daily Observer
insiders – past and present – and many of whom are online, can confirm my
statement.
For more
on this, read my rebuttal or see Sheriff Bojang’s rejoinder, when sent to the
Gambia Echo for publication.
Regards,
Ebrima
"Within the coming weeks, I will announce the formation of an organization dedicated to removing Yahya Jammeh. After Jammeh is removed, this organization will morph into a political party, but until then we will do whatever is necessary to remove Yahya Jammeh and either run him out of the country, or we will capture him and hand him over to the Sierra Leone or The Hague Courts.
... I don’t know if I will ever lead it or be a part of its leadership, but today, there is no Gambian both at home and abroad who is better prepared than me to run the government of our country. But, whether the Gambian people will give me the opportunity to do is another matter. But, there is nothing I would love to do more than to truly help transform our country into an oasis of development and prosperity in the midst of failed regimes and wasted African governments. From the educational and experience point of view, no Head of State in an Africa country can match me in terms of education, experience and readiness combined. In fact, I can say, all around the world, no president is better prepared than I am. I am not conceited. I am being truthful"
Mathew K Jallow, 27 February 2009, in an interview with The Gambia Echo
Forumites
Mathew K Jallow's talk with The Gambia Echo both excites and illuminates.
I highly recommend the entire interview for all watchers of our political space.
LJDarbo
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