Buharry,I join you in encouraging former Ambassador Essa Sey to use the Freedomnewspaper platform and issue a public apology to you and the Raaki network. It is not healthy nor is it productive to issue innuendo and slander to inure egregious association and tarnish. It is counterproductive and criminal. WHen brought to one's attention that it is inaccurate and potentially malignant, it is honourable to apologise. The alternative to voluntary apology is legal suit for redress.The internet is a medium of communication not a conduit for gratuitous slander and libel. Those are crimes.Haruna. It will probably take one lawsuit filed by an aggrieved to stem the tide of Gambian charlatanry. I am terribly disappointed with Ambassador Sey. He generally strives to bear on fact and experience. I therefore hope he issues an apology in this matter.
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From: M. Gassama <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sun, May 30, 2010 4:36 pm
Subject: Raaki.con, GRTS and the Gambia Government
Hi! My attention was brought to an interview on Freedom Newspaper?s radio (http://www.box.net/shared/h750egpg0j by Essa Sey. In the interview, Essa intimated and insinuated that Raaki TV is owned by or fronts for the Gambia Government. I want to categorically and unequivocally put it to Mr. Sey that his statements regarding Raaki are baseless and false. I further call on him to use the same medium he used to utter those words to take them back and apologise to Raaki.com and those behind it. I will not front for anybody. If I wanted to declare my support for the government, I will not hide behind rebroadcasting GRTS material nor will I let myself be used. I am sovereign citizen with inalienable rights that include the right to support anyone or any party I like. I am providing Raaki as a public service without expecting a butut in return. Raaki is owned and run by me with the help of my wife. I started Raaki on 14th. January 2005 when I believe, Essa was working for the Gambia Government. Version 2 was launched on 22nd. November 2006. Version 3 is still not ready but some aspects of it including the GRTS page have been launched. Raaki is named after my daughter who was named after my grandmother, a Fula. Raaki is the Fula version of Rohey. The site has since its inception been completely funded by me. I have never received a butut from any government be it the Gambian, Swedish, American, Chinese, Japanese or any other. I have never received a butut from any agency or individual towards the maintenance of the site. In fact, suggestions have been made many, many times for me to charge a fee to recover some of the costs involved and compensate for the time put into the effort but I have said no. I don?t even accept advertisements or use Google Ads on Raaki even though the site has over 1500 unique visitors per day. The motivation for starting Raaki was the fact that Gambian media online was relatively non-existent at the time and the fact that Gambian culture and cultural practitioners were much underrepresented online. I therefore started the first live Gambian online radio and TV to provide Gambians with Gambian material. Due to the bandwidth problems especially those associated with video, I discontinued the live video broadcasts and instead put the videos online whilst the live radio broadcasts continued. I used to record GRTS when I visited Gambia or ask family and friends to record for me and I encode and make them available online. When GRTS went on satellite and the opportunity to get the broadcasts in real-time, I decided to record material for rebroadcast daily. I believe Mr. Sey, that you are on one of the mailing lists and will read this. I put it to you that you have erred big time. My motivation for creating Raaki was not to be used by or front for anybody, government or agency but to offer Gambians abroad the opportunity to access Gambian material and promote Gambian culture. I hope you get facts straight before making pronouncements. Pa Nderry tried on several occasions to correct you but you kept on. I love The Gambia and will continue to promote it, its culture and its people distractions notwithstanding. GRTS happens to be the only tv station from Gambia. If there were other stations broadcasting from Gambia, I will broadcast material from them. I feel gratified and happy that Raaki has inspired and resulted in the proliferation of sites that promote Gambian culture and music. Thank you. Buharry ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ 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] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤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] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
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