The popular Lang Tombong? Where are his boys?
by Fatou Jaw Manneh
Lang Tombong is popular, Lang is casual, Lang is down-to-earth, Lang Tombong has a cult following, Lang has loyal
boys in the army, Lang Tombong has a lot of lady friends , fans and lovers, langTombong has Imams. Lang Tombong
this , Lang Tombong that, all in a positive light, but then where are the boys, his following, and all?
Which African nation would a Brigadier General get arrested like a little chicken from his home, taken to court for a
bogus coup trial, with nothing proved against him except accounts of serial liars, fraudsters ,ungrateful , mischievous
and disloyal friends, and not a single protest from any of his colleagues? If all that we’ve been hearing about the Guy
is true then where is the help? Where are his loyal boys in the army? They should be ashamed of themselves. If they
cannot fire shots in the air then they should at least throw some empty barrels on the roads. Just a little bit of noise. At
least so we know they feel for him. If he was kind, loyal and that popular to them. We would think so.
Actually I just woke up from an afternoon nap , july 15th, 2010, when my brother in London, sooo mad and upset about
the Lang Tombong trial called my attention to the verdict. We got into the rant, puff and pant for at least 30 minutes
straight.He, overwhelmed with the litany of lies stacked agiast him and co. in court. Then some friends called from
Atlanta, we dived into the same puff, pants and rants and how useless we are collectively as a people. Jammeh 'Daff
Nyu Yab" my friend laments. Really?, i asked? Then hey and so what? As usual, Lang Tombong and company’s trial is
a Gambian-Yaya – affair. Arrest- detain, synchronized crying and fainting and soon the big heart man will spring up and
pardon the evil doers.
Yep Jammeh eventually gets kind in these kind of cases. He will run after your head, you pant and faint, your family
members pant and faint, letter writers do some writing on the side, poems get drafted for and about him, then he
announces that he is a very generous man and then sets you free or just keeps you at Baba Jobes hotel. Then like
little birds the freed and disgraced ones all run to festivals as table setters chirping chirping about his holiness and
kindness. I can bet Jammeh will not kill these guys. Just giving some tough love to some ungrateful Gambians.
This big Cat in Banjul. Who will accessorize him? Honestly I don’t want to laugh but after some little reflection , it all
came clear, and it became no sad day for me at all. How many times have this big cat pounced, killed and bruised
citizens? So let’s be hopeful, cross our fingers that the only generous man in the Gambia comes out and pardon those
who really wanted to kill him. He will pardon Lang and his colleagues’ .Am hoping so. Especially now that he is excited,
he just completed a new bridge for us at Sankulay Kunda. What is our problem?
Honestly, I stopped following the Lang and co. affair long time ago, maybe am too prejudiced against Jammeh, but
some of us think we can predict exactly where this trial was going. When I saw Lang ‘s picture on the net with a white
striped long sleeved shirt , looking more like a timid neighborhood rapper going to court on Gun possession than a
brigadier general on treason trial, who was dubbed the most popular , a cult following with fleets of cars whom
Gambians claim is the most level headed among the whole gang of our uniformed men? That is when I smell his fate
right there, Gambian style; we all watch our good citizens get fried. Yep. Its God will. " Alah Laafo, Jungta Bayinoola'.
We have to keep faith a- la -Gambiano. But if we are to by reports, the crying and crawling went to another level in this
case so that will definitely please Paa Bi and he will soon let them go. Jammeh loves to exhaust us. Yep. ‘I did it. I am
Jammeh. What can you do about it?’ Of course we can’t do NADA about it bro. Move on to the next target.
When will Gambians learn? Of course Lang thought Jammeh knew his lack of ambition and since he thwarted a coup in
process against him or Paa Bi as Gambians now call him, he will never be suspect.
He keeps it all cool and slow. I met lang Tombong once, yep he was very down-to-earth but smart he was not. My case?
He really does not give a damn!! Ndure Cham? He does not give a damn!! Daba Marena and co, oh no he does not
give a damn!! Witch hunters sent to collect his own family? Oh he has no ambitions to challenge Jammeh so he does
not give a damn!! He is with this illusion that with the Brigadier title, scores of girls, what else can a general ask for? He
can never fall in jammeh’s net. “I then went home from the stadium to my home. I could have ran if I did something
wrong, but I never did run.” I think I read something like that in one of his testimonies. So Lang thought all Gambians
who were killed and ran really did something wrong hah? How dumb ,naïve and how wrong!
Lang Tombong's crime to me was not what those serial liars called witnesses had to say about him in court but how he
could give a blind eye to this many atrocities some of which were carried right under his nose. For 16 good yrs?
Unbelievable.
That makes him a criminal and the men who are also sentenced to death with him, are said to be real criminals and
seriously corrupt individuals. But who is short of criminality in the Gambia today, innocent or guilty? Femi peters was
snatched. What has he done and what did we do about it – Jack! Femi peters needed a permit before he can do some
group talk on the street they say. Actually we are blaming him for why didn’t he let Ousaniu carry the micro phone. The
witch hunters came for our grandparents. What did we do about it- Jack? Actually we pushed them to go drink some
concoctions to vindicate the family name even if it will spell their death. Yep. That is how things are done in the Gambia.
The mantra is you are touched because you‘ve touched something if I will literally translate the saying. You either stole
from Jammeh - that spells charges of corruption, worse if it is done at kanilai farms or said something bad to his person-
which is sedition. If you are popular against him- that one is heavier- it’s called a coup plot and treason.
Some of my friends are exhausting themselves reiterating on how the rule of law is threatened in the Gambia, as if this
is the first time anything like it happened.And we call ourselves Gambians? When one man hovers over us, gives us
sleepless nights, make disappear or chase away good citizens and we cannot do anything about it but just stab each
other in front of him? I am praying for Lang Tombong and his colleagues but this is a Gambian ritual, we will soon forget
about them and then another group of people will get picked upon soon. And a different family does the summersaults
and life goes on. For real. And hence we cannot do jack about It.? No worries and good luck to us all. Because we are
all criminals in this I guess; the perpetrators, the victims and the silent ones.
by Fatou Jaw Manneh
Lang Tombong is popular, Lang is casual, Lang is down-to-earth, Lang Tombong has a cult following, Lang has loyal
boys in the army, Lang Tombong has a lot of lady friends , fans and lovers, langTombong has Imams. Lang Tombong
this , Lang Tombong that, all in a positive light, but then where are the boys, his following, and all?
Which African nation would a Brigadier General get arrested like a little chicken from his home, taken to court for a
bogus coup trial, with nothing proved against him except accounts of serial liars, fraudsters ,ungrateful , mischievous
and disloyal friends, and not a single protest from any of his colleagues? If all that we’ve been hearing about the Guy
is true then where is the help? Where are his loyal boys in the army? They should be ashamed of themselves. If they
cannot fire shots in the air then they should at least throw some empty barrels on the roads. Just a little bit of noise. At
least so we know they feel for him. If he was kind, loyal and that popular to them. We would think so.
Actually I just woke up from an afternoon nap , july 15th, 2010, when my brother in London, sooo mad and upset about
the Lang Tombong trial called my attention to the verdict. We got into the rant, puff and pant for at least 30 minutes
straight.He, overwhelmed with the litany of lies stacked agiast him and co. in court. Then some friends called from
Atlanta, we dived into the same puff, pants and rants and how useless we are collectively as a people. Jammeh 'Daff
Nyu Yab" my friend laments. Really?, i asked? Then hey and so what? As usual, Lang Tombong and company’s trial is
a Gambian-Yaya – affair. Arrest- detain, synchronized crying and fainting and soon the big heart man will spring up and
pardon the evil doers.
Yep Jammeh eventually gets kind in these kind of cases. He will run after your head, you pant and faint, your family
members pant and faint, letter writers do some writing on the side, poems get drafted for and about him, then he
announces that he is a very generous man and then sets you free or just keeps you at Baba Jobes hotel. Then like
little birds the freed and disgraced ones all run to festivals as table setters chirping chirping about his holiness and
kindness. I can bet Jammeh will not kill these guys. Just giving some tough love to some ungrateful Gambians.
This big Cat in Banjul. Who will accessorize him? Honestly I don’t want to laugh but after some little reflection , it all
came clear, and it became no sad day for me at all. How many times have this big cat pounced, killed and bruised
citizens? So let’s be hopeful, cross our fingers that the only generous man in the Gambia comes out and pardon those
who really wanted to kill him. He will pardon Lang and his colleagues’ .Am hoping so. Especially now that he is excited,
he just completed a new bridge for us at Sankulay Kunda. What is our problem?
Honestly, I stopped following the Lang and co. affair long time ago, maybe am too prejudiced against Jammeh, but
some of us think we can predict exactly where this trial was going. When I saw Lang ‘s picture on the net with a white
striped long sleeved shirt , looking more like a timid neighborhood rapper going to court on Gun possession than a
brigadier general on treason trial, who was dubbed the most popular , a cult following with fleets of cars whom
Gambians claim is the most level headed among the whole gang of our uniformed men? That is when I smell his fate
right there, Gambian style; we all watch our good citizens get fried. Yep. Its God will. " Alah Laafo, Jungta Bayinoola'.
We have to keep faith a- la -Gambiano. But if we are to by reports, the crying and crawling went to another level in this
case so that will definitely please Paa Bi and he will soon let them go. Jammeh loves to exhaust us. Yep. ‘I did it. I am
Jammeh. What can you do about it?’ Of course we can’t do NADA about it bro. Move on to the next target.
When will Gambians learn? Of course Lang thought Jammeh knew his lack of ambition and since he thwarted a coup in
process against him or Paa Bi as Gambians now call him, he will never be suspect.
He keeps it all cool and slow. I met lang Tombong once, yep he was very down-to-earth but smart he was not. My case?
He really does not give a damn!! Ndure Cham? He does not give a damn!! Daba Marena and co, oh no he does not
give a damn!! Witch hunters sent to collect his own family? Oh he has no ambitions to challenge Jammeh so he does
not give a damn!! He is with this illusion that with the Brigadier title, scores of girls, what else can a general ask for? He
can never fall in jammeh’s net. “I then went home from the stadium to my home. I could have ran if I did something
wrong, but I never did run.” I think I read something like that in one of his testimonies. So Lang thought all Gambians
who were killed and ran really did something wrong hah? How dumb ,naïve and how wrong!
Lang Tombong's crime to me was not what those serial liars called witnesses had to say about him in court but how he
could give a blind eye to this many atrocities some of which were carried right under his nose. For 16 good yrs?
Unbelievable.
That makes him a criminal and the men who are also sentenced to death with him, are said to be real criminals and
seriously corrupt individuals. But who is short of criminality in the Gambia today, innocent or guilty? Femi peters was
snatched. What has he done and what did we do about it – Jack! Femi peters needed a permit before he can do some
group talk on the street they say. Actually we are blaming him for why didn’t he let Ousaniu carry the micro phone. The
witch hunters came for our grandparents. What did we do about it- Jack? Actually we pushed them to go drink some
concoctions to vindicate the family name even if it will spell their death. Yep. That is how things are done in the Gambia.
The mantra is you are touched because you‘ve touched something if I will literally translate the saying. You either stole
from Jammeh - that spells charges of corruption, worse if it is done at kanilai farms or said something bad to his person-
which is sedition. If you are popular against him- that one is heavier- it’s called a coup plot and treason.
Some of my friends are exhausting themselves reiterating on how the rule of law is threatened in the Gambia, as if this
is the first time anything like it happened.And we call ourselves Gambians? When one man hovers over us, gives us
sleepless nights, make disappear or chase away good citizens and we cannot do anything about it but just stab each
other in front of him? I am praying for Lang Tombong and his colleagues but this is a Gambian ritual, we will soon forget
about them and then another group of people will get picked upon soon. And a different family does the summersaults
and life goes on. For real. And hence we cannot do jack about It.? No worries and good luck to us all. Because we are
all criminals in this I guess; the perpetrators, the victims and the silent ones.
--
Surah- Ar-Rum 30-22
"And among His signs is the creation of heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours. Verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Qu'ran
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