Gambia L, I was intending to do another commentary, on the Daily Observer situation, by today, Monday, but circumstances have, in fact, forced me to defer such a commentary, till later on, because I am still waiting for more concrete facts and details concerning the sale. What happened last night was that when I contacted a government source in the Gambia, to quiz him about persistent allegations that Jammeh himself was, actually, the true owner of the Daily Observer, he, the source, told me about a new development in the Government, instead of denying or confirming these allegations. Therefore, I intend to contact him again, because my telephone card had finished, before the Observer issue was addressed. Meanwhile, this was part of what my source had to say: "Ebrima, guess what? Essa Sey is going to be announced as The Gambia's Ambassador-designate to France, to replace Njogou Bah, who has recently been recalled, while Maodo Touray, former Chief Protocol to Jammeh, will be announced Ambassador-designate to Belgium, to replace Ismaila Ceesay. No one is yet to be named to replace Crispin Grey-Johnson in the USA"..... I couldn't believe me ears, when this top government insider told that Essa Sey was going to be our new ambassador to such an important country like France, where the ambassador also doubles as The Gambia's permanent representative to UNESCO, which is also headquartered in Paris. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Essa Sey. In fact, he is a friend and, top of that, his wife is a relative. Also, Essa did write some nice poems for the Daily Observer, while I was there. So I wish him good luck in his new post, if everything goes according to planned. But, in honest opinion, I believe a more seasoned, a more experienced diplomat should be sent to such a key Embassy like Paris, especially having regard to the fact that if my memory serves me right, Essa must have joined the government (The Foreign Ministry) in 1993, as a protocol officer, after having left the then Gerdarmerie/Gambia College. Presently, I understand that he is a deputy permanent secretary and, prior to that, he had served as a First Secretary at our Embassy in Paris, during the transition period. Yes, it is Jammeh's prerogative to appoint anyone he wants as Gambia's ambassador/high commissioner, but please, Mr Jammeh, make sure that while you consider "loyalty" in your ambassadorial appointments, you also consider age, experience and even qualifications as well, if you truly love the Gambia. Interestingly, when I asked my source whether he knew why Njogou Bah - who I must say did a good job as Gambia's ambassador/high commissioner to Senegal during the transition - was recalled, he told me this in reply: "Well, Njogou Bah's house maid in Paris, who is related to Mr X (I am withholding Mr X's name) of the NIA, had a big quarrel with Njogou Bah's wife and, consequently, she, the maid, reported Mrs Bah to the government, through the NIA, that she, Mrs Bah, was (allegedly) rude, abusive, hostile etc." "So I understand that Njogou was recalled as a result of this", the source added. By the way, like Ebou Khan, Njogou Bah is also a leading interpreter, when it comes to simultaneous interpretation from French into English. Although he has not done sat in a booth for a long time now. Anyway, in my view, given the mess in which our civil service in particular, is in, I sincerely believe that the time has come for us to pose the question as to who will save our motherland - the Jammeh's regime or another one? Personally, I feel a load of disappoinment in my heart, when I consider the fact that my own classmates, members of my generation are raping and destroying our country. I feel guilt in myself, in the face of how The Gambia is being run, even though I am not, and will never be, part of this government. History, indeed, behoves me (and all of us for that matter) to be in the forefront for the repair work that needs to be undertaken in the Gambia, because as I stated earlier on, my old fiends, members of my generation are putting the country into this mess. However, I find consolation in my belief that the third liberation of the Gambia will come on the waves of the printed word and, with long life and good health, I believe I would be part of that struggle. Thankfully, Gambians are now speaking out, but we need to speak out more and more and, of course, louder than before, because, frankly speaking, our failure to speak out, our continued silence in the face of tyranny will only make our very selves the casualties. We should never forget that normality and personal welfare flee in the face of tyranny and oppression. What the Gambia needs to put in place, in my view, is a genuine democratic culture, which allows a free press, an independent judiciary, greater accountability, transparency, probity and other forms of participatory democracy. Most of us admire the democratic culture in the West, which even if critics say is not very representative, offers more for humanity than the type of systems we are used to, in the African Continent. But we have to remember that what obtains in the West today did not fall from the skies, which should, therefore, motivate us to use our limited time in this world, to build our countries as developed as the West, or even better. Mr Jammeh, if you are reading this piece, I hope it would inspire you to realise the historical prudence to allow a much more democratic society in our land, so that our pride as a people and as a country will be restored. Be reminded that no one can really stop an idea whose time has come and, whether you like or not, the time has arrived for greater development and genuine democracy in the Gambia. Gambia L, sorry for boring to death, once more. I'll do better next time. And, as my good sister, Ndey Jobarteh, says:"the struggle continues!" Ebrima Ceesay, Birmingham, UK. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------