This piece doesn’t deserve an introduction. I hope Sheriff Bojang will let the grammatical and “what-not” errors slide on this one because it isn’t even meant to be a piece of literary genius. I’ll go straight to the point!
I remember when my sister and friend Fatou Camara (formerly director of press at the office of The President) was picked up by the National Intelligence Agency over a year ago. She had been fired before from the same job but that time there was no need for her presence at the NIA. This time was different and I felt bad for her. I was also going through an ordeal of mental torture as The Nderry’s “FREEDOM” had stories of my being in NIA custody so it was a tough situation to be in. I did not care whether she was innocent or not. I had come to love her as a friend and only cared for her freedom. I didn’t judge or care for possibilities. Not even once during the whole period she was in custody did I spend a minute questioning her innocence or guilt.
I tried to manage her situation. She herself felt confused as to why she was held but I didn’t want to know the details. I had seen enough movies to know that knowing the details was dangerous. With rumours already circulating that I was on some “watch-list”, I wanted to be sure I had a clear conscience should the rumours be true. I knew the last thing she needed was association with “The Struggle”. She had family and friends on that side of the fence like we all do. I mean…this is Gambia. One minute a Facebook friend is calling you names on a Facebook group (without mentioning you by name of course) and the next minute they’re wishing you a happy birthday! I initiated contact (or maybe they did) with her family and friends for that sole purpose. A sister was in trouble and we had to be tactful. There was no point being hot-headed about it. It would serve no positive end. Fatou knew this and I knew it and her family and friends knew it. She wasn’t the first celebrity to be in NIA custody.
I know her family and friends wanted to do something. Those that were doing something were doing it covertly. It served the purpose for which they were all acting on the issue…her freedom. Personally, I thought it was a phase but I knew Fatou. She had gotten used to the bourgeois life. She was having breakfast at Caramel, lunch at Butchers and Dinner at Sedal Sa Hol (well that one was my fault). I couldn’t imagine how she could survive in custody so the sooner she got released, the better. I didn’t know where my fate stood with my own issue but I knew the risks I was taking and ensured I stayed within the parameters of the law at all times.
This however is not about Fatou. A week ago when my brother and friend Sait Matty Jaw fell into the NIA’s net, I can’t even explain how I felt. This is not the essay for explaining feelings. I wanted to assume that it was just a questioning and he would be released pronto. So again so we (family, friends and colleagues) did what we could to find out what was going on. The situation wasn’t clear but the rules were. To those I spoke to, I made sure they understood the gravity of a situation like that especially in the first few hours. The world didn’t need to know just then that a young man was in custody. This young man had a mother, a father, siblings…How do you tell a mother that her son is at the NIA? How do you tell a father who never wants to see his son leave the country…a father who is attached? To show that the “reliable sources” that the Gambian press (if I dare call them that) connected to “The Struggle” claim to have are mostly just civilians like me who want to show that they know something when in fact they don’t, the information stayed private for as long as we kept it.
Imagine my disappointment when one of the first people to share “details” of the story (in their usual race to show that THEY KNOW) was Fatou Camara. She had been there! I would expect that from anyone… but her???? She knew my relationship with Sait. It was a simple Facebook message away but no…she had to join the wagon. Soon and with her intervention the young man was all over the Internet. Suddenly, “The Struggle” was uniting Gambians against his detention and cursing out at his “friends” who were standing by doing nothing. Their standards for doing something were hashtags and profile pictures. I know the many that did it on Facebook with all honesty had met the young gentleman. Sait has that effect on you. You can’t ignore it. The puppeteers however had an agenda and were ready to sacrifice a young man for it. They were announcing 72 hours of detention when he was in custody for 50 and claiming to have spoken to “reliable sources on the ground”. At one point he was “personal assistant” to Professor Kah and the next minute he was an administrative assistant. Lor lehn di Yakamti?? So, all this while, Sait Matty’s family and friends were letting him rot in NIA custody while “the struggle” was saving him. Bilai njii njoor baakh.
A number of friends put up status updates that were obviously directed at me. Apparently I was standing on the fence while my friend was “rotting in jail”. But ah! What little brains some of us have. Their status updates and group posts were see-through. A philanthropist need not beat his chest about his achievement. Soye def nga def ngirr Ya’Allah, wai def ngirr guiss lehn ma yobu wut ken fen. Everyone wants to be a Facebook celebrity. So now we have more for-show activists than people actually doing work…pointing fingers…screaming foul from a distance but not doing jack-s*** to change anything.
A brother of mine who could have easily reached out to me decided to go behind my back questioning our Word of Mouth holding even with Sait Matty being in custody. The message went around and came to me…I smiled. Bilai nitt more garta xell the tehla farteh. I can still remember the conversation I had with my brother Sana Sarr on the possibility of my being picked up someday by the NIA. We laughed about it as I made it clear that “the journey continues”. Had it been my father in custody, the journey would still continue. What would cancelling Word of Mouth achieve? Like bleeding hell! All it does is take us a step back. If the entire country was turning upside down and I had promoted a Word of Mouth prior to that, I’d change venues and do a smaller WoM at my house with my parents and close friends. I would have sent a message in clarification but since the “father” of WoM was not approached on the issue and messages were passed on through my team and with subliminal messages from people that have NEVER EVER even been to any of our events, I’ll say on Facebook that this weekend was an eye opener on those that KNOW what WoM means to those of us who built it from scratch (including Sait). Man maa cancelut nix!! Should I ever find myself in Sait Matty’s position, knowing WoM was cancelled would actually kill me. I would have expected Sana Sarr to know better…the others who went all around Facebook putting up status updates when they could have simply and respectfully made that suggestion to me (which I would have actually disregarded) need to have created something of value before they can raise a finger.
Apparently, they got the young man released. Apparently he was released around four ‘o’ clock. Apparently he was released around 7. Apparently he was released around 8. Apparently they don’t have a clue! Gambian bi defa sohorr. They’ll sacrifice a young man and confuse his family for rubbish…for a publicity stunt. They’ll claim they’re doing it for freedom but truth is, those that fought anywhere for freedom did not walk down the street beating their chests even before achieving zilch. It shows a hypocrisy and a need to be seen or heard. It only reminds me of the pauper who has no food to eat yet showers Jaliba Kuyateh with borrowed money.
I saw someone on Facebook claim that my brother Sait Matty was released due to international pressure that they pushed through. How terribly fake! I call it for what it is…A BIG FAT LIE! The young man was released because there was no cause to keep holding him. He is not an enemy of the state. He is not a terrorist. He is not in any way affiliated with “The Struggle”. Where were your international organisation contacts when Imam Baba Leigh was in custody? Where were they when Fatou Camara was at the NIA? Where were they when the 9 death row inmates were executed? Where were they when Amadou Scattred Janneh ran from Shell/Galp to the US Embassy? So no…you cannot negotiate the release of a sitting imam, a celebrated reporter, a former minister who happens to be one of the founding fathers of “the early struggle”, but you managed to negotiate (sorry negotiate is not in your vocabulary but I dare to use it) the release of a young Sait Matty Jaw who would have otherwise been still detained? I guess all Gambians are fools then.
Personally, it doesn’t matter to me who takes credit for the man’s release. Truth is, if he was guilty of anything that put the peace of the state in jeopardy, he wouldn’t have been released. His clean slate is actually more responsible for his freedom than anything any one of us tried to do. These people jump on anything. Like a kid in class jumping and screaming “Me! Me! Teacher Me!” Lor lehn di daww ba di fakastalu? Dor lehn dallu?
So after calling “us” out for doing nothing, the attention turned to something even more sinister. I watched in awe as a Facebook community celebrated an assault on a civilian businessman. I had to rub my eyes twice to be sure. Gambian bi kanj la mel nii? The same people that claim to be fighting for freedom, human rights, justice for all were celebrating what they claimed to be “vigilante justice”. These were the same people that screamed foul when Fatou Camara was allegedly assaulted in the States. Consistency is an important part of every story. I guess that makes me a consistent apologist! When I spoke to those that knew of Sait Matty’s situation, my message was clear and simple. We owe NO ONE an explanation for our silence. We owe NO ONE an explanation of what was being done. In respect of a young man and his family’s privacy, I will stay tight lipped on that and continue hoping it is an episode that is over for him and an experience that will help him grow. Oh I digress..where was I? Amadou Samba…
I said it once and I’ll say it again. From the first time I saw Amadou Scattred Janneh speak at a presidential tour when he was minister, I knew the kind of person he was. The man is a parasite…a leech. Fu toiye mu takk. Bilai dormi Adama mor sohorr. If I am not wrong he was the first one to share a photo of an assaulted Amadou Samba on Facebook. Makk daf koor nuru wai! How in God’s name a person with such evil in his heart became a minister beats me. Kanjaan lu bonn la. A friend of mine was neutral on the case. For him, people like Amadou should have done more for our country and community. Wealthy people in other countries build roads, create charities, help young businesses grow etc…but that also is a choice. I have called out our wealthy so many times on my RBN pieces simply because I believe they SHOULD take up more responsibilities in building our nation but I won’t beat them for it, will I? I believe that is a lesson for many of us. Deka bi nityi denj sohorr… Conscience is a killer but some of us don’t have it.
I went through my newsfeed a few days ago and saw a young man who seems to be the “new kid on the block” at the struggle posing for the camera with a rifle and carrying a rather disturbing message of “allowing” everyone else to live but “killing” all those associated with the regime. That is the culture that the struggle is building. Yen kan ngen muna reye? You and which army??? You can’t even organise a “struggle meeting” yet you want to rule a country (and by ruling you mean killing). So it’s a struggle to free us from oppression but you claim prizes you haven’t worked for, celebrate the assaulting of an unarmed civilian and “joke” about killing people. Njow lehn…Bilai njow lehn
The essay has reached its limit but I wish I could go on. I’ll tell you one fact you can take to the bank. “The Struggle” can’t and has never freed ANYONE in custody. It doesn’t even make sense! Should I ever be taken into custody, I BEG you not to coordinate my release. Associating with you actually worsens the odds. If my family, friends and affiliated organisations cannot secure my release then I’d rather rot in hell. Zero coordination, zero thought…just daww daww daww daww daww…and then some pointing fingers and beating of chests and more rubbish.
Are you the only people in exile? Are you the only people whose fathers or mothers have lost government jobs? Are you the only people that have fallen from grace? Stop playing the victim and let people do the jobs they have set out to do. Wakh ju barri yobu wut ken fen. Ligueye lenj wakh
PS. No apologies for the typos
Note: Those of us that follow these online BREAKING NEWS, be careful what you believe. I won’t even talk about the “military patrols” and “student demonstrations”…even more be careful what you spread. It’s people we’re talking about online. People with lives, families and more…
And the call from people in Jollof encouraging “the struggle” to come lead the “revolution” they so badly seem to want is COMMON SENSE. Keyboard activism has its uses but a “revolution” takes guts…it sounds even worse than a husband asking his wife to find out if a thief is at the door then cursing out at her for being too cowardly to do it.
TGBA
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