By Tabora Bojang
Journalist and administrator, Abubakar Darbo has resigned from his position as the Director of Human Resources and Administration at the Gambia Radio and Television Services.
Mr Darbo, who served the national broadcaster for 13 years, confirmed this development to The Standard yesterday citing “professional reasons.”
“I resigned on professional grounds because I realised my values are not in confluence with the working of GRTS at the moment,” Darbo said.
He said one of the reasons that triggered his move was the rejection of his application for a secondment by the GRTS board.
“Secondment is a statutory right for every public and civil servant but this was denied by the board and that was one of the reasons I resigned because we have a system which is not in line with the professional values of any professional.”
Abubakar Darbo joined GRTS as a reporter in 2008 and moved through the ranks to become news editor and anchor of popular prgrammes before leaving to pursue his master’s degree. He returned and was appointed into the management of GRTS. In 2017, he was appointed director of admin and human resources, a post he held until his resignation.
Abubakar also lectures at the University of The Gambia’s School of Business and Public Administration and the Management Development Institute, MDI.
Asked about his greatest recollections at the national broadcaster, Darbo said memorable among them were the “heydays” of GRTS when he used to share news desk with the likes of Ardy Fatty, Fatou Camara and Ansumana Drammeh among others.
“I will always remember those days in my life which were sadly very different from what obtains today. This was supposed to be the niche area for GRTS but unfortunately, it is not and I believe it could have been better.”
Darbo said he has moved on to take up a new challenge but refused to disclose his next move.
