It is so funny how one can be engaged in doing something wrong, and at the same time have a feeling of doing good, particularly when they get applause. “Funny how falling feels like flying for a little while.” This adaptation of the first lines of Jeff Bridges’ Fallin’ & Flyin’ describes very well the situation of some Gambians who spend the day and the night behind a desk and a computer to attack, libel, insult, and defame representatives of their country, and in turn destroy the image of their homeland.
How bad is The Gambia or its authorities to merit all the name-calling spread by cowardly people behind desks and computers? The Gambia is not a perfect country where everything works. If it were, it would be heaven on earth. Gambian authorities are not perfect. If they were, they would not be humans. Despite all the hardships and the realities created, in part, by history, geographical location, unfair international terms of trade…, The Gambia has been making significant steps forward. To have an idea of how The Gambia is doing economically and socially, one can have recourse to studies and reports published by independent and credible international institutions. Below are links to four reports that show The Gambia is doing better in terms of economic competitiveness than many other African countries, including Senegal.
Ranked: Africa’s most competitive economies
http://www.cp-
africa.com/2011/09/09/africas-ten-most-competitive-economies-world-economic-forum/
http://glowiseinvestments.com/blog/africas-competitive-economies-rankings/
http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GCR_Africa_Report_2011.pdf.
Gambians do not need to read reports from international institutions to assess the progress their country has made. Before the current regime, The Gambia was characterised by a lack of leadership, an endemic corruption, and institutional failures. In fact, the Gambia was the laughing stock of many observers. The country did not even have its own national television! The Gambia was officially independent, but effectively dependent on its neighbours to exist, particularly, Senegal. That was a shame imposed on Gambians. Today, The Gambia is being transformed. Under the leadership of President Yahya Jammeh, there have been unprecedented developments in all areas of life, and the country has become a modern and sovereign state that counts in the regional and international arenas. Do you know Gambian passport gives access, without a visa, to more countries than the Senegalese one, for example, does? Just the respect The Gambia has earned is worth mentioning and celebrating!
Despite all the efforts that have been made and continued to be made, some Gambians who are not residents within their homeland have chosen to portray their country and its authorities in very negative ways. Today, if you pay attention to some of what is said and written about The Gambia by the so-called “opposition abroad,” you may think the country is falling and failing. You may think the leadership of the country is made only of unfaithful devilish people who do not know what is right and what is wrong and who suck the blood of Gambians. Nothing is further from the truth.
The Gambia has its share of the current economic hardship the world is going through. However, it is making substantial efforts to guarantee its citizens the achievement of happiness. One may criticise the leadership of the country for the sake of improvising the situation because no work is perfect. But, no one should take it upon themselves to destroy the image of their country just to advance personal interests. The way the Gambian opposition abroad uses the media to destroy their country’s image casts away foreign investors, make tourists think twice before deciding to come to the smiling coast of Africa, discourages the Gambian Diaspora from investing in their own country, and above all it gives a false image of the Gambia.
From Pa Nderry M’Bai, to Essa bokar sey, to Fatou Camara, you hear nothing positive about The Gambia. These people have taken it upon themselves to destroy the image of their country for the advancement of their personal interests. Their criticism of the Gambian leadership is based on personal whims. The first mentioned needs to give himself some importance. He sells the idea that he is all-seeing, all-knowing, and the judge of all Gambian affairs. He decrees who is good, who is bad. He knows the slightest decisions taken in the Gambia. Of all affairs, he is an eye-witness. May Allah protect us from arrogance and haughtiness! The last two mentioned have no credibility. For them everything in The Gambia was alright until they had personal problems. Then, the Gambia became a jungle led by a gang of monsters. The same country and authorities they used to represent within and outside The Gambia through their respective statuses (an ambassador, a counselor to the president) become targets of their insults, lies, invectives, and so on. It is high time Gambians know what the truth is, and reject plotters who wage war on their country.
In the following section, we will dissect and analyse the actions and words of Pa Nderry M’Bai, Essa bokar sey, Fatou Camara, and Baba Aidara in order to make Gambians know the ins and outs of a ‘struggle’ that exists only in the minds of those who invented it.
Pa Nderry M’Bai or the Freedom
to invent to lie all the time
Pa Nderry M’Bai is maybe the most vocal of all those who have chosen to defame the Gambia. The journalist, through his web radio, dedicates all his energy to attacking the Gambian authorities. He has a particular dislike for the president. He spends his days and nights fabricating lies about the president. Every single day, he comes up with a new invention about a so-called scandal that happens at the state House. Paying attention to him, you would think Gambian authorities spend all their time creating scandals. Pa Nderry M’Bai’s journalistic style of work has no ethics, and respect for human dignity. He does not refrain from insulting honourable men with families and high responsibilities.
The man has a peculiar way of reporting. Every day, he comes up with an “investigation” article written by a so-called “The Soldier.” Since no one knows who “The Soldier” is, he puts in the mouth of this fictitious whatever lies he wants. Every single day, this “soldier” announces a “power struggle” and the “end of the regime.” Nothing has happened yet.
Nderry M’Bai takes pleasure in destroying people’s and families’ lives. He will not hesitate to prank an official and use deception techniques to lead people astray. Recently, he has been working so hard to get Ambassador Faye fired. Being very much aware that since his arrival at the embassy Mr Faye has been very active in winning hearts and minds, Pa Nderry engages himself in a mission to create tensions between Mr Faye and Gambian authorities. An article is written on Mr Faye almost every single day. Pa Nderry does not even hesitate to praise Ambassador Faye whenever he sees doing so may make the latter look bad before Gambian authorities. Pathetic are the deceptive techniques he uses! Funny is the fact that Pa Nderry does not realise Gambian authorities know his deceptive techniques and pay no attention to him.
Pa Nderry has a particular disliking for the president. He spends all his time on his web radio to insult the president, and fabricate big lies against him. He is so dedicated to defaming the president that one may ask if his life would have a purpose without the existence of the president. In fact, no one can deny Pa Nderry his right to criticise. However, democracy calls for responsibilities. How can a person with all his senses spend days and nights insulting the highest authorities of his homeland? What did President Jammeh do to deserve all this name-calling, and daily lies against his own personality? Why can’t Pa Nderry come up with shows in which he discusses how to advance The Gambia? Why can’t he write scholarly articles that would pass all tests of fairness and intellectual integrity to better participate in the forming of an informed Gambian?
In fact, the purpose of Pa Nderry and his likes is not the interest of The Gambia. These people are driven by personal interests and vendetta. If you look at the shaky websites they host, you will always see a donation button where they ask people to support them. There is no information on how much money they get and how the money is used. There is no transparency in how they handle the money. The very low-quality websites they have also carry a lot of third-parties commercials. Each time a visitor clicks on any of these commercials links, Pa Nderry gets money. These people live on the backs of innocent Gambians. Worst of all is these websites are invaded by viruses and tracking cookie Trojans. If you have the habit of visiting these websites, you will see by yourself all the computer issues you end up having. Please, use any website analysis tool to find out by yourself what I have just asserted.
Pa Nderry and his likes have no credibility, and they are motivated by their personal interests. We, Gambians have to wake up and refuse the image of our beloved nation to be destroyed by a tiny minority that is offering nothing as an alternative, but chaos and social disunity.
To be continued insha’Allaah.
PS: This is the first item in a series of articles I intend to publish to shed light on the actions of some figures I have already mentioned in this paper. We will continue our investigation. We will publish. We will no longer leave the field to petty characters and let them dictate the discourse on The Gambia
]]>
