Senegalese Walf TV crew rightly
refused entry into Gambia
Dear Editor,
Just when I thought I was done with straightening out the low caliber of Senegalese television reporters habitually misleading their viewers especially about politics in The Gambia as demonstrated in my recent telephone confrontation with Cherif Dia of TFM another group popped up last week from another station with more fallacious and biased reporting.
Last week, some people forwarded a video footage from the so-called “independent” Senegalese TV station Walf featuring three reporters: two loudmouth females and one ugly-looking male, discussing a subject they have no clue about on the current political situation in The Gambia. I initially told the numerous folks who forwarded me the video to dismiss the reporters as ill-informed people who were merely deceiving themselves and the Senegalese people happy to swallow their rubbish without verification.
However, when I got word recently that Senegalese reporters from the same Walf TV station tried earlier in the day to cross into The Gambia with the intent of promoting and supporting the political agenda of the UDP without securing the necessary accreditation, my mind went right back to their biased programme aired barely a fortnight ago.
In that video, the three blamed President Barrow for the ongoing intolerable deforestation in the Casamance, who they said encouraged illegal loggers to use The Gambia as transit and export centres. One would expect such condemnatory allegations to be substantiated with concrete evidences but the reporters did not provide any proofs.
They said the UDP leader Ousainu Darboe was arrested and detained by Yahya Jammeh before the 2016 election only to prevent him from contesting and winning the race. They said when Darboe couldn’t contest, he handpicked Adama Barrow to temporarily assume the leadership position of the party with the knowledge that the UDP was going to win. They further lied that when Barrow won and appointed Darboe as vice president, Darboe at some point urged Barrow to step down after three years as agreed with his Coalition 2016 stakeholders. They said when Barrow refused Darboe resigned in protest.
They ended the programme by predicting that Darboe was going to win and will finally achieve the elusive Senegambian unity.
To start with, anyone familiar with the arrest and imprisonment of Darboe in 2016 knows that it had nothing to do with the story reported by the Walf reporters and everything to do with his illegal participation in an unauthorised demonstration over the Solo Sandeng tragedy. These Senegalese knuckleheads were supposed to know that the case was even brought before The Gambia Supreme Court in an attempt to expunge Darboe’s criminal record but the verdict was instead upheld as totally legal.
Secondly, for them to audaciously say that Barrow was handpicked by Darboe as flagbearer of the coalition was another fox and bull story. All Gambians know that while in prison, Darboe was mortally against the candidature of Barrow and preferred Dr Isatou Touray, the current vice president.
They further lied about Darboe demanding the stepping down of Barrow on the agreed three-year agreement.
It is on public record that Darboe had originally said: “If anyone made an attempt to force Barrow to step down after three years before completing his constitutionally mandated five years, will have to face me in the courts.” Only in Senegal and only at Walf TV can such baloney be entertained, distributed and consumed by the gullible.
I am however glad that those responsible for monitoring accreditation of foreign journalists coming to the country refused the Walf TV crew entry which more or less showed their ignorance in the business they are hired to do and further exposed the familiar condescending attitude of many Senegalese towards Gambians and The Gambia.
These Senegalese aught to be cognisant of the modern Gambian today who has transcended that kind of defensive mentality towards their arrogance and imbecility which if displayed anywhere will be challenged and discredited forthwith.
Samsudeen Sarr
Banjul, The Gambia
Re: The unforeseen popularity of Essa Faal:
A golden opportunity for UDP
Dear Editor,
I do not agree with the views expressed by Matida Jallow in her opinion piece published in The Standard on 6th October 2021. I hope she knows how many family heads Essa Faal humiliated and insulted during his reign at the helm of affairs at the TRRC. All those people have families and relatives who are definitely not happy with him and have contempt for him.
And again, a serious campaign is being mounted against him by some Muslims even though he has said where he belongs and where he didn’t. But this will definitely have an impact on his success. If you don’t know, you just don’t know. While he was reiging at the TRRC he wasn’t behaving like someone who would need something from the people some day. Let’s just go till 4th December insh’Allah.
Bai Modou Dibba
London, England
