Independent Editors' nationality questioned
The Independent <http://www.qanet.gm/Independent/independent.html> (Banjul)
June 23, 2000
Banjul - The nationality of Independent Editor-in-chief Baba Galleh Jallow and
Managing Editor Alagi Yorro Jallow has been questioned by The Gambia's
Immigration department.
Two plainclothes Immigration officers walked into The Independent offices on No.
1 Kairaba Avenue Tuesday morning and asked to see the two editors. As Alagi
Yorro was not in at the time, Baba Galleh invited them into his office.
'The two officers identified themselves and said Immigration director Sheriff
Faburay sent them. They said they had been asked to check on our I.D cards and
passports,' Mr. Jallow said.
Mr. Jallow explained that since he did not have his passport on him at the time,
he showed them his ID card and asked them to come later to see his passport.
'They asked if they could take my I.D card with them but I said no, they could
only take a photocopy,' Mr. Jallow explained. 'I made a copy and gave it to
them. I also asked them whether they wanted to deport us. At 2.00 PM the
officers came back for the copy of my passport and also Alagi Yorro's
documents.'
Mr. Jallow said it was absolutely ridiculous for anyone in his right senses to
question his nationality. Born in Farafenni in the North Bank Division, Baba
Galleh attended Farafenni primary and secondary schools before proceeding to
Armitage High School where he obtained his O' levels in 1985. That same year, he
won a place and a government scholarship to the Gambia High School Sixth Form
Arts stream. At Gambia High he was both Head Boy and President of the Islamic
Cultural Club. Upon completion of Sixth Form, he taught History and English at
St. Augustine's High School for one academic year before winning a government
scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree at Fourah Bay College,
University of Sierra Leone where he served as Secretary General of the National
Union of Gambian Students at the university. Upon graduation in 1991, Baba
Galleh worked briefly as Cultural Officer (Research) for the National Council
for Arts and Culture before taking up appointment as Assistant Registrar at the
Banjul office of the West African Examinations Council in February 1992. In July
1994, Baba Galleh left WAEC and took up appointment as Assistant Editor of the
Daily Observer. In July 1995, he was appointed Deputy Editor-in-chief, and
eventually in October 1997, as Editor-in-chief of the Daily Observer. Following
the sale of the Observer in May 1999, Baba Galleh resigned from the Observer and
teamed up with Alagi Yorro to found The Independent newspaper.
Back in 1994 Baba Galleh had served as a member of the historic National
Consultative Committee set up by the defunct AFPRC government to sound the
public's opinion nationwide on the length of the proposed transition period to
civilian rule.
Managing Editor Alagi Yorro Jallow was equally baffled at the news of the
Immigration officers' visit.
'This is a joke,' he said. 'It's even Yabateh. How can they question our
nationality? Let them go and question my dad at Sankwia.'
Son of Alhagie Amadou Jallow, the Grand Marabout of Sankwia in the Lower River
Division, Alagi Yorro attended Pakalinding Primary School, Pakalinding Secondary
Technical School, and later proceeded to Saint Peters High School for his O'
levels. From St. Peters, Alagi Yorro proceeded to Saint Augustine's High School
where he obtained his A'levels in 1985. In 1998 he was elected vice chairman of
the Gambia Press Union, a position he currently holds.
'I think if I'm deported, my brother who is serving the Gambia Police Force as a
senior police officer serving with the U.N Peace Keeping Force in East Timor
will also be deported,' Alagi Yorro said. 'The director of Immigration or the
authorities I believe should first do their homework properly, they should have
checked with the Health department to determine whether we are citizens or not.'
A few days ago, reporter Alhagie Mbye was also threatened with deportation by an
anonymous Immigration official.
According to reliable sources close to the Immigration department, a top
official at the department of state for Local Government had called the director
of Immigration and told him that both Baba and Alagi Yorro are not citizens of
this country. This followed the publication of a story on last Monday's edition
of The Independent, which reported that the elected chief of Upper Baddibu
district had been sacked and the APRC divisional chairman, appointed chief.
Meanwhile on Wednesday morning, Baba Galleh's 80-year-old father Momodou Jallow
called from Farafenni to say that Immigration officers there had just subjected
him to a lengthy interrogation. As at the time of going to press, they still had
the old man's ID card.
C
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