" this was on the "AllAfrica" site. "


Dateline Gambia: The Good And the Bad Experience


Concord Times (Freetown)

COLUMN
April 4, 2001
Posted to the web April 4, 2001

Kingsley Lington
Freetown

Got into Banjul Airport named Yundum International Airport Tuesday
afternoon. The Gambia International Airways flight was smooth - stopped over
first in Conakry before heading for the land of the groundnuts.

The flight announcer, a young man who sat at the back of the seat kept
himself busy reeling out announcement after announcement. He probably felt
he was keeping us informed but the announcements were actually ear-pricking
and quite irritating. More so with his hardly audible voice made worse by
the most terrible pronunciations I have ever heard.

Talking about pronouncing English words, get some entertainment listening to
Gambians. On Gambia Television last night the newsreader wanted to read
'Ministry of Information and Communication" but ended up saying 'Ministry of
informason and communicason.' Tony Hesmart (of the Concord Times fame.
remember him?) and I fell on the floor laughing.

Good a thing though the airport formalities are less clumsy these days. They
let me pass without hassles. Secret agents dressed in mufti once had a
pastime combing through luggage in a manner that suggested the country was
guarding against rebel infiltration. Those days passengers were subjected to
a most humiliating and excruciating procedure which would end up in a dingy
room where one would almost be stripped naked. Not finding anything, they
would insist you dropped some 'kolanuts'.'

Sometimes last year, I got to the airport and the guys asked for a bribe and
I said "Look I am a journalist and I don't give bribe." They flipped through
my documents and 'discovered' a photo of Foday Sankoh and a list of those
who collaborated with the AFRC junta. The discovery sent them wild in
celebrations. They had caught a big fish. With walkie-talkies that looked
more like some colonial radio sets, they mumbled incoherently into the sets
communicating with some bigman somewhere. They later bundled me into a
waiting van and drove to the secret service headquarters in down town. Quite
brave, I told them, "look by tomorrow morning the whole world will hear that
you have detained a harmless journalist." That was intended to instill fear
but it did the opposite. It ignited a flurry of laughter. They had no
respect for the press anyway. In a tone laced with sarcasm one asked me:
"Oh, so you are Sora Odufa" apparently referring to the Nigerian BBC
correspondent. Sensing that I was losing the battle I asked, "what can I
offer you." Negotiations lasted into the midnight until we settled for a
$100 which I was to pay directly to the big boss. I was kept in a furnished
flat. My freedom was curtailed until the Nigerian High Commissioner raced to
the place the following morning seething and fuming. Unfortunately I had
just paid the $100 when the High Commissioner arrived. They became extra
friendly and almost knelt down begging I should not reveal the monetary
transaction. That was Gambia. Those days appear to be gone.

Politics is getting better. President Yayah Jammeh once seen and referred to
as a demigod has been demystified. Opposition politicians who once had a
contract with prison cells can now scream and be let alone. The Gambian
economy is slowing down. Interest rates have shot up; the currency has
experienced close to 30% devaluation. One US dollar now fetches a little
over 15 dalasis as against 10 dalasis about a year ago. Nevertheless, the
country's standard of living is still much higher than what you find in most
West African countries.

Gambia hardly exports anything these days. Tourism has become the country's
main source of income. Thousands of tourists pour into Banjul on weekly
basis making the city hugely cosmopolitan.

Most Gambian homes have satellite dishes (dishes sell for as low as $150)
and so can hook on to CNN, BBC and other cable news service.
Telecommunications is superb. Internet cafes dot the length and breath of
the city. The city is neat. Their newspapers have up to 24 pages and the
Television is quite sophisticated by African standard. The problem though
is, the television is purely an organ to extol the virtues of President
Jammeh.

I will be moving around today. I understand Sheka Tarawallie and Tatafway
Tumor- two brilliant writers who cut their journalism teeth at Concord Times
are here. I will be meeting them today. Meetings with a few government
officials have also been lined up. I will be getting to the Sierra Leonean
High Commission. The Gambia certainly looks appetizing after staying for
less than 24 hours. And if I finish my visit which should not last more than
a week without qualms it will be a big plus.

I already know it's an offence to mention the name of the President in vain;
I already know it is an offence to move around without travel documents in
the pocket; I already know so much and I expect to have a hitch-free visit.
But should the unexpected happen, so what? Will just get on the plane and go
to where I belong. And that will add up to my never-ending experience as a
roving journalist - experience that's an odd mixture of the good and the
bad. Stay tuned.

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