EDITORIAL

  There are strange security activities taking place in The Gambian army. President Jammeh's  decision to sent army chief  Assan Sarr packing is just a tip of the ice berg. Security analyse  laughed when they read the government statement accusing Sarr of mistreating his fellow soldiers.  That Sarr was bent on sawing seed of discord and hatrate within the army?  Who are these soldiers vilified or harmed by Sarr?  Will President Jammeh come out in the open and substantiate his allegations?

  President Jammeh is good at disowning people he used and abused.  Sarr is one of those who had been used and abused by Jammeh.  The same Yahya Jammeh sent  Assan Sarr few weeks ago to the Yundum army barracks to talk to the soldiers who complained about not being paid.  We do know that Sarr could not succeed in calming down the aggrieved soldiers, who vowed to rebel  against the Jammeh government, if their allowances were not paid.  The said soldiers served as peacekeepers in the troubled region of Sudan and have made their position known to the government of the day.

  Jammeh thought that the best way to impress these aggrieved soldiers was to apportion blame on Sarr.  "The charges brought against Sarr are flimsy and lacked merit. In the absence of evidence to support such charges, Gambians will not take the government seriously."said a  highly placed sources in Yahya's government.

  While Jammeh, is trying to conceal  the growing anger and discontent within the army top brass and junior officers, he  is on the other hand looking for scape goats. There is a problem at the moment and Jammeh is refusing to acknowledge such a security problem. The revelations made by soldier Musa Drammeh should serve as a food  for thought for our men and women in uniform. That this government is in the business of framing Gambians,  they perceived as security threat.

  Even whereas Assan Sarr,  is said to be unpopular within the army, Gambians should be cautious about of the "cooked up" stories advanced by Yahya to black mail people he had fallen  out with. We challenge Jammeh to provide evidence to back up his accusations against Sarr.

  We have been reliably informed by insiders at the Yundum Barracks that there was no such mistreatment of soldiers , as claimed by Jammeh.  The said insiders said they were not aware of mistreatment of soldiers as alleged by Jammeh. The insiders say since the returned of the Gambian contingent from  Sudan, soldiers who served as peacekeepers had been placed under close surveillance.  The insiders say some of their colleagues were re-deployed to other military barracks amidst reports that the men were angered by the non payment of their allowances.

  Major Peter Singhateh headed the said troop to Sudan. Gambians should not be surprised if  Peter is arrested and discharge from the army. We received a tip yesterday that Peter Singhateh was also on the firing line.  Our sources are unimpeachable and unshaken.  Jammeh is a betrayer and will end up sacrificing his errand boys. He will wonder who is/are leaking such classified state secrets to us- as stated the other day, we have the means and the know how to elicit information from Jammeh's own bed room. Our sources are in every sector of his government and they report to us on a daily basis.  We will do whatever, it takes to protect such sources and will publish any accurate information given to us.


  It is time for the GNA top brass to  start asking themselves whether it worth it to  protect Jammeh's selfish interest to the detriment of the nation. How long will such hiring and firing last? Why should our own security forces allow to be  used to maim and kill Gambians with impunity? The sacking and detention of Assan Sarr should serve as an eye opener for The Gambian military.

  We are not convinced that Ndure Cham will stay long in that post.  The reports we are hearing are not promising at all. We do know that Cham's appointment is a  diversion and we will elaborate on that later.  Jammeh had groomed somebody else to man that post. The said person knows himself and was approached by Jammeh not long ago to head the army.  We seem to be having two army today in The Gambia.  Yahya Jammeh is aware of the said army.  The are some who  in support of him and those who are pissed off with the system.

  Jammeh should tell Gambians,  why he refused to attend the Commonwealth meeting. Is this the Jammeh who said he  was untocuhabe and feared nothing on this universe?  What happened to Jammeh's bragging and bluff?  Our sources hinted that Jammeh had cancelled all  his overseas trips for now, as he receives advise about the imminent security dangers about  such moves.  We also gathered that he had also stopped going to Kanilai these days.  Yahya, there are lot of talks going on.  What is happening with your government?

  We have been in touch with state house sources and they confirmed to us that you sometimes dressed in military uniform in a bid to intimidate the state guards. That you want to draw their attention to  the military slogan which says"Once a soldier, is always a soldier."  Yahya, you are not a gallant soldier as you claimed.  You are better described as a "retired chicken hearted ceremonial soldier."  This was the soldier who sought security clearance to return to The Gambia, when students were gunned down on April 10TH, 2000, while in Cuba on a  visit. Thanks to the jailed Jarra MP and majority leader Baba K Jobe, Jammeh decided to return to The Gambia.  Jammeh is good at provoking violence, but he will be the first person to leave the country, if there are  disturbances. Our security forces should not allowed to be used to kill  Gambians in the looming 2006 polls.  The Gambia is bigger than Yahya and the country's interest comes first,  before Yahya or any other person.  We rest
 our case.

  The author is the former Secretary General of The Gambia press Union and also a former Voice of America radio Banjul Correspondent. Mr. M'Bai who now resides in the US State of North Carolina Raleigh was a leading political and crime reporter with the Point and Daily Observer newspapers respectively. He can be reached by email at the following addresses: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]













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