BY PA NDERRY M'BAI

Elhajj Mustapha Fye, is a prominent  veteran Gambian musician, cum
businessman. Mr.Fye,  who is based in Sweden, is one of those Gambians who
suffered persecution and untold sufferings under President Yahya Jammeh's
rule. His trouble  with Jammeh's government, started in the early days of
the coup, as police arrested him  on charges of idle and disorde! rly
conduct, amidst a confrontation he Fye had with judicial staff.  Fye,  who
is happily married,  is blessed with some children.  Currently working as
a Prison officer, with the Swedish State Prison, Fye narrated how he
"corrupted Gambian immigration officials" just to escape from persecution
in The Gambia. Mr.Fye whose passport was impounded by The Gambian police
succeeded in travelling to Sweden in 1994, without a   travel document. In
an exclusive interview with this paper, Fye recalled when he gave ride to
Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh, who according to Fye, was poverty
stricken soldie. He added that Jammeh lacked means of transportation prior
to the July 22ND coup. Fye, says he was not surprised by Jammeh's riches,
addiing that The Gambian leader was eager to amass wealth to the
deteriment of the nation.  He also commented about his confisicated assets
by the Jammeh government, his Libidorr band,  the return of his son to Ba!
njul Major Omar Fye and a host of other topical issues.  Please read
on.......

AG:What can you tell us about your past experiences with the Jammeh
administration?

Elhajj Mustapha Fye:I was  in The Gambia, when the coup occured in 1994. I
was on holidays in The Gambia, from Sweden. I was a  well known business
man,  engaged in the sale of car spare parts, tyres and sewing machines.
I attended weekly "lumos" in The Gambia and Senegal.  I used to live in
Barra. I had  a Nigerian magistrate friend Christopher Onyia, who used to
buy things from me.  Before the coup he wanted to buy one my cars, the
MASDA 626 Sports. He Onyia made a part payment of D12,000. After the coup,
Jammeh declared that all government officials were supposed to return
their GG cars to the government. Onyia returned the government car he was
using and came to me and asked me to give him the car on credit. I dis!
agreed with him on that, because I told him to comply with the agreement
we had or else we cancel the sale.  He did not agree with me and attempted
to  take the car from me by force. There we had a conflict and he used his
position as a magistrate to get the car from me. He contacted the court
house and the Nigerian ambassador who urged the government to take the car
from me.

AG:Were  you arrested following your confrontation with Magistrate Onyia?

Fye:After we had that conflict, I returned to Sweden and he filed a suit
in the courts behind me. I was not in town and was never served to appear
in court. A  judgement was delivered in my absence, while I was in Sweden
to ship another container to The Gambia. I was informed while in Sweden,
that the court had passed a  judgement and Onyia was granted a writ of
fifa. The said writ of fifa was forwarded to the  Sheriff's bailiff office
unde! r the leadership of Pa Ali  Ceesay. There was an execution done in
my absence. They went to my compound in Barra and took two  of my cars and
belongings in the house, while my family were watching TV. They emptied
the house and left. They said they were ordered by the court to sell my
properties. All my house belongings were sold at the Barra ferry terminal.
They claimed to have recorded a sale of D4,000 dalasis, when the said
items worth over 40 to D50,000 dalasis.  The cars were taken to the court
house.  I was given a  deadline of one month to pay Onyia the sum  of
D12,000 dalasis. The said car cost D35,000 dalasis.

AG:What happened to the other cars? Did you succeed in getting them back?

Fye:Upon my returned from Sweden, I went to the baliff's office and met
with one Ali Bah, Mr.Jammeh, Sarr and their boss Pa Ali Ceesay. I asked
them why they failed to take the car which bro! ught the problem and
refrained  from taking my household belongings. Pa Ali and these boys
reacted angrily on me when I accused them of cheating and stealing my
belongings.  They later reported me to the police and the police impounded
my passport at that time. They asked me when I was supposed to return to
Sweden and I told them in three weeks time. They impounded my Gambian
passport and arrested me. They charged me for idle  and disorderly
conduct. I was later granted bail.

AG:How do you managed to find yourself in Sweden,  after all these
controversies and accusations levelled against you by the state?

Fye:Well, I gambled at the time. I will call it gamble, because I went to
the airport and took the risk of submitting my air ticket to get a
boarding pass. I also corrupted the immigration  police officers, who were
on duty at that time and then went into the transit room. I was! very
lucky that they were taking boarding passes to go into the plane at the
time. I just joined the public without a passport and luckily boarded the
Spies Flight bound for Sweden.

AG:Mr.Fye, you are making very interesting revelations against the
immigration police officers at the airport.  How much money did you
induced them to find your way in  Sweden?

Fye:I think it was roughly about D2000 dalasis and  was given to different
officers. They were very nice to me. They all know me personally.  I was
the managing proprietor of  the Libidorr band in The Gambia and as such
they give me respect and allowed me get into the transit room. Most of
them were teasing me by asking me when I was going to reunite the Libidorr
band in The Gambia.

AG:What happened at the Sweden airport? Where you allowed passage by the
Swedish immigration without a passport?

Fye:Well, actually I was allowed, because I was able to furnish them with
my ID numbers and the circumstances that compelled my presence there. I
told them that my passport was impounded in The Gambia and as such I
didn't have travelling documents. They later confirmed my information in
their system-that everything was correct.  I was later allowed to get in
Sweden. I later borrowed an amount of money equivalent to the sum of
D20,000, which I sent to the court to pay the magistrate. They even
threatened to sell my compound at the time. They later returned the cars
to my wife and family in Barra, when I paid the said D20,000 to them. In
making a conclusion to all this, I found this regime to be very, very
unfair, full of hatrate and grudge towards their fellow Gambians. The
reason why,  I came to such conclusion is that all these boys know me
personally. Yankuba Touray was playing football together with two of my
younger brothers, &nbs! p;Ibra  Jeng and Tamsir Jeng for the NPE football
club. I also remembered giving Yahya Jammeh a  ride from The Gambia High
School area to Baku Depot. During my first encounter with him and he  told
me that it was rare for people to give ride to others and he appreciated
my gesture. I remember him thanking me and he appeared "discipline  and
nice to me."  He waved at me when he alighted from my car. He was begging
for lift,  as  many of the people he waived refused to give him ride. At
the time, he was in uniform. To my surprise and utter dismay, the person I
gave ride Yahya Jammeh,  is today misbehaving towards Gambians.  Yankuba
was always in our compound and each time he came to the house, he will
greet me.

AG:You said prior to the July 22ND coup, you gave ride to President
Jammeh. Now the same Jammeh's is today being ranked as one of the richest
leaders on the African continent. Were you surpr! ised about the so called
wealth amassed by Jammeh,  in a span of eleven years? Is this the "poor "
Yahya Jammeh you used to know?

Fye:Oh yes, this is the same Yahya Jammeh I knew. This was the same Yahya
Jammeh,  I gave ride. He was very "polite"  at the time and he knew my
family. He was telling me that Mr.fye, "people are very bad in this
country", quoting my own past experiences as libidorr band owner.  He told
me "I hope next time, you will expose your eyes and know who these crooks
are" He harboured a  lot of grudges against the former government. At the
time, he was leaving behind the compounds at the  ST.Augustine's High
School. He was really a poor guy, when I was giving him ride. I'm not
surprised by his wealth. This was a person who was in a hurry to be
wealthy and today Gambians are living witnesses to his so called wealth.
It is a shame for him to declare that he is giving gifts to Gambians, when
we all kno! w  that the said funds are  coming to him in the name of The
Gambian people. He decided to personalise such funds.


AG:Not long ago, we heard that your son major Omar Fye, had  visited
Banjul, amidst reports that he had reconciled with Jammeh. Do you feel
disappointed about major Fye's action?

Fye:I'm not disappointed in the sense that, Omar is a full grown up person
and had the right to take his own decisions, as I could have accepted the
same from my own family. But I will quick to add that this Omar Fye, we
know is a man, who is widely respected within our family. He is a man of
peace within the family. If Omar should join this regime, the message we
can give  him is that,  he should be very, very careful not to allow
Jammeh to use him to create enemies for him in The Gambia. We are from a
compound, where our parents had done a great job in The Gambia, whether
acknowledged by Gambians or  not.  Our parents have never shirked their
responsibility of telling the country's leaders the truth. This includes
Sheik Omar Fye, a grand father  to Omar and Tijan Fye, the father of Omar
Fye.  It was Tijan who used to openly tell President Jawara the truth. All
Gambians can attest to this fact. Anything beside peace, he should not
allow Jammeh to use him for his own selfish gains.


AG:It is alleged that  Imam Alhagie Muntaha Fye,  facilitated Omar's
reconciliation with Jammeh, even though, he Muntaha had vehemently denied
such reports. What is your stake on this?

Fye:Actually, I for one, will not accuse him,  because Omar is a full
grown person who can decide for himself. But on the other hand, people
have their human rights to speculate what has transpired, because Omar is
a younger brother to Muntaha and I'm a father to both of! them. Muntaha,
as an Imam must also try to accept criticism because the prophet was
criticised by his own people. The fact that the people said that he
facilitated Omar's reconciliation with Jammeh should not make him angry,
if he had not participated on it.

AG:Being a prominent Gambian musician, what can you tell us about The
Gambian music industry. What are the challenges and the shortcomings?

Fye:I'm the managing proprietor of the Libidorr band of  The Gambia. This
band was formed in November of 1984 and the band had played in so many
places in The Gambia and Senegal. At one point, I got some financial
difficulties to manage the band, but I kept my contacts with my musicians.
They often visited me at my compound, until the time I came to sudden.
When I newly started playing music, my relatives advised me to stopped,
citing religious and cultural fanaticism. At the time, I was able to play
few chords on t! he keyboard. I suspended operating the band.  When I came
to Sweden, I took up the interest again,  to study more musical chords and
to know the guitar. Today, I play both keyboard and the guitar.  I found
it very, very interesting that both the keyboard and the guitar are the
same. If one can learn the chromatics to separate the naturals and the non
naturals, then there is a possibility to know the chords, within the
guitar and the keyboard.  It is also imperative for one to know the major
chords and the minor chords.  And also to know the root note or  (scale)
of every music you want to play.

AG:What are you doing to revive the Libidorr band?

Fye:I'm working very hard on that. It was unfortunate that their are
people speculating that I'm not a musician. I invite such people to
Libidorr future performance either in Europe or the United States to come
and see me in   ac! tion. I'm planning to back Musa  Ngum in the future. I
have discussed this with Musa and I'm working very hard to get  him over
here,  so that my band can back him.


AG:Being a state prison officer in Sweden, how are The Gambian community
perceiving you out there?  Do they feel comfortable mingling with you?


Fye:Perhaps,  their are some people, who do not have heart feeling for me,
but may be  their are  some people who could harbour some grudges for me,
but then who cares. Most people always say,  if you work as a law
enforcement officer, you should not be trusted. I for one, could say that
who cares. I worked  hard to feed my family. If you are honest, why should
you be afraid of law enforcement officers?  Let me tell you Pa Nderry, The
Gambian community abroad are not united and we are throwing dirt against
one another. In such a situation, it is very easy for others to frame
their fellow country men. I don't have much time to go into people's
business.  I  look  after  my business and my family. Period.

AG:On a final note, what message do you have for Jammeh?

Fye: My message to Jammeh is to tell him that let him humble himself and
reconcile with Gambians, because he had wronged  and hurt many Gambians
over the years. He should avoid sawing seeds of discords in the country,
which could lead to crisis in The Gambia. I hope the people surrounding
him will try to give him more advise to bring peace into the country.

AG:Thanks you very much Mr.Fye for granting us this interview.

Fye:Well Pa Nderry,  I have to thank you very much for taking your time to
interview me. I wish you good luck with all your endeavours in the field!
of journalism. I  have no doubt in your professionalism in reporting about
our country. I think all Gambians will give you full support with this
progressive job you are doing.  May ALLAH  (SWT) bless you and your
family.


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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