Dear Mr. Editors,
Please, learn to accept criticism made against your paper whether in
good faith or in bad faith, for it shall awaken you from your good
deeds as well as your bad deeds. Learn from your mistakes.
I was very disappointed to read your editorial of 17th July,
especially that part of yours, singling out Ebrima Ceesay and Cherno
Baba Jallow, your former colleagues at the Daily Observer, castigating
them to the point of accusing them of cowardise and dishonesty.
I vehemently beg to defer with this accusation which has no merit in
any sense despite the harsh criticisms levelled against your
editorial. You have no right also to castigate them for being away in
a foreign land, as you rightly know the input of these gentlemen in
Gambian journalism when you were all working together, neither should
you quiz them to set up a newspaper because you are running one.
What I expected of you to do was what you initially did in accepting
Ebrima's criticism in good faith but little did I know you have this
editorial in mind.
I therefore hope in the spirit of freedom of speech, you will continue
coommunicating with them despite the difference of opinions.
Haruna Farage
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: FWD:Disappointing Rejoinders (Editorial) From The Independen
Author: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
<[log in to unmask]> at Internet
Date: 7/17/00 1:13 PM
Disappointing Rejoinders (Editorial)
The Independent <http://www.qanet.gm/Independent/independent.html> (Banjul)
July 17, 2000
Banjul - Our editorial of July 10 -13, 'Time for a rethink' triggered two very
sour rejoinders on Gambia-L from our former colleagues Ebrima Ceesay in
Birmingham, UK and Cherno Baba Jallow in Detroit, USA. We have no objection to
being criticised or to people expressing their opinions on our paper, as this
would keep us on our toes and help us improve on our work. However, we demand
that such criticisms be made in good faith.
As far as Ebrima Ceesay and Cherno Baba are concerned, we feel that their
rejoinders were written and posted in very bad faith. They smack of extreme
irrationality and a desire to destroy our credibility.
If Ebrima and Cherno Baba feel so strongly about the deeds or misdeeds of the
Jammeh regime, why do they not come back home and fight their battle on the
ground? Or why do they not delegate someone to establish papers for them in The
Gambia to which they could be sending their truthful, hard-hitting and
uncompromising editorials, rather than sit out there on their ivory towers
casting aspersions on others suffering hell on the ground here?
Certainly it is utterly cynical of Cherno and Ebrima to accuse us of cowardice,
of entertaining 'fear-induced whims,' of 'playing footsie with the APRC
government' or of 'being parsimonious with the truth and wimpish towards
Jammeh.' The two of them are certainly more deserving of being accused of
cowardice and dishonesty.
Any rational and honest reader should be able to appreciate the nature of our
editorial policy. We are not here to promote extremism in the Gambian body
politic, as Ebrima Ceesay would have us do. We are not interested in 'basking in
the limelight' as Cherno Baba suggests we are. We are only interested in
transmitting the reality on the ground as we understand it. We refuse to be
controlled by either the government or opponents of the government. We condemn
as utterly untrue and malicious any suggestion that we are cowards. When we
comment on issues, we try to comment as objectively as possible.
Coming to the editorial in question and for the benefit of our readers, we had
stated, among other things: 'In recent years, no one hears about Transparency,
Accountability and Probity, President Jammeh's favourite sing-song in the early
days of the coup. Developments, over the past two years in particular, have
shown that the government has little regard for transparency and accountability.
The dizzying spate of unexplained sackings, arrests and detentions show that the
government has little regard for the rule of law or constitutional provisions.
The relentless harassment and intimidation of the private press shows that the
government cares little about respect for freedom of expression or of the press.
While the several cases of alleged harassment of the opposition indicate a
worrying level of political intolerance on the part of the government.
'Rather than cudgel the heads of all who dared say something, the government
should cudgel the head of its own ego and bow to the dictates of reason and
commonsense.'
Which honest reader would call these words 'a minimalist commentary on Gambian
realities?' or accuse us of being 'parsimonious with the truth?' What would
Cherno and Ebrima have us do? Well, we would have them realise that their
motives, though carefully couched in the language of healthy debate, are
absolutely clear to us.
May we indicate, finally, that we shall not enter into any further debate or
communication on this matter with the two gentlemen. Let them or anyone else
write what they want. We have urgent and serious matters of national concern to
attend to.
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