Mr Ceesay:
Thank you for realising that you're boring the daylights out of some of
us.
First, you claimed these people are not qualified to be ambassadors,
without giving concrete reasons why you think they are not qualified.
The vague reason you gave, "More seasoned and experienced" does not
make your case to most reasonable people. Just because someone is
young, does not mean that they will not be able handle a diplomatic job
and just because someone lack the experience does not mean that their
performance will be below par. Get facts, make sensible and reasonable
recommendations (to the point, not vaguely), and then maybe, you might
get the right audience to listen. You may in the process educate some
of us who are ingorant about things going on, hell, you might even
educate Yaya Jammeh to see some light.
Then, you proceeded to bore me (maybe most people out there) about
allegations about why and how Njogou Bah was recalled. Why don't you
hang on to these until you have facts; try interviewing the parties
involved and report your findings. Without the facts, it just looks
like you have something personal going on against the government, other
than the existing problems.
If we all try to report facts, then when we point out facts, audiences
all over will not wonder whether we have hidden agendas. Personal
agendas divets attentions from actual problems that need fixing.
Peace to all.
--- ebrima ceesay <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Gambia L,
>
> I was intending to do another commentary, on the
> Daily Observer situation,
> by today, Monday, but circumstances have, in fact,
> forced me to defer such a
> commentary, till later on, because I am still
> waiting for more concrete
> facts and details concerning the sale.
>
> What happened last night was that when I contacted a
> government source in
> the Gambia, to quiz him about persistent allegations
> that Jammeh himself
> was, actually, the true owner of the Daily Observer,
> he, the source, told me
> about a new development in the Government, instead
> of denying or confirming
> these allegations.
>
> Therefore, I intend to contact him again, because my
> telephone card had
> finished, before the Observer issue was addressed.
>
> Meanwhile, this was part of what my source had to
> say: "Ebrima, guess what?
> Essa Sey is going to be announced as The Gambia's
> Ambassador-designate to
> France, to replace Njogou Bah, who has recently been
> recalled, while Maodo
> Touray, former Chief Protocol to Jammeh, will be
> announced
> Ambassador-designate to Belgium, to replace Ismaila
> Ceesay. No one is yet to
> be named to replace Crispin Grey-Johnson in the
> USA".....
>
> I couldn't believe me ears, when this top government
> insider told that Essa
> Sey was going to be our new ambassador to such an
> important country like
> France, where the ambassador also doubles as The
> Gambia's permanent
> representative to UNESCO, which is also
> headquartered in Paris.
>
> Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Essa Sey.
> In fact, he is a friend
> and, top of that, his wife is a relative. Also, Essa
> did write some nice
> poems for the Daily Observer, while I was there. So
> I wish him good luck in
> his new post, if everything goes according to
> planned.
>
> But, in honest opinion, I believe a more seasoned, a
> more experienced
> diplomat should be sent to such a key Embassy like
> Paris, especially having
> regard to the fact that if my memory serves me
> right, Essa must have joined
> the government (The Foreign Ministry) in 1993, as a
> protocol officer, after
> having left the then Gerdarmerie/Gambia College.
>
> Presently, I understand that he is a deputy
> permanent secretary and, prior
> to that, he had served as a First Secretary at our
> Embassy in Paris, during
> the transition period.
>
> Yes, it is Jammeh's prerogative to appoint anyone he
> wants as Gambia's
> ambassador/high commissioner, but please, Mr Jammeh,
> make sure that while
> you consider "loyalty" in your ambassadorial
> appointments, you also consider
> age, experience and even qualifications as well, if
> you truly love the
> Gambia.
>
> Interestingly, when I asked my source whether he
> knew why Njogou Bah - who I
> must say did a good job as Gambia's ambassador/high
> commissioner to Senegal
> during the transition - was recalled, he told me
> this in reply: "Well,
> Njogou Bah's house maid in Paris, who is related to
> Mr X (I am withholding
> Mr X's name) of the NIA, had a big quarrel with
> Njogou Bah's wife and,
> consequently, she, the maid, reported Mrs Bah to the
> government, through the
> NIA, that she, Mrs Bah, was (allegedly) rude,
> abusive, hostile etc."
>
> "So I understand that Njogou was recalled as a
> result of this", the source
> added. By the way, like Ebou Khan, Njogou Bah is
> also a leading interpreter,
> when it comes to simultaneous interpretation from
> French into English.
> Although he has not done sat in a booth for a long
> time now.
>
> Anyway, in my view, given the mess in which our
> civil service in particular,
> is in, I sincerely believe that the time has come
> for us to pose the
> question as to who will save our motherland - the
> Jammeh's regime or another
> one?
>
> Personally, I feel a load of disappoinment in my
> heart, when I consider the
> fact that my own classmates, members of my
> generation are raping and
> destroying our country.
>
> I feel guilt in myself, in the face of how The
> Gambia is being run, even
> though I am not, and will never be, part of this
> government. History,
> indeed, behoves me (and all of us for that matter)
> to be in the forefront
> for the repair work that needs to be undertaken in
> the Gambia, because as I
> stated earlier on, my old fiends, members of my
> generation are putting the
> country into this mess.
>
> However, I find consolation in my belief that the
> third liberation of the
> Gambia will come on the waves of the printed word
> and, with long life and
> good health, I believe I would be part of that
> struggle.
>
> Thankfully, Gambians are now speaking out, but we
> need to speak out more and
> more and, of course, louder than before, because,
> frankly speaking, our
> failure to speak out, our continued silence in the
> face of tyranny will only
> make our very selves the casualties.
>
> We should never forget that normality and personal
> welfare flee in the face
> of tyranny and oppression. What the Gambia needs to
> put in place, in my
> view, is a genuine democratic culture, which allows
> a free press, an
> independent judiciary, greater accountability,
> transparency, probity and
> other forms of participatory democracy.
>
> Most of us admire the democratic culture in the
> West, which even if critics
> say is not very representative, offers more for
> humanity than the type of
> systems we are used to, in the African Continent.
>
> But we have to remember that what obtains in the
> West today did not fall
> from the skies, which should, therefore, motivate us
> to use our limited time
> in this world, to build our countries as developed
> as the West, or even
> better.
>
> Mr Jammeh, if you are reading this piece, I hope it
> would inspire you to
> realise the historical prudence to allow a much more
> democratic society in
> our land, so that our pride as a people and as a
> country will be restored.
>
> Be reminded that no one can really stop an idea
> whose time has come and,
> whether you like or not, the time has arrived for
> greater development and
> genuine democracy in the Gambia.
>
> Gambia L, sorry for boring to death, once more. I'll
> do better next time.
> And, as my good sister, Ndey Jobarteh, says:"the
> struggle continues!"
>
> Ebrima Ceesay,
> Birmingham, UK.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at
> http://www.hotmail.com
>
>
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William A. Njie
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