Ginny Quick:

Thank you for your very kind words, and I’m glad that you enjoy reading my postings.  I also benefit from reading your contributions:  they are always well thought-through and perceptive.  You, like me and so many other contributors to the Internet, have the interests of The Gambia at heart.

On a personal note – I am well although very busy and still travelling a lot.  This leaves little time for writing on a regular basis.  I’ll try to contribute more often!

My writings, once they reach any audience, are entirely in the public domain and of course you can post up my articles on your blog etc.  Don’t trouble to ask – just use what you want.

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Momodou Sidibeh,

Your postings are always thought-provoking and we all learn a lot from you.  I agree that Senegalese officials are not blameless:  the implications of their actions were not thought about in any depth.  It was a big mistake to bring the documents to the direct attention of Jammeh, and put innocent people at risk. It would have been better for them to have exercised some restraint until they had assured themselves of the authorship of the documents.  With their highly sophisticated intelligence networks, it would have been better for them to have checked the veracity of the reports before going directly to the Gambian government.

The lesson is that we should all be careful:  in international politics, there are no permanent friends, just the serving of national interest.

I hope the forger learns an important lesson from all this:  the Senegalese know the identity of the person and could well make the name public.  He/She too should be careful about involving him/herself in such deceits in the future:  they serve no-one’s interests.

Not so long ago, some of Yahya Jammeh’s conversations about Senegal and President Wade in which he used highly inappropriate language and invectives were secretly recorded in Jammeh’s office.  The tape was then delivered into the hands of Senegal, and Senegalese officials passed the tape back to Yahya Jammeh himself.  Yahya now knows the identity of his secret record maker. (I am glad to say that the latter is not a Gambian, but a senior member of the rebel movement in Casamance who had had ties with Jammeh in the past, but decided to ally himself with the Senegalese government when he passed on the secret tapes).

Most governments are not mindful of individuals and their safety:  national interests take precedence over any other interests which may be at stake.

You are right that I do know the identity of the forger, and have been given specifics that leave no doubt in my mind.  However, I will await for further confirmation from other sources before naming names. As a journalist, I have always protected the identity of my sources as well as double-checking for accuracy and truth in their revelations before publicising them. 

How is Sweden?  I guess it must be getting cold there.  I did try calling you in Sweden a couple of years ago when I was staying with Ebrima Sall in Uppsala, but didn’t manage to reach you.

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Omar Joof,

Thank you for your comments and contribution.  Your articles are always impressive.

I agree with you that Yahya Jammeh has never been a democrat and that he has never shown any interest whatsoever in democracy.  I still remember back to the days of the transition 1994-96, when Jammeh publicly stated that all journalists and human rights activists should be buried six feet deep! 

I think it is highly unlikely that Yahya Jammeh is going to apologise to anyone for this, or any other error.  Let us pray however that he does release Hamat Bah, Halifa Sallah and OJ Jallow immediately, now that the original reasons for their arrest and detention are public knowledge.  These men are suffering because of one person’s lies and forgeries.

Each of them is a man of great stature and each has worked to his utmost to serve the best interests of The Gambia and Gambian citizens.  The same cannot be said for Yahya.

Eventually, Yahya Jammeh and Edward Singhateh will have to account in public for all their actions.

Senegalese government officials have told me that they consider Jammeh (and Singhateh) to be mentally unstable.  Some years back, one of President Abdoulaye Wade’s envoys met with Yahya and Edward at State House in Banjul, and in the meeting Jammeh complained about Senegalese troop movements to the various border points.  Jammeh told the envoy that if Senegal continued in this habit, then Gambia would "attack Senegal up to Dakar"!!

It became increasingly clear to the envoy (and the other Senegalese Government officials who were at the meeting) just how mentally disturbed Yahya Jammeh was, to believe that our small Gambian army could possibly launch a successful attack against our neighbour and reach Dakar! In a joking way, the official said to me on several occasions, "Ibou, God have mercy on your people for having a megalomaniac as a leader!"

You are right that indeed, the struggle does continue.

Ebrima Ceesay

Birmingham, UK.