Demba
 
Koro Ceesay, my classmate at the Sixth Form, was abducted after the President left the country for Ethiopia. In such a situation, everyone finds his way home, and it was his immense misfortune to be the target of a reported conspiracy that snatched his young life away.
 
On this occasion, the briefing was raised by Sir Dawda himself. However, the critical question was why Hassan broke away. Once that happened, there was no chance of a briefing. If he was going to break away, he could at least have cleared that with his President.
 
Another question is of course why Sir Dawda would raise the briefing issue if it was not expected. Hassan has some explanation, albeit incredible, for the briefing issue, but his real difficulty lies in why he BROKE AWAY from the convoy in the manner he did. As to whether Hassan was less than truthful, that is a function of factual perspective, and I am clear that the objective fact speaks for itself. My reading of the situation is that both Hassan, and Sabally, knew that the national political weather was heavy with rumours of a coup. If he is to be believed, a former NSS security operative said  on Freedom that the rumour was all over the place. Former Education Minister Gama Badjie heard of it two weeks prior to July 22 as narrated by Hassan in Journey for Justice
 
I know we just entered the season for maslaha and nostalgia in this run-up to Labour Day. If you have the chance to chat Hassan on Gainako, ask him why he broke away from the convoy, and why in his view, Sir Dawda red flagged that incident.
 
 
 
LJDarbo
 
 
 

From: Demba Baldeh <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, 31 July 2013, 17:45
Subject: Re: [G_L] HASSAN JALLOW LAUNCHES BOOK IN ATLANTA, LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Thanks Lamin and Daffeh. This is really interesting and I would join you after this exchange in expecting that the Former Justice Minister will give more detail explanation on why he broke away from the convoy. I took his explanation of not having anything to brief the President or not knowing about it at face value as he narrated it in his book...

However, this gets me thinking even more on this issue and raises pertinent questions. Is it just common protocol that ministers need to be at the President's briefing or is it a legal requirement that the President is indeed briefed by the person who receives them at the airport? Secondly, are we then suggesting that the Justice Minister is less than truthful in his book when he indicated that he did not know anything about the coup rumors and or the protocol of attending the briefing?  Did Hassan in fact knew about the security risk and therefore decided to break away just as the VP might have known about the risk and decided to delegate the Minister to deputies him pretending to be in Farafenni? 

Most importantly guys, this got my mind thinking, could this be an opening chapter of explanation/investigation into the Mysterious disappearance from the airport and ultimate killing of the former Finance Minister the late Ousman Koro Ceesay?????? If breaking away from the Presidential convoy is serious to warrant an arrest by the Junta as LJD alluded to, could the late Minister have done the same and therefore was targeted by the Junta especially during their most vulnerable days????? 

Am just curious if this could possibly just possibly may have led to the Minister's death? May be security personnel who were part of the government or any government official for that matter could attest to the fact that Koro had equally broken away or attended the briefing as he was reported to have been at the airport. Interesting that no one has ever came out and explain what they knew about that ugly incident and brutal killing... any clues or possible relationship?????

Thanks 

Demba


On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 6:01 AM, Lamin Darbo <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Demba
 
Hassan did not offer any explanation as to why he broke away from the Presidential convoy, and this is extremely crucial as Sir Dawda red-flagged the matter in Kairaba.  If Hassan cannot explain this, and he did not in Journey for Justice, then his claim that  he "... did not have any clue of any security issues or incident at the airport until much later the next day after the coup" ... must be treated with complete suspicion. This particular protocol mishap is enmeshed with the serious issue of failure to brief, even where that briefing was to simply tell Sir Dawda what the Vice President said in the formal environs of State House.
 
Under normal circumstances, no Cabinet Minister of whatever rank would break away from a Presidential convoy, even if that President is the lenient and humane Jawara. On the facts as we now know them, if Hassan did this to the Professor, it would be up to the new rulers to release him from detention the next morning. In other words, and at the very least, he would be picked up and detained that very night. I urge you to look at this again and you may identify the yawning gaps in the narrative. Everyone in the government knew what was going on vis-à-vis the rumours in the air about a coup!
 
 
 
LJDarbo

From: Demba Baldeh <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Wednesday, 31 July 2013, 10:13
Subject: Re: [G_L] HASSAN JALLOW LAUNCHES BOOK IN ATLANTA, LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Daffeh,

Hope you will have the opportunity to read the book and as someone with legal background this would be an interesting read for you if you have not already... Ok, here is what the former Justice Minister explained in his book. In Chapter 1 page 17 paragraph 3 he states "Apparently it seems there were questions as to why I did not accompany the President to the State House and why I was not available for the supposed briefing at the same venue immediately after receiving him at the Banjul International airport" 

"On July 21st 1994, Saihou Sabally requested me to step in for him and receive the President at the Airport on arrival as, he told me he had to go to Farafeni to attend the funeral of a relative. That was how I came to receive Sir Dawda at the foot of the aircraft on that day. It is now established that Saihou Sabally was back in Banjul that night, or early morning and in his office in the morning of July 22nd 1994"

Apparently according to his narration the Justice Minister did not have any clue of any security issues or incident at the airport until much later the next day after the coup. 

According to Mr. Jallow "In the 10 years that I have had the honour and privilege to serve as Attorney General and Minister of Justice, I have not participated in or been aware of the practice of any mission briefings which follow immediately the President's return to the Gambia. When I was requested to receive Sir Dawda at the airport on 21st July 1994, I was advised neither by Saihou Sabally nor by the Office of the President nor by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that there would be such a briefing and that I was required to attend it. When my absence was noticed for the supposed briefing of 21st July, no one contacted me for find out why and to draw my attention to the need for my presence. I would of course have readily attended if so requested or directed" (Page 17/18)

"More significantly however is the fact that I had nothing to report to the President or to any such a briefing in any case. The substantive business of government was delegated by the President to Saihou Sabally; he was the only person who could brief the President in the respect given that my involvement had not been anything more than a mere protocol matterof receiving Sir Dawda at the airport" 

The rest of his narration can be read from the book!

This was the explanation the former Minister gave on why he did not brief the President. Whether people still have questions about why, what and when... I guess he can still be asked that question. If we are privilege we will bring a full interview with the Justice minister but for now that is what I was alluding to.

Hope that helps. I strongly recommend reading the book especially for legal minds and those interested in how the justice system worked in the Gambia and some land mark rulings...

Thanks

Demba



On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 6:16 PM, UDP United Kingdom <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Ok, what was his explanation?? We already know he was deputising for the Vice President at the Airport. So no fuss about that.However, he was there to perform the role of the VP and both the VP and the president had a legitimate expectation that he was going to deliver but did he?? Well not according to Jawara's account.

The whole point about deputising for somebody is actually to do the job he/she is suppose to do in that given event or circumstance. Hassan cannot therefore, turn around and say 'well that is the job of the VP', if that is what he said. Why did he agree to deputise for him then??    

Thanks
Daffeh


On Wednesday, 31 July 2013, Demba Baldeh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Mr. Jallow actually did explain in the book why he broke up with the convoy. In fact when I started reading it that was the part I was most interested in as well. He went into details as to why he was assigned to meet the President which was not customary for the Attorney General but that of the VP... The book I must say makes an incredible documentary of our justice system, land mark cases and how far we had strife for an independent justice system. The book is worth reading... 
>
> Demba
>
> On Tue, Jul 30, 2013 at 4:11 PM, UDP United Kingdom <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>> Father Mose, we also want to know why he (Hassan) broke off from Jawara's convoy from the airport on the 21st July 1994 after receiving him (Jawara) at the foot of the aircraft. Jawara complained of receiving no briefing from the Honourable Minister on his return from an overseas trip, and this is said to be at odds with existing protocol at the time.
>>
>> Thanks
>> Daffeh
>>
>> On Tuesday, 30 July 2013, Musa Jeng <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >
>> > HASSAN JALLOW LAUNCHES HIS BOOK: JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA LABOR DAY WEEKEND.
>> >
>> > As the old adage goes, where there is no justice, there will never be peace. Since the Gambia got its Independence from the British in 1965, under a questionable future – dubbed as the improbable nation, its viability was a concern to the international community, including the British. Justice or the “Journey for Justice” has been a critical component to the socio-political-economical evolution for this newly independent nation. Hassan Jallow, hailed from a religious family in the small village of Bansang was the Minister of Justice and Attorney General during a critical period of the Jawara government. There are lots of questions that most Gambians have as to the evolution of rule of law and justice in the Gambia, and in his book, Hassan Jallow has shed light to lots of issues and questions:
>> >
>> > In the eighties and early nineties, at the height of the political jockeying within the PPP players, Hassan Jallow was rumored to be prepared to replace Sir Dawda. Was this just a rumor?
>> > What happen in July 1994 when young soldiers high jacked the constitution, and forever changed the political landscape of the Gambia? How did it happen, and what role or lack thereof has the Minister of justice played. There were rumors that the Minister of Justice was offered to continue as the Justice Minister, was this true or just a rumor?
>> > There have been finger pointing that the PPP Government is responsible for the creation of the Jammeh/APRC rise to power. Is this a fair characterization of the PPP government?
>> > There has also been accusation that the PPP government not only over stayed, but the rule of law and justice, especially during the 1981 abortive coup of Kukoi Samba Sanyang was at its lowest, and undermined the touted reputation of the Jawara government as a government committed to the rule of law and justice.  Is this a fair categorization?
>> > What actually happen at the meeting in Mansakonko when president Jawara made his announcement to step down as the leader of the PPP?
>> > What is the real story behind the Senegambia Confederation?
>> > Finally, what does the future holds as to the Gambia’s journey for justice?
>> >
>> > Hassan Jallow, Minister of Justice under the Jawara government from 1984 to 1994, currently is the Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR), and Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UNMICT), will be in Atlanta, Georgia, this labor day weekend to launch his book and have a conversation with Gambians in the Diaspora. As we continue to seek and aspire for change in the Gambia, it is important to have these conversations with people who were there, and together we will find the pathway for peace, prosperity and justice in the Gambia. Labor Day in Atlanta this year will be a memorable one indeed.
>> >
>> > Date: September 1, 2013, Time: 7PM To 8:30PM
>> >
>> > Venue: Bukun Events Center, 320 Six Flags Drive – Suite 125, Austell, GA 30168
>> >
>> > Contacts: Banka Manneh: 678-457-8777, Musa Jeng: 404-824-0219, Sigga Jagne: 502-319-3767
>> >
>> > ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
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