Gainako Newspaper

There has been a lot of chatter lately, by Gambian voices
on the internet, about the food hardships being encountered
by Gambia's wretched populace and how its grossly inept
mass murderer Yahya Jammeh, gives not a whit about who
starves or who gets to scavenge or who feasts. The obvious
waste of talented commentary is enunciated by the fact that
the global food crisis is the topic du jour for most news outlets.

This phenomenon is not unique to our beloved country. Why give it saturated coverage at the expense
of more strategic concerns? While others, some journalists, politcal figures and intellectuals to be
exact, have been fretting about the price of commodities and opining on all forms of available media,
the butcher of Banjul has gone about willfully consolidating his influence base and gearing up for any
final assault on his monopoly on the reins of power. This avalanche while not impossible will likely not
materialize. Yahya Jammeh's opposition is in disarray and most tragically, too timid to match its
opponent in intensity.

The Achilles Heel of Gambia's exile and intellectual opposition is its wimpy insistence on decency and
civility in taking a stand counter to the insidious values the APRC gang has successfully gestated within
the confines of the small republic. Armed uprising is frowned upon, explicit language is implicitly and
unequivocally condemned and radical approaches to reform are distilled to the point of emasculation.
It could be said, with force of fact, that Gambia's people while universally admired for the gentler
nature of their beings, are cursed with a conscience that ties their own hands from freeing themselves
from the grips of an utterly contemptous and disgraceful dictator.

During the reign of the PPP cadre, the elite business class was totally complacent in its confidence that
their partners in ensuring the gravy train continuum, government insiders, would hold their end of a
Faustian bargain and aggressively protect them from usurpers. To behold the workings of a rich
household circa 1987 was to get a crash course on decadence and entitlement. State coffers were
siphoned to protect profligate tycoons, the priviledged class was oblivious to the sneers and envy of
the less empowered among them and lived their eveyday, opulent lives like a never ending fairy tale.
So long as they threw left overs to the appreciative peons straggling at the lowest rungs of society,
went to Meccca and obeyed the time honored dance of political patronage, the status quo would
indeed hold against all odds thought the old regime players. Not even the close call of a botched
putsch in 1981 hardened their resolve to hold on to power at all costs. They paid for the lapse by their
unceremonious and coerced abdication 13 years later. They trusted the gentler nature of Gambians to
a fault. They took us for granted.

Enter the bloodthirsty Jammeh outfit that sashayed into office, guns firmly held onto, with idealistic
promises of a return to a more equitable society albeit one that actually never existed. Their rhetoric
was soaring, their young dreams inspired many but underneath it all, their criminal mastermind, Yahya
Jammeh, knew he could not trust the goodwill of the people if he wanted to hold on to power for a
while. So he rearranaged the contours of power within the administration to suit his thirst for supreme
control, he got rid of perceived rivals at the hint of slighest trouble and forced Gambians to face a
reality that they were not taught while under the auspices of the Jawara government: that life was
nasty, brutish and short and if they wanted a longer existence span than most would expect, they
better fall in line or else. Gambians at home have no choice. Their Catch-22 is being endured with
clenched teeth and slightly bowed heads. This stench of evil is alien to them. How they wished they
had someone or other fighting for them. How they wish this would end.

The Gambian opposition and its intellectual, artisan and professional class was supposed to be the
knight in shining armor for all afflicted by the blight that is Yahya Jammeh's embarassing misrule. They
have failed in heart rending ways to make a positive mark or difference in the stagnant plight of the
suffocating nation. They have resorted to self censorship, refusal to sacrfice the luxury of their locales
for a prominent role in the struggle to recapture the hope that is being strangled out of our nation and
most annoyingly, back pedalled from entering action with boldness by employing the mechanisms of
networks, media, organization, and aggressive funding to thwart the plans of a sinsiter dictatorship to
drape every inch of our land under its defiled, blood soaked and unholy flag. The Gambian exiles with
all their potential cannot mount an effective opposition movment against a dumb regime even though it
has the immense technological wherewithal to do so. For 10 dark years, Gambia's opposition has
retreated from taking the most difficut part to resisting Yahya Jammeh. Their biggest excuse: we, all
Gambians, need to carry a moderate conversation about how to advance the cause of freedom back
home without resorting to groundbreaking measures that might rock the boat.

It is these effeminate calls for moderation and "dialogue" that the likes of Bubacarr Sankanu, his new
cohort Ebou Conteh and some Gambian journalist resort to when cornered with ideas different from
their entrenched, lazy and woefully conservative approaches to the Gambian impasse. For the likes of
Cherno Baba Jallow et al, the bigger enemy is journalism. They would rather covertly attack a fellow
media member for perceived lack of standards than cajole the Daily Observer for its court jester
proclamations on behalf of king Yahya Jammeh. As I see it, any form of expression outside the
confines of Gambia so long as it aims to expose the ignoble deeds of a petty thief of state passes the
standard of journalistic ethics because at least we know the source of iinformation has not succumbed
to the ravages of propaganda. If anyone remembers well, the New York Times was duped by
intelligence sources in the prelude to the Iraq war of 2003 and has more or less apologized for its
stance and worked non-stop to recoup its reputation by publishing thorough investigative pieces on
the ineptitude of how the war is being run. So Sankanu and Cherno Baba Jallow and Ebou Conteh, if
even the New York Times has flashed unflattering instances of bad judgment and myopia, it behooves
me to ask: what makes you think Freedomnewspaper, Gainako or AllGambian.net are immune from
the vagaries and fluidity of print journalism?

There are other media outlets that allot their precious commentary space for only a select and boring
few. The same old clique keeps writing in the same old manner. Infact, one of these publishers has a
penchant for hosting his confessed admirer Bubacar Sankanu at the expense of views contrary to that
of Gambia's pretender to the throne of all things good in journalism. Which brings me to the fate of
Fatou Jaw Manneh. This is a case for catharsis amongst journalists. Ms. Jaw Manneh's case should
be aggressively and skillfully converted into a cause celebre of not only the fate of freedom of
expression but about the plight of Gambian society in general. Instead, disparate, atomistic and
uncoordinated moves characterize the haphazard direction that Gambia's overall opposition has taken.
Every faction is bent on self-aggrandizement and in doing so, fails to recognize the need to lose petty
battles but win the important war of taking back our country from a dangerous madman. Of all figures
in history of resistance to the APRC, Fatou Jaw Manneh (with the exception of Deyda Hydara) is the
most admirable, the most courageous and the most potent symbol of what could be. She is an
absolute hero to all that harbor a smidgen of optimism in the fate of The Gambia. All of us are
minnows compared to this gallant lady, the Athena of African journalism.

So what will the endgame be between us, the opposition, and them, the APRC? If the Jammeh junta is
allowed to elongate its rule and in doing so come to deceptively believe that only it is worthy of
administering a beloved country that is equally owned by all Gambians, we will be the ones to blame
for the tragic delusion and the subsequent disasters that ensue. If however we signal to the home
government that we are fed up with the denial of liberty for all, if we let it be known that we demand
decency and respect in how our loved ones are treated in our absence and if we announce in stark
terms that we will leave no stone unturned, no alliance unexplored and no means considered in
overthrowing the yoke that a hideously bloated burden the APRC tyranny that Yahya Jammeh's deeds
have created, then maybe the excesses of the present will be scaled back in the name of love of
country above all and maybe after all these years, Gambian decency and the gentler nature of our
beings will still win out.

author contact gambiaswatchman@gmail.com

...........The Chronicles of Bai Peul
........THE WEBSITE
............................By Momodou Laama Jallow.......May 13th, 2008
" Some people wonder, how will Bai Peul sustains the grueling task of working and running a website, when his
suspected manic depression is known to have on few occasions led to a near nervous breakdown if not total
meltdown. How with Bai Peul's over inflated ego will he ever allow any meaningful on-line dialogue? How with
his well-documented paranoia will Bai Puel ever overcome his demons or the myriad of conspiracies he
perceives to be lurking at every corner, in every nocks and cranny?
Summer 2006, in the beautiful city of Waleigh there was a barbecue party at
the popular "Yoo-Hooo" Inc complex. A small crowd of Gambians were in
attendance to witness the launching of Bai Peul's website "Gambia Okat".
His recent foray into cyber space, the world wide web generally refers to as
the "Internet". Bai Puel dressed in an expensive white linen shirt, nice khaki
shorts and some brown alligator shoes, was looking good for the occasion.
His large sweaty face beaming with excitement.

This is the latest episode in Bai Peul's series. A website, whose name was meditated on for weeks by
his renowned marabous all the way from Mali and their prognostics, has been very good. He is told
by the soothsayers that "Gambia Okat" will not only bring fame and fortune, but will even bring
immortality. Although a couple of years late in the game and by some accounts a little old for an arena
that is increasingly becoming the domain of generation X, but he is not here to play catch-up. Bai Puel
is here to make "Gambia Okat" the premier website, the CNN of the Gambia.

Amidst the sizzling barbecue grills, toped with prime ribs coated with delicious southern barbecue
sauce, and cold drinks, Bai Puel began his speech. First of all, he began "I am sorry that my good
friends Dr. "Cho-Pan" and Dr. "Am-Faida" could be not here with me today but I wish to thank the
good people of Waleigh for gracing my historic day. I formally announce the launching of "Gambia
Okat". At this moment I have already dispatched Press Releases to all the major papers in the
Gambia alerting them of my Internet presence. I am now putting everyone on notice that from now on
no story will go unpublished; every crime will be investigated and reported. That all those goons who
think they will rule my country with impunity better think again. For at this moment my reporters have
been dispatch to all four corners of my beloved country. Now that Gambia Okat is fully operational, I
will, with my sharp journalistic instincts, my Sherlock Holmes's detective skills, and mastery of the
English language, investigate the half-billion dalasis stolen from the GPMG, the disappearance of over
20,000 Gambians since 1994, the disappearance and reappearance of Gambia's strategic crude oil,
and the alleged secret nuclear weapons program complex buried deep in Njambarat forest. Also
using 3 x 2 matrixes, explain why I think the ignoble Dr. Jissy Jissy, Dr. Zombat, Dr. Kakatarr, should
rule my country.

I would also like to, before I forget; thank the man, the technical guru behind the design and
development of Gambia Okat. For those that do not know he is also my brother. I have appointed
myself "Editor-in-Chief" and from now on wish to be address as such. On the advice of my Public
Relation Firm "Kor Jegnyi" I have commission Felix Panoramic Studio to take me a series of
professional pictures to be posted on "Gambia Okat" every week. This I am told would project
confidence and strength of character and better yet show my critics that Bai Puel means business.
"Boy Melah"! Someone yelled, He paused, a huge smile came across is face and calmly nod his
head.

Throughout the evening, people ate and discussed. Occasionally Bai Peul would yell to some of the
smaller kids present "Sumaraka", "Ndoke" and asked if they are having a good time. While he
pontificates, many of the guests now oblivious to the rest of his speech were talking about mundane
issues. As the evening wind down, a few of the guest would shake his hands to congratulate and wish
him good luck. Others while shaking his hand would whisper cautionary advice in his ears about the
dangers of the Internet. By and large all agreed that Bai Peul's party if not for lack substance is a very
good barbecue. As an expert cook, he prides himself in using the best. Prime rib is his favorite and the
grills were churning enough of these juicy delicious ribs.

After the party many wonder if the recent accolades being showered to the proprietor of the newly
established "Freedom -for-all-Newspaper" have anything to do with Bai Peul sudden hyperventilation.
That like a man awakens from a deep slumber; he is suddenly acting with such fierce urgency. Some
wonders if the recent migraine headache he has been having has anything to do with the presence of
this man who without a doubt has substantially increased the buzz on the Internet and is now receiving
rave reviews amongst Gambians all over the world. How the talk of Freedom this... and Freedom
that...�, has become part of the staple of Gambian internet diet, and how after over a decade of
parading himself as the " Top dog" of Gambian journalism to the people of Waleigh, Bai Peul, is
suddenly exposed, find to be redundant, perhaps a relic of a by gone era. And now thanks to the
ingenuity of his brother, his good brother all this is about to change, he mused!

Others upon learning that Bai Puel has already broken two keyboards while trying to type the simple
words "Editor in Chief", laments what he is about to do rest of the alphabet. While they fell sorry for
the poor keyboards, they fear more for the liberal Gambian Internet community that he is about to
invade. An invasion, the likes that have not been seen since Hannibal's assault on the Roman Empire
centuries ago. But unlike the great Carthaginian general, Bai Peul will not loot and pillage he will
instead serenade his captives with his large repertoire of English language to improve their vocabulary.

After all "What is the use of my knowledge, if I can't share it with the whole of mankind" He asked? In
some twisted way Bai Peul sees himself as a 21st century "Jihadist" out to propagate his infinite
knowledge to the millions of masses hungry for his wisdom. The Internet will be the perfect vehicle to
carry his sermons. Privately he has already told his closest friends to grab the first available dictionary,
preferably (Cambridge advanced learner's dictionary) from the nearest bookstores before it is too
late. For people will definitely have to open a dictionary for every single word he writes.

Still, others wonder, how will Bai Peul sustains the grueling task of working and running a website,
when his suspected "manic depression" is known to have on few occasions led to a near nervous
breakdown if not total meltdown. How with Bai Peul's over inflated ego will he ever allow any
meaningful on-line dialogue? How with his well-documented paranoia will Bai Puel ever overcome his
demons or the myriad of conspiracies he perceives to be lurking at every corner, in every nocks and
cranny?

.Echoes of a Pending Game
...................................By Ebrima Conteh.......................May 13th, 2008
All across the Diaspora
The Scorpions are gearing for a game
Spoke to a learned man name Saine
Found out our thoughts are the same

Far across the Atlantic
Gearing for the same game
PK Jarju is busy beefing about the home game
I said to him are you game
He replied together we in this game

All seeing eyes of Freedom and Echo refuse to sleep
Gainako and Senegambia wants to take this deep
STGDP wakes from a sleep
Karamba said the struggle for the Gambia is a keep

Do you hear echoes of the pending game
The struggle for the Gambia is a big game
My brothers are you game
I know I am game

..................................................................NEWS
THE PRESIDENT'S DIALOGUE WITH THE
.......PEOPLE'S TOUR REVIEWED;
.........Why Is The Tour Cut Short?
...................................By Solo......May 12th, 2008
The President Alhagie Dr. Yahya Jammeh's 8th day of tour in the
provinces was reviewed by the GRTS. According to Mr Kebba Dibba
of the GRTS, who followed the president on his tour said the tour cannot
be separated from politics because the issue is always cropping up during
the tour.

Mr. Dibba said the issue of high food prices is always coming up. He said
president Jammeh said he has put in very good policies and programs but
they have not succeeded as planned or have not been bearing fruits.. This
is why he said the president calls on the people to go back to the land; that
prices continued to go up despite the good policies that are put in place.

Interestingly enough, Mr. Dibba reported that the president has also given subsidies to the farmers but
as he said that too did not bring the food prices down.

What is however clear is that it is against the IMF policies which the Jammeh regime accepts and
signed that bar the Government from giving subsidies to farmers. So as far as the reports are
concerned, the Jammeh regime has neither answers to the food crisis nor any solutions to the plight of
the ordinary people. So to say that the government has given subsidies to the farmers is most
surprising to many an enlightened observer. In fact the president said on the 7th day of the tour that he
does not want anyone to tell him about the rising price of food; that he is tired of hearing that and all he
can say is for people to go back to the land.

The state however needs to come out clear and clarify whether that statement is correct or not.
People are also expecting the opposition to ask for clarification as to whether the state is giving any
subsidy to the farmers or has it defaulted the agreement with the IMF and the World Bank.

According to Kebba Dibba, Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara also addressed a large gathering at Katamina in
Niamina District where a water project has been initiated and praised president Jammeh that no one
should call Jammeh a dictator because he has submitted himself to the Gambian people; that he
Juwara has joined Jammeh for development. GRTS Kebba Dibba also said he has observed during
the mass rally in Soma that one man who followed president Jammeh with ill intentions eventually fell
down ostensibly because of Jammeh's supernatural powers.

If Kebba Dibba's report is anything to go by, then the Jammeh government is very much concerned
about the reports emanating from Gambia's online papers. He said people should not believe in
reports presented by the online papers. Many Gambians see it as a blessing that technology has
availed them with alternative news different from what the Jammeh regime deliberately and forcefully
bombard them with in the national media directly financed by their tax money. Many show it as an
abuse of power.

However the president is said to have cut short his tour because he was to attend the International
Women's Day but the president was nowhere to be seen during the celebrations which was turned
into an APRC gathering in which the state provides Ashobi uniforms in Green color, the color of the
ruling party to the women folk.

.CRY NO MORE FARMERS
...OF MY FATHERLAND
.............By Kebba Sanneh (Nyanchor) Stockholm, Sweden................May 12th, 2008
Farmers of The Gambia, your days are coming and that day no one would dare insult you again. You
deserve the respect of the nation that you feed. You deserve the respect due to men and women of
dignity. The Gambia would remain faithful and loyal to you. Rude and ungrateful people in the skin of
Jammeh could not smear your bright and shining endeavours.

It was meet the farmers tour by the head of state but Jammeh and his criminal cartels are running
around the country in manner suitably called gather the people and insult them tour. I would and may
clearly demonstrate that we as Gambians must be a little more careful when dealing with a man that is
so unstable, half baked literate, full of anger germinated from his own sociologically and
psychologically complexed childhood life. Rejected, forgotten and mattered less than any child with
love of parents, Jammeh believes he could compensate for the lost time and attention due to any child.
Jammeh thinks he could become a parent and father not only to his Nar son but to the entire family of
his and that in his rotten brains is the Gambia. Jammeh would be surprised and he would feel
abandoned and betrayed by the same people whom he dared open his big mouth and insult and scare.

Psychologists and sociologist for a very long time have devoted their lives and carriers to diagnose
men in the nature of Jammeh, dug and dug deeper to substantiate their claims and findings in order to
give correct analyses in the sudden anger and mind change of these deprived people. Jammeh is sick
and he is a pot that indeed has been boiling over for a decade now, and undoubtedly he dirties no one
else but himself and his future. Time will tell and will tell it as it is and that is when Jammeh would be
woken up from his nightmares or dreams and fantasies of curbing and subduing the gallant and proud
people of the Gambia. We would always give fools long ropes knowing very well that they would
ultimately hang themselves at the end. If President Jammeh's father, Junkung Jammeh became a sub
regional play boy by being the Casanova father of a deranged man in the flesh of Jammeh, so let
Jammeh blamed his mother Asombi Bojang who was seduced by the champion wrestler and Jammeh
became the product. The Gambia and the people would not trade insults with Jammeh because they
know that they brought him up and they can bring him down at the time of their choosing.

Those criminals and academic and intellectual prostitutes that are hell bent on keeping this insanity
going on for this long must be reminded that their cheap and easy lifestyles that this wicked and
senseless man introduced them to at the expense of the Gambian people, would come to be tested on
the high seas of the democratic and progressive force that is just behind the current waves of injustice
and total cruelty and lack of mercy in our country. There would be calls for those who in one way or
they other meted and inflicted harm on our people. They would be called to testify against the Pharaoh
of Kanilai who claimed to be the god of our people. This shameless and fatherless child who roamed
around with his accomplices from all ethnic groups in the Gambia, insulting and threatening our
freedom and cherished way of life would be held responsible for the menace and lawlessness in the
country.

It is indeed high time, time of responsibility and selfless struggle to set the people of the Gambia free. It
would take not one to accomplish this heavy duty task but it must be bored in our minds, firm and
strong that our ultimate freedom and way forward could only be realised when we can take political
blows that red our noses but vow to fight back to restore the dignity and widen respect lost under this
decade of misrule and totalitarianism. I have said it before and again I wish to emphasise that, I
NYANCHOR of the offsprings of the great Kabu empire would not rest and would not give up hope,
will not compromise and is dedicated to fighting this evil until it is finally destroyed and contained. The
will of our silent majority, which is the total freedom and liberty of our people, would not be
surrendered to a deranged man of no parental brought up. I have no reason to hide or surrender to
people who have no respect for the poor farmers of the Gambia among whom I began my life and
certainly wish to end it with. I will say as it is and let the bigot come to his defence. Jammeh would
learn the wrath of our people just as he dirtied himself in our sea of hospitality that we granted him in
abundance. This Godless and shameless Billy- goat would kneel down and beg for mercy when we
knock on his door. There would be no place to hide and no place to run. True sons of the Gambia
would liberate The Gambia, not unruly guests from across the southern border. Gambia belongs to the
Gambians and not Jammeh the Psycho pant.

..................................................NEWS
...GAMBIANS IN NORTH CAROLINA
......LAUDED FOR THEIR EFFORT
.........................By Courtesy of the Observer......................May 12th, 2008
The University of The Gambia (UTG), on Monday received 90
cartons of Bio-medical text books worth to 70,000 US Dollars,
from the United State African Development Foundation (USADF),
a charitable organisation in United State.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Dr Gumbo Ali Touray,
Director of International Affairs and Information UTG, said that,
these medical books are extremely valuable for the School of
Medicine and other affiliated bodies.

On behalf of UTG, Dr Touray registered their appreciations and gratitude to USADF and Dr Ahmad
Rufai Abdallah the president of USADF in making this donation possible. He also extended
appreciation to the Gambian community in North Carolina being coordinated by Dr Cherno Jaye for
devoting their time and money to assist their national university. �UTG needs all this support and
assistance to make it a viable university,� he oulined.

For his part, Dr Cherno Jaye, a member of UNADF, said that his organisation�s mission is to narrow
the gap on both side of the Atlantic in terms of partnership in the sectors of health, science and
technology. �I spoke to the president of the need for the medical text book to be sent to the UTG and
we reach to the conclusion of bringing these medical books, here in the Gambia with the help of
Gambians in North Carolina, USA�, he disclosed.

He added that the books are purposely for the students. He urged them to make good use of it and
try to apply what they learn from the book and it will obviously contribute to the quality of the people
and the society.

Bully Camara, president of UniGaMSA thanked the donors and called on others to emulate such an
initiative
....TEMPERATURE TOO
... HIGH FOR COMFORT
............................By Solo, Banjul correspondent....May 10th, 2008
Reports reaching this reporter spoke of very high temperatures in the
provinces mainly the Central River Region (CRR) and the Upper River
Region (URR) of the the Gambia.

According to a concerned residents in Basse and environs, temperatures
on Sunday 4th May, 2008 have exceeded 45oCelsius / 113 o Fahrenheit
in the URR; that people have observed that birds like bats and chameleons
have been seen falling down from trees which they attribute to the
unbearable temperatures.

Asked how he knows that the temperature is up to 45oC, he said an overseas volunteer who has a
thermometer with him told them about it.

It has been observed by the weather forecasters over Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS)
during the period that temperatures have been fluctuating between 20 and 35oC in the Coastal areas
and 26oC and above in the Inland areas of the Gambia.

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