Gainako Newspaper

M.L. Drammeh Rejoined: "Louise Friend is Right on the Ethics of Online Papers"

I cannot agree more with Louis Friend's remarks about our online "newspapers"
and "journalist". I have said it over and over that journalism is a profession not a
hobby. I have lost count of how many times I feel embarrassed and sickened
after reading the online "newspapers" and any reasonably sane person will feel
the same.

Mathew K. Jallow wrote in a recent piece that "Journalism rules against censorship are not
etched in stone; instead censorship is an integral part of the profession of journalism.
Grounds for censorship may include, but not limited to; lack of substantive value, libelous
information, mischaracterization of facts, and the potential damage to the integrity of
persons, especially persons not in a position to defend themselves. Everyone is entitled to the
defense of his or her character, and every news outlet has an obligation to never damage the
integrity of anyone. There is a clear line between what is real worthy news and what
sensational tabloid news is, and that line should never be confused or crossed".

The above statement regarding ethics of professional journalism practices further contradicts the
constant practices of our so called "journalists" including Mathew himself, and "newspapers". It
goes further to not only described the exact practice of Mathew and some of the online
"journalists" and "newspapers" but also a clear manifestation of the deliberate engagement of these
persons and institutions in knowingly misleading readers for whatsoever reasons best known to
them. If the statement of ethics you mentioned above is applicable, and practiced, then I honestly
wonder how on earth some of your writings were able to gain the approval of any credible and sane
editor to be published. Or may be unfortunately, the rules don't apply to you.

Your quest to promote and advocate tribalism has unsurprisingly not only failed to gain momentum,
but further raises more questions about your credibility. Gambians are naturally bound together by
blood and that won't and can't be changed no matter how determined you are to manipulate your
way through. This is the twenty first century, and Gambians are aiming higher than anyone can
measure. We simply cannot allow to be dragged into unrealistic and unproductive endeavors. It is
time you realize that intellectual arrogance in any form will not be condoned.

You are the co-editor of the very online newspaper, which reported that Republic of Senegal was
planning to attack your own country, The Gambia. That story was nothing but a deliberate,
irresponsible, and unprofessional act aimed at spreading false information thereby raising alarm and
fear amongst your innocent fellow citizens both at home and abroad. Even though the story was not
directly written by you, it was published on a medium you have close professional ties and
responsibility. Phone lines were virtually crashed due to the high volume of calls to the beloved
motherland by those of us at the Diaspora in quest for credible answers.

You even went further in one of your recent writings to invite a foreign nation (Senegal) to intervene
militarily to end the present government in your own country and that would be morally justifiable in
your view. I urge you to please revisit history and learn for your self what effects and consequences
such incursions as the ones you are suggesting have on innocent victims. You have all rights to
disagree with the government in place, but that does not warrant harboring hostile wishes and
intentions for your own country. Your credibility and your cohorts' have been further questioned and
you owe The Gambia all but the instigation of violence and unrest by any means whatsoever under
any circumstances. After all, what do you and your cohorts gain from such irresponsible practices?

Momodou Lamin Drammeh
Raleigh, North Carolina,

Editors note: It is Gainako's humble belief that practicing journalists must hold themselves to the
same high standard they expect from the rest of the citizenry. While we serve as checks and
balances on the regime and the conduct of public officials, we must be prepared to set clear
examples of ethical and unbiased reporting. We cannot hold Jammeh's feet to the fire, only to turn
around and behave the same way. "Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones".
Therefore, readers must hold us accountable to every story we report. You are our audience, and
therefore should hold us accountable when we say one thing and do another. The era of
irresponsible reporting is over. There is just too much price to pay…

.....................STOP PRESS:
JOURNALIST LAMIN FATTY RELEASED AS
.......GPU - GAMBIA PAID HIS FINE
..............................Posted......... June 6th, 2007

Reliable sources from our Banjul correspondence has informed Gainako that
Journalist Lamin Fatty has been released from Jail following the payment of his
50,000 dalasis fine by the Gambia Press Union.

The entire media fraternity in the Gambia termed the conviction of
fatty as a test case. Many feels that since the government of Yaya Jammeh
have succeded in this case, many other journalist would soon likly be charged
and convicted. However other journalist see it as a futherence in the
undemocratic nature of the Yaya Jammeh rule.

Gainako wishes to congratulate the Gambia Press Union for taking steps in freeing Journalist Fatty.
We celebrate the final release of Journalist Lamin Fatty and wish him all the best in his reunion with
his wonderful family.

It is indeed encouraging to see the media fraternity pulling together to secure the much needed
freedom of one of our colleagues. It shows how much our unity and strength can accomplish under
such brutal systems. We hope and pray that this is the begining of a strong unity among the press to
stand against the regime's continous suppression of press freedom. Our colleagues in other media
outlets like the Daily Observer must understand that aligning themselves with the regime would not
serve an imunity for them. What goes round comes round and it is only a matter of time before they
fall victim to the same authoritative regime.

............JOURNALIST
LAMIN FATTY GETS ONE YEAR
.....................By Yero Jallow, Staff writer……Posted June 6th, 2007

In a rather unsurprising move, Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing Court
sentenced Journalist Lamin Fatty of the closed Independent Newspaper to pay
D50, 000.00 or in default serve one year in prison.

Talking to Gainako, external GPU’s Secretary General Mr. Pa Samba Jow
expressed dissapointment over the whole verdict.

“This is another outrage. It clearly shows to what extent the Government of Yahya Jammeh
will go to trample on people’s rights.” Mr. Jow frowned. When Gainako quizzed Mr. Jow as to
what help the external GPU will give to Mr. Fatty, he said “I will consult other members.”

In another good gesture Gainako’s editor, Mr. Demba Baldeh ask all patriotic citizens to move
forward to meeting our colleague’s sentence cost.

It is to be remembered that Journalist Lamin Fatty’s legal trouble started when he reported the
involvement of Samba Bah former interior minister on the alleged coup in March 2006. Once this
error was realized and that the actual Samba Bah involved was a a member of Gambia National
Army, a rejoinder was published to clarify the matter.

This paper is reliably informed that the GPU in the Gambia is actively participating to see Mr. Fatty
freed. Until late Tuesday evening there was no official statement from his associates at the
Independent, namely Baba Galleh Jallow, Alagi Yoro Jallow and Abdoulie Sey.

To view more pictures of Journalist Lamin Fatty and other journalist in the Gambia click here

.........................A Book Review
.Made in The Gambia
.........................By Foday Samateh.......................Posted June 5th, 2007

...Title: Homegrown
.- The Student Experience of a Unique Canada-Africa University Program.
...A Memoir: Momodou Sabally Publisher: AuthorHouse (2007)

The opening two sentences of "Homegrown," originally published as
"Janji Jollof," read: "'I have been directed to expel you from the program!"
the voice thundered into my ears. A brief, uneasy silence ensued as my
colleagues and I stared at the permanent secretary of the Ministry of
Education."

Could it have been said better? In the realm of the possible, we can say a doubtful maybe. But
within the confines of the thinkable, it is doubtless the perfect. In spite of its brevity, the scene in the
office of the Permanent Secretary introduces the principal theme of the story, the conflicts and the
tensions of the drama, power as a role, the challenges and, yes, a sense of fear of unsolicited
consequences. Putting together the Permanent Secretary's exclamatory exercise of authority as,
supposedly, harbinger of the higher-ups; the ringing horror of his words into the vulnerable ears of
the author; and the collective arrested stare with which he and his fellow students greet the shocking
message of the government bureaucrat, "Homegrown" has from the very start successfully fulfilled
the condition of memoir as a literary form that embeds the state of society in a personal story. Of
course, it is needless to add that the perspective is at the mercy of the author's point of view.

But more than professing credibility, Sabally looks up to the audience in many instances as priest to
whom he must perform the solemn duty of confessing his troubles, doubts, faults, misjudgments and
needs. At the actual beginning of the story in terms of chronological sequence, he watches time offer
everything but opportunity. Out of school and without a job, he hangs out with fellow daydreamers
begging with earnestness some magic moment for a flight into the bliss of the West. He begins his
narrative from the doldrums of his life-story with a deliberate intent. We know that progression is not
only a mathematical concept even though it goes by the name arc in the world of metaphors.
Upward mobility is his only path from the concave of hopelessness to the convex of his dreams. But
dreams (including university education) at this point exist only in mere wishful thinking for him and
most Gambian youths.

Then the University Extension Program (UEP) materializes thanks to the tripartite collaborative effort
of the Nova-Scotia Gambia Association, the St. Mary's University in Canada, and the Gambia
Government. This is a historic landmark that would be the foundation for the nation's first (and only)
university. Sabally is overwhelmed with a born-again hope when he is admitted as a pioneer in this
international experiment derided and dismissed by no shortage of skeptics, critics and doomsayers in
the country.

In spite of his enthusiasm, climbing the metaphoric arc proves nothing like the smooth and
predictable linear progression of mathematics, his major. Unlike his fellow students, he is accepted
into the program without the faintest of hopes for a government scholarship. There is his
hardworking mother, who has done menial jobs to support her orphaned five children and could not
wait for her last-born and best hope to land a job after his completion of sixth form in high school.
She would not hear of any further education, because its potential benefits are too distant to her
immediate needs. She even goes out of her way to help him find a job as a youth officer at the
Department of Youths and Sports. And there are other forms of "challenge," a word he and his
classmates more often substituted with the disproportionately hyperbolic synonym "struggle:" an
obvious lexical behemoth that, if it serves any purpose, truly measures the elastic exuberance of their
youthful self-importance, self-assertiveness, self-idealization, and over-seriousness. The struggle
almost leads to their expulsion from the program.

There are many high and memorable moments too. His mother finally comes around the idea of
university education. He routinely deputizes for his boss, a divisional commissioner, at youth forums.
His classmates become joke-cracking buddies, who also variously offer him helping hand during
very difficult times. There are inspiring professors, Canadians as well as Gambians, who love doing
what they do. And there is the highlight moment of student union presidency that earns him the
privilege to deliver the graduate student convocation speech. The speech he uses to lambaste the
skeptics and critics with the credentials of their success. It would also be the speech that puts him on
national spotlight, sends him to an international youth conference in Taiwan, and paves his way to the
Central Bank as an economist-statistician.

His candor in telling his most depressing and joyous moments, his innermost doubts and emotional
outbursts; his full disclosure of the support and favor of others are not only admirable, but make him
a credible and an honest writer. Publicists create heroes; flatters make angles; and writers construct
humans.

The Bard of Avon asks the world: "What stuff are dreams made of?" Sabally's answer in
"Homegrown" includes the luck of opportunity, the willingness to succeed, the readiness to face the
obstacles, and most importantly, a goal born of clarity and conviction. Would he finally listen to his
mother that he has enough academic education? The answer: He is currently pursuing a master's
degree in Economics in Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, US.

....FREAKY JOE
.....STORMS SEATTLE
.........By Demba Baldeh Seattle, Editor & Political commentator...................June 4th, 2007

Seattle: Becoming one of the most favorite cities for West African artists,
Seattle was once again on Saturday June 2nd, a host to one of Gambia’s most
talented young artist Singateh aka Freaky Joe. Singateh and his group of
fellow young aspiring artists stormed Seattle with an electrifying performance
at the Fraternal Order of Eagles hall in Lynnwood Washington.

Hundreds of Gambians and their American friends turned out in large numbers to
witness the display of magnificent musical show from these young multi-musical
talents from the Gambia, West Africa. If there was any doubt that Gambian
youths like Freaky Joe are making history in revolutionizing the role of art
and music in Gambian society, one only need to stop at one of his explosive
nights to finally acknowledge that history is in the making in West African
music revolution.

The twenty five (25) year old Singateh, a born native of Bansang the Gambia, is unbelievably single
handedly putting the Gambia on the musical map of the world just like Akon did for our sister
country Senegal. Singateh, hardly visible in the crowd because of his little over five (5) feet size is a
musical fire brand, and his voice will leave you with no choice put to jump on your feet and sweat it
off with him.

Caught up with Gainako’s Editor, Singateh expressed his profound gratefulness and appreciation for
Gambians’ unconditional support for his music and efforts to insight culture of love for our own
brand of music. He called on Gambian entrepreneurs to invest in the music industry and promote our
own young talent. “As for me, I cannot complain because am always on Gambia TV and bill
boards, which promotes my music across the country” said a calm and humble Freaky Joe.

Asked how he got into music, Singateh said, “I have always love music and I wanted to use
music to communicate the message of peace and reconciliation to society. I believe music
carries a special message delivered in the form of entertainment to the fans” He was motivated
to sing his first music song to brokered a peace deal between the students of his Alma Mata Gambia
High School and their rival St. Augustine’s High School. The long rivalry between the two
competing schools led to a catastrophic violence during the 2001 interhouse sports competition
which resulted in the death of three students.

Singateh young as he was, decided to compose a song he called “Reconciliation” which was
played at a reconciliation party between the two schools. Ever since that song was released, the two
schools have competed in a spirit of brotherhood without letting their emotions escalate into
senseless violence and destruction of lives. This was the beginning of young singateh’s full fledge
motivation into using the art of music to educate, inspire, and communicate positive messages to the
youths and society in general.

When asked about why Gambians love to listen to foreign music more than their own? An emotional
singateh expressed his growing frustration on the lack of exposure and promotion of our own home
grown music. “When I visited Freetown in Sierra Leone, there was constant local music on
their airwaves and Television all day and night. After listening to that music all day, one
become used to the local music and as a result begins to love and embrace his own talent.”
He further opined that this is what is missing in our Gambian society, as there are only five (5) radio
stations, which only play music on Saturdays most of which is from foreign artists.

Speaking on the need for Gambians to come together to promote development through music and
sports, singateh said, “Unity is Strength and we should love, support, and be there for each
other as my success will lead to the success of others and our nation as a whole”. He further
emphasized that music promoters should be working together as well to jointly promote the talent
pool and encourage the young ones to come forward and explore their talents.

Asked by Gainako’s Editor whether he ever thought about composing another reconciliation song
between the Gambia government and its citizens in the Diaspora? Singateh,said, “I have not
thought about it, but now that you brought it up, I might consider it.” He urged all gambians to
work together to bring positive development to our nation. Those of us in the arts of music will
continue to spread a message of peace and solidarity. We serve as good will ambassadors and will
always represent the positive image of our beloved nation the Gambia.

Singateh concluded the conversation by appealing to Gambians to continue to work hard and be
proud of what belongs to them. He urges all those who know people in Europe to tell them about his
impending first tour of Europe in July and August of this year. He will be visiting London, Sweden
and possibly Germany at the invitation of One Gambia, Soul Sound, and Mega Force Records in
Germany respectively.

Other aspirating artists who were in attendance were Fanseikou Darboe aka Chess who resides in
Seattle Washington; Alhagie Malan Touray aka Alex and Pa Bobo Jobarteh who is a local Kora
player also performed. The crowd was particularly moved by Fanseikou Darboe (Chess) who
reminds the reporter of young Bob Marley who had Africa at the heart of his music. He electrified
the crowd with his lyrics full of love for mother Africa. He cooled of the crowds’ sweat by humbly
saying “I am a proud African, when Africa cries I cry, and when Africa smiles my heart is
warmed”.

At the center of Singateh’s success story is his U.S Atlanta based energetic and
entrepreneurial-minded manager and promoter Mr. Pa Ousman Joof, the founder of Gambian
Talents Network. His dedication to expose Gambia’s young talent is worthy of admiration. He
urged Gambians to support Gambian Talent Network by visiting their website at
www.gambiantalents.com.

Other brains behind the success of the show were Seattle’s social icons, Saidy Ceesay of the Seattle
Gambia Association, Momodou Njie, Fatou Dibba Saidy who was the MC to the show, and Fatou
Dibba Junior in charge of Patrons. The Current President of the Seattle Gambia Association Lamin
PF Manneh, and outgoing secretary Alta Denali and her husband Karl were also in attendance to
grace the occasion. Other residents of Seattle especially the youths turned out in large numbers.

Editor’s Note: Gainako online newspaper (GON) was privileged to cover the occasion as it is
inline with our goals to promote Gambian talents’ whenever we can regardless of invitation. We do
not wait to be called to national duties and therefore take it upon ourselves to be there whenever
possible. It is our humble believe that with little help, our young aspirating artists will one day
succeed in adding our nation’s name on the world map of music. To view more pictures of artist
freaky Joe, click here

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