Gainako Newspaper

In April of 1964, Nelson Mandela along with 16 other members of the African National Congress,
stood trial for sabotage in what's now known as the Rivonia Trials. Facing a possible death
sentence for "crimes against the state", Mandela looked the Judge in the eye and uttered the
following words:

"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African
people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against
black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free
society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal
opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if
needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Nearly two decades earlier, in India, Mahatma Ghandi led his people against the mighty British
colonial occupation. Through it all -- persecution, imprisonment, physical abuse, threats -- Ghandi
remained steadfastly committed to his ideals of truth, non-violence and independence for India. Not
only did he selflessly persevere for the betterment of his people -- all of them Hindu, Muslim,
Buddhist -- he even paid the ultimate price for his convictions when a disgruntled Hindu extremist
mowed him down.

During the struggle, Ghandi would engage in self-sacrifice by fasting long long
periods to leverage change of unjust British policy, as well as force unity among
different factions within his own people. Ghandi for instance forced a change
in unfair colonial policy towards "untouchables" by embarking on a six-day
fast in 1932. He adopted a similar measure to force Muslim and Hindu factions
of the anti-colonialism movement to unite as brothers in the struggle.

Two millennia prior, The Holy Prophet Mohammad, (PBU) having received the revelation from
Angel Gabriel, set out to spread the message to the wider world as instructed. One of the first
places he visited to spread the teachings was Taif, a town 50 mile southeast of Makkah. The people
there did not only reject the prophet's message of the Oneness of Allah, but they sent their children
to chase The Holy Prophet out of town, pelting him with rocks and other objects until he bled.

According to Islamic historians, the Prophet was treated so badly that an angel was sent with orders
to destroy the the town if the Holy Prophet so pleased. All the Prophet had to do was to give the
orders and the town would be obliterated; completely annihilated as punishment for their humiliating
treatment of the Prophet.

Remarkably, and with characteristic compassion, the Prophet, rather than choose the easy route of
vengefulness, not only desisted from giving the orders, but he offered prayers for the salvation of the
misguided people of Taif.

The last words of Jesus on the crucifix, according to Christian scholars, were, "Forgive them,
Father. For they know not what they do." "Them," referring to those who put him in his plight; the
villans who persecuted him and sought to harm him.

What is the common, running theme or moral in Mandela's, Ghandi's, Mohammad's and Jesus'
stories as narrated above? Selflessness and self-sacrifice.

Such is the history of every triumphant cause. The lesson to be learned from is that those who
advocate successful and enduring causes, did so by selling the principles and ideals, the vision; and
not themselves or their personhood.

As evident in each of the above stories, these extraordinary people would put their lives on the line
on any given day to advance the cause. Conversely, they would never seek to use the cause for
personal gains or self-aggrandizement. Hence each of their respective causes has not only been
remarkably successful, but has (and will) long outlived the individual mastermind who set the ball
rolling.

Try juxtaposing, if you will, those causes with the ones that have peen person-centered. Take
Nazism, Fascism, Maoism -- each of these celebrated "the leader" and how "great" he was. That is
why such movements fizzle and ultimately died with a flicker after the demise of the (lo and behold)
mortal founder.

Therein lies the explanation for the multitudes of failed African states today. Most, if not all, were ran
as fiefdoms of post-independent native leaders who elevated themselves above the state and used
it's resources -- human resources included -- as a means to an end. The end being political power
and personal gratification. Mabutu, Boughney, Bokassa, Salasie, Mugabe -- each of these leaders
has ran a largely person-centered dispensation to the detriment of the larger cause, which is the
welfare of the people. Consequently, when that person collapsed, as they inevitably would, the state
spiraled with him.

A while ago, one contributor to this site, Louis Friend, who has earned my respect through his sound
commentaries, rightly counseled professionalism in our discourse. I'd like to push that a notch
further.

The bigger challenge, as we discuss and debate the way forward for our beloved Gambia, is to push
the exchanges from a person-centered conversation towards a more idea and solution-centric
discourse.

It would be more constructive and beneficial for us to discuss real, serious-minded issues affecting
our country and recommend practical solutions than to trade in insults and delve on individuals.

It is self-delusional to think that we could heighten our own self-esteem by belittling or silencing
those we may not agree with. It helps us all to make this intellectual exercise more about the nobler
cause of Gambia's advancement, and less about hollow egoistic showmanship. Let's leave the latter
to the adolescent boys at the "Warga-Warga" playground.

Sheriff
North Carolina

.........GAMBIA
...AFTER JAMMEH
..............................................By Madi Ceesay ..........................June 12th, 2007

I had never wanted the join the trivial cycle of debates between Bubacarr
Sankanu and Mathew K Jallow. But now I have .Why? Because in Mr.
Sankanu's recent article defaming the elder Mathew, he concluded by posing
the everybody-knows-the-answer kind of childish questions, that even the
adolescents in the Gambia know the answers to.

Of all the eight questions (even though they could have been intelligently
summarized, in to two) the first two struck me most. However, I must say that I am not one of the
"one of you" you had referred to.

You asked: "what kind of leader do you want after Jammeh?" If students in the Gambia had
been getting these forms of questions in their grade twelve final exams, the West African
Examinations Council (WAEC) would have found if extremely difficult to count the number of
distinctions students would score. This is one of the easiest questions that can be answered by any
honest Gambian, literate and illiterate, as long as one has the love for the country at heart.

My answer to your question is: after Jammeh we want a leader who respects the rule of law; a
leader who puts Gambia first and himself last; a leader who considers extra-judicial murders a
capital crime; a leader who does not severe bilateral/multilateral ties with peaceful neighbors just to
befriend global tyrants and terrorists; a leader who does not sell bags of rice(Gambia's staple food)
thrice cheaper in his home village than the rest of the country; a leader who possesses a good sense
of judgment; a leader who considers the opposition as a government-in-waiting and not enemies; a
leader who does not play the tribal card to concretize his firm grab on absolute power; a leader who
does not enrich himself at the expense of the Gambia; a leader who does not consider disagreement
with him on pertinent national issues as hatred and unpatriotic; a leader who does not turn our
smiling coast in to a laughing stock by making lunatic medical claims of curing HIV/AIDS; a leader
who believes and acknowledges The Gambia belongs to Gambians and not his tribe and political
party loyalists� and the list goes on and on.

Next, you asked: "what kind of Gambia should our Third Republic be? Do we need a new
constitution?" Our Third Republic should be one that Babucarr Sankanu and Mathew K Jallow
can co-exist peacefully as arch political rivals without either having to plan for the other's
assassination. In brevity, a third republic where the rule of law and the respect for people's and
human rights prevail. Period!

Yes, we do need a new constitution: a civilian not a military one. A new constitution that does not
vest absolute power on the public official we call our president. A constitution that guarantees
checks and balances and that all three arms of government operate separately and independently.
We honestly need a constitution that treats all Gambians on the homeland and abroad with equality
irrespective of political, religious, social, (and if you like) economic affiliations.

I think it is important that we Gambians in the Diaspora engage in healthy political debates with the
ultimate aim of restoring democracy and the rule of law to achieve political peace and economic
prosperity for our Gambia. We need to discuss ways and means of undoing the severe damages that
had been (and continues to be) inflicted on the beautiful country of ours by thirteen years of
Jammeh's misrule. We better put to a halt the endless character assassination, tribal and medieval
mode of discourse. It is not (and has never been) helpful anywhere in the world.

On a final note let us try to be architects (in any capacity) of a Gambia that we all can return to
some day without having to expect the unjust receptions accorded to the likes of Sheriff Bojang jr
and Fatou Jaw Manneh, who have committed no crime at all.

Madi Ceesay
New York

Another HIV Patient Dead under
President Jammeh's HIV treatment
By Our Banjul Correspondent: Put together by Demba Baldeh Seattle, WA ......June 11th, 2007

Gainako has reliably been informed by our Banjul correspondence that another HIV/AIDS patient
by the name of Ansumana Dampha has died while under active treatment by the President of the
republic of the Gambia. Ansumana, who is the second patient to die while being treated by the
President; was laid to rest by his family; friends, relatives and neighbors.

The burial ceremony for the decease was very emotional as many people were seen with skeptical
faces when the relatives of the decease sang praises to the President for treating their love one until
his untimely death. The praise singing were seen to be a good gesture to the President as no one
dear challenge his treatment of their love ones.

In passing it is also important to mention that the decease patient like many others was taken off the
anti-retroviral medicine that the HIV patients were taking for treatment prior to joining the Jammeh
camp for local treatment.

It could be recalled that the President cum doctor declared several months ago that he has found a
cure for the deadly HIV virus that causes AIDS. Since his declaration, more than 80 Gambians have
been receiving active treatment by the President with the help of the country's Secretary of State for
Health Dr. Tamsir Mbow. It is also reported that the President's close brother Ansumana Jammeh
also administers treatment in the absent of the President.

Contrary to the President's open commitment that he was going to treat the patients for 10 days and
cure them of the virus, no patient is yet to be released from the camp more than six months later.
The President has also not presented any evidence of cure for any of the patients he has been
treating. As recently as a week ago, President Jammeh was once again seen on Al Jazeera TV
interview where he continues to proclaim that his treatments are working.

The few tests that were being carried out to test the viral load of patients at the initial stages of the
treatment have either seized or are secretly kept out of public knowledge. It was through those tests
that the public was able to scrutinize the results of the President's treatment. Now that those results
are no longer available for public consumption, there is complete darkness as to the progress or lack
thereof of the patients' well being.

In another development, it has been reported that Mr. Lamin Ceesay the President of Santa Yallah
Support Society and the first Gambian to put a human face to the HIV virus was seriously sick and
hospitalized at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital (RVTH). Mr. Ceesay also openly advocated
on television, radio, and on live educational forums the need to educate Gambians of the threat of
the HIV virus that causes Aids. He was reportedly pretty healthy and was highly successful in
changing the minds of many Gambians to acknowledge the true threat of the HIV virus. Mr. Ceesay
being the President and head of Santa Yallah support society refused to abandon his public
awareness campaign and treatment to join the President's phony HIV treatment.

As a result of his refusal to endorse the President's cure, Mr. Ceesay has recently been a victim of
smear campaign by government officials in an effort to taint him as someone suffering from
Tuberculoses infection. Dr. Mbow and others are believed to be putting pressure for hospital
officials to send Mr. Ceesay for a Tuberculoses treatment camp to keep him away from the public
arena.

Many critics of the Jammeh treatment voiced out their concerns that the President's move will
jeopardize the funding support from the World Bank, and the UNDP Aids program designed to
help patients who cannot afford the treatment of the disease. The treatment as feared has started to
block funding from these agencies as they have no confidence in the leadership appointed by the
President to administer these programs.

The National Aids Secretariats had two significant projects with the World Bank namely HIV/AIDS
Rapid Response Project (HARRP) which faced out in December 2006, and Global Health Fund to
Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GHFTAM). Since the commencement of the President's
treatment, this very important project has not received any funding from the World Bank. One
would assume that such much-needed important global projects to help the Gambian people should
be endorsed by any government. The lack of funding is being attributed to the President's move to
commence treatment and his expulsion of top UN officials from the Gambia.

Finally, Santa Yallah society one of the most visible branches of the National Aids Secretariats in the
fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Gambia appears to be the most affected amongst all
other subgroups. The society's annual Candle light memorial held on May 20, 2007 saw significant
drop in attendance from public sector officials, community base organization and diplomats who
used to grace the occasion in a colorful manner. This year's memorial ceremony for those who died
from the disease was not well attended mainly due to the President's controversial treatment.

Some members of the media, including GRTS who usually cover the occasion with a panel
discussion refused to honor Santa Yallah's invitation in fear of reprisal from the President and his
team. These are just some of the most significant developments affecting the collective effort from all
angles to help educate the public on the threat of the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic said our reporter.
No one knows where this unfortunate situation is going to lead to opined our reporter on the group.
It is hoped that the new Director of the National Aids Secretariats Mr. Alieu Jammeh will restore
some confidence in the system for the international funding agencies to allow more funds for the
continuation of the treatment programs.

Editors note: while many news outlets appears to be silence on the effect of the President's HIV
treatment. Gainako has made special commitment to continue to monitor the progress of our
brothers and sisters under the dangerous treatment of President Jammeh. It is indeed tragic for an
entire nation and its most vulnerable citizens (the sick) to be subjected to such baseless treatment.
We will continue to report everything on this treatment until the President's false treatment is
exposed to the whole world.

This is something personal to Gainako and it is our conviction that no human being should be
subjected to such inhumane treatment without right to privacy and dignity. We challenge the
President and his team to release Patients that have been treated, if infact they have been treated.
We challenge them to invite international investigators to conduct test and determine the progress of
the patients being treated. We further ask the President why it is taking so long to complete any
treatment as he promised? Would you have the moral audacity to reveal the test you conducted to
the public for scrutiny? No matter how long it takes, Gainako will report every movement in the
treatment camp.

........PRESS RELEASE
.....Senegambianews.com Launched
.......................................Posted June 11th, 2007.

On June 9, 2007 I launched my news site called snegambianews.com with the
help of Sectrum Interactive,LLC; a company based here in Minnesota.My aims
and objectives are to offer the readership of African online news outlets another
choice in the already highly competetive information industry.

I believe in what the Senegalese super star,Youssou Ndure once said in London
during a live concert, that Africa has many faces:the face of love and peace,
greatest culture and caring communities. It also has the faces of war and
starvation,corruption, nepotism and endemic diseases.

Senegambia News will feature all these faces for the benefit of readers and for those intereted in
developments taking place in our homeland. I look forward to working with you all.

Thanks,
Yankuba Jambang, editor & publisher

FORMER FREEDOM EDITOR
LAUNCHES SENEGAMBIA
......................By Yero Jallow...................Posted June 11th, 2007.

Former Freedom Newspaper Editor, Mr. Yankuba Jambang launched
Senegambia News Paper on June 9th 2007. The site can be accessed online at
www.senegambianews.com, and its editorial base in Minnesota.

Mr. Jambang�s launching of Senegambia came barely two weeks after he tendered
a resignation to the Freedom Newspaper.

Talking to Gainako at his residence, an optimistic Mr. Jambang revealed he has
come to join the other sister online papers in a view to inform and interact
intellectually. �I am great about it. It is something I like doing.� Said Mr.
Jambang.

When asked the reason for coming into existence, he said � The media should be very objective
and constructive. We don�t have to focus solely on Jammeh. The fact that I named the paper
SeneGambia means that I will be gathering stories from Gambia and Senegal.�

Mr. Jambang is a seasoned journalist with a good reputation.

Editors� note: Gainako�s team wishes to congratulate Mr. Jambang, and the entire would-be-staffers
to SeneGambia Newspaper. We hope he will work hard to give a voice to the voiceless and fight
for true justice of the oppressed. We welcome Mr. Jambang. In our eyes, this is a step in the right
direction. We look forward to working with him in sharing information.

PSEUDO-JOURNALISM OR INTELECTUAL
ARROGANCE?
............................................By Momodou Lamin Drammeh......... June 7th, 2007

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�

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