Editorial:Will Fugitive Colonel Ndure Cham be an Issue on Gambia/Senegal Joint Ministerial Meeting?
Editorial:Will Fugitive Colonel Ndure Cham be an Issue on Gambia/Senegal Joint Ministerial Meeting?
                                  EDITORIAL
The joint Ministerial Meeting between The Gambia and Senegal, is a welcomed development. The meeting which is  due to kick-off  Thursday morning in Banjul, would attract stakeholders from various walks of life. At last,  sanity has prevailed. Our leaders are beginning to come to their senses. Accusations and counter accusations of  alleged subversive activities being traded between the two sister countries, is the least desirable. We at the Freedom Newspaper welcome the Banjul meeting. It’s a right step in the right direction. There is need for the two countries to sit  and brainstorm on issues affecting  sub-regional interest. Our leaders must bury the hatchets  and open a new page. For these countries to live in peace and harmony, there must be an environment of trust and respect.

President Wade must be commended for ignoring  Jammeh’s past accusations against his administration. Wade has once again demonstrated  high sense of maturity by responding to Jammeh’s  invitation for Joint Ministerial Meeting. His Government’s presence in Banjul,  goes to show that the senior statesman is out for peace. Allegations  levelled against his administration of trying to destabilize the Gambia had failed the test of time. A Government working on bringing  Jammeh down would  never  have attended such meetings.

Host President Yahya Jammeh  should use the Banjul meeting to correct his past mistakes if there is (any) on the Banjul/Dakar relationship.  Admitting one’s own mistakes is sign of brevity. To some extent, the Jammeh Government contributed to the strained relationship between the two countries. Relying on distorted intelligence report, this administration went ahead to conclude that Senegal was out to destabilize the Gambia. Their  allegations were never supported by facts and evidence.

The Pro-Government Newspaper, the Daily Observer also helped to fan the already strained relationship. The Paper had in the recent past published damning Editorials, accusing the Wade Government of  “aiding and abetting” Gambian dissident soldiers believed to be residing in Senegal. The Observer quoted reliable Government sources to back up their libelous allegations.

A responsible press would have published Editorials that might bring the two countries together and not to show seeds of discord and hostility. The Observer too must  be bold enough to account for their own mess in jeopardizing the bilateral relationship between the sister countries. Writing unfounded stories that Dakar is backing Jaki rebels and Gambian dissidents without material proof is unethical and unprofessional.

We sometime  wonder if the Daily Observer is pro-Government, as they claimed to be. Majority of the stories they published are geared towards plunging unrest in the sub-region-most importantly the relationship between Gambia and Senegal. What’s wrong with  Dakar  harboring  Colonel Ndure Cham? What is wrong with Dakar welcoming  Captain Sana Bairo Sabally?  What’s wrong with  Senegal  arming  its troops to flush out MFDC rebels,  bent on killing and maiming innocent civilians in the Southern Province of Casamance?

Where was the Daily Observer when the Gambian Government hosted MFDC Spokesman Alexandra Gibba at the Atlantic Hotel? Where was the Daily Observer when the Gambian Government paid for the hotel bills of Gibba in the name of bringing peace in Casamance? Where was the Daily Observer when MFDC rebels used to conduct their secret meetings in Talinding and elsewhere across the country? How about the Casamance illegal Immigrants hijacking our electoral process? These and many more.

As the two countries converged today,  at  one table, we call for an openness and address the real problems confronting the  SeneGalo/Gambia relationship. The meeting can only serve its purpose if  the stakeholders are ready to address the root causes for  the problem. Stakeholders must also identify the problems and find a lasting solution to it.

The state media in The Gambia contributed to the problem. For peace to exist between the two countries, both the private and the public media must report stories honestly and accurately. The media must also refused to be used by agents of misinformation. Misinformation can lead to insecurity and unrest.

Once again,  we salute President Wade,  for his bold move to demonstrate statesmanship by  recognizing the importance of the Banjul meeting. We hope and pray that the Banjul meeting would bear fruits at the end of the day. May this meeting be the end of  trading "false allegations against one another."  Factors hindering Sub-Regional trade should also be avoided. There should be free movement of goods and people as entrenched in the ECOWAS Protocol. We rest our case!!

The editor can be reached at the following addresses:editor@freedomnewspaper.com,Panderry@hotmail.com or panderrymbai@gmail.com  By phone dial the following numbers: Office:-919-872-50-28  Cell: 919-798-81-22  If you know that it's happening or is about to happen please contact us. It's easy. Just type your info on our contact us file and  then click send. The Freedom Newspaper is your leading and most authoritative  source of news. We have the required professionals to serve you round the clock. Get your morning breakfast news by reading Freedom. We have good stuffs  every morning. At Freedom, we mean business.


Posted on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 (Archive on Monday, November 12, 2007)
Posted by PNMBAI  Contributed by PNMBAI
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