My Daily Observer Diary- Sheriff Bojang Senior Exposed!!! Part Two Bojang tries to get Lawyer Darboe arrested
My Daily Observer Diary- Sheriff Bojang Senior Exposed!!! Part Two Bojang tries to get Lawyer Darboe arrested
My Daily Observer Diary: Sheriff Bojang Senior Exposed!!

Bojang Faxed Crude Oil Story To The State House


  As promised earlier, the Freedom Newspaper had a special dossier on the sacked Observer Managing Director Sheriff Bojang, which we would like to share with our esteemed readers. Mr.Bojang was not only a double agent for the Gambian Government, but was also hell bent on undermining the work of local journalists in the impoverished West African country. He was also openly undermining the Gambian opposition. If opposition leader Ousainou Darboe and his supporters are reading us at this hour, we have an important piece of information to share with you today. This information had to do with the 1996 Abacha crude oil revelation, which was  made by Lawyer Darboe. Thanks to Mr.Darboe and his opposition colleagues, Gambians were able to know how this corrupt and despotic administration, under the leadership of President  Jammeh squandered the proceeds derived from the Abacha crude oil gift to the  tiny nation of  The Gambia.

When Mr.Darboe called for a news conference, on the eve of the new year, Reporter Alieu Badara Sowe and Pa Nderry M’Bai were assigned to cover the said press conference. Sowe and MBai jointly penned a story, which featured how millions of Dalasis went into the pockets of corrupt Government officials-most importantly President Jammeh and his cohorts. As soon as Sheriff Bojang received our piece, he faxed it to the State House in Banjul, who in turn issued a statement based on the content of our story to dismiss the opposition’s claims of financial impropriety. Bojang did not stop at passing editorial material to the Government, he also censored the content of our story,  thereby rendering it counterproductive. The opposition’s allegations against the state were censored grossly.

Both Sowe and MBai protested  over Bojang’s unprofessional conduct, but the shameless Editor never heeded to our concerns. Bojang’s objective was to discredit the opposition. He was hired to do a dirty job for the regime. And to some extent, he succeeded on his lies to legitimize a totalitarian regime.

Days later, Bojang was asked by Amadou Samba to interview Samuel Sarr, the current head of the Senegalese Energy Sector to shed light on the said Abcha crude oil scandal, which he did. Mr.Sarr’s  name featured prominently on  the opposition’s graft revelations. At the material time, Sarr was running the GAM Power Company in the Gambia and was said to be one of the errand boys of President Jammeh in the said crude oil deal. Sarr was said to have played a crucial role in the said deal, which was a subject of Civil Litigation in the UK.

A British based oil Company Chantrill,  sued the Gambian Government for breach of contract and loss of earnings. A court deposition filed by Chantrill identified Samuel Sarr and Batata Juwara as one of the agents of the Gambian Government. That  the two were tasked with the responsibility of coordinating the processing of the crude oil.

Chantrill had reached an agreement with the Gambian Government to process thousands of barrels of crude oil at the material time. The firm says it had executed the contract as signed, but the Gambian authorities refused to respect the content of the contract agreement. The Government in a statement says it owed no money to Chantrill and that the opposition allegations were malicious.

In a bid to cover their  lies and storytelling, Sheriff Bojang was used as a front again to feed Gambians with misinformation. The join the list Journalist was debriefed before interviewing Samuel  Sarr. The interview was pre-arraigned.  In short, he was advised about what questions to ask and what not. His interview  with Sarr,  was basically designed to vindicate the Government.

As stated in the beginning of our writing series, it has never been our intention to engage a useless and unprincipled reporter like Sheriff Bojang. We are compelled to pen our past memos based on his recent move to blackmail our Editorial staff.

Regrettably, our first piece led to the sacking of Saja Taal, because  President Jammeh was not happy when we praised Taal. We still maintain that Taal is far better than Sheriff. Bojang is as vicious as a devil. He masterminds the downfall of many Civil Servants in The Gambia. He also contributed to the persecution of local journalists. Our allegations are backed by solid facts and evidence.

Bojang was doing all these callous activities against his countrymen with the expectation of becoming a Government Minister. He once told this reporter that he was interested in becoming a Government Minister. As such, he was ready to do any dirty job for the regime. His first assignment was the crude oil saga, in which he compromised his  independence as a journalist. Bojang went all out to portray the Government as “Decent”,  when in actual fact they deprived our poverty stricken citizens funds that could have improved their lives.

                  Bojang Betrayed Reporter Alieu Badara Sowe

Gambians should be weary of Sheriff Bojang. He can sell his next kin because of money and position. Sowe,  like any Observer Reporter served the Observer faithfully, diligently  and sincerely as a journalist. He spent most his time in the streets trying to get good stories for the paper. There was this story he reported about Amadou Taal, being declared “perso-non Grata by the UK Government. Sowe had reported that the British authorities refused to welcome Taal who was hired High Commissioner to the UK. Sheriff Bojang was pushing for the said story to be published. He was so excited when Sowe emerged at the news room with the story.

As soon as the story was published, a call came from the State House, instructing Bojang to issue a rebuttal piece the following morning. Bojang being the coward he is, he heaped the blame on Sowe. He accuses the journalist of acting on a scanty information,  in a bid to bring Taal’s “reputation” into disrepute.

The Observer ran a piece disowning reporter Sowe saying that his report was full of factual errors. It apologized to Taal with immediate effect. Bojang reaches a truce with the Government to fire Sowe. The move was calculated to end a possible court action coming from Mr.Taal.

Weeks later, Sowe was forced to go on leave without any explanation. Sarriang Ceesay was the Observer MD at the material time. As soon as he resumes work, he was handed with a sacking letter. We can say with certainty that Sheriff Bojang facilitated his removal. Bojang was never comfortable with Sowe’s presence at the Observer. He pretends to be Badara’s friend, but in reality he is an enemy. He say so many bad things about Badara, Pa Nderry MBai, Alhagie Mbye and others.

When Bojang and Sowe jointly authored a piece about a helicopter crash at Kanilai, the President’s home village, the NIA invited the two for questioning. Bojang spent less an hour at the NIA, while Sowe was held for hours prior to his release. Bojang was given special treatment. His relationship with the state was never a secret to the average Gambian. Unconfirmed reports say Bojang implicated Sowe in his statement to the NIA. That he Bojang accuses Sowe of being the sole author of the piece in question.


                   Pa Nderry’s ordeal at the Observer!!

When instructions were given for Senior Staff Reporter Pa Nderry Mbai to be fired, Bojang for some reasons decided to maintain the Reporter. Mbai was treated as a “Ghost” worker. He writes a good number of the paper’s lead stories without his bi-lines appearing on the paper. Mbai had been operating for six months without having his bi-lines  on the Observer. His pay slips were also stopped at some point by the accounting office. His monthly salary was handed to him in cash without any formal documentation.

Both Sarriang and Bojang had claimed that Mbai was their star reporter. They could not afford to lose such an enterprising reporter. Thanks to M’Bai’s stories, Observer’s sales had  improved dramatically at the material time. Parting with the Reporter was not in their best interest. Bojang  had lied to Jammeh and Amadou Samba that Mbai was no longer on their payroll.

Interestingly, the Daily Observer under Sheriff Bojang was not paying staff Social Security Contributions. These hard working Reporters were being exploited for nothing. They were denied retirement benefits. Most  of these reporters don't have a valid Social Security number at the material time. Bojang never cared for his reporters plight. A very selfish Editor. He stands to be accused of violating corporate and labor laws. He ought to have been prosecuted for his actions.
He has lied on numerous occasions that he brought Pa Nderry MBai to  the Observer. That's a  damn lie. A fat lie!! MBai was recruited based on his competence and love for the profession. Former Daily Observer News Editor Demba Ali Jawo is Pa Nderry's former mentor and not an unprincipled journalist like Bojang. Deyda Hydara was one of Pa Nderry's mentors  as well. These folks contributed immensely in shaping the professional skills of MBai.

In our next piece, we will expose Bojang's  Taiwan  trip, in which he slept in the same hotel room with Speaker Fatou Jahumpa Ceesay. Jammeh is doing a great disservice to the Gambian tax payers by appointing FJC as Speaker. Our revelations will shake Banjul. Stay tuned. More revelations are coming!!!

Editors: For comments or reactions to this story email the editor:The editor can be reached at the following addresses:editor@freedomnewspaper.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, November 07, 2007 (Archive on Tuesday, November 27, 2007)
Posted by PNMBAI  Contributed by PNMBAI
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