By Titu Bintu

Hello Editor,

Allow me a space on your on line famous Newspaper to comment on the debate between Sam Sarr and Suntou Touray. My name is Maddow Darboe and I am originally from Gunjur but I lived in sukuta for the most part of my youth after completing high school and therefore Sukuta is now my adopted town. I will like to first of all say that I am a Mandingo and I used to love and cherished Sam Sarr, until when I read his comments about tribalism between Mandingos and Wollofs in the Gambia.

I read Sam Sarr's first book meet me in Conakry and as soon as the coup de'tat by the Gambia National Army came out I ordered it from border's book store and it was very informative to some of us who lived here in the United States for sixteen years without the opportunity to visit home. I just want to point to Sam that he should not confused personal encounters with and translate that into tribalism in the Gambia. We shouldn’t be having this debate right now when our brothers and sisters, fathers, mothers, uncles and extended families are at this minute being oppressed by the present government in the Gambia.

I think Sam needs to revisit the history of the Gambia, one of the most peaceful people on the face of this planet earth where every tribe gets along and inter marry each other. Its true PPP was formed by the Mandingo people but tell me which tribe which benefited most from the PPP GOVERNMENT? Almost every important institutions in the Gambia were controlled by the Banjul woolof elites of Ousainou Njie and so many others. I was a civil servant myself who had worked for Central Statistics Department fresh out of high school and I experienced the biasness of my bosses and department heads who were all Banjulians but I never carry any kind of bitterness to extend it to the next generation because I felt they are personal and random even though some people say it was systematic.

I went to high school with a lot of boys from Banjul but when we graduated at Muslim high school they do not have anything but they got better jobs and some even got scholarships to further their education in the west while I was hustling with no hopes of ever given that kind of a chance. Now what do you call that Sam? It was true most politicians back then were Mandingo's but they have no influence because the Banjulians ran the show. There were complaints but no riot or bitterness between us and majority of Gambians just put ALLAH in the middle of every thing and goes on with their life.

Sam it is absolutely false what you had said and I wish you can take your personal animosity and anger that you encountered with some Mandinka officers at the GNA.Remember even at that time the army was ran by the likes of Ndow Njie and some Wollof boys like Maba jobe, Omar Faye and others you know it better. Now tell me the idiot like Omar FAYE whose only qualification was sports from Saint Augustine high school thanks to Father Gough.I still have a lot of WOLLOF FRIENDS FROM Banjul who call me my "MY SOSSEH BOYO" and I call them "NA SURUWARINGO"as we mandingo's always call other tribes but listen carefully none of my Wollof friends speak Mandinga because they came from  Banjul and it was not a problem. I speak wollof fluently now and thanks to them  for teaching me but they used to laugh at me. I am just trying to tell you how wrong my brother you are on this one and please we don’t need this kind of debates from you to try to divide us because its never going to happen in the Gambia.

I think you are really out of your mind trying to use the Countries like Kenya and other places as an example for Gambians. If all that PPP history that you were talking about, I will remind you of BADARA NJIE who through his political carrier ran on PPP'S ticket in KOMBO NORTH constituency until his retirement and always win and he competed against Mandingo people.

Remember Kombo North is SUKUTA, BRUFUT, LAMIN, YUNDUM those four alone is 99% Mandingo's so tell me where is the tribalism in the Gambia. How about OJ, Gibou Jagne, A. A. Njie, Alkali James Gaye? Now are you going to tell me it was the wollofs who voted for those people? Do not start some thing that you had no knowledge but based on your personal prejudice. Sam I hope you do not polarized the minds of your young children about this nonsense because they will believed you as their father. My late brother from Gunjur Dodou Darboe was married to IDA SARR of HARDINGTON STREET and they had seven lovely kids and my older brother is at the moment married to a Wollof woman living in London there are so many , many Mandingo people who married wollof women because we believed every successful Mandingo men must get a wollof woman if not you are not a big timer because they know how to treat a man and they are also very affectionate and romantic when you do have money....laugh. Sam we love your writing and I hope you can continue writing of substance and unite us instead of dividing us.

The real tribalism is now going on in our country with the regime of YAYA JAMMEH so let us address that that because all of our able people like your self had ran away because of his regimes brutality and nepotism. I hope that you understand that I am not attacking you but challenging your biased piece against every Gambian. You will to the day ALLAH take your life and will never see a wollof Mandinka problems like the one' in the other parts of the world because we are very tolerant.