The Freedom Newspaper Management, stood by its story regarding the appointment of Lamin Waa Juwara as Deputy Permanent Secretary. Waa Juwara was indeed hired as DPS. If only he decides to relinquish his appointment, but what is evident though is that he was offered the said job by the President. Credible and unimpeachable sources we talked to said Waa Juwara was indeed lying to the gallery by trying to conceal the truth. The same Waa Juwara few months ago denied cross-carpeting to the APRC. Few months down the line, he was hired to serve as a Committee Member to the Brikama Area Council.
The Freedom Newspaper have no regrets for reporting the said story. Agents of “hate and their allies” should do their homework right, as this paper is on top of issues, when it comes to Gambian related news. We do not need anyone to authenticate our stories for us.
Our reporters are on the ground and we have no doubt in our mind that stories filed by these reporters are “ accurate credible and objective. We also do not doubt the honesty and professionalism of our hard-working reporters. They have proven to be reliable and dependable.
We have nothing to gain by reporting that Waa Juwara has been appointed Deputy Permanent Secretary, when he is not. If he was not appointed, we wouldn’t have reported it. We have sources on the ground, who are willing to come online to corroborate our piece. These sources handled the President’s hiring and firing process. We mean very dependable sources. These sources have no cause to lie to the Freedom Newspaper on a trivial matter.
After all, Waa Juwara is irrelevant, as far as Gambians are concerned. He is a “political slave” held under captivity by a despot, whom he chastises over the years in the name democratic deficiencies.
Having been exposed to systematic torture and all sort of rights abuses, Waa Juwara, has reduced himself as a beggar and political slave. As the saying goes “ a beggar have no choice.” A beggar does not impose conditions on his patrons. You got to accept whatever remittances extended to you by philanthropists.
Waa Juwara should be the last person to pick and choose jobs. The mere fact that he accepted to work with the Brikama Area Council, goes to show that he can accept cleaner job at the State House. If Waa Juwara can accept a junior Municipal clerk job, what is going to stop him from taking a DPS job, which is more lucrative in terms of salary? What’s the foolish noise all about? Whose show is this? Why the hypocrisy and double standards? Who said Waa Juwara was not appointed DPS? Perhaps, he wants to be hired as Agriculture Minister? Juwara is a spent force. He has outlived his usefulness.
Waa Juwara is not a consistent politician. He can said this today, the next minute he would recant his statement. The Freedom Newspaper story will no doubt pass the test of time. We are very positive about this.
We are aware of ongoing efforts spearheaded by our adversaries, to smear the image of the Freedom Newspaper. Our credibility is in tack. We careless how these haters perceived us.
We do not believe in plagiarism. We believe in giving credit to our sources. Plagiarism is a serious ethical violation. Copying and pasting web based materials, without giving credit to the source, tantamount to plagiarism.
The Freedom Newspaper wants to make it categorically clear that this paper would not accept blackmail from any quarters. Our piece on Waa Juwara was factual and nothing can make us disown our story. We challenge the alleging parties to provide evidence that would discredit our report.
As far as we are concerned, Waa Juwara is not a credible source to be relied upon. If Waa Juwara can minces his words against Jammeh, what will stop him from lying to the public? Juwara should be real to his colleagues. He either dine with the devil, or let him go. All these, hide and seek game, will not last. We stood by our story. Waa Juwara was indeed hired.
Yahya Bajinka’s death controversy!!
The Freedom Newspaper will never apologize to the Bajinka family, unless the Gambian Government produces the body of Yahya Bajinka. Our story can only be disputed if Yahya Bajinka was arraigned live before the GRTS.
If this Government can murder Daba Marena, Lowe and co, what is going to stop them from killing Yahya Bajinka? Where is Journalist Chief Manneh? What will the Freedom Newspaper gain by reporting the death of Yahya Bajinka?
After all, here was a person, who aided and abetted Yahya Jammeh’s NIA to persecute our people? If we are not commended for exposing Yahya’s story, we should not be antagonized by these haters. We call them haters, because they cannot withstand our popularity in the cyber evolution. They also cannot stand our quest to expose injustices in our country. These haters also cannot stand our commitment to promote just and democratic Gambia. These haters are also spreading malicious and unfounded allegations against the staffers of this leading paper.
All what we are asking for is, lets the Government produce Yahya Bajinka if he is indeed alive. If it turns out that Yahya is alive, then we shall formally apologize to his family. Nothing more, nothing less. We mean this.
We sometimes doubt Major Kalifa Bajinka’s asylum claim. If his family can come online to vindicate the murderous Government of Yahya Jammeh on rights abuses, this tells a lot about the veracity of his asylum claim.
Bajinka’s brother Yahya is being detained because of his senior brother’s alleged subversive case against the Government of the day. If his family can now turn around and bully and damn people trying to defend the rights of their detained brother, this speaks volumes.
Bajinka’s family should bear in mind that bogus asylum claims can be revoked if the Department of Home Land Security is privy of any frivolous claims discovered thereafter.
We are not by any means trying to imply that Bajinka lied to the INS, but what’s clear is that his families’ recent statements don’t speak well for an asylee. We doubt if they know the implications of their statements.
The Freedom Newspaper harbors no grudge against the Bajinka family. Our goal is to ensure that Yahya’s plight is exposed online so that the world will know the conditions of their brother.
For the information of Major Bajinka and his family, our Reporter Wise Man personally interviewed one of their brothers in The Gambia before we filed our story relating to Yahya’s mental health problem.
For the security of the said Banjinka family, we decided to edit his name. The NIA would have arrested him, if we had published his name online. We also have the said Banjinka family member’s voice on tape. We are very responsible in the way we discharge our journalistic duty here at Freedom. No one is inventing stories against your family. All these stories are accounts of dependable sources. Your own brother told us that your family could not access Yahya since his arrest. They were also not in the position to confirm or deny if he was alive. The general perception in town is that Yahya Bajinka is dead.
We appreciate your efforts in trying to get the other side of the story, but for now lets exercise caution. It’s only The Gambian Government who are in the position to say what actually happened to Yahya.
Yahya’s plight is everybody’s business. The Amnesty International are also following the story. Other media organizations are also digging on the story. Why is the Bajinka family bullying agents of peace, freedom and justice? What’s the problem? Supporting Yahya Jammeh to the expense of your own brother?
If we are continually provoked, we have no alternative but to publish the said family member’s name online. We reserve the moral duty to defend Freedom if it’s under attack. Lets sleeping dogs lie. Freedom is not to be joked with. We mean business. Forward with the Freedom Newspaper, backwards never!!