The Big Interview: Michale Scales Tells It All!!!

“You know Pa....Jammeh has many good sides as well as his outrageous side and his wild comments, which damage him. He could not survive so long if it were not for his close advisers. But he has learned the art of survival. It must be incredibly hard to live constantly in fear of death or another coup d'eta.We have all lived with him for so long. I regret I never met him. His brother tried to arrange a meeting several times. The closest I got was his mother and his immediate family. I liked his mother. Though she was very suspicious of me at first. When we parted, she was kindness herself, and she had an amazing sense of humour.I was surprised that they didn't live in more comfort. His brother has been to Darfur twice. The young man I knew before he went was not the same when he came back. You could see on his face that he had witnessed too much for any man. I have not changed my opinion. I think Jammeh is plagued by demons. You know I came from a very poor background. Money did not ever bring me happiness. It brought opportunity. If I die tomorrow, I will have done my bit. Life is like a relay race....we carry the baton to the next guy. The focus at the start of the journey is to survive and run as fast as" hell”. When you get to my age you stop looking forward and start to look back. The Gambia for me was the high point.Jammeh should leave behind something inherently good. If he makes it to my age, he will value what was good. The rest was just experience.” Michael Scales tells the Freedom Newspaper in an Exclusive interview today.

Freedom Newspaper; Good Day our good friend Michael Scales. Where have you been to? I hope you and yours are doing pretty well ?

Michael; Good day Pa and to your faithful readers. We have been taking care of business. A little holiday, and a little illness and causing the rain everyday. Its a pity we couldn't exchange the weather with Gambia for a few months. If the Gambia could export the sun, they would indeed be a very wealthy nation.

Freedom Newspaper; Last week, the Kanifing Magistrates court sentenced  Journalist Fatou Jaw Manneh.What do you make of the courts verdict.?

Michael; You know Pa... I have seen the comments of the press and individuals who are insensed by this Judgement.All appear to see this as a defeat or a travesty of Justice carried out by the agents of President Jammeh.I cannot say whether this is true or false. What I do see is a victory for a lone and isolated female who walked freely into the lions mouth and kissed its tonsils and walked out again”. This is the stuff of legends."

In years to come, Gambian history will remember Miss Manneh as a hero and a servant of ordinary people. I would not compare her to Joan of Arc....for she was slain for her faith in God and France. But I would mention both in the same sentance.Gambians should be proud that they never deserted her in her hour of need. Miss Manneh will be inspired by this victory. and travel farther and further in the rest of her remarkable life.

When people call me a Gambian.....I will be forever humbled by such an undeserved honour.For to be considered Gambian in the mold in Fatou Jaw Manneh..is far greater than a knighthood from Her Majesty The Queen.

If courage could be placed in a bottle, and sold, Fatou Jaw Manneh would be the richest women in the world.

Freedom Newspaper; What message do you have for Fatou Jaw Manneh?

Michael; Cherish your God given gifts and continue to speak always in truth and honesty.

Freedom Newspaper; Don’t you think President Jammeh should consider changing his relationship with his perceived opponents? What good would it earn him to send Fatou Jaw Manneh to jail.

Michael; Because of the faith and courage of Gambians,Miss Manneh was spared this fate. I think The President should consider his gratitude towards the G.P.U. and others who spared The Presidents blushes. Indeed, The President should have paid the fine himself. Miss Manneh's case has made President Jammeh a world celebrity. May I offer my congratulations to His Excellency The American Ambassador. I was reassured by his time and interest in Miss Manneh's position. Let us pray that The British High Commissioner, will extend the same interest towards British engineer Mr. Charles Northfield?

Freedom Newspaper; You have been calling for National Reconciliation in The Gambia. What kind of reconciliation do you want to see? Who should spearhead such a laudable move? Jammeh or the opposition?

Michael; The President has been blessed with much good fortune. He has a beautiful and devoted wife who has further blessed him with a healthy son and daughter. Not withstanding or forgetting those who have perished or whose case for Justice is unresolved. I extend my friendship and deepest sympathy to all without exception.

It would be fair to say that I have probably been The Presidents "blue eyed boy" on many occaisions.My prominence on Gambian National Television and radio and in the Observer and The Point newspapers, over the years, was always supportive to The President, his Ministers and his commercial partners. Behind the scenes I have continued to support Gambians who are sick or in dire need or running in fear of their life, or require just words of comfort as a friend. I have also spoken in confidence to several political figures both home and abroad. I hope I have always insisted on the democratic and peaceful path to resolve The Gambia's problems, has been taken. not as a sign of personal weakness. But as a strength to maintain Gambia's fragile peace as of paramount  and overriding importance?

I have never criticized any Gambian political figure whom I have come to trust and know well. Even people like Musa Bala Gaye who I have never had the pleasure to meet, always figures prominently and favorably in my thoughts. Indeed even when Dr Saja Taal attacked me, I did not retaliate. He was fortunate. I hold many in high esteem,

good people like Amadou Samba,Tamsir Jallow,Samba Faal,Jibril Joof and many Permanent Secretaries, whose associations were highly cherished. My criticism has always been reserved for President Jammeh.As President Trueman once said wisely,

"The buck stops here”. The President should be big enough to take all concerns, and meet all well intended criticism..Wisely.Leadership is an incredible journey, of loneliness and isolation." if you can't stand the heat. get out of the kitchen"

The time has come to move on from conflict. The Gambian government and the media have made incredible progress towards addressing the gulf between outrage and tolerance. I do not advocate surrender or removal of dissent. But I would suggest that dialogue is possible between the online media and those Gambians in the diaspora who would like to explore a better understanding of the differences that exist...which   serve no one except those with a grudge or uncontrolled aggression.

A forum should be explored that takes account of The Gambian government, the opposition parties and other parties of note including the media and the plethora of democratic institutions in the diaspora.I believe that Gambians are particularly good at forming committees leading to a national consensus. I would be willing to accept any message from any party that has an interest. But I do believe that the sanction for this must come in good faith from The Gambian government. Perhaps, this would be within the remit and wisdom of The Speaker of The National Assembly?

I truly believe that the good will for this exists. We shall see?

Freedom Newspaper; Almost all countries are undergoing economic recession due to high gas prices. The purchasing power for many citizens had also gone down dramatically over the past few months. As a British entrepreneur who specializes in African investment, what can you tell us about Gambia's economic crisis?

Michael; The greatest challenge to The Gambian government as with many other impoverished economies will be how does it manage to feed its people and provide the economic conditions to withstand a world recession. I have always thought that positive people do their utmost to control what they can aspire to achieve. They do not waste time and energy stopping what can not be overcome. The rule of experience to any challenge is to control the impact of outside forces that are already apparent. This requires an extra ordinary leader. The Gambian government is in no position to subsidize the purchase of food from abroad. What will happen is that what is purchased will be twice as expensive for half as much. I have had the pleasure to inspect some of The Presidents farms. They are well managed and reasonably productive. I would suggest that The Gambian government be allowed to purchase this produce and redistribute this amongst the people. If The President is magnanimous, he will take payment as a credit without interest for payment in several years time. Though some will challenge this view....I would suggest that the people would be less critical of his wealth if he uses this to serve the peoples immediate needs. I am also aware of the work of the Gambia's women’s farming Union. The President has made a great commendation to the Gambian female. Whereby he attested that The Gambian female carries the Gambian economy on her back as well as the Home and the social network. The Gambian female. through the "Union" should be receiving, proper funding and assistance with land, seed and fertiliser.The Gambian government, could do much to encourage the Gambian Youth to form co-operatives to farm as groups and pooling resources under the supervision of the Women’s farming Union. Irrigation is not too much of a problem in many parts of The Gambia. The underlying water course is usually available to extraction at less than 10 meters. The Gambia does have the means to extract this mechanically introduced an Agronomist {scientific farmer} from the U.K. some years ago. My understanding is that he advised the President on how to control harmful "pests" and maximize yields. Also how to grow new vegetable crops.

This is not a time to criticize the failings of the APRC and the lack of timely investment in the Gambia's agricultural infrastructure. Time is running out for the need for all to "pull the plough together” The Gambia should be "growing to survive"

AS the President said.."do you want to fill your gas tank or your stomach"?

Freedom Newspaper; How about Gambia's Tourist industry? Is tourism growing or declining in The Gambia?

Michael; The short answer is that it is declining. But you could say the same all over the world. Fuel surcharges, allied to British Tourist insolvency means that The British will change their habits in the short term. We are increasingly hard up.Unprecidented growth over the last 10 years in the British economy has now finished for the foreseeable future. The British visitor to The Gambia was aged between 45 to 50.of low to medium income and many were return visitors several times a year. At its height Britain supplied 80,000 visitors per year. Last year, some 18,500 visitors hit The Gambia to November. Christmas was average,{mainly Gambians returning for Christmas} but thereafter the numbers declined rapidly. This years pre bookings are at an all time low.....The other factors is that the unprofitability of many Gambian hotels has seen hundreds of workers laid off during the closed season {for the first time} without pay.

The failure of the Gambian government to secure an adequate employment arrangement with hotel owners to protect its workers, during the closed season, allied to draconian working conditions of long hours for small pay is a recipe for financial stress and illness for many employees reliant on the tourism sector. I have recently sent money to many friends and their families faced with starvation. I am certain that many other British well wishers have done the same. The frequent threats to British visitors and the attacks on Britain by the Gambian media and the President has also decreased confidence and increased apathy from British long term and recurrent visitors. The Gambian government, failed to take up offers of opportunities to increase visitors from Scotland, through Glasgow airport and in Eire {Southern Ireland} purely through complacency by ministers and those tasked to promote tourism from Europe.

I advanced these to those tasked for their consideration...They were never responded to.

From my own experience. I could take a holiday to Gambia in 2000, when the exchange rate was around 2000 dalasis to £100.The cost of a flight including hotel{3 star}  and spending money for food taxis etc....was about £500 for one week.2000 dalasis then would last me about 2 to 3 days. In 2006 , 2000 dalasis lasted less than one day.

Today, I would guess 2000 dalasis would not even stand one good meal in a hotel restaurant.

The cost today is around  £950 for the same holiday including out of pocket expenses. The Gambia does not offer the same value for money in comparison to Spain that it once did. In fact, My next holiday abroad will be to the USA.It is far cheaper than The Gambia and has many more attractions and facilities. In any case, if I returned, I would be arrested and either deported or held prisoner on marina parade.

I would not wish to burden The Gambia with this kind of enforced and expensive hospitality. I will continue to feed my friends and families from a safe distance. The NIA can eat grass.

Freedom Newspaper; What kind of economic policies should be put in place to attract more investors in The Gambia?

Michael; The Gambia does not want British or Western investors. The many that I introduced were fleeced and returned home to face bankruptcy have a comprehensive list here including many tales of frustration and regret. Their are several names of Gambians here {well known} who were mainly responsible. Though I would stress that President Jammeh {to the best of my knowledge} was never connected to these people. This is why I have always spoken quite reasonably about President Jammeh.I don’t think even he knew the extent of the corruption that took place. Some Gambians. in high places, were complicit and extremely callous in deceiving British investors. I was deceived several times myself. I decided it was better just to give Gambians money. It cut out much of the expected aggravation made certain that my money reached the intended targets. Though it was not possible to reach the poor without some kind of toll to the rich.....I kept their take down to a bare minimum.

Freedom Newspaper; The average Gambian worker earns less than $100 dollars per month. With the sky rocketing of commodity prices, what do you foresee for families in months to come?

Michael; I am really worried. I have many hundreds of friends. I know their children. In fact some of these children were named after myself and my daughter. I am trying to release some capital at this present time to support my own children and my wife’s education back here in the U.K.I froze quite a lot of money when my doctors expected me to die from illness in 2004.This is mainly for my two sons and my daughter. It is a question of priorities. I can tell you that I am no different to hundreds of British people who have thousands of friends who are solely reliant on the generosity of us folks. When I see the Observer criticizing British people, I weep. We do far more for Gambians than anyone at The Observer. We do not deserve such appalling behavior. I actually know several Gay's both male and female who directly support Gambian families. I think President jammeh gets his wires crossed. Gay’s are not pedophiles....Neither are most sexual tourists. Gay’s have a lifestyle which is somewhat different but nevertheless, they remain human and generous to a fault.

Gambians in the diaspora..such as yourself, are entirely responsible to their families back home. Many Gambians abroad live in abject poverty, mainly because they send a high proportion of their hard earned salaries back home. The Gambia owes an increasing debt to distant relatives who work on less than minimum wage condemned to a very hard existance.Anyone who thinks the Gambian abroad is living a high life are sadly mistaken. My heart bleeds for them. Especially those in the U.K. facing Gorden Browns new immigration/citizenship Laws.aka June 2008 { more on these later}

Freedom Newspaper; Are you happy with the state of governance in The Gambia today.?

Michael; You know Pa....Jammeh has many good sides as well as his outrageous side and his wild comments, which damage him. He could not survive so long if it were not for his close advisers. But he has learned the art of survival. It must be incredibly hard to live constantly in fear of death or another coup d'eta.We have all lived with him for so long. I regret I never met him. His brother tried to arrange a meeting several times. The closest I got was his mother and his immediate family. I liked his mother. Though she was very suspicious of me at first. When we parted, she was kindness herself, and she had an amazing sense of humour.I was surprised that they didn't live in more comfort. His brother has been to Darfur twice. The young man I knew before he went was not the same when he came back. You could see on his face that he had witnessed too much for any man. I have not changed my opinion. I think Jammeh is plagued by demons. You know I came from a very poor background. Money did not ever bring me happiness. It brought opportunity. If I die tomorrow, I will have done my bit. Life is like a relay race....we carry the baton to the next guy. The focus at the start of the journey is to survive and run as fast as" hell”. When you get to my age you stop looking forward and start to look back. The Gambia for me was the high point.Jammeh should leave behind something inherently good. If he makes it to my age, he will value what was good. The rest was just experience.

Freedom Newspaper; What’s your overall assessment of The Freedom Newspaper? What changes do you realize on the paper lately?

Michael; Pa, you and I have come a long way. In the beginning on here I was attacked frequently. So much that their are times I thought I was not helping. I was very suspicious at first. Some of the things I wrote were a total failure...indeed they were embarressing.But you in your wisdom, did not ever treat me any different then as you do now. We are and have been very professional. I am no Journalist, but I have witnessed your faith and your conviction. You have never failed in your considerable efforts to get better at what you do. You must have a wonderful wife who gives you support. I know their have been times when you have questioned yourself.? Are you doing the right thing? Are you making a difference. To me you are a hero. You are not the best at what you do, but you are the most honest and groundbreaking. The best thing I could say to you in complete faith and honesty....is that Deyda Hydara would be very proud of you. He would expect you to continue your studies and reap the benefits of your hard labour.It took me 46 years to truly reap the reward for personal sacrifice and experience. You have a long way to go. But you are not afraid to alter course when faced with any challenge.” Too much sun makes all desert”. I have never met an African who when given the opportunity of education, does not settle for this, but converts it to his profit for a considerable and lengthy time.

Freedom Newspaper; Thanks for the positive report card. We have come to the point that we have to part with contributors with vicious intent. One should be able to defend what he or she writes. People hiding in the name of pen names should find elsewhere to get their opinionated pieces published and not The Freedom Newspaper.

If you can say Yahya Jammeh is a devil, you should be bold enough to sign your real name. We cared a lot about the credibility of The Freedom Newspaper. Journalism goes with responsibility and we have a duty to uphold such cardinal principals. It’s never too late to correct ones mistakes in life. hats bad is to refuse to correct such mistakes. The Freedom Newspaper has taken a new look and we are glad to be on the right track.How about that Mike ?

Freedom Newspaper;  Pa... if the bullet ever comes in your direction. I pray to God it strikes me first. I have always been a loner. I guard my true friends jealously. Their are those who aspire to greatness. and others who have greatness thrust upon them.

The Freedom Newspaper is entirely your own precious baby. I and nobody else has the right to advise your direction. I am confident that however you consider the true course of the ambitions, of your quest, for Justice and Freedom for The Gambian people, It will be the right course and an honourable course.

I have frequently expressed my distaste for personal and anonymous attacks against those who are unable to reply. If your pages are only visited by those who want a cheap thrill at the expense of others, then I would rather be your only visitor.

As long as you and others have something genuine to say.....I will always make certain with my last penny. that these pages remain free. Take courage my friend. Those who know you well know your heart.

Freedom Newspaper; We are sure that some might not appreciate the fact that you are extending a helping hand to The Freedom Newspaper. What makes you so connected to The Freedom Newspaper?

Michael; A friend in need is a friend indeed........I have achieved all my ambitions. You must fulfill yours. You have asked for peace between Jammeh and those who oppose him. Peace is the passport to Freedom. Let Africa record a message of hope and reconciliation from these humble pages. You can do no more.

Freedom Newspaper; Any last words our good friend?

Words are cheap....but cheaper than bullets. 

Freedom Newspaper; Thanks Mike for talking to us. Our regards to the family.

Michael; I wish I could do more. Our regards to your family and your many faithful supporters.