By Lamin (Dave) Manneh, Southampton.

Granted, none of you expect an acknowledgment or a reply to your messages of condolence and neither is there any etiquette and/or norm when it comes to replies to such sad occasions as the passing away of one's beloved, nevertheless, on behalf of my great uncle Alhagie Edrisa Manjang, my great aunt Aji Isatou Sanneh, my uncles EB, Malamin, Ousman, Adam, my aunt and the wife of the deceased; Sirreh Jarju, my father Momodou (Dodou) Manneh and the rest of our families both in The Gambia and the Diaspora, I wish to thank all of you for your messages of condolence and support on the very sad occasion of the untimely death of our dear and beloved son, brother, cousin, nephew, uncle, husband…..; Sulayman (Saul) Manjang.

In our moment of sadness and sorrow, we took fortitude from your messages, visits, phone calls, emails, text messages; and divine grace from Allah Almighty. Your support, both moral and otherwise, gave us succour and much needed strength to come to terms with the tragedy that has befallen our family.

We wish to extend our special gratitude to all Saul’s friends and the wider Leeds/Yorkshire Gambian community who rallied to his poor wife and kids’ side on hearing of his death. Special thanks goes to Messrs Salifu Manneh (and his wife and daughters), Fye Bojang, Bamfa Jaiteh, Sheriff Jatta, Amara and the countless other men and women (Gambians and non Gambians alike) whose names and faces I could never remember or indeed recall, but all of whom did their bit in their own selfless and individual ways to make this great loss a little bit more bearable.

We would also like to thank the Atlanta Gambia-community’s Imam Yakub Fatty and Omar Manjang who both flew in from the USA to prepare the body (wash and shroud) and offer prayers and condolences on behalf the Atlanta Gambian community. Imam Yakub is indeed an extraordinarily gentle soul, for barely 24 hours in the UK; he jumped on another flight to accompany the body of the deceased to The Gambia. May Allah reward him and all of you abundantly.

As Saul’s nephew and someone who remembers his energy, enthusiasm, motivation and dream on his arrival in the UK almost 9 years to the day, I was beyond grief to look into his coffin and stare into his still face. But this sadness was tinged with a bigger regret for me personally, in that he phoned and left me a message a few weeks prior to his death and I never managed to return his call. The memory would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Despite my regret and sadness, I was much contended and indeed proud to see that Saul’s easy-go-lucky, charming and friendly persona stayed with him to his death. The huge turn-out at the Cultural/Islamic Centre where prayers were said for him was a testament to this. The crowd was a cross-section of the UK population; Europeans, Mixed-Race, Asians, and Africans. So I came back from Leeds, heavy-hearted but happy that my uncle was loved and respected by his peers, colleagues and ordinary people he has crossed paths with, both in the UK and in The Gambia.

May his soul and that of all the departed rest in perfect peace.

Lamin (Dave) Manneh,

Southampton,

UK

NB: My uncle Ousman is still finding it incredibly hard to come to terms with the loss of his brother, so I coordinated, drafted and am sending this note with his blessing and expressed permission.