Pa Nderry,

I am a visitor to your site. Congrats for setting up the online news service. I enjoy a lot going through it .However what is disturbing to me is that people's private lives are constantly dragged into what seems to have no links with issues that are relevant to national development. My first example is mentioning who had a child with tamsir jassey and the second is the said report on Ambassador Crispin Johnson. I don’t know him but I think it is unfair to disclose his personal life who he is living with, or who he sleeps with, excuse my bluntness.

Journalist Mariama Khan

It sounds so ridiculous to me. It makes me wonder do we have some online saints? Really not. Talking about corruption, politics and everything affecting us as a nation is right, but trying to smear others just for the sake of it is something else. Whoever your source is on alleged sexual harassment meted out to her by any one should have the guts to speak out, without hiding. Keeping silent entrenches the problem. If it is true, I know it is not only the said ambassador who is guilty of sexual harassment in the Gambia, not only in government, it is every where in our schools, in the private offices, in our houses, in the media.

I am presently working on a book to be published in some months ahead and one of the themes explored is sexual harassment in The Gambia.. I am not trying to defend the ambassador because I am a government officer but I am writing an independent opinion and certainly as a journalist as well. I know his name casually like the name of any other person of high portfolio in government. That’s all but I feel it is not right to denigrate him on no grounds, I think it is a matter of personal choice whether he lives with his family or alone.

In fact most of us are living away from our families outside the country. If he is corrupt or kind of issues that concern us as a nation, why not, belch it out, sure we all need to know, but otherwise, things like who drinks beer or has a girl friend in the corner is not substantative enough to use valuable time on our newspapers that have such a lofty mission. We have more pressing issues to discuss. I saw no link either with mentioning that Katy Joh had a daughter with Tamsir to national issues. I don’t know her but I feel it is equally ridiculous to say that.
Most times I feel it so hard to figure out whether I am reading reports or some personal opinions on freedom newspaper on line. A newspaper report is not a page of fiction neither a chapter on a creative novel nor a summary of a biographical tale.

Therefore Mr. Mbai, I am saying keep up the good work and congrats for establishing the newspaper online. But focus on better issues, we have loads of bags of relevant issues on national development to unload.

Mariama Khan
Postgraduate student
Turin, Italy

author- Futa Toro

Coauthor -Juffureh Kissing you with hurting lips
and
Proverbs of The Senegambia

Mariama Khan