I have been following events in our
country through your news paper. Keep up the good work. However i am a
bit confused as to your heading on the subject matter. You said the
Soldier reported that " jammeh hired some stateguard soldiers to
eliminate by killing some prominent politicians ( names yet to be
confirmed). Bajinka was against it and did not agree with the idea".
However in your comments on editors note you wrote that "the soldier
said, Bajinka was assigned to kill some prominent politicians". This is
confusing. Please enlighten us more whether you are quoting the soldier
or otherwise. If you are quoting the soldier then write the true thing
as given to you by the soldier. There is contradiction between your
editorial note and the one given to you by the soldier.There is a big
difference between "jammeh hired some soldiers to kill...." and Bajinka
was assigned to kill.....". Please verify in your next paper. Thank you
and may God continue to bless you, your staff and all the good people
fighting to see justice prevail in the Gambia.
Editors note: Thanks concerned reader for your point of observation. Bajinka was the head of the state guard and must be in the position to account for the activities of the men under his command. Any information given to us, we try to solicit an independent confirmation to it. We quoted what the proclaimed soldier said correctly. The editorial judgement if you like, was thoroughly researched. It is up to major Bajinka to clear his name. The man has been linked to a lot of crimes and he need to set the records straight. Thanks for the observations.
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Dear Pa N'derry:
First of all, I wish to
commend you for taking the iniative in providing an alternate news
source to many of us living overseas. I am a daily visitor to the
freedom newspaper's site. Even though I disagree with some of your
stories, I really appreciate the informative content of others.
Today,
I write this letter with a heavy heart because a key principle of
journalism has been broken. The first thing we are all taught in any
decent work of life is "truthiness." In Journalism, it is not only a
requirement but a cornestone of an occupation I dearly respect.
To come to my point, you reported over the past couple of days that Imam Abdoulie Fatty is working at the IEC..."We learned that Imam Abdoulie Fatty of all Abdoulie Fatty replaces Mboob. Chey!!! The imam is now in full time
politics."
The
emphasis is on "we." I know you may have not written this story, but as
editor it is your responsibility to make sure that every fact you
reported is thoroughly vetted. True, there is an Imam Fatty associated
with the IEC, but that Imam Fatty is SAJAR FATTY not IMAM ABDOULIE
FATTY. Furthermore, Imam Sajar Fatty's accociation to the IEC dates
back to the early beginnings of the "Independent Electoral Commission."
In other words, verifing that fact shouldn't have been difficult.
Imam
Abdoulie Fatty has his distractors because he is the Imam of State
House Mosque. However, your sources have conveniently forgotten that
Imam Fatty not only confronted Jammeh, but did so in public and in
State house when Jammeh sided with St. Theresa's and other schools on
the issue of Hijab for female students. The Imam has never shied away
from speaking the truth and we all know that. He deserves an apology
from your newspaper for slandering his name.
I hope you will be bold enough to make this clarification on your paper.
Sincerely,
Mansa Sulu.
Editors note: To err is human and we apologise for the error regarding the appointment of Imam Alhagie Abdoulie Fatty as an official of the IEC. It was his name shake Imam Alhagie Saja Fatty and not the state house Imam as reported. Thanks Mansa for drawing our attention to this deveil mistake.