It's been a while.

I have not posted here since the downfall of the dictator who was breathing down the collective neck of Gambians was pushed into exile. It has been a whirlwind since. The democratic space has widened. Press freedom has seen a monumental improvement, however, corruption has increased and taken a life of its own. It is literally killing our people indiscriminately. Until we get that under control soon, we may find ourselves in another conflict of our own making.

Please Stop

The case of Imam Baba Leigh is heart wrenching as it is. His illegal detention is a violation of his rights as a human being. What his case doesn't need is the constant he is dead today and the next thing you know, he is spotted by someone else, all courtesy of Nderry Mbai's "reliable" sources. Post Yahya Jammeh Gambia will be an interesting place. Mediocre radio jockies like Nderry will have to be intellectually challenge if we are to maintain a sustainable, meritocratic democracy.

Radio "Kang Kang"

The title of this post is borrowed from one of Jaliba Kuyateh's songs. So what is Radio 'Kang kang'? It is a Mandinka term for gossip and the art of gossiping. In the aforementioned Jaliba song, he cautioned people to take what you heard on radio kang kang with a grain of salt. He stated and I am paraphasing here: "if there is any truth to it, the bulk of the information is rubbish"

Which brings me to the amateur hour that is the freedom newspaper show. The hyperbole and screaming fest will put Bill Orielly to shame. And who on God's green earth design that radio stream to blast away as soon as you landed on the front page? The annoyance factor is decibels high. Wouldn't it make more sense to let visitors navigate to the radio program on their own? It could be displayed prominently to attract attention rather than been the attention whore it has become in NderryLand.

I have been gone for a while and in my absence Nderry graduated from college. Congratulations are in order. I will start my critique of Nderry's work here on.

Very Busy

I have been very busy lately. Just accepted a software development job, which precipitates my move from the east coast of the United States to the Pacific northwest. Don't get any ideas nderry. I am not that easy to track.... I know you are dying to know who I am.

I have not been reading nderry lately...Moving isn't easy I tell ya. I have been living and geeking it up on the east coast for the past decade, so packing up and moving across the country is a monumental task. Following nderry was the least on my priorities list. It will stay that way for a minute. I am still trying to piece together my new surroundings. I may periodically drop in here and there, but a brother got to eat you know.

If any of you are interested in posting, be my guest....let me know.

Ghanaian minister advocates caution

While nderry is getting all over himself because a Ghanaian paper refered to the killings of Ghanaians in the Gambia as "jammenocide", the Ghanaian minister of the Interior: Hon. Kwamena Bartels is cautioning his countrymen to exercise patience since in his words:

“Not that the Government is quiet but we have to get some hard facts before we proceed and that is why we are using diplomacy to approach the case”, he said.

The nation of Ghana has no hard facts in the case. They are using diplomacy to get to the facts behind the killings. That in layman's term means...working with the authorities in the Gambia to investigate. Does it help the Ghanaian investigators if journalist without any shred of evidence try, judge and convict the sitting head of state of the nation whose help they need to solve this case.

Reading through the piece, I am kinda baffle at this admission by the Ghanaian interior minister:

The MP for Ablekuma North said the government did not even know the actual number of people who had died and their real identities since there were no records to prove that.

So the 44 people... a number bandied around is not even ascertained by the Ghanaian authorities. For all we know the number could be far less or greater than 44. I am betting lower.

Most of the people pointing a finger at Yahya Jammeh based their allegations on the words of an eye witness and the narratives of nderry mbai's police source: sekouba Jadama. In the case of the former, the interior minister made it sound like a classic he said, they said situation in this utterances:

He said they had not laid hands on any evidence just yet and that what an eyewitness was saying over here in Ghana was different from the position of the Gambians.

It is prudent that people opposed to Yahya Jammeh's regime, take caution and not get all excited as if this will spell doom for it. Unless someone can provide evidence that Yahya participated or ordered the killings, then it is save to say that in a court of law he isn't going to get convicted. Public opinion (especially in Ghana) is another thing.

I will conclude with this cautionary statement the Ghanaian interior minister made:

He continued that since the government had no evidence, there was no way they could attack a President of a sovereign country. “You can’t take any action when you don’t have your facts”, he stressed.

Did you catch that nderry? ... FACTS. I am not condoning the murder of innocent people, but I refuse to tag someone a murderer without any evidence, save for my disdain for his authoritarian rule. Granted Yahya is the head of state, but since when do we place all the crimes perpetrated in a country on its head of state without direct evidence.
Read the rest of the story here

Big baller, shot caller...

Nderry is living large. He got himself a $45 chair, a Walmart discounted cheap HP laptop and use one of the rooms in his apartment to show off his prowess as the leading Gambian online editor. All hail to the chief.... Can ya say baller?

On a more serious note, the Ghanaian murder case is a serious thing. The simple fact that 44 fellow Africans met their demise in our tiny country is a tragedy. The Ghanaian authorities should do all in their power to bring to justice those responsible for their brutal killings. To this end, they have done their investigations and an official statement hasn't been released as to who the culprits are. The Ghanaian press in the interim is running away with a story published by Nderry: sourced to a mysterious Sekouba Jadama at Banjul police headquarters. Nderry has on countless occassions been a sensational and unreliable journalist. The Ghanaian journalist writting these stories may not be aware of this little but very important factual nugget. In the meantime the image of our country is further drawn into the mud.

Nderry is wallowing in his new found fame. The Ghanaian press following the murder of their countrymen are quoting him ad naseum and he doesn't waste anytime pointing this out to anyone who will listen. Don't take my word for it...go to his crappy site and see for yourself.

On a personal note, I think the Ghanaians should put up or shut up. If they have evidence linking Yahya Jammeh to these murders, by all means get him, but running away with a story published in an anti- government website with a history of salacious reporting could come back to bite you when it is time to produce evidence. Will the real Sekouba Jadama stand up when push come to shove or will it be another phantom of nderry's imagination?

Human trafficking is a brutal trade. And by all accounts these Ghanaians are been trafficked into Europe using Gambian territory. Do we leave room to the possibility that traffickers could have a hand in their demise. This doesn't mean the authorities in the Gambia shouldn't investigate and relay their findings in a timely manner to their Ghanaian counterparts. However implicating Yahya Jammeh without any evidence (saved for Sekouba Jadama) could be a tricky issue when it comes to a court of law. Nderry will be well advise to seek legal counsel because as much as I detest his form of journalism, events could run their course into rough territories.

Nderry and the Ghanian massacre

Nderry is gloating about a quotation in a Ghanian paper about a story published on his site regarding the murder of 44 Ghanians in the Gambia. The story liberally quoted a police officer going by the name: sekouba Jadama alleging that Yahya Jammeh personally ordered the murder of the Ghanians.

I hope the Ghanian investigators are not as gullible as the author of that piece. If he has done any ground work or due diligence, he would not have put his reputation on a story based on nderry's reporting.

On the other hand, if the Ghanians should push this to the international court, then Nderry will be force to finger his source: the sekouba Jadama who knew so much about the murder of 44 people. Source confidentiality is not a defense in a murder case. After all the man wrote online that he is privy to information regarding the atrocities.

The game is up nderry....time to put up or shut up.