By Ebrima G. Sankareh

The death has been announced of veteran Fula newsreader and media educator on Radio Gambia, Musa Camara. This scanty yet shocking report was conveyed to us through our anonymous sources this morning.

            Musa Camara originally from Basse, is the son of a World War II Veteran and since completing high School has been with Radio Gambia except for a brief spell when he worked with Action Aid. He later returned to Radio Gambia doing what he likes and does best, flawlessly reading news in Fula and hosting numerous community education programmes. He was an excellent orator as evidenced by his commentaries and who, over the years perfected his skills. He would volunteer to read the news in Mandinka at the shortest notice that the Mandinka newsreader was either late or sick. Working with Camara at Radio Gambia was great fun and education. I was always fascinated by how Musa would pick the news bulletin from The Newsroom and in less than five minutes   go live and present it as if though he wrote the text. We affectionately called him Bala. Musa Camara who joined Radio Gambia in the early 1970s has witnessed its transformation from the rudimentary stages of its development to its recent advances in modern telecommunications. His death is therefore, a very sad and great loss to Gambian journalism and more especially, to the Fula listeners. May God grant mercy to Musa’s gentle soul.