Breaking News: About Ten Security Officers Defect To Senegal

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-in-Chief

According to our State House operative Kissy Kissy Mansa, at least ten security officers from the police, the armed forces and National Intelligence Agency have defected to neighboring Senegal in the past weekend. Two of the officers were agents of the much-feared NIA. Although Kissy could not reveal their identities, rank or precise designations, it is widely believed that the defection had to do with the recent sacking of Forestry and Environment Secretary, Edward Singhateh.

            In a related development, Kissy reports that at 11:00AM on Friday National Assembly Speaker, Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay was spotted at the VIP lounge at the Banjul International Airport without her usual paramilitary bodyguard and in a private vehicle. Curiously, once the vehicle stopped, Speaker Ceesay, bespectacled in sunglasses and in a dark suit, hurriedly stepped out, grabbed a suitcase and ran helter-skelter into the VIP lounge. About ten minutes later, an accountant with the Taiwanese Embassy in Banjul followed in similar fashion and ten minutes later, the Taiwanese Ambassador Dr. Patrick Chang followed suit. While it is not certain whether or not the trio were together says Kissy, the Speaker’s rather unceremonious departure is highly suspect.

            In a related development, we have just received a letter from Fajara Barracks intimating a major shift in the power dynamics of the Jammeh government. Below is the letter in its entirety:

 Dear Editor,
 
This may sound incomprehensible to some and an unacceptable proposition to many, including the majority of the Gambia Armed Forces, but Yahya Jammeh is seriously considering ceding power to the Army Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) Lang Tombong Tamba. We have received intelligence suggesting that Jammeh has had preliminary discussions with the CDS on the best way he (Jammeh) could safely retreat to his estate in Kanilai and allow Lang Tombong to handle the day-to-day affairs of state.
What is still not clear is how he intends to do this; the modalities are still unclear.  Anything short of resignation is unacceptable to the Gambian people and to members of the security forces.  Jammeh should resign now and save the country the agony of having to forcefully remove him from power.
 
Jammeh has been slow in realizing the extent to which his 13-year rule has destroyed not only the once thriving economy but also the very fabric of Gambian society.  Institutions such as the administrative structures of the civil service, the judiciary, the Central Bank, armed forces to name but a few, have been decimated by Jammeh and his henchmen.  Now the message from the security forces, the general public and even the usually docile National Assembly following the illegal sale of GAMTEL/GAMCELL has finally filtered through Jammeh's thick skull, he is worried stiff (what do you expect from a coward) and thus his desperate move to take a back seat and allow Lang Tombong to use force if necessary to quell any dissent, as opposition forces, including from within the APRC (including supporters of the Butcher of Banjul, Edward Singhateh), begin to increasingly garner courage to confront Jammeh head-on while he continues to commit serious economic, financial, political and security blunders in desperate response to any increasing precarious situation facing a dying regime.  As everyone knows now, Jammeh is even afraid to travel outside of The Gambia for fear that he may not be allowed in once out. Jammeh may be thinking of ways to save his skin. We, at the Fajara Barracks, have a different idea.