Editorial: Pa Malick Faye Caught By History

Wednesday, 23 January 2013 16:36

(JollofNews) – It is very rare that media organisations address issues raised by readers on an individual basis. Surely our readers will understand the rationale…

But an issue as important as the apparent defection of the disgraced ex-Managing Director of the Daily Observer, Pa Malick Faye, sure deserves attention; especially so given that some people are seeking to reinvent his image.

Or is it Faye himself hiding behind screen names in an attempt to discredit our reports to garner sympathy?

It is natural that when someone gets into trouble, no matter their past, we tend to sympathise with them. This looks like the case for the former Observer MD.

Almost every “dissident” online Gambian journalist has issues with the way Yahya Jammeh runs Gambia. And if you ask us, we do as well, as Gambians.

But has it affected the way we report on the country or the ‘Professor’ himself? No.

No one is saying Yahya Jammeh can’t be blamed for the deplorable situation Gambia is in now. But for God’s sake, do not believe that you can get anyone believe that Pa Malick is innocent of the disappearance of journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh either.

Someone commented that two of our staff [presumably by that they meant Kemo Cham and Abdoulie John] worked with him. We would expect you, therefore, to know that these people are in a better position to know the involvement of Malick in the disappearance of Manneh.

Whether Malick’s name was mentioned at the Interior Ministry or not, it doesn’t matter, since his colleagues at the Daily Observer, where the incident happened, are living witnesses that he is behind the initial arrest of someone he called his friend, just because he wanted promotion.

Readers should also know that Pa Malick’s name has been mentioned on this matter long before JollofNews was ever created.

So, it’s unfair to say because anyone had personal problems with him we are trying to victimise him. No. Malick is not the victim here. Chief Manneh and his family are.

And also, ask Abdoulie John how Malick, in connivance with the jailed IGP Ensa Badjie, narrowly failed to have him sent to jail for merely protesting the interference in the editorial policy of the Daily Observer by the late Momodou Sanyang of GRTS fame.

Like our elderly folks in Gambia always say, the late Sanyang is in the ultimate place. No gain lying against him.

You might as well ask Nanama Keita and Kemo Cham about the viciousness of Pa Malick.

Ethics? Are we only to respect ethics because we are on the other side of the political divide?

Malick was only until a few days ago the head of the Daily Observer, the mouthpiece of Yahya Jammeh, which could publish anything under the sun and go free, hence it doesn’t offend ‘The Professor’.

Nonetheless, like everyone who cares, Malick will be given the opportunity to express himself here on these pages if he so wishes. After all, we accord his former boss, Jammeh, the same opportunity. Don’t we?

But it doesn’t change the fact that Malick, based on undeniable evidences, is caught by history... And he should, among many other things, tell the world what he knows about the fate of the disappeared journalist Manneh. After all, he very well knew how to use the same Manneh issue to influence the removal of Neneh Macdoll-Gaye as Gambia’s Ambassador to the US.

Malick’s departure from Gambia could after all serve a good purpose. At least he can help solve one of the world’s most popular unsolved cases, the exact fate of Chief Manneh.

CPJ, IFJ, and all those who cares, take note.