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Dear Sheriff,
The importance of reading has for long occupied my mind. And the more I think about it the more its importance takes a greater dimension in my thoughts.
Apr 28, 2011
These are the facts of the case. Tijan was not a very popular man, it was true. His weekly column in the papers was a searing look into the behavior of the powers that be, and people did not love him for it. No one was safe from the wandering wrath of his pen - from the highest civil servant to the lowliest cleaning lady. At home he ruled with an iron fist - prone to bouts of temper and both verbal and physical abuse of his wife and children. If the maid made the smallest of noises during his afternoon siesta - his office was near his house - he would wake up screaming at the poor girl until all the neighbors could hear him, calling her a good-for-nothing and a disgrace while she listened, scowling, too afraid to turn her back on him.
His wife, Jama, was a tall slender woman, her body all angles and sharp corners. She was so tall she stooped when she walked.
Feb 18, 2011
The Gambia is its river…narrow, long and beautiful. When in 1455 portuguese explorers banked on our shores, we were not The Gambia, but a river as beautiful as it was navigable. We were a route that served an end. We did not have gold, or diamonds – or so we are told – but what we had was the one thing that was necessary for the stealing and smuggling of West Africa’s vast natural resources and that was the river.
The two warring, rival European nations –France and Great Britain – are again drawn in by the river and a people that share a culture, a history and an identity are set on due to the strategic, interesting positions of their rivers and the efficiency of their navigation. There is no interest to develop our lands, educate our peoples or feed our hungry. They are not here for the people but rather for our river.
But then, the physique of our people becomes an added resource.
Now, a topic as broad as this one would require a book of many volumes, but I shall attempt to compress my thoughts in as few words as possible, hopefully limiting myself to my usual 2 A4 sized papers.
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