NEWSPAPER ARTICLES AND EDITORIALS
Daily Observer, Monday 12 April 2010
Kairaba
Editorial
The first president of The Gambia, Alhaji Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara has made history again by becoming the first Gambian statesman to write and publish his autobiography, 'Kairaba'. The publication of the book is no mean achievement. It is a worthwhile read for not only the general public, but also historians and scholars interested in this country's political and economic evolution over the past 50 years, when Sir Dawda was a strong and illustrious civil servant, leader of the independence struggle, and of the country for three decades after independence. Books like this record and preserve history.
We are grateful that the burden of age did not prevent the old man from chronicling the rigorous service he rendered to the people right from the days of the independence struggle to three decades of presiding over the affairs of the country. The development is indeed a significant one because it is only through the writings and preaching of such veterans that the younger generation of this country and Africa at large can know what exactly happened yesterday to give birth to today. Studying Gambian history of any epoch can be a hard task for the uninitiated historian, especially, for the severe lack of published secondary materials by Gambians themselves.
This makes us to rely heavily on what Europeans have written about our country, with all the bias, prejudice, ignorance and sometimes, arrogance of the foreign scholar writing from the outside. Sadly, even E F Small, perhaps the only Gambian pre-independence statesman who is in any way comparable to Sir Dawda in terms of their great contributions to the political freedom of this country, did not leave behind an autobiography; all what we know of him were gleaned from his patriotic musings in his newspaper the Gambia Outlook or from the intelligence reports on his movements by the colonial secret police in Bathurst and London. These of course are not near enough to fill in all the gaps in the illustrious career of Small. We therefore say a 'big thank you' to Sir Dawda for his effort in preserving our history.
We commend the person who made all these developments possible -President Jammeh. The fact that Jawara was allowed to return to the country despite being deposed, allocated a salary, given comfortable accommodation and above all the freedom to continue his public life speaks volumes of the hospitality and humanitarian character of President Jammeh. This is the first instance in Africa that such respect is accorded a president who was overthrown by the military. As the president himself stated at the launching, himself and others did not come to power with a heart of hatred but with a heart of love and development of for the country. In fact, the presence of President Jammeh at the launching speaks volumes of his determination to ensure the unity, love and oneness in the country.
It is therefore time that those public officials of the First Republic who distance themselves from President Jammeh to put aside all their personal grudges and come aboard to work and complement the efforts of government. The fact of the matter is that the president is here for all and his developments know no political boundary, this is precisely the reason Sir Dawda accepted the reality and is now part of the national development process. Vanguards of the former parties that existed in the First Republic should therefore take the former president as a role model and uphold his footsteps to accomplish the complete development of our dear Gambia.
We also want to remind our scholars that in writing his autobiography, Sir Dawda has thrown a challenge to other living Gambian political leaders to share their rich experiences with posterity by documenting them in a book. Of course, this does not mean that historians shall henceforth cease scrutinising Sir Dawda's tenure for new materials. What the autobiography can do to the serious historian in fact, is to whet his|her appetite for more research. It has provided a baseline on his career, and for sure as the years go by, a lot more will have to be discovered, analysed and written on this very important episode in our collective memory.
Author: Daily Observer
Daily Observer, Tuesday, April 20, 2010
President Jammeh donates 86 copies of Kairaba to academic institutions
The Gambian leader, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh through the vice president and minister of Women's Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy Monday presented 86 copies of 'Kairaba', the autobiography of the former president, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara to five tertiary institutions and seven senior secondary schools at a presentation ceremony held at the Office of the Vice President at State House in Banjul.
The beneficiary tertiary institutions are the University of The Gambia (UTG) Gambian Technical Training Institute (GTTI) the Gambia College, and School of Nursery and Midwifery, each receiving seven copies while the Management Development Institute (MDI) got five copies.
Five copies of the book were also given to each of Fatima, St Augustine, St St Peters, Nusrat and Muslim Senior Secondary Schools, while Gambia Senior Secondary School received 11 copies.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony, VP Njie-Saidy expressed pleasure at being directed by the Gambian leader to hand over the books to the institutions of higher learning and senior secondary schools in country. "I think during the launching, you were adequately informed about how The Gambian leader felt on that occasion as the chief patron on that occasion during the launching of this timely and important book in The Gambia," she said, while explaining that the book written by Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, highlights the lives and times of the latter before, during and after his presidency. "During the inauguration of the book, President Jammeh gave his impression about the book and urged everybody to get hold of the book, so as to be conversant and know what happened before and during independence and beyond to the beginning of the Second Republic," she said.
She explained that the Gambian leader did that for the simple reason that he thinks Gambian history must be written by Gambians themselves rather than depending on secondary materials from elsewhere.
She continued: "We all do know that Africa's history has always in the past been written by non-Africans except for a few people like Godwin Sonko of recent times. But it is also good to learn from an elderly statesman, particularly for those in schools both in senior secondary schools and institutions of higher learning." VP Njie-Saidy also informed the gathering that the Gambian leader believes that academic institutions are the best places to keep the books because these are places where researchers, lecturers and students can have access to them, so that they can be well informed on what happened previously and learn about the history of the country politically and economically. "It's for these reasons that the president asked me to handover this books to representatives of the beneficiary institutions here present. Therefore, I hope these books will not be gathering dust in bookshelves both at institutions of higher learning as well as senior secondary schools, but instead read the book, value it and also use it for research and education," she urged.
She finally used the opportunity to commend the Gambian leader on behalf of the students and all beneficiaries. For his part, Momodou Tangara, the minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, thanked President Jammeh for donating the books to the institutions, describing it as a laudable gesture. He opined that the best gift a person can give out is books, saying, "someone who gives you books gives you knowledge and knowledge is power". He added that the book is a strong and reliable source for researchers in the country.
Fatou Lamin Faye, the minister for Basic and Secondary Education echoed similar sentiments, and hailed President Jammeh and Sir Dawda. Commenting on the cordial ties between the president and his predecessor, Minister Faye said what has happened in The Gambia only happens here and has never happened anywhere in the world before. "Where a military takes over from a civilian government and then allows that civilian president to come back and settle peacefully in the country and be able to sit down and write a book. I think it only happens here in The Gambia and we pray to God the Almighty to continue to bless this country and help us protect the peace prevailing in the country without which there will be no meaningful development," she stated.
She stressed that the Kairaba will be of immense benefit to students particularly those who were born in 1994/95, who want to know what happened during and after the colonial era and the last 30 years and enable them compare the past and the present. She then challenged the beneficiaries to make best use of the books.
Ousman Bojang from UTG and Festus Emmanuel Jarju from Gambia Senior Secondary School in their vote of thanks, extended profound gratitude to President Jammeh for the benevolent gesture. The ceremony which was chaired by Augustine Mendy, senior assistant, Office of the President was graced by Professor Kah, the vice chancellor of UTG, director of Region One, heads of other institutions as well as students.
Author: Daily Observer