BOOK REVIEW
By
Pa Samba Jow
MANDELA’S OTHER CHILDREN: THE DIARY OF AN AFRICAN JOURANLIST by Baba Galleh Jallow is a must read for all Gambians, regardless of political affiliation. Everyone should endeavor to get hold of a copy. The book gives a clear picture of Jammeh’s tyranny and serves as a clear testimony to Jammeh’s paranoia and arrogance. It documents not only Baba’s experiences, but also such events as the murder of Ousman Koro Ceesay, the massacre of school children on April 10/11 2000, the closure of Citizen FM radio, the attempted burning of Radio 1 FM and the murder of Deyda Hydara on December 16, 2004, among other things.
As I read the book, I did not know whether to cry for my dear country or to laugh at the absurdity of the so -called security officers and their “we are just following orders from above” nonsense. What I however, got from it is Baba’s courage and determination not to be cowered and bought by Jammeh and his clique. This book will go down as the most vivid documentation of Jammeh’s brutality against the press in particular and The Gambia in general. It is all very revealing of the workings of the NIA because it is told by someone who has spent many days and nights detained behind the walls of their “Dracula castle”
If you are a Jammeh supporter, reading this book might help open your eyes to the true colors of the APRC/AFPRC regimes. If you are a Jammeh critic, this book will help you understand the dictatorial resolve of Jammeh and his henchmen to stifle dissenting views and to stay in power by any means necessary.To the journalists, there is no better narration of their plight. The book’s publication could not have come at a better time when our colleagues Fatou Jaw Manneh, Lamin Fatty etc are being paraded through the kangaroo courts on trumped up charges, and the disappearances of Chief Manneh and others.
As is cogently put in the book’s back page description, Mandela’s Other Children “is a story of heroic resistance, stubborn defiance, and a steely determination to assert and preserve endangered sovereignties by threatened social entities.” This book will provide you with incontrovertible facts about Jammeh’s tyranny.
Baba Galleh Jallow was editor-in-chief of the Daily Observer and Founder Editor and CEO of the Independent Newspaper. He holds a BA in Political Science, a Masters in Liberal Studies and is currently a PhD student in History at the University of California, Davis. The book can be obtained from FreedomGambia. Baba’s other books are Dying for My Daughter, Angry Laughter, and The Anatomy of Powercracy and Other Essays.
Angry Laughter - By Baba Galleh Jallow Those who are familiar with Baba Galleh Jallow's famous Story of the Week in the Daily Observer during his time there would no doubt recall his crafty style in creating satire. He used to create characters with funny names that accurately depicted contemporary issues.
Now Baba Galleh has gone even a step further by writing such satire in a book, entitled; Angry Laughter.
In this 61 page book, he has presented in his usual funny style the story of a brutal African military dictatorship that later transformed itself into a civilian government, although still maintaining all the trappings of a military junta.
As it is reminiscent of his style of writing, he gave the characters names well suited to the roles they play in the story. For instance, the undisputed leader of the junta was called General Loony, which is no doubt a corruption of the word lunatic. Some of the characters are given such names as Nopa, the hare, Cheku, the parrot, Buki, the hyena, Samo, the elephant and Mbota, the frog.
The book began with the background history of a country called Smiling Forest which was occupied by a variety of animals. It was ruled by an animal king known as Talk much Dolittle. It went on to tabulate the events that led to the eventual overthrow of King Talkmuch Dolittle by a little known fox called Captain Loony who was a member of the Armed Foxes of Smiling Forest.
Like all other military dictatorships in Africa, the Armed Foxes set up their ruling council which they named the Armed Foxes Potato Thinking Cabinet, with General Loony as the supreme head. However, in order to get some international legitimacy, they also symbolically invited other animals that did not belong to the Armed Foxes to join the cabinet.
As time went on, some cracks began to appear in their ranks. This eventually led to a big rift that ended up with the arrest and imprisonment of some senior members of the Armed Foxes Potato Thinking Cabinet, who were accused of conspiracy to kill General Loony.
While General Loony and his junta were always emphasizing that they only assumed power in order to correct the corrupt system put in place by the administration of Talkmuch Dolittle and hand over to the animals of Smiling Forest to choose their own leaders, but in reality, they were doing the opposite. They were not only further entrenching themselves into power, but they were also using the same tactics used by their predecessors to amass wealth.
The book also went on to document general Loony's penchant for high sounding words and flowery names such as his Mental Surveillance Unit, Vision Weeny Weeny, Loony is Always Right Movement and his Operation No Shadows, among others. All of them were actually meant to help him consolidate his tight grip on power.
The theme of the book is actually quite adequately captured in the synopsis at the back cover which states: "Written in the Orwellian tradition of Animal Farm, Angry Laughter is one of the most biting political satires to come out of Africa. In this tale of dark political intrigue and betrayal, Baba Galleh Jallow ridicules the absurd antics of an inept and corrupt civilian government and its removal and replacement by a group of semi-literate military 'saviours', who turn out to be far more absurd, corrupt and brutal than their predecessors. While exceedingly funny and often lighthearted, Angry Laughter awakens us to the cruel excesses of Africa's power-crazed despots, the sorry plight of her oppressed peoples, the very real dangers of civil war and the continent's nauseating politics of brutality. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the nature and dynamics of contemporary African politics and why, in particular, the continent is riddled with bloody civil wars."
The book is published by Wasteland Press in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.