Savage Is A “Barracks-room Lawyer”

Abdul SavageRejoinder by David A. Davies

NRMG Has Already Started Jockeying For Fame by Abdullah Savage, Retired, US Army Member, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Member, Veterans of Foreign Wars – April 27, 2015

The obscurantist writer, Mr Abdullah Savage, seems to be what is termed in the army as a “barracks-room lawyer”. He is always pointing a criticizing finger at others whilst he sits comfortably in his home, contributing nothing by way of material help to the struggle or sober intellectual output of any conceptual nature to help advance the political discourse.

He doesn’t seem to have anything of substance to offer except sheepishly repeat the same jargons like “accountability and transparency” that he borrowed from his fellow soldiers of the Gambian military junta of 1994.
In short, these so-called low-ranking soldiers do not even seem to understand what these principles entail. But, perhaps as uneducated individuals and school drop-outs, they feel so good when they loosely bandy around high- falutin expressions.

At the start, Mr Abdullah Savage was somewhat supportive of the military option but, when he mistakenly claimed to be the military expert and strategist, he was cornered on “Hello-Gambia” online newspaper to provide his own military concept of operations as opposed to the NRMG thinking of removing the Gambian dictatorship “by all means necessary”. Regrettably, Mr Abdullah Savage conveniently avoided the debate and rather chose to duck and dive using other different online media outlets.

To make matters worse, he recently resurfaced on Freedom Radio as a political analyst but with no political acumen. Just listen to his lousy and pathetic Monday show on this online radio where he keeps on contradicting himself or repeatedly stating the obvious. He even makes outlandish utterances or attempts to give political analysis of the current situation but totally devoid of any political sense and of no serious conceptual nature.
Who in his right frame of mind would go around all over the online media parading such irrelevant and preposterous military insignia or decorations such as membership to military veteran or retirees club without the courtesy of even stating one’s own military rank? The military goes by rank, period. Or perhaps, such are those who are trying to seek attention, recognition or fame, “by all means necessary”?

At least, members of the NRMG who, undoubtedly are well articulate, are very well known by their military ranks, not by their membership to some Rotary club or by virtue of their freemasonry por whatever.

One can well do without the gratuitous and ubiquitous advisory statements that Mr Abdiullah Savage makes all over the online media.

For the records, I am not a member of NRMG nor do I hold any brief for them.

Ends

39 Comments

  1. Thanks so much for your article about that Mr. Savage. You rightly put him in his place. As you said , the man keeps on repeating himself and tend to criticise everything and anything just for the sake cheap publicity.

    • If you want the real dirt on mr savage contact my email and I will hook you up with the guys he served with. He is a liar about his accomplishments, he lied about being on the ECP during the truck blast, he faked an injury to get on profile so he could avoid combat patrol and was on the verge of a dishonorable discharge before he got hurt. Now he’s some sort of war hero

  2. BaboucarrJatta

    Well said David A Davies. I have always maintained that Mr Savage was an apologist, a Jammeh loyalist in disguise and not for the struggle. Unfortunately, Online Media always fail to identify double standard agents like Mr savage, giving them the medium to blast their trumpets.Much as we entertain Democracy, it is foolery giving your enemy the weapon that will destroy you.Mr Savage is indeed a sell out only good at criticizing for obvious reasons.

  3. Moses T. Jones

    The gentleman Savage seem to have some mental health problems like most US war veterans who come back home crazy or mentally disturbed.

    He is obsessed with being, at all cost, in the limelight and everywhere on the online media and radios annoying all and sundry with his mediocre, infantile and contradictory stance and utterances.

    In short, he has no cause bigger than himself as he recently openly and shamelessly revealed, when cornered by the audience on Freedom radio Monday show, that his family back home in the Gambia was more important to him than the “so-called struggle”, as he puts it or even Gambia. This is indeed an outright insult to all of us in the Diaspora struggle who also have families back home in the Gambia.

    At any rate, most of those, who claim to be foreign war veterans, were simply the junior ranks doing the menial jobs of general cleaning, laundry, pitching tents and picket fences, picket guarding or digging latrines etc.

    Such ancillary soldiers would find it excruciatingly difficult to reveal their real trade in the army, not to mention their military rank.

  4. Moses Jones, as a combat veteran of I would like protest in the strongest terms possible your characterization of men and women who experienced combat.
    Your use of the word crazy to describe those who experienced combat is repulsive

  5. FYI Mr Jones I met at least three Gambian born US military officers and a Sargent.

    Captain Camara ( Fatou Camara’s brother)
    Catpain Jagne (RIP)
    Captain Conteh ( was a Transportation Officer in 2004)
    SGT Ebrima Camara ( Ebrima was a SGT in 2004)

    These four mentioned soldiers are surely not as you put it simply the junior ranking soldiers doing the menial jobs of general cleaning, laundry, pitching tents and picket fences, picket guarding or digging latrines etc.

    I wonder where you getting your information from.

  6. Oh my oh my!! Thankyou Gambians. What a world of human resources we got. Thank God.

  7. Moses T. Jones

    “At any rate, most of those, who claim to be foreign war veterans, were simply the junior ranks doing the menial jobs of general cleaning, laundry, pitching tents and picket fences, picket guarding or digging latrines etc.”

    I said “most” and not “all”.

    Those who were not ancillary soldiers doing menial jobs should not be bothered. period

  8. Sambujang Kinteh

    Mr Moses Jones

    There is a saying which goes like this:

    who the cap fits, let him wear it!

  9. I think Gambians like to tear each other down, instead of building one another and supporting one another we take pride in tearing each other down.

    As a soldier who commanded troops in battle I am surprise a fellow citizen would go to the extend of devaluing some who chose the military as a career and succeeded.

    I remember meeting a British soldier of Jamaican decent at BIAP (Bagdad International Airport) upon smarting saluting and passing me he turned around and said excuse me Sir. Are you African American or are you from Africa? My ex wife is Jamaican so I joked that I am from Mocco Jamaica. When I told him that I am from Africa his eyes lit up, and I could tell he was so happy and proud of me. He wanted to know how could a immigrant become an Officer in a foreign land. ( if a Jamaican could be proud of a Gambian why not a Gambian be proud of a fellow countryman)

    I told him that America is the land of opportunity, if you work hard follow the law you can rise to realize your dreams. Some of US are trailblazers, we chose to do what we do so that others can follow and pass our small accomplishments.

    I pray one day a child of Gambian decent will one day be a General in the US Army.

    The empty barrel makes the most noise, most of us with experience in art of war and military science choose to stay low and quite but do not insult us.

    Thanks

  10. Lang Jobarteh

    There is no problem for any Gambian to become an officer in any foreign army being it American, Ugandan, British, Chinese, Congolese or whatever.

    There is equally nothing to brag about it because I do not view such as an accomplishment for Gambians or Gambia but the same as being an officer in the Gambian army which is a personal achievement. Nothing more, nothing less.

    The problem is that the military must disengage from politics which is not their field of expertise or competence.

    This is mainly what has been a problem of third world countries especially Africa and singularly Gambia.

    As Moses Jones rightly intimated, many of those who brag about being veterans of foreign armies were simply the junior ranking officers, maybe even combat veterans, but certainly not the military experts and strategists that they claim to be.

    It is not a question of Gambians tearing each other but, for once, saying the truth to each other.

    • These veterans can train our army in the future on discipline and citizenship, so the Gambia army will not carry out coup d’ etats in the post dictatorship.
      A british army training team (BATT) trained our GNA in the early eighties and they failed to do it properly. It was like training a rebel group! they lack discipline and proper education with regards to democracy and sovereignity. Hope Moses Jones will brings forth ideas and not just be critique of others. The question is; what is all the Gambians doing to restore democracy and the rule of law in their country? It is not a time to brag about any personal achievements.
      I am not; then you must be!! we need our human resources of all walks of life in our situation. Just an opinion.

  11. Sambujang Kinteh

    What is the big deal about a Gambian being a US combat veteran or active soldier or becoming a US Army General?

    Or being a Gambian/UK citizen with a doctorate degree and a professor at Oxford University?

    I just don’t get it.

    Again as Moses Jones rightly puts it that some of these Gambians have no cause bigger than themselves.

    Everyone has his own personal achievements or accomplishments in life which remains his personal pride for him to cherish..

    Nothing to do with Gambia as a country or Gambians as a people.

  12. Speaking the truth, my military experience is from the movies but I think all you guys need to do is liaise. This way, all caps will fit the head they belong.
    Like in the movies, how about in reality you are in a base in a war digging latrines and unexpectedly, a rocket fell nearby, now you are a survivor but unable to get rid of the memories of your comrades who fell in that attack. Do you deserve to be characterised as crazy or be reffered to as ‘just a junior rank’?
    My respect is due to all Gambian citizens, who are veterans and active in the U.S and the British army, genuinely concerned with the Gambia’s political resolve. However, I am not trying to justify the pompousness or double standard behaviour of any war veteran towards the Gambian struggle.

  13. Malick Carayol

    If I may interject.

    Commanding troops in battle does not mean anything to those in the political arena but only to soldiers..

    So let soldiers just keep out of politics.and do what they are trained to do.

    When they receive orders from politicians to go into battle, then they strategize, be combat ready and go into battle.f

    This is their role.

    No offence.

  14. There are very few Gambians in the military and in the Facebook age don’t you think we know each other.

    Your assertion sir is wrong, baseless and malicious.

    Why not name the “most” you are referring to. Tell us catagorically the soldiers that are cooking and cleaning

    Savage is 11 Bravo
    Ebrima Manneh is 88 Mike
    Musa Ceesay in infantry in the marines
    Fall was an officer
    Conteh is an Officer
    Camara is an Officer
    Jagne (rip) an Officer
    Ebrima Jagne is Petty Officer first class in the US navy E6

    What you fail to understand is the fact that military occupations are based on ASVAB scores

    Gambians have the advantage of coming from an English speaking country and do well on test that measure education at 10th grade level.

    Calling fellow countrymen who choose to serve their adopted country crazy and serving at low levels without facts is wrong

  15. Sambujang Kinteh

    1) The assertions made here are simply facts.They can be called whatever but they remain facts.
    They do not apply exclusively to all Gambian/US soldiers but many war combat veterans returned home mentally disturbed., This is not only in the US but in Europe and elsewhere,
    So “who the cap fits, let him wear it”

    2) It is the same ranks that you have in other armies including in the Gambian army.
    What is so special to brag about?
    Even Gambia soldiers have participated in combat (i.e. in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan etc)

    3) Having been in combat zone or being an officer does not make one a military expert or strategist, not to mention a political analyst.

    4) The military in Africa must disengage from politics.

    This is the reason why things are so messed up today, especially in many countries in Africa where the military oversteps its bounds and tries to meddle with politics. .

  16. Malick Carayol

    With all due respect, there is no point in listing out Gambian soldiers and their ranks in the US army.
    With all due respect, there is also no point in listing out Gambian Phd holders lecturing in Universities in the US, UK or elsewhere.

    These are personal achievements or accomplishments.

    The point is and as also rightly pointed out by others above, the military must stick to their own field and keep away from politics just as those in the political field have no business in strategizing military or combat operations.

    This is as it is done in the developed countries and this is why they are where they are.

    Otherwise, we will simply be asking for “trouble” as we have repeatedly witnessed in third world countries, particularly in Africa.

    Gambia is no exception.

  17. Moses called people crazy and made a baseless statement that he cannot defend with fact. how can this be considered the truth, if it is true help his come up with name of soldiers who are cooking and cleaning.
    Like I said his intent is malicious and I have every right to point it out.

    I totally understand why a reasonable person will be wary of soldiers and politics, America’s founding fathers were fearful of a standing army. The Declaration of Independence railed against King George III because he “kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature;” he imposed an occupying force that “affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power;” and he brought in mercenaries “to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny.” It was therefore no surprise that the issue of an army was highly contentious in the newly independent United States. Debates at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 were heated. When the Constitution was finally agreed upon, it included several provisions specifically designed to regulate and define the powers and limitations of an army. The President was to be the commander- in-chief of the military and would appoint officers, but Congress would control the purse strings and have the power to declare war. The American people were largely averse to a standing army and viewed it as a threat to liberty. The contemporary history of African military and politics is nothing to be proud of and Africans have something common with the framers when it comes to skepticism towards the military. The fear and distaste felt for a professional army did not extend to those who led it. As in England, which also had a traditional apprehension of a standing army, the officer corps was viewed with respect. From the beginnings of US a military career was often seen AS A STEPPING STONE TO POLITCAL OFFICE. Of the first 25 men to hold the office of the US President, 21 had military experience.

  18. Malick no reasonable person can take offense to what you said. You made your point without being malicious.

  19. Guys , I think mr savage is entittle to his opinions and has every rights to express them regardless of his military positions or experience . This is the beauty of freedom of speech and democracy. Democracy is about freedom of choices and we all have to make choices about our careers, who to have sex with , who to talk to , our political beliefs , religious beliefs and any choices we want to make to satisfy our needs. I personally do not agreed with some of his opinions but to attack him about his military experience is unfair . I think it is also unfair to attack the other Gambians who serve foreign military because of their lower level positions . Military is a career which individual chooses and that is the choice he or she make , so to belittle that individual position however low it might be is like having total disregard for their contribution In whatever capacity it may be . I think Moses T. Jones needs to appologize to mr savage and all those he described as having menial positions in the foreign military . As civilized and tolerance people we need to appreciate each other efforts and recognize that we all have a role to play in societies we live . This is why we have different occupations and positions . Mr savage position in military is irrelevant to our struggle because what is important is the message or position he stand for which we can agree or disagree. I for one careless about his military experience in this struggle but I do respect his work or whatever he does in legal and ethical manner to earn a decent living . In fact it is not my business to know.
    Sambujang Kinteh “everyone has his own personal achievements or accomplishments in life which remain his personal pride for him to cherish “.
    Mr kinteh , this quote above signify that we should always respect individual choices to satisfy their needs and therefore it matters to those individuals what they accomplished.

  20. The big deal about Gambian veterans and active soldiers in the U.S and British army is that, some of them are indeed capable of paying a trip to the Gambia to change the status quo in banjul, despite the fact most Gambians want out to seek for political assylums in the west. This is why I think the country’s recent political discourse became a matter of importance to many Gambians in the diaspora. So let soldiers keep out of politics is not the case in Gambia where a whole country is hijacked, by a rogue military junta just a little bit more disciplined than a gang of gangsters being uniformed in green khaki.

    Truely in my opinion, all Gambian are equal irrespective of their material or academic acquirements. What makes the Gambia a good Gambia is, when it’s citizens start to respect each other and sacrifice for each other and their future generations.

    R.I.P, the fallen of dec. 30th. and all who previously lost their lives or the lives of their beloved ones in the Gambian struggle to restore the rule of law and democracy.

  21. It is quite obvious that for many people, serving in foreign armies is a dream come true, particularly countries with strict residency requirements for nationals of countries like The Gambia ( for example USA, UK, etc…), because this allows such individuals to regularise their status(es), which then opens up a whole range of opportunities, which they would probably not have had, had they not served in the armies…

    One is therefore obliged to “take off their hats” to such individuals for doing what needed to be done, to achieve their true purposes for travelling to such countries : which is to better themselves and those close to them, which may be impossible without the right status…

    Also as Gambian nationals, it is my view that such individuals have every right to partake in discussions concerning The Gambia and to contribute to efforts, however that may be, to bring change for the better…

    However, if these individuals must not be regarded in the very negative of perceptions by the rest of us, they must keep their military achievements where they belong, and that certainly, is not in this forum…No doubt, their expertise may be needed when the military option is being considered by those who favour it, but this is not the place to discuss military matters/strategies…So they should do us a favour and keep those “fine achievements” to themselves…

    Moreover, given what we now know about the roles of these foreign armies in the toppling of stable governments and the ensuing chaos and blood letting that such irresponsible actions have created in those countries and regions, one wonders whether any sane person should be.proud of such a legacy…I would be ashamed to be associated with what has been done to Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.

    Foreign Military Forces today, whether it be US or NATO Alliance, and as far as nations at the receiving end of their aggression are concerned, are nothing but instruments of terror and oppression, designed to maintain and enforce their hegemony over the rest of the globe…

    The days when service in the Armed forces was an honour and a proud legacy are long gone…There is no honour in serving in armies that would murder en mass to topple a ruler because he is not falling in line with their design of the world…

    So please, enjoy your achievements, but keep them from us, because many of us aren’t impressed one bit…

    And by the way, this is not about tearing each other apart..It is just the plain fact. .

  22. I would never be ashamed to be associated with what has happen to citizens’ killers like Ghaddafi, Saddam Hussein and the taliban, who shoots women in the head. If I was Pres Obama, I will find support from congress/senate or you may call it, to have the power to order a military operation that’s mission will be, to airlift certain presidents in certain coutries and drop them in the middle of the atlantic ocean.
    This is why it takes more than a person like Ggapm to be president or even a genuine politician in any country.

  23. Sambujang Kinteh

    Mr Maxs – How about you asking Mr Savage to apologize, for once, to those well-intentioned gentlemen who come forward with “Go Fund Me” initiatives for saying that they lack” accountability” and “transparency” or even to the gentlemen soldiers of NRMG for stating here that they are “jockeying for fame”.

    What you fail to see is that Mr Savage has all along been giving his opinion on others everywhere on the online media. So now others have started giving their opinion on him.

    Mr Savage claims to be both a military expert and political analyst which he is not as can be seen in his write-ups everywhere on the online media and from his utterances on online radio shows. This is a fact.

    The military should keep out of politics which definitely and with all due respect is not their field.

    They are trained for something else and certainly not for politics. This is easily noticeable when they start regurgitating quotes from others and opinions by others,

  24. Sambujang Kinteh, there is difference between the national issues and private individual matter (in this case the occupation of Mr. Savage and other Gambians in low positions in foreign military). Everyone has rights to criticize anyone position on any issues of national concern and Mr. Savage is no exception. I criticized him when he claimed that state house attackers were selfish individuals who are interested to serve their connected friends if they succeeded ( just to paraphrase). I condemned this irresponsible statement at the time. In our politics, we should always try to talk about issues but not personal attack to score political points. Public officials conduct are fair game as long as their private life is in public domain. Private citizens should be respected as individuals because they are not answerable to the public but their conduct should be in line with laws and public order. This is why I said, it was unfair to attack Mr. Savage and other Gambians doing menial jobs in military. There are millions of people doing the same job just to put food on the table for their families and they needs to be respected. Calling veterans “crazy” is very offensive. The job title or position of private individual expressing their political beliefs doesn’t matter in politics especially if they are not seeking office, it is their political beliefs which matters in our national discussion. This is why I careless if Mr. Savage is a military General or expert. Mr savage is not speaking for any organization but he is speaking as private citizen. If he is speaking for an organization then we can scrutinize his political beliefs and military experience or whatever he claimed to have. Mr. Savage has every rights to call for accountability and also to criticize NRMG as private citizen in this case as he is not speaking for any organization. This is my point.
    Also we should respect individual job choices. I am sure we all have families and friends who have low paying jobs or do menial jobs, they need to be commended and respected because they show personal responsibility for their lives just like those Gambians doing menial jobs in the foreign military.

  25. It is possible to make a point without malice and disrespect. Freedom of expression is relative.

    Thanks Bax and Max for bringing maturity to this thread.

    Some of the comments do not deserve a dignified response because they show lack of exposure and experience

  26. Stay out of politics!

    I do not want to get academic but let’s explore this statement.

    Politics is sometimes defined by academics as who gets what, when, and how in society.

    Let us take a literary example from Daniel Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe. In the beginning of the book when Robinson Crusoe was alone on the island there was no politics, but as soon as “Friday” appeared, everything became political.

    Aristotle asserted that human beings are political Animals; by this he meant humans live in societies and are interdependent.

    To be political and express political opinion is in our nature. To me asking someone to stay out of politics is asking him or her to sit in the corner, be quite let me determine how you live your life, your freedom, and how to spend your taxes to mention a few.

    If we are fighting for freedom and democracy shouldn’t this fight be for the freedom of each and every member of society or are we claiming some animals are more equal than other?

    Are soldiers and veterans not citizens?

    Sometimes when people try to show how smart they are by putting others down they tend to expose themselves self.

    Let’s debate issues and leave petty personal issues out of our political discourse.

    On another note, it is my belief that we should give democracy a chance by uniting under one umbrella and give Gambians a chance. If the APRC government does not concede power peacefully like the case in Ivory Coast then a well funded armed struggle should be our second option. The international community will be behind such a struggle. For the initiated ones among us this is why some of the foreign trained brothers in arms declined to dance at the December party when they were invited in July.

    On the topic of post APRC and building a selfless defense force.

    The Newburgh Conspiracy was a plan by Continental Army officers to challenge the authority of the Confederation Congress, arising from their frustration with Congress’s long-standing inability to meet its financial obligations to the military. By early 1783, widespread unrest had created an atmosphere ripe for mutiny.

    The Newburgh letter was sent to George Washington who was camped at Newburgh, New York; written for the army officers by ColonelLewis Nicola, it proposed that Washington should become the King of the United States. Washington reacted very strongly against the suggestion, and was greatly troubled by it. He refused the temptation and United States became what it is today because of his moral fortitude to act in the interest of a young nation, not party interest not factional interest.

    This lesson is drilled into military leaders in service academics and officer training schools.

    My point is Gambia is blessed with human resources, there will be no need of De-Ba’athification post APRC because the Defense forces can me managed in a way that core values instilled in foreign trained soldiers can be transferred to the local soldiers

    It would be easier to work with a brother and look him in the eye and say Lee du yon, nying man kee selo tea, ajarama and ka sumeh

    We are not smart as you guys are, our degrees that enabled us to qualify for service academies in foreign lands are not as flashy but guess what we know what duty honor country means.

    Wasalam

    • I like this bit Paul. I see your point. I think many or some presidents of our assylum based countries have some military background or in some cases they war veterans.
      I think the problem with miltary in Africa is the lack of basic education to understanding proper citizenship and nationhood. You can see that in the Gambia, soldiers love ‘flashiness’ or ‘freakiness’ in the midst of their civilian populace instead of reserving themselves in barracks around our borders.

  27. You who are exposed, mature, experienced and know it all, by virtue of living in the Diaspora, please carry on with your debate.

    if you criticize others whether as a public figure or in your private capacity, you should also accept criticisms from others in as much as your own criticisms were, in the first place, made on a public media like on the online media outlets.

    To attack the integrity and truthfulness of our December 30 heroes, well-meaning “Go fund Me” initiators whose intention is to support the political parties back home and NRMG genuine militants, whose sole aim is to uproot the dictatorship is also viewed not only as wrong and malicious but should be paid back in the same coins.

    If you live in a glass house, then it is wise for you not to start throwing stones.

    Who the cap fits, let him wear it.

    Thanks

  28. Other Gambians must rely on, or trust others in office in the governing of Gambia and these Gambians shoud be our examples of honest and intelligent people.

  29. Landing Badjie

    Messrs Jones, Kinteh, Carayol, Joh et al
    You are absolutely right.
    Some people are out there in their confortable homes just ready to criticize, for reasons best known to them, whatever initiatives that come from wherever or whoever without offering, in return, anything constructive or of substance to advance the struggle for the liberation of our people.
    They know themselves and we also know them, even from back home where they achieved nothing in terms of higher education and otherwise. They now resurface in the Diaspora, still in the comfort of their homes, trying to preach and lecture people on what must or must not because they think they now know it all by virtue of living in the Diaspora as you rightly intimated.
    We will only be proud of those who stand up for Gambia at the hour of her need, even to the extent of paying the ultimate price as the heroes of last December, rather than those who pride themselves on excelling in foreign wars, which is of course their own choice and accomplishment to cherish.
    All we see now and care about is Gambia and we continue to respect and honour those who are ready to fight, by whatever means necessary, for the freedom of Gambians.

  30. Pheeeew pheeeeew!!! This seems to be already happening when all opinions are making a point. I can’t wait to see myself forward home in the farm and doing some bit of brick laying here and there in my neighbourhood or elsewhere needed.
    Long live the Gambia.

  31. Sambujang Kinteh

    Like I said above and I reproduce hereunder:

    “They are trained for something else and certainly not for politics. This is easily noticeable when they start regurgitating quotes from others and opinions by others,”

    Please therefore kindly spare us the quotations from others and the opinions by others who have never experienced military engagement in politics in Africa nor what military rule has engendered in Africa with all its ramifications.

    Who the cap fits, let him wear it!

  32. I hate to rain on your parade Bro/Sister Ggamp but your dream will take a long time to come through

    Instead of discussing issues and uniting, our so called educated citizens are too busy either serving APRC or too busy tearing each other down.

    The way a person expresses and conducts him/herself when dealing with others tells a lot about the persons maturity, exposure and intelligence.

    Got to go secure the US and serve Obama and my fellow citizen

    Hope we Africans figure out the meaning of one and duty, honor and country soon

  33. I think people of all kinds of professions or walks of life, including people with military backgrounds, as citizens of the Gambia, can have an opinion in the Gambian politics, or even engage in it, having that honesty, capability and that democratic know how. However, i think it is very very wrong for ‘ a group of soldiers of a country’s army’ to be able to walk their way to the presidential palace in any country and stage a coup d’etat……….Actually i am trained to lay bricks with precision and i know some farming too but now, I want to know what’s up down in the house of all the Gambians whilst here, in the diaspora. Am i any different to the Gambian with a military background with regards to our rights to engage in politics??? Who the question fit, let him answer it! who the question fit, let him answer it! i say please please please I say please please please i say pla pla pla i say plu plu plu…………….ooops, this is no lol matter.

  34. Ggapm, I think you are right about every Gambian has the rights to participate in our national politics , however those in national security apparatus like military, police force and national intelligence agency ( NIA) should not engage in open political discourse , they can only support or engage when they are out of service or retire and this is line with the constitutional provision which I believe exempt them from national politics , I stand to be corrected . participation of national security apparatus can have serious implications in our democratization process as we are currently witnessing with Jammeh using his security forces to unleash their terror on civilians during political campaign and also just recent standoff between Udp and the police . When security apparatus are engage in political discourse , they have unfair advantage to use their power of abuse , intimidation and bullying tactics to oppress and suppress the population. This is why in advance democracy you don’t see active military personnel giving open endorsement to a particular candidate . National security institutions shouldn’t be politicize because they are build to defend national interest and integrity at all times . But unfortunately in the third world countries because of lack of education of personnels in those institutions about strong national interest as eloquently explained by Paul , african militaries become a liability to africans. This is what resulted to jammeh existence as military dictator. Jammeh should have continue to take orders from people’s elected leaders to protect and secure the interest of Gambian people but he robbed them of their rights of protection and security, then unleash his terror and robbery of the citizens .

    • No no no no Max, I don’t mean to be all that inclusive. The nia, the police and the military in active service must not engage openly in politics. Thankyou for bringing in more details to my comment.

  35. That is My dad.