Let Us See the End to a Terrible Saga

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

How utterly heartbreaking it is to hear the heartfelt pleas of the family of Ebrima Chief Manneh. What parent could tolerate the plainly searing pain that this family is being forced to endure? The love that a mother or father feels for his/her child goes beyond all else and for this family to be forced to endure an ordeal of this kind must surely turn the stomach of any right thinking individual. Those who know Chief Manneh will testify to his diligence of work and also to the fact that he was not at all in the habit of writing inflammatory stories. He was simply a bright young man struggling, like so many others, to earn a living and support himself and those he loved and cared for.

We in The Point publish every day that we stand for freedom and democracy. We strive tirelessly for the principles of press freedom but the disappearance of Chief Manneh goes beyond these principles. This young man who wished only to contribute to the socio-economic development of our great country, through the application of his intellect, has been taken and presumably held by sinister, unknown forces. It is the duty of the government and the security services to leave no stone unturned in establishing his whereabouts.

Aside from duty there is the very human aspect of a family denied knowledge of the whereabouts of their beloved son. What kind of person would make a family suffer in this way? What kind of monster would punish innocent people by keeping their son against his will and denying him his liberty and basic human rights?

An innocent man has been missing for over two years. We must not tolerate this as a society and must establish his whereabouts. Who is to say who is next if those who commit these crimes simply disappear? Unless we uncover the source of this cancer in our society not one of us can rest easy in our beds.

We join Mr Sarjo Manneh, the ageing father of Ebrima Chief Manneh, in calling on both the government and President Jammeh to not rest until this case is solved. It is unthinkable that such injustice would be tolerated in our peace-loving society.

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