The news of Mr. Mbai’s demise on heard in wee hours of Tuesday 22nd November 2021 in U.S. after a brief illness.
Mr. Mbai has been credited for having contributed immensely towards the downfall of former president Yahya Jammeh’s government by using his online radio and newspaper.
On the death of Mr. Mbai, Pap Saine, co-publisher of The Point Newspaper – where Mr. Mbai had worked, said: “Pa Nderry Mbai was a great journalist who had been fighting for press freedom in the country and always defending the voiceless. I knew him very well. Pa Nderry started working at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul before he joined the defunct Daily Observer newspaper.”
The deceased, he further went on, later joined The Point Newspaper in 1989 up to 2004 before he left for America. “Mr. Mbai was a talented journalist, doing investigative journalism especially during the Jammeh era. Pa Nderry was a man who was passionate about journalism and he gave it all. In fact, before he left for America, he was also the correspondent of Voice of America (VOA). We will remember him because he has contributed a lot to the development of the press in the country including The Point newspaper.”
On the demise of the veteran journalists, President Adama Barrow wrote: “It was so sad that the country woke up to the news of the passing away of veteran journalist Pa Nderry Mbai, proprietor of Freedom Newspaper. Pa Nderry through his online paper contributed a lot in the struggle to liberate The Gambia from dictatorship. I extend my condolences to his family and pray that Allah grants him mercy and make Jannahtul Firdawsi his lasting abode.”
The Gambia Press Union (GPU) also issued a statement, saying: “The board and Staff of the GPU extend heartfelt condolence to the entire Gambia media fraternity on the demise of journalist Pa Nderry Mbai. The death of Mr. Mbai was announced Monday, 22nd November, in Raleigh, USA where he had been in exile for more than a decade.”
“The GPU President Muhammed S. Bah said Mr. Mbai will be remembered for his braveness and consistency in shining light on the ills of the government and government functionaries. Despite the threat on his life and harassment of his family in The Gambia, Pa was consistent in exposing malpractices and giving people access to information that was kept away from the public.”
“Therefore, the entire Gambians media join the Mbai family in The Gambia and USA mourning this untimely death of a dear colleague, brother and friend.”
“Every tyrant survives on mystification and to defeat them requires demystifying them. This was what Pa Nderry Mbaye was able to achieve. He was extremely effective in demystifying Jammeh. In fact, Pa was the TRRC well before, there was one? Through his radio and website, he brought us news about Jammeh excesses without fear,” says Coach-Pasamba Jow.
“Pa was one person that couldn’t be bought. He was uncompromising to a fault. There is no one he was afraid of passing off. I have had many fights and disagreements with him, but who didn’t? He will always call irrespective of how late or early it was. When Pa wanted the news, he saw no obstacles.”
