By Madi Jobarteh
It is with unfathomable sadness and grief that I learnt of the untimely demise of my dear brother Pa Modou Faal and his colleagues Musa Ndow and Kawsu Bayo. May Allah The Almighty grant them peaceful rest in Janatul Firdawsi and enable their families to overcome these irreparable loses with faith and strength.
I have known Pa Modou for the past 20 years as a journalist, friend and brother. For the past two decades, Pa Modou gave me utmost regard and respect. He only called me ‘Koto’. I cannot remember Pa Modou calling me by name. This man was the embodiment of respect, humility and kindness.
I have known Pa Modou as a committed journalist who truly cared about the trade and the purpose of the trade. He was committed to see that journalism improves in this country. I came to know this because Pa Modou had always engaged me at a personal level to express his vision, desires and wishes for journalism and journalists.
His faith in journalism was so strong that even when the Tinpot Dictator Yaya Jammeh with his mercenary Judiciary dumped him and five other colleagues including Sam Sarr, Bai Emil Touray, Pap Saine, Sarat Jabbi and Ebrima Sawaneh in jail for nothing, Pa Modou never felt discouraged or scared to leave journalism. Rather he remained in the trade and at The Point Newspaper despite pressures for him to quit the profession.
Pa Modou believes in the GPU. He believed in unionism. He was committed to having a strong union that will protect the rights and promote the welfare of journalists. If you wish to see the excitement of Pa Modou, go to any gathering of GPU and in his work.
Pa Modou was a pious and humble man. He was the quintessential gentleman and patriot. Even when he became a Government information officer, Pa Modou knew that he was first and foremost a journalist who should protect the best interest of the people. He did not become a ‘System man’ who only sees only the good side of Government, even if there is no good side. Rather he understood that the Government is not always right and he remained honest and fair to the public interest.
Unlike many, Pa Modou did not change by either abandoning GPU or making himself a tool of propaganda for Government. In other words, power and position never changed this man. Only men and women of strong character and conscience will remain the same regardless of the changes in their circumstances.
As we bid farewell to Pa Modou and his fallen colleagues, I pray and hope that the Gambia Government will provide adequate compensation to their young families since they died in the line of duty. I am informed that they were on an official mission during the time of the accident.
At the same time, I hope the GPU will give Pa Modou a fitting recognition for his role both as an ordinary member and a one-time member of the Executive of GPU. Above all, he has suffered for journalism and journalists in this country for which due recognition is necessary for his pain and sacrifices.
May their gentle souls rest in perfect peace. Amen.
Pa Modou Lives.
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