"I have been in the union since its inception", Mr Trawally reportedly fumed, "but I have observed that the executive have not delivered as expected". [Strike 1]
Then, on the 11th, in an editorial title "GPU, the questions", the Daily Observer posed a few questions of the GPU executive, the thrust of their questioning being that they had registered members (Daily Ob journalists) for the GPU, but since the Congress was happening in 12 days, and the registration process seemed to be poised to take longer than that, they were worried the journalists they had registered would be unable to vote at the congress. In closing they quoted Mr Ceesay, the GPU President's answer ("We are mature and responsible people who will give enough time to applicants to become members"), and said they "ope for the sake of the GPU and its members this promise is kept and all are allowed to vote at Congress". [Strike 2]
On the 12th there was a follow-up article ("GPU accepts journalists registration"), with a victorious scan of the receipt for payment drawn for the Observer by the GPU. "This now means", the article ended, "that the 31 Daily Observer applicants have paid their annual subscription in full and should be able to pertake in the deliberations and decisions of the forth coming GPU congress... we await the GPU Executive’s confirmation of the membership of our journalists. We anticipate no problem in this and wish the GPU good luck at the Congress’s deliberations". [Strike 3]
Finally, today, a report from an independent online source, connecting the dots (and heavily quoting the Point newspaper): "Sources revealed the Gambia Radio and Television Services Thursday registered 54 of its staff and the pro-government newspaper, the Daily Observer also register e d 31 of its staff.... "Gambian government is all out to take over the Gambia Press Union and if this w orks, the President will be able to control the press and this will go a long wa y to re-establish the failed National Media Commission that was set up in 2004," sources added.... The sudden interest that most organisations and individuals in the media frater nity have shown in the fate of the GPU is suggestive of something sinister."
So which is it? Reading too much into an innocent attempt by Observer (and GRTS) to take part in normal media activities? Or, as the article above suggests, a thrilling conspiracy to take over the media by more subtle means than arresting journalists and harassing them, and burning down their presses (which practices, in the end, defeat their own purpose by giving the affected journalists even more exposure)?
As the editorial in the Observer today says, waxing philosophical: " Maybe we cannot make most people happy. Most people would probably always be grumpy with whatever system of governance we have in place. Maybe what we should look for is a system which most people find tolerable, a system in which the rulers are not so oppressive and corrupt as to lead to rebellion and revolution... if you give the people bread and peace you can govern for as long as you wish. If people are hungry and fearful, beware a revolution". In as much as the Observer is one face of Government policy, perhaps we can take this to mean that we are leaving the era of heavy-handed governance behind ("death to all enemies! burn all the presses! support the Party or be an unpatriotic outcast!"), and entering the one where the Government becomes more cunning, not openly breaking any laws, achieving its objectives without the use of (visible) force.
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