By Lamin Jatta, former Daily Observer reporter - now lives in New York

It is now more than two and half years since my colleague and friend, Chief Ebrima Manneh, just disappeared from the face of this earth. It is with a heavy heart and utter sense of despair that I remember a young man whose warmness and a rare sense of humor captivated everyone who had the privilege of meeting him.

Chief was an ambitious hardworking young man with extra ordinary talents. We were both freelance reporters for the Daily Observer and were later promoted to staff reporter positions on the same day. Chief was very sociable. We used to played soccer tournaments, attend staff naming ceremonies, picnics, and went out and about  together scouting for news.

According to an eyewitness account, Ebrima Manneh, affectionately called Chief by his colleagues, was picked up at the offices of the Daily Observer in broad day light by two people, who claimed to be agents of the fearful National Intelligence Agency. His arrest was in connection with a story he tried to republish from a BBC report critical of president Yahya Jammeh as the African Union meeting got underway in Banjul.

News reports following Chief's trail reported of his numerous sightings at various police stations across the country as well as one at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital under security escort. The eyewitnesses described his condition as very frail. The government of president Jammeh has flatly denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the young man and had refused to appear before the proceedings of the Ecowas Court based in Abuja, which entered judgment in favor of the journalist.

The court acknowledged the illegal detention of Chief Manneh by the Gambia government and ordered for his immediate release. It also awarded damages in the sum of US$ 100,000 to Manneh. The Gambia government has not yet complied with the court’s ruling.

It is mind-boggling and shameful to see this honest young man, full of life; very sociable and fully involved in the activities of the Daily Observer even outside the office, suddenly become a victim of forced disappearance. And even more incomprehensible and chilling, is the silence or open complicity of the Daily Observer all this time.

Daily Observer has never published a story about the disappearance of their own editor since the day he went missing. The only article that made reference to Chief’s disappearance was when Didda Halake, the erstwhile errant Managing Director of the paper in his relentless drive to ingratiate himself with the government of President Jammeh, plunged himself headlong into the matter and savagely attacked the Gambia Press Union in an attempt to stave off criticism on the Government and Observer for their eerie silence over the disappearance of Chief Manneh.

In the article titled, “Observer in Shock!”, Mr. Halake scathed Gambian journalists, particularly those in the diaspora, the GPU and its president Ndey Tapha Sosseh for being:

“…on record for attacking the Daily Observer, as they do, in your speech at the GPU congress in March 2008. Why? Because, according to you, we have not said anything about certain matters which have to do with state security!”

Mr. Halake here on May 12, 2008, who was then at the pinnacle of his “MD-ship” at the Observer, was hinting at the disappearance of Chief Manneh. He was insinuating that Chief’s disappearance was related to the maintenance of national security. However, after predictably falling foul of the Jammeh government, this was what the same Didda wrote in an October 28 article on allGambian.net in reference to an article by Pa Ousman Darboe, former news editor of the Daily Observer who witnessed the arrest of Chief: 

“…The substance of his piece is very profound indeed for it concerns a man’s life. I too hope Chief Ebrima Manneh will be re-united with his family, inshallah. Chief was an excellent writer and practitioner of ethical journalism whom I had the opportunity to praise in a letter to the editor in the pages of the Daily Observer. Of course I knew him personally, though he did not work under my MD-ship. I did sit on the raised cement veranda of Fatoto Police station during my “Kotu to Koina” journey this year – and the profound thought that Chief may have sat for days on the same cement veranda did indeed cross my mind.”

Looking at the startling contrasts between the above two quotations by the same individual, one can see how easily the twin evil of greed for power and money fires up the cruel beast in the conscience of individuals who otherwise would have been very good people if they were poor or powerless and contented.

Due to the gregarious nature of Chief, I’m very worried that the longer it takes to release him from his extensive seclusion after two and half years, the higher the chances are that he may not regain his full composure. There could be no better potent method of tearing down the spirit of a highly sociable young man than condemning him to seclusion for doing nothing criminal. The criminals behind Chief’s disappearance are mindless cowards who knew that they do not have the brains or boldness to bring whatever grievances they have against him to a court of law, thereby resorting to taking the law in their own hands.

Journalist Chief Manneh would have by now propelled himself in all the progressive aspects of life as typical of most ambitious young men of his age; be it professional, academic or already settling down with a wife. Just like his family, friends and colleagues, Chief’s enforced disappearance has been pretty much unsettling and stressful for me.  I can only imagine what his parents and sister would be going through during this senseless and heart-wrenching tragedy. I call on all of you to remember Chief and his family in your prayers.  They need our support during this trying times more than ever before.

It is very unfair for a young man to be forced into disappearance not from the street but from his work place in the full view of his colleagues for committing no crime but doing his job. We should all be screaming at fever pitch voice at this ugly, wanton act of depravity.

I vividly remember April 11, 2000, in the aftermath of the April 10, 2000 bloody student massacre in which journalist Omar Barrow was also killed. Journalist Chief Manneh and I went out as roving reporters for the Daily Observer to gather more news from the still unfolding situation as the killings continued in the provinces. Chief was then the head of the crime desk and I was head of education. The students in the provincial areas were outraged at the slaughter of their comrades in the urban areas the previous day. They gallantly staged solidarity riots the second day that shamefully also led to the killing and maiming of scores of more students by the security forces. We then went to the police headquarters in Banjul thinking that it would be the ground zero of the ugly events of those two days. I remember Chief eclipsed me as he was treated like a celebrity by the police officers.

Every one of them, senior and junior officers were calling "Chief, Chief" at every section we headed to in those offices. We got valuable evidence when we reached the Serious Crime Unit. There we found scores of students detained from the demonstrations. The police did not like our presence around that vicinity. “Chief, what the hell are you guys doing here?”, one of the senior officers screamed at us. They berated and herded us to one of the offices and forced us to sit side by side. I enquired from them whether we were under arrest too. And one of them retorted, “You journalists like creating situations to write about.” Trying to brush me off he rhetorically retorted, “Yes you are in fact under arrest.” I did not border to ask him for what reason because they were very intimidating.

After detaining us for about half an hour, one of the officers came in to talk down on us, “Journalist” – about how bad we were and hated in our own country. And then told us to leave the premises forthwith and warned us to be careful with how we conducted our work. While at the headquarters, we bumped into our colleagues Alieu Badara and Mansaray. We caught up with Alieu Badara again on our way back to the  Daily Observer at around July 22 Square in Banjul and he had a grim face. “I’m surprised to see you here, I saw they detained you and I was rushing back to the office to write the story.” Chief, Mansaray, and I laughed it off.

I urged everyone to continue advocating for Chief's immediate release and full compensation. Chief deserves freedom, dignity and the protection of the law from the cruelty of criminals who are turning Gambia into a state of anarchy.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of Chief Manneh, please send me an email at Jattal2003@yahoo.com. Your identity will be kept confidential.

Chief, where ever you may be, I am optimistic that we will laugh again.