I can tell you that Bajinka was not at the planning when the incident happened. The guy who did it as you may know is CPL  Sanna Manjang( now staff sergeant) and his father and mine are brothers, same father. He is also a relative to Bajinka. It was late night after he and whoever went to burn the independent when I heard a knock on the door. My room is just before Bajinkas own and I woke up. I heard a sound of a car and when I lifted the curtain and looked outside I saw people among them Lang Tombong Tamba, Major. Ousman Badjie and Ousman Sonko who was the Inspector General of police then. I know all of them because I have lived with them in Mile 7 since 1996. I could not go out  because  I heard Bajinka shouting at his wife to go inside. I later heard Bajinka complaining to his wife that Sanna  was  a big fool and he allowed  himself to be used by these people.

What happened was that Sanna must have been sent by those people or something else, but from what I saw and heard that night nothing tells me that Bajinka was part of it. Bajinka just happened  to be a relative of CPL  Manjang and they thought the best place to dump him after using him was  in his relative’s house who they were sure would not dump him like they did. I did not like it myself but it was a stupid mistake he made and should be blamed for it. Bajinka did not know what to do with it because he cannot take him to the hospital (like the report on the website erroneously stated that he was taken to the RVTH.), instead Manjang’s own uncle Staff SGT. Edrisa Sambou who is a Medic in the Army was called to treat him and he continued treating him until he recovered.

I heard all what was said,  but I decided to ask Sanna what cause his burns and he told me that a spider urinated on him. I Knew he was lying but said nothing. I don’t know if you know this, but it is this Sanna who was responsible for Bajinkas removal as State Guard Commander in July 2005. He  was sent on a mission to murder  prominent politician Hamat Bah and Bajinka knew about the operation at the last minute and advise sanna that he should make sure he was not involved. Because he was the head of the team asked by Jilanka (President Jammeh)  to do it and was  told by the Commander of  State Guard not to do it, he decided not to do it. When he was asked why by Jilanka he said Bajinka asked him not to burn the Independent. That very morning, Bajinka was summoned by the big man and ordered out of his state house. He was infact a target after that but he was lucky that he left for  Nigeria about a month later. My  time is up I would get to you later. With more things. about the Ghanaians who were kill. but please  make sure you do it in such a way  that they would not know the source. We  are suffering here. Right now his brother is detained at the mile 2 prisons and we still cannot  see him.

Meanwhile, former Independent Managing Editor Alagi Yorro Jallow has dismissed the writer’s comments. “I did my own investigations and found out that Banjinka and Sanna were all involved in the arson attack. My investigations also reveals that a senior official mentioned Bajinka’s  name as one of those who burnt the Independent. The story was published by the Independent and it was raised at the National Assembly by Hamat Bah and the IGP was asked to investigate the matter. I went to the police, where I met with Bajinka at  the police Head Quarters, where his statement was recorded. The then IGP Landing 13 Badjie refused to take any action. I was also summoned to the Security Council meeting at the state house together with Demba Jawo, Deyda Hydara, Suwaibou Conteh,  with all the Security Chiefs present and the Vice President, but there was  no indication that Bajinka and those mentioned in the arson were innocent. It was never refuted.” Editor Jallow posited.

He adds “I want to put it to the writer that why he never defended Bajinka at that material time and kept quite until  now. Bajinka was part and parcel of the operation. When Sanna was exposed by the Independent, it was the very Bajinka who drove him to the army barracks to hide him. Bajinka was indeed involved into the Independent arson attack.” the award winning journalist maintains.

Mr.Bajinka who is said to be currently residing in Dakar Senegal could not be reached for comments. He is free to tell the Gambian public his side of the story if he deems it imperative.

All rights reserved. Copying or re-writing our pieces without the expressed permission of  this leading paper is prohibited. News Organizations and Research institutions interested in using our pieces are free to contact the editor before culling our stories. Such organizations must also give credit to Freedom before using our materials. We thank you for your attention.