Mickey the Mike Mouse

By Baba Galleh Jallow

Mickey the mike mouse was certain he had discovered a new song, a song that would not only raise his standards, but would also assure him an elevated place over and above the musical giants of our little town. And so walking gingerly to his mike at every single moment, Mickey the mike mouse would loudly sing and gingerly rock away to the melodious tunes of his newfound song. And did the birds all fly away!!

Mickey the mike mouse was certain that he had the best voice in our little town, that he knew the best songs, and that he knew best how to sing the best songs and get the best ratings in our very own best of all possible little towns. So each morning he sprang up from his hole in the ground and peered outside to see if it was still dark. If it was, Mickey the mike mouse would sadly withdraw his little head and snuggle back up inside, eyes wide awake, waiting for the slightest glimmer of light so that he could majestically issue forth and sing a song or say something that would the sleeping world’s attention strongly catch.

Mickey the mike mouse had no doubts that his voice was the very best there was in our little town. For him, such so-called famous musicians like Bopa the head and Wahal the talk, or even the wildly popular Daa the mouth or Nopa the hear were nothing but noise boxes who did not think before they sang and pretended to be wise and endowed with so-called wisdom which they purported to share with our less endowed common townsfolk. He, Mickey the mike mouse, was the real thing. He was the giant of mountainous proportions and his singing was the envy of the sailing clouds and the very lullabies that sent the night owl to sleep. He, unlike Bopa, Wahal, Daa and Nopa, did not sing of ordinary things that lay bare before the eyes of men, but of those sublime messages that dazzled the mind’s eye and left an awakening feeling in the hearts and souls of our common townsfolk who could be heard to loudly say hail, Mickey the mike mouse has done it again!!

Sometimes, Mickey the mike mouse did not even need to sing in his real voice. He was too much of a great and beloved bard to worry about his songs not been liked whether he sang in his real voice or not. He was certain beyond doubt that our common townsfolk would still squeal with delight, vigorously nod their heads and tap their happy little feet at the very sound of his voice – real or not. And so often times, he would scurry to his mike and merely squeak and squeak, making a point of squeaking so loud that the leaves in the nearby trees danced with joy and the tiny ants on the ground hurried to and fro, helter-skelter, straining their tiny little ears to catch every single bit of squeak that escaped the enlightened bowels of our singing mouse. Some of our common townsfolk would squat and loudly wail, and let the tears freely flow down their happy cheeks, while the cynical ones would simply stick some sponge in their ears and say wow, what a song Mickey the mouse is singing in his other voice again!! Thus feeling supremely encouraged, Mickey the mike mouse would raise the tempo of his other voice and squeak so loud that the clouds shifted and the waters of the distant oceans shook a little. Some of our common townsfolk would shut their doors and loudly cry while others would say no, I will not miss a line of this mighty squeak, and stay right there to let the squeak hit them with its mighty force and sink through every pore in their hairy skins.

Thus having sang in his other voice, Mickey the mike mouse would return to his normal voice and strike another tune. He would sometimes sing of the tomato who thought he was a peanut and tried to break his shell, or the famous chicken who thought he was a lion and spent the whole day crowing, thinking that he was roaring. At some other times, Mickey the mike mouse would gallantly sing of the ancient rock that, insisting that he was a fish, jumped right into the lake and promptly drowned, never to be seen again. He would sing of the mosquito who thought he was a giant and challenged the elephant to a wrestling contest, with the unfortunate result that he lost his waist and had to forever crawl on the ground and live on moisture.

When he was particularly in the mood, Mickey the mouse mike would bring out his ancient drum, and wearing his rock solid gloves, would loudly bang away and sing the well known song of the arrogant river who decided to flow upwards rather than down, and who found himself splashing rudely back to earth and losing his waters. Such was the spectacular talent of our famous Mickey the mike mouse who sang so hard that he started losing some of his whiskers to his windpipes. As a fitting tribute to his excellent service to their beloved musical tendencies, some of our common townsfolk started calling Mickey the mike mouse Mochat, a name that made him sing even louder and lose even more of his whiskers. But what cares? He was Mickey the mike mouse of loud squeak fame!

GPU-USA Elects New Executive

The Gambia Press Union, United States Branch (GPU-USA) has elected a new executive committee to steer the affairs of the Union for the next two years. The term of the current executive expires on December 31st, 2009.

Former PRO and Gainako editor Demba Baldeh was elected Secretary General to replace Baba Galleh Jallow; Bubacar Ceesay of AllGambian replaces Fatou Jaw Manneh as Deputy Secretary General; Cherno Baba Jallow replaces Demba Baldeh as Public Relations Officer; Lamin Jatta replaces Joe Sambou as Treasurer; Pa Samba Jow replaces Lamin Jatta as Auditor; and Modou Nyang replaces Emuran Saidy as Social Affairs Secretary. Haruna Darbo and Christine Sukuna who showed up to offer their moral support, were nominated and accepted honorary membership of the new executive. Both Mr. Darbo and Ms Sukuna had earlier been invited and graciously accepted associate membership of the GPU-USA. Outgoing secretary general Baba Galleh Jallow was also nominated an honorary member of the new executive. The elections were held at a well-attended conference call meeting on Sunday, November 8, 2009.

Prior to the elections both new and old members expressed sentiments regarding the nature and work of the GPU-USA. Outgoing secretary general Baba Galleh Jallow said he was not seeking re-election in order to aid the fight against the myth of the indispensability of leaders. “Everyone can be replaced,” he said, adding that he was absolutely certain that the GPU-USA has members perfectly capable of running the affairs of the Union. He thanked outgoing members of the executive and assured the new executive that they all would continue offering their support and participating actively in the affairs of GPU-USA.

The new executive will formally take over the affairs of the Union with effect from January 1, 2010.

Signed on behalf of the GPU-USA,

Demba Baldeh, Outgoing PRO

Baba Galleh Jallow, Outgoing Secretary General

Gambian still faces heavy debt burden

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission led by Mr. David Dunn visited Banjul October 23–November 5 to assess performance at end-September for the sixth and final review of The Gambia’s three-year program under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). The mission met with the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Abdou Kolley, and the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Momodou Bamba Saho, as well other senior members of government and representatives of the National Assembly, private sector, development partners, and civil society.

At the conclusion of the visit, the mission issued the following statement:

“The Gambian economy has performed better in 2009 than was previously projected, mainly because of a second consecutive year of strong growth in agriculture. Tourism, however, has been hard hit by the global economic crisis and a sharp drop-off in remittances from the Gambian diaspora has weakened residential construction.

The IMF mission expects real gross domestic product (GDP) growth to be about 4 ½-5 percent in 2009, up from its previous projection of about 3 ½ percent. Looking ahead, real GDP growth is projected to rise slightly in 2010, based on a partial recovery in tourism and remittances. Given the uncertainty of weather conditions for agriculture and prevailing weakness in some countries with economic linkages to The Gambia, there are still downside risks to the outlook for 2010. Inflation, which has already fallen considerably in 2009, is expected to remain low.

“Performance under the PRGF-supported program has been generally positive. All end-September quantitative performance criteria were met, except for the fiscal target, which was missed due to large spending overruns in the second quarter of the year. Targets on official international reserves and the central bank’s net domestic assets were achieved with comfortable margins. Implementation of structural benchmarks was good, although there were modest delays.

“The Gambian government still faces a heavy debt burden. Interest on government debt is expected to consume nearly 20 percent of government revenues in 2009, mostly in interest on domestic debt. In contrast to a slight reduction in domestic debt that was planned for in the 2009 budget, the spending overruns led to more debt and increased pressure on interest rates.

“The mission welcomes the Gambian authorities’ intention to take corrective actions for the missed end-September performance criterion, notably by preparing a budget for 2010 that will lower government’s domestic debt slightly, ease pressure on treasury bill yields, and generate savings from lower interest payments. On this basis, the IMF’s Executive Board could consider the sixth review of the PRGF in early 2010.”