Baba Galleh Jallow steps down

The secretary general of the Gambia Press Union USA Chapter last Sunday announced his immediate resignation from the union.

Baba Galleh a former editor -in-chief of the Daily Observer and CEO of The Independent Newspaper, said his decision to step down was in response to Mathew Jallow's proposal that the current (GPU) executive should step down in order to make room for a restructuring of the union.

Announcing his resignation, Mr Jallow wrote: " Earlier this week, Mathew Jallow sent out an email to me, a couple of other members of the GPU-USA executive, and to the editors of the online Gambian media houses - freedom, the echo, senegambianews, allgambian and gainako. Among other things, Mathew wrote that:

"After many discussions with a variety of journalists both active and inactive, the time has come for us to put heads together and recreate the Gambia Press Union (USA) into a more representative and active organ for the development of the Gambia media. I therefore call on the current executive to respond this calling in the interest of unity and progress of our media."

In subsequent emails to the same addressees, Mathew proposed that the current executive should step down in order to make room for a restructuring of the GPU-USA. He pointed out that some editors of the Gambian online media and other Gambian journalists he had spoken to are not happy about the constitution of the past and current executives. During the last executive elections, only about seven people responded to the call to vote, even though there are at least 15-20 names on the GPU-USA mailing list. Calls by the GPU-USA executive, both past and present, for Gambian journalists in the USA to actively participate in the union's activities have been unsuccessful and we have had to work with the very few active members to keep the body alive.

It is against the background of this scenario that I have decided to step down as Secretary General of the GPU-USA in order to allow the process of restructuring Mathew suggests, and that has received the support of some of the editors of the Gambian online media, to go smoothly ahead. In that regard, I wish to inform the Gambian online community that I have voluntarily resigned from my position as GPU-USA secretary general with immediate effect. I am hoping that Mathew Jallow and those who initiated this dialogue on restructuring the GPU-USA will continue to guide our efforts in this important direction. Below is a copy of the resignation letter I sent to editors of all online Gambian media, to the GPU-USA mailing list, and to Mathew himself. I am sending this to the Gambia Post and the Gambia-L to make sure that the online Gambian community knows exactly what is going on with the GPU-USA.

Upon careful reflection and in order to help move this union forward, I am happy to announce that I am stepping down from my position as Secretary General of GPU-USA with immediate effect. While it has been tough to have folks participate, it has been my pleasure to serve in this capacity and to work with those of you who have been active. I hope and pray that the current dialogue goes smoothly forward and that our union emerges from it all stronger and better organized.

I hope too, that those who have initiated this process of restructuring will continue to coordinate our efforts in that direction. Thank you all and God bless you all."