By Kebba Ansu Manneh
A Gambian-U.S. based activist, Basamba (Njol) Drammeh, told The Gambia Times that despite all insults heaped on him and his allied Saranculeh human, civil and political rights activists, they will not relent until slavery is completely obliterated in both words and actions in all Saranculeh communities around the world.
Speaking to The Gambia Times from Atlanta in U.S., he confirmed that he wrote the letter to President Barrow urging him to intervene to quell the heightened caste tensions gripping the Saranculeh communities and settlements dotted along the country.
In the letter, he wrote “I am myself said to have descended from the old Soninke/Sarahule nobility that was the high social class of the ancient Ghana kingdom and empire” but believes that “the time of social classes intrinsically and exclusively inherited by birth is long outdated and discredited and abandoned by all civilized nations.”
Mr. (Njol) Drammeh came under nearly universal criticism, condemnations, and even personal attacks from his kinsmen—Saranculeh activists—on social media for calling the caste system of the Saranculeh tribal and linguistic group “ancestral, barbaric, shameful practice of slavery.”
Many of the Saranculeh activists of the Soninkarah Political Forum on WeChat attacked him for exposing a practice of caste system many among them believed is sanctioned by the Holy Qur’an. Some among his critics called him a ‘disbeliever in Islam,’ ‘a pagan,’ and ‘an infidel’ for dismissing the dichotomous caste system of ‘nobility’ and ‘vassalage.’ Some among his critics also argued that their caste system is not slavery because the people in their communities referred to as ‘slaves’ are not in chains and bondages similar to the slavery practiced in the Western Hemisphere.
In responding to a Times question, Mr. (Njol) Drammeh said, “I have been receiving series of threatening messages from many Saranculehs who do not share my positions on the caste system. They are meant to silence me, but I am not moved until when there is no more slavery in the Saranculeh communities.”
On September 24th, 2018, Mr. (Njol) Drammeh hand delivered a letter to President Adama Barrow on the sidelines of the United Nation (UN) General Assembly meeting in New York City urging the president to put a stop to the caste system that is spurring tensions in the Saranculeh communities.
His letter to the president, that went viral prompting series of reactions from Saranculehs around the globe, was leaked by a member on his WeChat group on The Soninkarah Political Forum. The Gambia Times learnt that Papa Camara, a resident of Bundung in Sere Kunda, posted and distributed the letter online. The Times, however, could not confirmed whether the letter was leaked by the State House in Banjul to garner support for President Barrow who subsequently met with members of the Saranculeh community last Friday after the letter surfaced in public, but—uncharacteristically for any president—made no remarks about never-before-seen conflicts ravaging the Saranculeh communities in The Gambia and beyond.
Admitting to writing the letter, Mr. (Njol) Drammeh said, “Yes, I did deliver a letter to President Barrow to take swift actions in addressing the looming tensions among the Saranculeh communities relative to the caste system.”
Mr. (Njol) Drammeh said he is not a member of The Gambana Movement, a radical Saranculeh movement that vows to end slavery across Saranculeh communities across West Africa. Denying his membership to The Gambana Movement, an organization financed and comprised predominantly by members of the ‘slave caste’ in the Saranculeh social hierarchy, Mr. (Njol) Drammeh said, “I am not a Gambana member nor an associate member, but I am against any form of slavery meted on a group of people.”
According to him, if The Gambia government had paid heed to his letter, the death and burning down of a compound would not have taken place at Garawol. He argued that his letter was intended to send a warning signal to Gambian authorities knowing that the discrimination endured by the “slave caste” cannot stand in modern day Gambia. Mr. (Njol) Drammeh added that the “slave caste” have been subjected to all forms of discrimination among the Saranculeh communities which the progressives and young generation will not take lying down without a fight to end its complete obliteration from their communities.
Criticizing President Barrow for his lackluster attitude in ignoring to address the caste system pervasive among the Saranculehs when he met with some of their leaders on Friday, Mr. (Njol) Drammeh said, “I am disappointed that the president got the opportunity to discuss with the Saranculeh leaders but never addressed the issue of the caste tensions grappling many communities in CRR and URR. If Barrow and his government continued to pay deaf ears then there would be more problems before the matter is solved.”
He concluded by saying that both the 1970 and 1997 constitutions, and United Nations Universal Declaration for Human Rights categorically spelled out that all humans are born free and equal, which should be understood by all and sundry.
The Times contacted Muhammed (Bai) Drammeh, who refers to himself as a Sovereign Gambian but was also born into a noble family that hailed from Diabugu in the Upper River Region, on whether he accepts members of the ‘slave’ caste as his equals.
In what seems to be a self-abnegation and willful denial of benefiting from the privileges the social hierarchy in the Saranculeh community afford his class, Mr. (Bai) Drammeh said, “I would not classify myself as someone who hails from the “Horreh” or “Forro” or “Gorr” caste. I was very lucky to be born after 24th April 1970. Thus, I was born at a time when my country was not own by His/Her Majesty the King/Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. So, in essence anyone born before 24th April 1970 was not born free but was a subject of His/Her Majesty the King/Queen of the UK.” Mr. (Bai) Drammeh’s response was a skillful deflection of the problems of a social caste system rampant in his ethno-linguistic group to colonialism which have no connections whatsoever—a relic of tired intellectual arguments against Europeans for every problem in Africa.
Asked if he would show solidarity with Mr. (Njol) Drammeh, Mr. (Bai) Drammeh said “regarding Basamba Njol Drammeh, I think it is not a matter for me to show solidarity or not,” but he instead shrouded his argument in a constitutional garment that Mr. (Njol) Drammeh’s “right to express his opinion is enshrined in the constitution.” It is not clear to The Times if the position taken by Mr. (Bai) Drammeh — the self-styled Sovereign Gambian — is out of sheer belief in his privileged social class, or if he’s playing it safe to avoid the wrath befallen on Mr. (Njol) Drammeh, or if it is due to the lack of courage to stand by his conviction of republicanism regardless of the price. The rhetoric of republicanism, sovereignty and equality does not match the actions and deeds of taking an unequivocal position on the issue dividing his people.
It may as well be another actualization of the true adage that privileges and social statuses are not easily surrendered or disowned by those who enjoy them except for the very courageous of every society. To understand the tragedy of the debate on the caste system as it unfolds in the Saranculeh community, one must transpose it into The Second Coming of W.B. Yeats as the highly educated Mr. (Bai) Drammeh seems to lack all conviction in contrast to the lesser educated Mr. (Njol) Drammeh who seems to be full of passionate intensity to end the rampant caste system institutionalized for eons among the Saranculeh people.