The Chief of Defense Staff of Gambia’s armed forces Major General Yankuba Drammeh was born in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, where he attended his primary and high school education, reliable family sources have intimated to the Freedom Newspaper. This followed questions raised on Freedom radio Gambia’s widely listened to Civic Education show, in which callers wanted to know where the soft-spoken and pious army chief was born. Close family members and neighbors of the Army General, never wasted time in furnishing us with information about Yankuba’s place of birth, parental background among other interesting revelations. Our sources, who wished to remain anonymous said Yankuba Drammeh and his other siblings were all born in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where they attended primary and high school education before returning to The Gambia.
Yankuba Drammeh’s late Dad Abdul Drammeh, a native of Bwiam Kankuntu, was a diamond dealer in Freetown decades ago. He traveled to Sierra Leone with Yankumba’s mum Asombi Badjie, to mine diamonds. Madam Asombi is alive.
Yankuba Drammeh returned to The Gambia after finishing his sixth form in Sierra Leone. He later enrolled into The Gambia National Army.
Major General Drammeh’s late father is a Mandinka, while his mum is a Jolla. He drives his Gambian citizenship through his parents, but he was never born in this country.
Given General Drammeh’s foreign birth status, any sane mine wouldn’t expect him to be associated with any nefarious scheme that would be geared towards purging or alienating the minority Jolla soldiers and officers in The Gambia armed forces. But sadly, Drammeh has unwittingly become an accomplish.
Drammeh was CDS Masaneh Kinteh’s Deputy, when that foolish and corrupt Kinteh and his tribal gang conspired to falsely accuse soldier Omar Sarjo of being a non-Gambian. They did not stop at questioning Mr. Sarjo’s citizenship, they also lied that he is the son of Salifu Sarjo, the MFDC rebel leader.
Drammeh never distance himself from that lie. He tolerated it. Now the poor young Omar Sarjo is at the risk of being deported to Casamance, Senegal, a country that he was never born from.
Drammeh being a foreign birth, knows that there are many non-Gambians enrolled into the army. Senegalese kids living along the border had enrolled into Gambian schools and later secured employment in the Civil Service, and the army. One of them was the late army Chief Vincent Jatta. Jatta was born in a neighboring Casamance village called Mahamuda. How about officer Salifu Corr? Salifu himself told Freedom radio Gambia during the 2016 political impasse that he was born in Senegal, but he attended schooling in The Gambia. He was born outside Karang. He later enlisted into the army and years later became an officer. He is still serving in the army.
The so-called security reform is a big joke, as rightly alluded by one army officer. Instead of investing in young soldiers and officers, you are bringing in aging officers, who should have been retired by now. What a disservice?
The National Security Adviser Momodou Badjie had strong ties with Casamance, Senegal. Please stop the witch hunting and reinstate the sacked Jolla soldiers and officers. None of the fired soldiers and officers had blood in their hands, but if you visit the NIA, the police, and GAF, you will find security agents, whose hands are stain with blood still serving. We rest our case.
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