Mr. WARM and Mr. CLEVER Part 2:

Emil Touray led GPU Executive

Mr. Warm, you need an advice on how to become a good leader. Mr. Warm who is going to tell you how to become a good, is Mr. Clever and he would like to have a session with you together with your lieutenants to tell your team that leadership today is very different from leadership in our parents' generation. The old "top down" style of management just doesn't work anymore. 

Gambian Journalists generally want to be fully engaged, and committed to what they're doing. They want to feel that their work matters in the media-reporting and broadcasting. And they want to believe in the people who are in charge unfortunately, Mr. Warm you fail!

Mr. Warm, you fail to build your career when you were young and now at old age what next!!! Mr. Warm resigns from your position and allows others to continue running the affairs of the union, you served under the past Presidents; Mr. Madi MK Ceesay, Ms. Ndey Tapha Sossesh and your own term- “enough is enough”

What happen to the Board of Advisers of the GPU are they not aware of what is happening at the union for three years not more that five general meetings?  

Mr. Warm, you show signs of impatience with colleagues in the GPU executive as well as the general membership.

On leadership journey, Mr. Warm you need to be far more aware of yourself and your society by addressing deep issues about people and community; for example; why does GPU exist? What are the need of Gambian journalists and the media houses they worked for? What can the union do to fight for the plight of young journalists?

This kind of thinking emanates from the ‘respectful and ethical mind’. At this stage, your authenticity and how people perceive your nature becomes crucial. Can I trust him? If he asks me to jump should I jump? These are the sort of questions young journalists wrestle with.

Unfortunately, Mr. Warm, we cannot trust you anymore. What happens to the United States Embassy News Print project, the printing machine and GPU/GAMES Journalism School?

At a general meeting at the union’s headquarters on the 28^th February, the general membership agreed and set-up a task force committee to investigate the US Embassy News Print project, the Printing Machine, and GPU/GAMES Journalism School, unfortunately, the chairman of the committee after three days, resigned from the committee only to say that my institution does not accept its staff to sit in such committees. Mr. Warm, you deprive members to know what is happening at the union by failing to hold regular executive and general meetings.

When, we did our findings, it was found that the Chairman of the committee lacks practical intelligence which Mr. Warm and Mr. Clever knew as something necessary to succeed.  

Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa a regional tool stated that “Everyone has the right to access and update or otherwise correct their personal information, whether it is held by public or private bodies.”

Mr. Warm, the declaration; Article 5 Freedom of Information stated that “Public bodies hold information not for themselves but as custodians of the public good and everyone has a right to access this information, subject only to clearly defined rules established by law.

Mr. Warm, have you ever read from the first page of the Gambia Press Union constitution to the last page? If yes, what is GPU Vision statement? If you don’t know, it stated “To ensure a media friendly society enjoying freedom of expression and access to information”, and its Mission statement reads “To create an enabling environment for the protection and empowerment of journalists.”

Still on the GPU constitution, Chapter 3: Membership; Article 4 number 7 reads “The Executive Committee shall, upon full completion of an application form, consider the approval of the application for membership at its next general meeting.”

It is not possible to avoid making mistakes. One can only try to reduce the number and frequency of their occurrence. Making mistakes in human relations is a characteristic of all leaders.

Those around notice these mistakes but with your leadership style, Mr. Warm you never listen to your followers as a result, you fell in a trap as one writer, wrote in an excellent piece.

You may think you are smarter and intelligent than all the other journalists; think twice. You lack the motivation.

It is possible to climb out of a trap when one has inadvertently fallen into it. However, you should first try to avoid falling into these traps. A leader must know and admit that he is in a trap; otherwise there is no chance of his getting out of it. If a trap becomes a permanent one, then leadership capabilities get severely diminished.

Mr. Clever is an authentic leader who inspires trust in the mind of young journalists and the team he works with.

For that been the case, young journalists are more willing to be open about problems, which means that those problems are more likely to get fixed, instead of being ignored by Mr. Clever.

Mr. Clever places greater weight on the rights, wishes and feelings of others. Mr. Clever is being open in expressing wishes, thoughts and feelings and encouraging others to do likewise since he joined the media.

Mr. Clever has demonstrated empathy, and strong communication skills, and he is very good at building relationships with peers.

We elect GPU executive members to act and to solve real problems of the media, not to keep winning elections. Therefore, it is crucial for the upcoming GPU Executive members to learn the advocacy skills required to defend press freedom effectively and institutional networking and partnership.

Upcoming Executive members should welcome a development stint in the functions of the union such as Government Relations, Media Communications etc.

General membership of the GPU should also endeavor to attend general meeting thus use the meeting grounds to pay their monthly dues D25.00. Members need to continue engaging their leaders on issues that they think move the GPU forward.

My purpose of writing is not to compare Mr. Warm and Mr. Clever but setting the records straight. I focus on the common interests of the journalists. I am telling Gambian journalists how much Mr. Warm and Mr. Clever means to them and how much both value in the interest of the GPU.

Take note, if a debate turns nasty, nobody wins. A compromise doesn’t have to be equal to be acceptable!

We need a union of the people, by the people, and for the people!!!

18^th April, 2015 Gambia Press Union (GPU) Congress

Venue: Not yet know

Slogan: WE NEED CHANGE!!! CHANGE FOR A BETTER!!!