It was a cool harmattan evening in Basse and the rustling leaves swayed gently in the background a perfect evening to relax following what was deemed a very long day.
The joint team of military officers and civilians had just completed a second day of a peace and security training as well as community sensitization on the illicit proliferation of small arms and light weapons. At the end of the day the team was more than happy to gather around and chat.
As the evening dragged on, there was generous amount of laughter and camaraderie, not to mention ‘afra’ (roasted meat) galore. Among the people seated at the table was a gentleman by all standard whom I had met a few months earlier in an official capacity and was none other than Lieutenant Colonel Ndure Cham.
He came across as an intelligent, jovial and at the same times a no-nonsense guy. He let us know earlier on of his passion for issues of peace and security and assured us of his total commitment and availability throughout the project implementation. From then on, we knew we had a dedicated colleague and partner in our cause. At one point in our discussion came a moment of uncomfortable truth and without warning.
From nowhere and with little regard for the public space, the Lieutenant Colonel cleverly steered the conversation towards issues of human rights linking it to peace and security. It was a rude awakening, an awkward moment especially in the presence of a top brass military officer and considering the highly charged political climate at the time.
At first, I was stunned and so were my colleagues we stared at each other in utter disbelief as if frozen in time.
I kept pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I pondered as to what to make of him. Actually, I was so much in fear that I concluded that it was either he was trying to stir up trouble or setting out a trap to get us. Anyway, I had to discreetly caution my colleagues against contributing to the discourse especially as I had already been summoned to the Ministry of Interior twice and interrogated.
In spite of my misgivings and apprehensions of the Lieutenant Colonel, the civil military team continued working together on the project. But with time, I came to trust him and realized how genuine he was especially his love for the Gambia and the simple things of life.
We would engage in intellectual conversations ranging from national to international news. He had so much depth on issues and his analytical skills were spot on. It was an honour and privilege to have had a friend in the person of Lieutenant Colonel Ndure Charm.
Ndure Charm was not just a regular military guy who headed the army at some point in time or rather, a mere soldier who led a failed coup and who eventually suffered a gruesome death in hands of his captors.
My friend was so much more which is the reason for telling this story of him as peace builder and human rights advocate in his own way.
He was a gentleman, an intelligent experienced guy, human rights advocate, a concerned citizen with good intention for his country.
I want Gambians and the rest of the world to know how selfless humble compassionate and kind this great son of the soil was. He would give you the shirt on his back without a thought. Ndure Cham was not driven by power or greed but simply by his moral conscience. He was content and never sought fame or bask in it.
Selflessness was ingrained in Ndure’s DNA. I recall one of many conversations with Ndure in which he informed me of how he left his lucrative customs job to join the army.
In my curious mind, I wondered why anyone would quit a job like that with all the perks that come with it for service in the army; after all, this was every young man’s dream job.
In Ndure’s usual quirky personality replied,” I always wanted to serve my country and was never about money.” It takes integrity and vision for anyone to make such a moral, selfless and patriotic decision. Ndure Cham was humble, kind and compassionate.
He didn’t have much but was content and a happy man. No wonder when he assumed the highest position in the army, he never allowed the office to transform him but rather the other way around. For instance, he rarely used his official vehicle beyond official hours.
At the end of his working day, he would jump into his old banged up car and usually seen in a faded t-shirt driving around. Ndure cared very little about his position and trappings of office.
When we travelled together he treated his orderlies and all others around him no different: we dinned and spent time together like equals.
He was a simple and down to earth guy. Ndure was a family man. I once had the rare opportunity of meeting his wife and one of his children briefly in front of his house in Bakau.
I recalled asking him with indignation, “is this where you live?”
He amusingly responded in the affirmative and explained how he had in the past been offered one of the fanciful houses in Fajara a few times by the government and on each occasion turned it down. He added that he was content to be sleeping on the floor under his bed which he had been doing for years. Ndure Cham walked the fine line of faith and never afraid to step outside his comfort zone and reach out to people on the other side.
As a practicing Muslim, he delivered Christmas cards as well as gifts and I was a proud recipient of his generosity to which I equally reciprocated.
So, when on that fateful day in 2006 I first learnt of a coup in progress while working in my office at 2am I wasn’t the least prepared for what was to come later the next day.
It was confirmed that the coup leader was none other but somebody I considered my friend, Lieutenant Colonel Ndure Charm. At first, I was lost for words but soon started putting all the pieces of the forbidden puzzle together…and it all began to make sense. Like the December 31, 2014 heroes he badly wanted to fix a broken system but alas, he failed woefully which eventually costed him his life.
He wanted the country to return to normalcy.
Ndure Cham was mentally and physically exhausted with the on-going situation and doing nothing. Because of his selflessness and patriotism, Ndure Cham did not try to run away to the West to seek asylum.
Instead, he decided to stay and die in the Gambia that he loved so much. What a cruel irony of fate that Ndure eventually became a victim of the very system he set out to fix. All these years I held out hope that my friend was still alive and living somewhere until it was confirmed recently by the very people who snuffed out his life that he was no longer alive.
What a tragedy! What a travesty of justice! What a monumental loss! What was the crime of these innocent sons of the soil? Why did they have to meet their fate like this? What did they do to deserve this kind of death? Lieutenant-Colonel Ndure Cham and many others had their precious lives taken away from them and their families. What kind of person or people who would take another person’s life at the direction of others or for the sake of it? While it is easy
for the perpetrators to admit that they were just following orders, we must not forget the it is about following LEGAL ORDERS according to the laws.I believe that our holy books clearly instruct us on the sanctity of life: Exodus 20:13 Thou shall not kill (Bible)Surah 5:2 of the Quran states: Whoever kills an innocent person it is as though he has killed all mankind, and whoever saves a life it is as though he had saved all mankind. So what happened to our faith, our beliefs and practices?
Therefore I consider it my moral and spiritual duty to tell this story of a Gambian who came to be my hero.
This story is told in order to change the narrative and shine a light in dark places.
Kehinde Cole