The managing editor of Gambia’s independent radio station, King FM, has rubbished allegations that he is interfering in the work of his presenters.
Gibbi Jallow’s King FM was among radio stations that were arbitrarily closed down for nearly a month by the Gambia Government as part of its crackdown on dissent and protest against President Adama Barrow.
But since it resumed broadcasting, Mr Jallow has been accused of censoring his programmes deemed critical of the government and the president.
One presenter, Kebba Camara said Jallow has suspended two of his programmes, Talk To The President and Touch Kass [Break the Goblet] until further notice.
According to Camara, soon after the station resumed operation, he was invited to a meeting with the management during which he was informed that his popular afternoon programme, Talk To The President and Saturday night show, Touch Kass were being suspended until further notice.
“Writing on his Facebook page, Mr Camara said: “Gibbi Jallow announced officially today at a general meeting that he will hold my two programmes until further notice.
“When the radio was allowed to go on air, my manager decided to call his first general meeting. He said the daily morning news, which is hosted by my two boys, Ebrima Jarra and Lamin Sanyang , will continue but will have some changes in the presentation.
“He said he did not get any directives from the police to suspend the two programmes but the CEO and the proprietor of the radio who is based in the US have advised him to stop my programmes.
“To my sponsors, I will say am sorry and will ask you to bear with me for about a week or two. To my two boys am leaving at King FM, am saying keep up the hard work. And will advise you to leave the news style as it is. People may loose appetite if you change the settings. Go in for news items that will benefit the public.”
But in an interview with JollofNews, Mr Jallow said the decision to suspend the programmes was not due to political pressure.
He added: “Like all radio stations in the world including GRTS, we review all our programmes to see whether they are appealing to our dear listeners, make adjustments where necessary or shelve them for something more appealing.”
“We are embarking on a review of these programmes and will inform Kebba of our decision as soon we complete our review
“We have not sacked Kebba. He is still a staff member of King FM.
“Kebba is a valuable member of staff and we are sad to see him posting things on social media that are completely inaccurate.”
