Baaba Sillah: Reclaiming the

Mantle

Pierre Gomez & Malang Fanneh, 2015

Theme:
Edward Francis Small
Father of Gambian Nationalism
Dedication

‘We would like to dedicate this work to

the late Edward Francis Small for his
role as pioneer of Gambian
Nationalism.’

Gomez and Fanneh, 2015

 EDWARD FRANCIS SMALL, FATHER OF
GAMBIAN NATIONALISM & THE MEMOIRS
OF EDWARD FRANCIS SMALL
IN THIS LECTURE, WE SHALL DISCUSS
 E.F. SMALL AS EDUCATIONIST
 E.F. SMALL’S LEGACY
 E.F. SMALL THE NATIONALIST
 E.F. SMALL THE TRADE UNIONIST
 HIS EDUCATION
 JOURNALISM
 TRADE UNIONISM
 POLITICS
 NATIONALISM
 Challenges Faced by Mundaw
Edward Francis Small, Father of
Gambian Nationalism

This chapter outlines the struggles of Eddu

Fara Mundaw in four arenas of struggle as
outlined in Sillah’s works. He is viewed as
 an educationist,
 a nationalist,
 a journalist, and
 a trade unionist.
 Education
 He was fortunate to be among the educated
few, who uses his education, experience and
unbending convictions to awaken his people,
especially the farmers, who are exploited by
colonialism.
 Small develops a number of strategies which
make him stand in direct opposition to the
status quo.
 One such weapon is his newspaper called
The Kataminaland Outlook.
 Unmasking ‘Kangkurangs’
 E.F. Mundaw taught at the Methodist Boys High
School in Galoyaa, and served as a Methodist
Missionary Agent in Balanghar.
 He uses his skills to school the farmers about
weights and measures and equality before God,
which makes him famous and garners a lot of
followers
 He uses social events and gatherings to teach the
people of Kataminaland the workings of the
system. Example
◦ No Taxation Without Representation
◦ The trade unions
◦ The World Wars etc.
 The Great Irony
Mundaw knows that The British, Mundaw’s
the majority of his primary antagonists,
people have not had acknowledge his success
formal education. as an educationist.
As a result, the During an administrative
colonial masters can meeting, they admit how
exploit the human he poses a threat
and natural through his agitation
resources of which has a contagious
Kataminaland at will. effect on the society.
 E.F. Small the Nationalist
 Sillah describes Mundaw as a great Pan
African nationalist, who plays a pivotal
role in the emergence of trade unions and
political parties, which are instrumental in
spearheading the movement towards
selfhood in Kataminaland.
 Thus, he is able to organize platforms to
raise issues of national significance which
lead to the formation of the Committee
of Citizens in Kataminaland
 In Mundaw’s own words

It was my assistance and abatement, that the

committee of citizens was, and still is, an all-
embracing instrument that seeks to provide a
common front, a framework for mobilization of
people, for taking up issues of the status quo for
preparing the cadres to step into the political
orbit, in order to end colonial domination.

Dabbali Gi, pp.272-273

 Small the Trade Unionist
 E.F. Small (Mundaw), as a unionist, founded the first trade
union in Kataminaland in a bid to agitate for both legislative
and judicial reforms in the interest of his country, for
instance to oppose unfair taxes.
 The trade union he founded was called the Bathurst Trade
Union although Sillah refers to it as the Galoyaa Trade Union.
 Although the activities of this union do not extend beyond
the colony, it is strong enough to organise the first labour
strike in Kataminaland before the war.
 The Galoyaa Trade Union succeeds in raising the awareness
of Kataminians. Despite different religious and ethnic
affiliations, Kataminians are able to rally behind the union.
 The union organises a meeting at Box Bar where issues
affecting the people of Kataminaland are discussed and
forwarded to the colonial administration. This eventually
results in the representation of the Muslim
 Journalist
 Apart from being a unionist leader, Mundaw continues with his activities as
a journalist and a member of the legislative council.
 For him, it is proper to serve the interest of his people. When criticised by
some of his fellow Kataminians for holding two portfolios
concurrently(being a journalist and a member of the legislative council) he
responds by saying that he took an oath and would never betray his
people.
 In conclusion, Sillah has portrayed Edward Francis Small as the father of
modern Gambian politics and as a hero worthy of emulation.
 All the texts in the trilogy highlight Mundaw’s self-sacrificial and
nationalistic efforts against all forms of racial and colonial domination.
 Even when he is in exile in Sunugal, he continues his campaign to end
British colonialism.
 However, much like the African writers Leopold S. Sengoor declared in
1956, Sillah is merely fulfilling his role as an African writer of literature who
like Sengoor, sees African literature as a literature of struggle and
liberation.
 The Memoirs of Edward Francis
Small
 This chapter examines the memoirs of Edward Francis Small
in the trilogy of Baaba Sillah. It will review five condensed
areas of Small’s life.
 The introduction focuses on his profile and is subsequently
followed by five other vistas: his education, journalism,
unionism, politics and nationalism as discussed earlier.
 In When the Monkey Talks, a profile of E. F. Small is presented
in a letter addressed to the Secretary of State for the
Colonies by the sitting governor in Kataminaland.
 The purpose of this was to call to attention the British
intelligence agency, Scotland Yard, about Small’s activism. By
now, Small was thought to be a link-subversive with ties to
communism.
 E F Mundaw-Personal Profile
(Confidential)
 Full name: Edward Francis Mundaw
 Date of Birth: 29.1. 1890
 Age: 39
 Marital Status: Single
 Address: 11 Picton Street, Galoyaa, Kataminaland
 Occupation: Editor, Kataminaland Outlook
 Education: Wesleyan High School
 Aliases: Paa Mundaw\ Eddu Fara Mundaw\ E.F. Mundaw.
 Personal History:
 Employment Record:
 31st March 1910 General Post Office, Freetown
 Cost Clerk, Public Works Department-Kataminaland
 Clerk Maurel and Prom
 School Teacher, Wesleyan High School, Galoyaa
 Wesleyan Missionary Agent at Ballanghar
 Reemployed as clerk by Maurel and Prom and resigned member of the National congress
of British West Africa. Organiser and Secretary to the congress and a delegate to the
Congress of British West Africa.
 SMALL’S LIFE
 Eddu Fara Mundaw was born in Bathurst (now Banjul) on 29th
January 1890.
 He received his early education in Bathurst and later won a two-
year government scholarship to attend the Wesleyan High School
in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
 Upon completion of high school, Mundaw secured a job with the
General Post Office in Freetown on 31st March 1910 as a stamp
seller.
 Later, he transferred to the Public Works Department (PWD) in
Galoyaa, Kataminaland.
 He was gazetted Cost Clerk on 1st July 1912 on daily wage, but he
resigned on 1st October of the same year because he was refused
promotion.
 Private Sector & Education Sector
 First, he picked up a job with Maurel and Prom where he also
resigned after a short while.
 Next, Mundaw would work in the education sector, first as a
teacher, and later on as a Wesleyan missionary agent in
Ballanghar. However, Mundaw was dismissed from his rural
missionary work in early 1918 by Rev J.C. Lane (head of the
Wesleyan Mission in Bathurst) for so-called ‘improper
conduct.’
 His removal from Ballanghar was a result of a dispute he had
with Mr J. Walker, the agent of the Bathurst Trading Company.
 The Commissioner, however, was believed to have favoured
Mr Walker and recommended that Mundaw be removed
from Ballanghar so that there could be peace. His removal by
the mission was far from satisfactory to him.
 Education
 It is not difficult to see from his above profile, that by any
standards of the time, Mundaw was a highly educated and
self-made man.
 His education benefited not only himself, but the whole of
Kataminaland. He was very keen on enlightening his people
about their rights and obligations in order to develop a well-
informed citizenry for the betterment of Kataminaland.
 It was clear from the outset that the colonial government
was not interested in educating Kataminians.
 Mundaw, on the other hand, saw that educating Kataminians
was a tool for empowerment, which he deemed necessary
for the gradual liberation and consequent attainment of
independence for Kataminaland
 Journalism
 Mundaw’s crusade of enlightening his people to free them from the
fetters of necessity extended to the acquisition of relevant and
empowering education.
 Mundaw knows that knowledge and information empower people and
that whosoever controls them has power over those who lack it.
Therefore, he embarks on journalistic activities to denounce the colonial
administration. He used the columns of The Outlook to expose the flaws
of the administration.
 Mundaw literally washed the dirty linen of the colonial administration in
public in order to expedite the liberation of The Gambia from the
shackles of colonialism.
 Mundaw never hesitated in challenging any action of the colonial
administration which he thought was not in the interest of his people:
I have vowed to pound it out with them on the floor of the
chambers and in the columns of the newspapers – till kingdom
comes, if necessary.
 Trade Unionism
 Mundaw expressed that he knew that stopping at
advocating education for his people and
denouncing the colonial administration alone
would not do the job of emancipating his people;
so he decided to also embark on trade union
activities where he could mobilize people to fight
for their rights in relation to trade and the levying
of taxes and rates on them by the colonial
government:
Later on, we must set up trade unions that can
fight the levying of taxes and rates without the
people being represented.
 Quotation from Mundaw

In our discussion, we have also been developing new

insights as to the need to organize other groups,
among them, the ratepayers, the ship builders and
the sailors...We think the time has come to push for
a producer and marketing cooperative. This way, we
can mobilize the farmers so that they can adopt
their own bargaining position and thus decide how
much they are going to sell their produce for.
 Politics
 Sillah in the trilogy shows that Mundaw, in spite of
all his efforts to emancipate his people from the
firm grip of the colonial establishment, did not
form a political party.
 However, Sillah explores his involvement in
politics. Mundaw advocated representation so
that the needs of his people could be made
known. It was that which gave birth to his famous
slogan ‘No taxation without representation’.
 Mundaw inspired many to renew their pledge to
continue to strive for the elective principle for
the enfranchisement of his people.
Impact of the Slogan
 The slogan did not go unheard.
 The colonial establishment gave in and made
provision for Kataminians to have a
representative on the Legislative Council, as
explained above.
 Mundaw outlined how he himself became a
representative on the council; that he became
the mouthpiece of Kataminaland and promised
to serve his people to the best of his ability.
 Mungdaw’s words...

When I joined the council, I promised you that I would

continue to serve you to the best of my ability and
that I would conform to the highest ethical
standards that the office of the member of the
Legislative Council demands of me. I also said that I
should be accountable to you at all times regardless
of what obstacles are put in my way. My promises
of yesterday are the same today and they shall be
true for tomorrow.
 The Committee of Citizens

It was through my assistance and abetment that

the Committee of Citizens was formed. My
vision for this organization was, and still is, an
all-embracing instrument that seeks to provide
a common front, a framework for mobilizing
people, for taking up issues of status quo and
for preparing the cadres to step into the
political orbit in order to end colonial
domination.
 Challenges Faced by Mundaw

 The colonial administration was a nuisance to

him. It sees him as a menace. Therefore, it set out
to cripple his efforts in every way, shape or form.
 To add insult to injury, Mundaw explains, he was
betrayed by some of his most trusted colleagues.
 Fewer seats in the legislative council.
 Finally, his inability to transform the Committee
of Citizens into a political party due to his
misjudgement of the momentum and the mood.
However...
It is clearly evident from Sillah’s account
that Mundaw contributed immensely to
the liberation of Kataminaland by laying
the foundation for all future nationalist
movements and agitations in his country
to carry over.

Thank you!