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Fortune’s goal machine on the radar of European clubs

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Fortune Football Club goal poacher Alieu Barry, who has scored 16 goals in the league this season in the top tier of Gambian football, has attracted interest from clubs in England, Portugal, and France, The Fatu Network gathers.

The agile and dazzling attacker is on fire for the Petroleum Boys in the league this season, with his 16 league goals a testament to his superb form.

Alieu, for a large chunk of this season, has been monitored by top African scouts who discovered and continue to discover top talents on the continent.

Word is that several Portuguese, French and English clubs scouted the Fortune FC talisman to be a perfect fit for European football. His exploits in the league this season, scoring breathtaking goals and giving nightmares to opponents have put the former U20 star in the spotlight for good reasons.

Barry, 21, joined Fortune FC in January 2023 and has since established himself as the team’s goal machine, scoring week in, week out.

The former National U20 and U23 striker has caught the attention of a renowned football scout, Mr. Marcelo Simonian of Dodici Sports Management, who sees Barry as a top prospect.

Known for his pace, technique, dribbling, and clinical goal-scoring, Barry scored in five consecutive games for Fortune FC in the league this season, becoming the club’s top scorer in a single season with his 16-goal mark with a game to go.

The summer European transfer window will see clubs in Europe battling for the youngster.

Mr. Marcelo Simonian, who has discovered the attacker recently and introduced him to European teams, is a top-notch football scout known for discovering talented African youngsters.

With 16 goals to his name, Barry is currently one of the best attacking players in the country. His consistency and athleticism, coupled with his poacher instincts, have made him one of the best players in the league.

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Open Letter to the National Assembly: Suggestions & Recommendations on the Pending Anti-Corruption Bill

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By Sarjo Barrow, Esq.

The most important institution that should nurture and protect our nascent democracy is National Assembly (“NA”). Yet, the institution failed to attract talent or is considered irrelevant. But suppose the country is to learn anything during the past six years. In that case, NA can set the country’s trajectory, ensure efficient oversight, and require excellent service delivery because they control the country’s purse.

As NA deliberates and considers the Anti-Corruption Bill for enactment, citizens exert pressure on their NAMs to pass the legislation, and watching the debate on the Assembly floor was no fun. You can observe lawmakers visibly frustrated as they go back and forth with the sections and clauses. Frankly speaking, they find it hard to comprehend the bill or what it intends to proscribe. And considering most of the lawmakers do not have a legal background or adequate experience in legislation, arguably, the bill was over their heads. Notable among their fear or frustration is that the legislation may significantly legislate against the genuine Gambian culture of giving, supporting, and tradition. Rather than criticizing the shortcomings of the NAMs, it is imperative that we also offer natural and humble solutions or recommendations that the NA can consider during their sitting—the reason for this piece.

Some of the questions raised during the debate with the Attorney General (“AG”) are:

  • Whether the phrase “any other person,” in section 19(1)(a), refers to an act between private citizens or to conduct such as giving to griots or hardworking traffic officers.
  • Limiting the maximum fine to a million could cause loss to the state if the corruption involved is threefold the maximum.
  • Should NA set a minimum fine when acts of corruption come in varying degrees?
  • And if it would be prudent to leave punishment open and trust the judiciary to do the right thing.

Instead of getting into the interpretation of 19(1)(a), I think the problem with the phrase is the result of the “copy and paste” syndrome. As such, I strongly caution NA not to remove the word but fix it. As written, the section states:

(1) A person who-

(a) asks for, receives, or obtains any property or benefit of any kind, directly or indirectly, for himself or herself or [for] any other person;

Inserting the word “for,” as done under paragraph (b) of the same section, would resolve the issue. As the heading suggests, the section punishes illegal official gratuities. Period. Adding the word “for” would mean that a would-be Defendant can still be prosecuted for receiving benefits on behalf of a third person.

Suggestions and Recommendations.

First, lawmakers should be trained in or familiarized with the country’s jurisprudence. This foundation would help them in drafting laws. For instance, if lawmakers know about the four rules of statutory interpretation, they will endeavour to ensure that legislative intent is clear even under the literal rule.

Second, although the bill addresses bribery in the private sector, the goal here should focus on public corruption. I think NA should revisit sections 19 and 20 before passing. The sections should address bribery of public officials and witnesses. For example, NA should divide section 19 into two subparts. Subpart 1 should address the giving and receiving bribes, while the other addresses illegal official “gratuity.”

As to the first part—giving or receiving bribes—the law should proscribe the conduct of the giver and receiver. For the giver, NA should require the AG to show that something of value was corruptly given, offered, or promised, directly or indirectly, to a public official. And for the recipient, NA should require the AG to show that something of value was corruptly demanded, sought, received, accepted, or agreed to be received or accepted by a public official. While NAMs raised legitimate concerns regarding the unintentional legislation of the Gambian culture, the intent required for the giver should be the intent “to influence any official act.” In contrast, the intent that should be necessary for the recipient is the intent to be “influenced in the performance of any official act.”

For the second part—illegal gifts to public officials—again, the conduct of the giver and recipient is being regulated. For the Giver, NA should require the AG to show that something of value was given, offered, or promised to a public official. As to the recipient, it requires a showing that something of value was demanded, sought, received, accepted, or agreed to be received or accepted by a public official. Here, the law should not require a specific intent to alleviate the lawmakers’ fear concerning culture. Instead, the unlawful gratuity must be “for or because of any official act performed or to be performed by such public official.”[1]

Third, adopting this recommendation, as standard in contemporary jurisprudence, would distinguish conduct such as giving an “attaya” to a hardworking public servant from corrupting a public official with an “attaya.” How? The critical distinction between the bribery (receiving & giving) and illegal gratuity sections is that bribery would require a specific intent “to influence” a particular official act (in the case of the giver) or “being influenced” in an official act (in the case of the recipient); however, an illegal gratuity would only require that the unlawful gift be given or received “for or because of” any official act. Moreover, unlike illegal compensation, which can be forward- or backwards-looking at a past or future official action, bribery would require a specific intent to give or receive something of value in exchange for a future official act—in other words, an explicit quid pro quo or direct nexus between the value given and a particular future action.

Moreover, as the current bill addresses it under section 19, the bill should clarify that the bribery and illegal gratuity offences would not require an unlawful gift to be paid or even that the object of the illicit gift is attainable. The section should prohibit conduct as soon as an offer (in the case of the giver) or an acceptance (in the case of the recipient) has occurred.

Furthermore, I have a different view regarding punishment. Although the penalty for bribery should be more severe than an unlawful gift to a public official, to reconcile the fear of lawmakers that do not want corporations or individuals that commit serious financial loss/gain to the state to have a fine capped at a million, I think the approach below would strike a good balance. Since we can all agree that corruption is cancer killing our development and progress as a nation, the punishment must fit the crime. To this effect, the bill should put a minimum statutory fine of D50,000 for individuals and D250,000 for corporate bodies for bribery. For unlawful gratuity to a public official, a minimum statutory penalty of D10,000 for individuals and D50,00 for the corporation. The law should require up to 15 years for a prison sentence for bribery and up to 2 years for illegal gratuity to a public official.

Finally, the law would require that upon conviction, the person should be fined under this Act [the minimum] or not more than three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, whichever is greater, or imprisoned for not more than fifteen years, or both, and gives the judges the discretion to disqualify the individual from holding any office of honour, trust, or profit under the Gambia. See Election Act for similar sections. Indeed, I am open to helping NAMs draft specific areas regarding the Anti-Corruption Bill.

 NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR: The Author’s practice focuses on constitutional law, national security law, and human and civil rights litigation.

[1]  See Title 18, Chapter 11 of the United States Code

Understanding the evolving flood hazard map of the Gambia: A call to action

By: Muhammed Hydara
Environmentalist and Human Right Enthusiast

Over the past few years, the Gambia has relied on the flood hazard map based on data from ESA (2017) and Geofabrik (2019) as a valuable resource. However, with the map’s development dating back to 2019 by the World Bank, it is crucial to acknowledge that our understanding of flood-prone areas may have evolved since then. Recent events, particularly a surge in heavy downpours, have exposed the vulnerability of the URR community, previously unidentified as a critical flood-prone region. This raises significant questions about the underlying causes of these flood occurrences in the highland areas of our country.

The increased flooding in the highland areas of URR can be attributed to a combination of factors, including deforestation, inadequate drainage systems, and climate change. Deforestation reduces the natural water absorption capacity, while inadequate drainage systems hinder water flow. Additionally, climate change contributes to more intense rainfall events, exacerbating the situation. It is imperative that we address these issues promptly to mitigate the impacts of heavy downpours.

To combat the ongoing crisis, it is crucial to implement reforestation efforts to restore natural water absorption capacity, improve drainage infrastructure, and develop climate-resilient strategies. In collaboration with international organizations and local communities, the government must take immediate action to protect vulnerable communities and prevent further damage.

The devastating consequences of the recent floods have left hundreds of households in the Gambian upcountry damaged, and an astonishing 2000 people grappling with the aftermath. These individuals have lost their homes, belongings, and most importantly, their sense of security. We cannot afford to stand idly by while our fellow citizens suffer.

We call upon the global community, environmental activists, policymakers, and concerned individuals to join forces and prioritize the urgent needs of The Gambia. The time for action is now. Let us come together to address the root causes, implement effective solutions, and support those affected by this disaster.

 

Muhammed Hydara
Environmentalist and Human Right Enthusiast
Twitter: @muhammed_hydara
Email: [email protected]

The Senegalese Political Tragedy

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By: Joomay Ndongo Faye

Manipulation of the people to further one’s political cause?

The history of the political development of human societies teaches us that tragedies have often occurred when two of the most prominent political leaders in a social entity put their personal interests above those of their people in their battle for preservation and/or conquest of power. These protagonists begin by identifying the sources of great fear, uncertainty and concern among their people and decide to use them as a rallying point for their camp. Each one poses as the one and only person capable of leading the people to the other shore where the causes that underlie these feelings will disappear thanks to the magician’s stick that only he is able to make good use of. If the institutions of this administrative space are strong enough, this tragedy can lead to their reinforcement, this was the case of the civil war of the United States from 1861 to 1865. Otherwise, it is possible to have an outcome like what is happening in Somalia today.

These two political leaders in Senegal today are President Macky Sall and the undisputed leader of the current Senegalese opposition Ousmane Sonko. These two people must look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves the following question: would I like historians to attach my name to the decay of the Republic of Senegal?

A historical precedence?

President Macky Sall and those around him are driven by a strong intention to keep power. They use all the means at their disposal, and they are enormous, to prevent any credible candidacy of their opposition to the presidential election of Senegal. First, it was Karim Wade and Khalifa Sall and now it’s Ousmane Sonko. Regarding the first two people mentioned, it was on an accusation of embezzlement and personal use of state funds. I have no data to deny or confirm these accusations. What I do know, however, like any good Senegalese who follows national news religiously, is that there are several people who are not at all concerned by the Senegalese justice system under the Presidency of Macky Sall despite the damning reports on his Administration’s management of the property of the Senegalese State and despite signs of weaponization of the judiciary.

Demonisation of Sonko and PASTEF

In the case of Ousmane Sonko, he was first accused of being a Salafist. Some people who are basically unaware of what Salafism is or are motivated by bad intentions attach this nickname to him to make him seem like a radical Islamist who will put an end to the secularism of our republic and impose Sharia on the Senegalese people as soon as he will accede to the supreme magistracy of the country. For those who don’t know, Salafism was nothing more than a movement to return to the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad (PSL) and the first four Khalifs Abu Bakr (632-634), Omar (634- 644), Ôthman (644-656) and Ali (656-661). In a way, a call for a return to authenticity and a rejection of the divergent interpretations that divided Muslims.

Based on the results of the last legislative elections, it became clear to Macky Sall and his APR and BBY companions that this demonization of Ousmane Sonko and his party, PASTEF (African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity), did not have the desired effect on the Senegalese people. The PASTEF electoral score, which has nothing to envy to those obtained by all the political oppositions that followed one another during the regimes of Senghor, Diouf and Wade, is remarkable. This excellent performance by Ousmane Sonko’s party has certainly sufficiently demonstrated that the latter can indeed defeat any candidate in 2024 put forth by the APR and BBY (Alliance Pour la République) and (Benno Bokk Yaakar).

Since the demonization did not produce the expected result, Macky Sall and his companions who are determined to stay in power had to ask themselves the following question: What can be done to break the momentum of PASTEF and especially Ousmane Sonko in their march which seems to be unshakable towards the conquest of power?

Politically-motivated trials or instrumentalization of the judiciary?

They first brought out the complaint of one of the leaders of Sall’s APR for defamation, accusing Sonko of a false claim that a state audit had revealed mismanagement of funds during the implementation of the Community Agricultural Development Program. Ousmane Sonko was then quickly sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence at the end of this trial. Some thought that was enough to put him out of harm’s way to the APR and BBY’s ambition to retain power. But the lack of clarity on the consequences of this verdict on the eligibility of Ousmane Sonko did not put Macky Sall and his companions at ease. Certainly, the law clearly says that this verdict prevents Ousmane Sonko from registering on the electoral lists of Senegal. But given that the latter is already registered and that the law says nothing about eligibility, wanting to ban Ousmane Sonko from running for office in 2024 on the basis of this verdict will not be justifiable and/or credible. Thus, the suspended prison sentence did not effectively preclude him from seeking the presidency according to the articles (L 29 and L 30) of the electoral code.

The pending legal case against Ousmane Sonko, his accusation of rape and death threat by Adji Sarr, then became the spare tire. To eliminate the danger that a possible candidacy of Ousmane Sonko represents for the preservation of power by Macky Sall and his companions, everything had to be done so that the verdict of this trial puts him aside. But the dismissal of the rape accusation at the trial by Sitor Ndour and the lack of merit of the evidence presented by Adji Sarr and her lawyers very quickly showed the Prosecutor that a guilty verdict against Ousmane Sonko will not be at all credible in the eyes of public opinion of the Senegalese and global community which are watching this trial like milk on the fire. Thus, knowing that he was going to lose, the prosecutor asked the judge that, if he could not be convicted for what he was accused of, he should be incriminated for the offence of “youth corruption”. Based on the testimonies during the trial, especially that of the young girl who was with Adji Sarr in the massage room and whom the latter had asked to leave to leave her alone with Ousmane Sonko, no self-respecting judge was going to take the offer of the Prosecutor.

Despite these inconsistencies in the presentation of the evidence to prove that Mr. Sonko deserves a conviction by the Senegalese justice, the Judge decided to follow the prosecutor for reasons that only God and himself know. One thing is certain, the lightness of the evidence presented to him and the seriousness of the situation that would be created by a guilty verdict capable of preventing Ousmane Sonko from being a candidate for the presidential election of Senegal in 2024, should have caused the judge to be cautious. Certainly, force must remain with the law. But this force will have to be based on judicial decisions that suffer from no shadow of an objective doubt.

A heavy-handed clampdown on civil disobedience

The other thing that I blame Macky Sall and his companions for is the excessive use of force in the form of selective imprisonments on dubious grounds and which a self-respecting judge would never have approved. The case of Bassirou Diomaye Faye is a typical example. In matters of justice, the procedure is as important as the evidence presented to convict a person. In the case of Diomaye Faye, the police at least violated the procedure. The time at which he was brought to the police station and the absence of an arrest warrant constitutes procedural defects that the judge before whom he was presented had no right to ignore. Outright relaxation should have been his decision the first time he was presented in front of the latter. Not only is Diomaye Faye rotting away in jail with no idea when his trial will be, but the charge on which he was arrested would lack weight before any self-respecting judge who has the smallest grain of desire to prove that what Diomaye Faye said before in his Facebook text was unfounded. To say that a minority of decision-makers within the Senegalese judiciary are corrupt is an undeniable truth. It is, moreover, an evil from which all the judiciaries of the world suffer, regardless of the state of progress of the political development of their countries. No magistrate who respects himself and accepts the rule of law as the lifeblood of the republic would dream of condemning Diomaye Faye on the grounds of insulting the judiciary for having expressed such an opinion which has been a world truth for centuries. PASTEF has, according to its leaders, more than 400 (four hundred) of its members in prison for reasons related to their political activities. Certainly, it is very likely that among the people included in this count of PASTEF members, there are individuals guilty of flagrante delicto of actions having caused material damage. It is, however, no exaggeration to say that the vast majority of these detainees are for what they said. Not seeing these people as political prisoners is certainly more than bizarre behaviour.

What about Ousmane Sonko and PASTEF?

Although my son, Bassirou Diomaye Faye is in the leadership of this party, I must say here that I am not a member of this party. In fact, although being an activist of the Senegalese left, I stopped being involved in a political party because I realized the real limits of their ability to get my country out of the neocolonial abyss.

PASTEF’s political program is certainly commendable, but it should be remembered that this is not new to Senegal. Many political parties were born in this country and had offered excellent programs to the Senegalese people. But for various reasons, they never reached the level of popularity of PASTEF. The two big reasons behind the rapid success of PASTEF are in my humble opinion:

  •  The level reached by the lack of hope to find work among a largely skilled and educated Senegalese youth, what economists call mismanagement of the demographic dividend by the Senegalese state.
  • The development of social media and the extraordinary ability of the members of the PASTEF communication unit to put them at the service of their cause, where the hype on social networks amplifies “the Sonko effect”.

Is PASTEF and its leadership plunging the country into chaos at all costs?

Our country, like the overwhelming majority of African countries, is sitting on a social time bomb: Mismanagement by their State, for structural reasons, of the Demographic Dividend or in other words the inability of the State/country to create optimal conditions for the absorption of the vast majority of well-educated and skilled young people who enter the labour market each year.

Opinion leaders, be they politicians, religious, or civil society in the country, will have to do everything to not be the cause of the production of the spark that can set off this bomb. Political leaders must absolutely refrain, in their efforts to conquer or retain power, from giving our youth, at the height of their frustration, any reason to express their anger against the government by resorting to violence. Rather than doing everything to prevent this bomb from exploding and setting the Senegalese society ablaze with all the harmful consequences that this can cause for the country and the Sahel region, Ousmane Sonko and his supporters seem to be taking advantage of the despair of Senegalese youth to accede to power as quickly as possible. The development of the culture of the “GATSA GATSA” attitude is a danger for Senegal. It is a tactic that can certainly be used to mobilize a youth disoriented by the perverse effects of the non-viability and vulnerability of the overwhelming majority of African states, but it is a way of digging the grave of the political current that uses it to gain power.

In a republic, only the state has the right to use violence. It goes without saying that many crooked politicians have abused the trust of their people and resorted to an ill-holy use of violence, but the only justifiable and sustainable reaction to such abuse that is meted out to the citizens of a democratic republic is the ballot, as long as that franchise option is made available – not a club, a machete, a Molotov cocktail or whatever.

The absence of a condemnation of the acts of vandalism and chaos that have arisen each time Ousmane Sonko has been treated in a way that his supporters perceive as an abuse of power is disturbing to me. Ousmane Sonko, who aspires to the supreme office of our country, should be the first to unreservedly condemn this expression of a total lack of civism. Any other attitude, silence or encouragement makes the leaders of PASTEF the chief gravediggers of any possibility of governing in peace when the Senegalese people entrust them with the heavy task of managing their state. What these thugs do not know is that it is themselves and their families who will pay through taxes and loans in the name of Senegal, the damage they are causing, especially the destruction of public properties and critical social assets directly benefitting the ordinary people, like the Sheikh Anta Diop University. A Pulaar proverb that was shared with me by a Pulaar teacher friend who lives here in upstate New York says that “So ñiiwa ene habaa e ñiwaako hudo booretee” (when two elephants fight it’s the grass that suffers regardless of the outcome of the battle, regardless of who is right or wrong”. It is the Senegalese baadolo who will pay the price for the violent confrontations between Macky Sall and Ousmane Sonko through the dozens of avoidable casualties but also through taxes, cuts in state social services and many other ways.

A warning and concluding recommendations

To conclude I would say this: It is long overdue for the Duo Macky Sall-Ousmane Sonko to come to their senses for the higher interest of the Senegalese nation but also for the Africans who use Senegal as an example to prove to their compatriots that the Democratic Republic is possible in Africa south of the Sahara. The sages of my Wolof cousins say that “alal du doy, doylu moy alal”. President Macky Sall and his companions must carefully weigh this Wolof saying and significantly reduce their intention to keep power to preserve their material interests. With regard to Ousmane Sonko and some of his “Yewi Askan Wi” coalition partners, it is important to take ownership of this lesson that world political history has taught us: you will lose power by the way in which you acquired it.

The tragedy always ends with the death of one of the two protagonists who are stuck in it. The socio-economic and material damage for Senegal will be incalculable if Macky Sall and Ousmane Sonko know the outcome of the vast majority of tragedies. It is time, Mr. President of the Republic, to remind you that by entrusting you alone with the right to exercise violence, the Senegalese people did not want you to use this right for your personal gain and/or those of your companions. Over to you Ousmane Sonko, I advise you to do everything to avoid jeopardizing the governability of Senegal by the elected people.

We are only at the beginning of this already very painful play for the families who have lost one of their own in the violent demonstrations linked to it. You two can avoid a more tragic end in Senegal by making the peace of the brave. President Sall, make it clear to your companions who fear losing the privileges that come with the maintenance of power by the APR/BBY that nothing is eternal, especially the advantages linked to accession to power in a democratic republic. Ousmane Sonko, tell the members of PASTEF and your coalition supporters that without a culture of respect for public goods and the rejection of any recourse to violence, whatever the injustices committed by those in power, no party or coalition that reaches the top of our country’s political pyramid will be able to benefit from the climate of social peace without which economic prosperity is impossible.

To my brothers and sisters who brandish the argument that Ousmane Sonko and the PASTEF will destroy our republic if they come to power, I would say this: you think in that manner because you either have a negative subjective attitude towards Ousmane Sonko and/or PASTEF or a limited knowledge of the history of democracy. First, you have no proof of the intentions that you attribute to Ousmane Sonko and his party. Second, even if Ousmane Sonko had these intentions, it is up to the Senegalese people to decide whether or not they trust him to occupy the highest office in their country. Any intention to snatch this decision from the Senegalese people, whatever the means used to do so, constitutes a danger to the peaceful political development of the Senegalese Republic and must therefore be vigorously condemned. Replacing the Senegalese people in the process of choosing the person to whom they will hand over the Presidency of the Republic in 2024 is neither less nor more than an administrative coup d’état and therefore a constitutional crime against our republic.

 

Diomaye Ndongo Faye

Consultant in Political Strategy Development

Princeton, New Jersey, United States

Second chance: BKF Frees 16 inmates from Mile 2 Prison

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By: Dawda Baldeh

Sixteen inmates – one female and fifteen males – have been released from Mile 2 State Central Prison following payment of their fines by Bob Keita Foundation (BKF) on 15th June 2023.

The inmates, who were serving sentences on minor offenses, were reunited with their families and loved ones as they as their fines were paid for by the Foundation.

Babucarr Keita (Bob Keita), the founder and president of BKF, and former detainee at the prison outlined the motive behind the initiative.

“I was in prison for two years and I have seen the conditions that inmates are going through. One day, a young prisoner came to me and told me that he needed one thousand dalasi to pay so that he could be released. I told him straight then that he will go home that day because I would pay the one thousand.

He (the prisoner) told me that our crimes were different as his own was a minor crime and if he paid the one thousand dalasis he would be released. I called my family and they paid, so the boy was released,” Bob told inmates at the Mile 2 Prison.

The former detainee added that since that day he vowed to bring an initiative to support pay for inmates with minor offenses for which fines are imposed by the court.

“The prison should help to reform people, but if you look at our system, it is very bad. What you see outside the prison is small; if you get inside you will be traumatized because it is very bad,” he added.

Bob, who was speaking in an emotional state reflecting on what he passed through during his detention at the prison, called on the inmates released to change for good and become better people.

“Whatever you see in life is a purpose and Allah knows the best. I come here because I have a good relationship with the prison officers but the system here is very bad.

This is not their problem but they inherited it. Government should shut down the prison because it is not fit for purpose,” Bob Keita emphasized.

According to Bob, his detention has taught him that there was more to life than enjoyment.

Mamanding Saidy, a representative from the Ministry of Interior, said the event is worth emulating.

“This is a great initiative and it is the first time a former prisoner is coming to us with such. We all know that the prison is a place where nobody wants to come, but who knows we might find ourselves here any day.

In life, you will either go to prison or you are safe at home, you will either live or die,” he explained.

He expressed the Ministry’s appreciation for the initiative, adding that their role is to reform the institution to make sure whoever finds himself/herself in prison will not feel like he/she is in hell.

He called on the inmates who are released to thank Allah and the BK Foundation for their release and work towards changing their lives.

Odile Jassey, Pupil State Counsel, who represented the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), reminded the released inmates not to fall again in what led them to the prison.

She said: “It is in the interest of the public to try alleged persons and it is also not in the interest of the public to have alleged persons not tried. This is why anyone who is accused is tried and if the law finds the person not guilty, he/she will be released.”

She told the 16 inmates that they should put in mind that they have already tested the prison, adding that they should stay away from anything that will likely bring them back to prison.

Alagie Jarju, executive director of National Youth Council, thanked the BK Foundation for coming up with the initiative.

“I’m not sure most Gambians are into such initiatives, supporting prisoners [convicted] for minor crimes. You need to work hard to ensure that what led you into the prison doesn’t happen again,” he told inmates.

He expressed the Ministry’s willingness to support the young inmates in the transition process to be reintegrated back into society.

APEMETA has extensive knowledge in providing information and building useful bridges for international cooperation

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APEMETA has extensive knowledge of the entire sector, providing information and building useful bridges for international cooperation. Here you can find partners for your business and a set of competent companies available to collaborate internationally in different markets.
Portuguese companies in the area of environmental technologies and services have to offer multiple solutions adaptable to different contexts, as well as the capacity to understand and adapt to the needs of each market/client.

Sabally raises alarm on finance minister’s ‘over-exuberance’ about IMF loan

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By: Hadram Hydara

Shortly after The Fatu Network published IMF’s disbursement of over 6 million dollars to the Gambia, Momodou Sabally, former Gambia Secretary General and head of Civil Service and now Campaign Manager of the opposition United Democratic Party, has assailed Finance Minister, Seedy Keita, over what he called his “outright desire to mislead the public”, following the minister’s interview with West Coast radio’s Peter Gomez on the IMF’s approval of a credit facility for the Gambia.

Sabally believes the over $6 million approved by IMF is too small to make a difference for the Gambia and since the programme comes with a waiver “for non-observance of the continuous performance criterion on the accumulation of new external payment arrears by the central government”, the minister should neither be proud nor happy about it.

Mr. Sabally, who is an expert in economics, said the country’s finance minister has put the country’s economy on a nosedive, with abysmal leadership.

“Just what is there to celebrate when this same Finance Minister who woefully failed in his previous portfolio as trade minister, wrecked our economy to an unprecedented level of inflation at 17.4 per cent?

“He brought us negative real interest rates that will lead to a further depreciation of the Dalasi against the currencies of our major trading partners, among other negative ramifications,” Sabally said, adding:

“His leadership of the nation’s macroeconomic team has brought loss upon loss for depositors of funds in the local money market; as well as the loss for traders in the foreign exchange market”.

He further criticized the minister for his involvement in raising the National Water and Electricity (NAWEC) tariffs, saying he believes raising the tariffs was meant to partially fulfil the IMF loan. He added that the minister does not actually care about the plight of Gambians.

“Seedy Keita does not care about the suffering of the Gambian masses arising from this terrible hike in cash power and water costs. Seedy is not bothered about the pervasive effects of this NAWEC tariff hike, especially its impact on inflation and general macroeconomic instability”.

Sabally believes the impact of the finance minister’s decisions on the economy will only yield negative outcomes that will be suffered for generations.

“The impact of Seedy’s decisions on the economy will be suffered by generations yet unborn as the Central Bank begins the raising of policy rates in trying to curb inflation.

“This will further worsen our domestic debt burden as local enterprises find it ever harder to borrow funds for investment.

“Our chronic youth unemployment problem is going to be even worse as life becomes more and more treacherously difficult in this country.” The already apparent economic dualism will worsen, thereby leading to higher crime rates and social instability.”

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‘We will bring the bill’: Justice minister assures parliament on revival of Draft Constitution

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By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh

The Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dawda Jallow, has said the government is committed to reviving the rejected Draft Constitution following dialogue with political party leaders, assuring the National Assembly Members of bringing back the jettisoned constitution to Parliament, either with amendments by political party leaders or the original document for consideration.

The justice minister made these revelations while answering questions from National Assembly members at parliament earlier today, June 14.

He mentioned that his office will send the bill to the House before the end of the last quarter of the legislative year.

“We will bring the bill. Whether we will bring the updated one or the original one, we will bring the bill. The bill is on its way to the parliament,” he voiced.

The attorney general, however, outlined that his ministry is contemplating whether to take the updated version of the Draft Constitution following the political dialogue with most political party leaders or the original Draft Constitution documents, but the executive is ready to revive the Draft Constitution.

He told the National Assembly Members that the Justice Ministry is not developing or creating a new draft. He explained that they are only mediating over contentious issues raised by National Assembly Members in September 2020, which led to the rejection of the draft.

According to him, his ministry, backed by the cabinet, started working on a political dialogue after the collapse of the draft in parliament. A high-level meeting between most political party leaders and international organizations happened in Abuja, Nigeria to discuss contentious issues that politicians disagreed on in the draft.

“Immediately the (draft) Constitution elapsed in the house, we launched a political dialogue. In that dialogue, political party leaders were brought together to discuss the various issues that they disagreed on in the content of the document. And some amendments were done,” he said.

This political dialogue happened before the December 2021 presidential election.

The minister told the lawmakers that the process of reviving the Draft Constitution will begin in earnest before the end of the current legislative quarter.

“We are confident that the work of reviving the Draft Constitution begin in earnest by the end of this quarter,” announced.

The Draft Constitution was rejected by the fifth legislative assembly in 2020. The justice minister said the lack of political dialogue at the time probably played a role in the rejection of the draft.

The rejected Draft Constitution was described by many political commentators as a ‘progressive’ constitution.

Africell basketball tournament: SK West beat Manjai United 72-44, qualify for the semis  

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By: Dawda Baldeh

It was a night full of jubilation for the Serrekunda West Basketball team after beating their opponents Manjai United 72-44 at the opening of the knockout stage of the Africell-sponsored basketball tournament, qualifying for the semis.

Eight teams are taking part in the tournament in which the winner will clinch a cash prize of D50,000 and a trophy.

Muhammed Kebbeh led his team Serrekunda West Basketball into 28 different points at the end of the fourth quarter of the game. Manjai United, that started the first and second quarter better than SK West, couldn’t maintain the momentum in the third and fourth quarter, allowing SK West to make a rapid comeback to finish with 72 points.

Speaking after the game, Muhammed Kebbeh, SK West Team captain said, “We are the best in the league and for the past five years we won three trophies in the Gambia Basketball League. For the knockout, we won it four times, so, we are the better side,” he said in a joyous mood.

All eyes are on the giant trophy and Kebbeh is optimistic that his team SK West will be the winners. Despite his side losing in the first and second quarter, Kebbeh said their opponents (Manjai United) lack the training and team work to maintain their points.

“We did our homework very well and we have different plans for each game. We respect our opponents, but if you are playing with somebody and you understand their weak points, it will be easier.

This is basketball; if you are not smart you lose. It needs talent, teamwork but today our opponents (Manjai) were lacking team work,” Kebbeh added.

Kebbeh confidently said, “Winning is why we are here, trust me. Someone who knows the SK West basketball team will tell you that we always go for the trophy. It is not about the money but when you have a name you have to keep it. Everyone playing here wants to be in the our. We won last year and we are winning this year too.”

Reacting to his team’s defeat against Serrekunda West in yesterday’s encounter, Abdou Jobe, head coach of Manjai Basketball Team said his team lost control of the game and lacked the required fitness even after dominating the first and second quarter.

“Since we were defeated in the knockout of the Gambia Basketball tournament, some of our boys missed attending training. Our opponents were training all along and that has been manifested in the game. My boys lost their energy very early,” he said, noting that basketball is a game of fitness.

Meanwhile, Hopes Basketball Team have also booked their place in the semi-final after beating Blue Dragons 78-74. Hopes and SK West have made it to the semis. Four other teams are expected to lock horns today June 14th of which two will join Hopes and SK West in the semis.

‘Her Virginity’: The hymen is not a reliable indicator of virginity

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         By Prof. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu & Fatou Camara

           

‘Her Virginity’: The hymen is not a reliable indicator of virginity.

‘Her Virginity’ is a new book by Fatou Camara, that aims to address the social perspective on virginity.  In this article, we examine and address the notion that the hymen is what differentiates between being a virgin and not a virgin.

The question is does “losing your virginity” the same as “losing” your hymen? And how do you lose your virginity anyway? There is a lot of misinformation and many myths about the hymen, and we address them in this article.

Many people have the misconception that the vaginal corona is a thick membrane that entirely covers the vaginal opening and ruptures the first time a person has intercourse or any kind of insertive vaginal sex.

One myth goes like this: If a bride doesn’t bleed from a ruptured hymen on her wedding night, this means that she has had sex and isn’t a “virgin.This is not true.

Most women don’t know what the hymen looks like, how varied their appearance and dimensions are, and how little they comply with their cultural myths. Because of our lack of knowledge, we rely on stories that suggest hymen and virginity are some of the most important things about women.

In male-controlled societies, hymens have huge cultural significance.  Men were told that a hymen that is intact until marriage, and bleeds on the wedding night, is thought to demonstrate the woman’s sexual and moral “purity.”  But in reality, many women don’t bleed during first intercourse, either because their hymen has already been stretched or torn through other activities, or because it was very thin or flexible, to begin with.

Learning about our hymens, and our bodies in general, can help us to feel more comfortable and in control in sexual situations. Unlearning the misinformation that we’ve been taught can help us better protect ourselves from STIs, as well as increase our sexual pleasure.

The Hymen

The hymen doesn’t cover the vagina. First, let’s take a look at the hymen’s meaning. Coming from the Greek word meaning membrane, the hymen is a small piece of skin found inside the opening of the vagina.  Contrary to its name, the hymen is not a complete membrane covering the full vaginal opening. After all, menstrual blood can pass through the vagina before we have had penetrative sex for the first time.

Due to this controversy, a new name called the vaginal corona was proposed to replace the hymen in 2009 by a Swedish sexual rights group in an attempt to dispel harmful myths about hymens.  The membrane is located just inside the entrance to the vagina.

Hymens come in many shapes and sizes. The mucous membrane that makes up the vaginal corona may be tightly or more loosely folded. It may be slightly pink, almost transparent, but if it is thicker, it may look a little pale or whitish regardless of your skin colour. The vaginal corona may resemble the petals of a flower, or it may look like a jigsaw piece or a half-moon. It may be a scanty fringe of tissue, or even completely absent at birth.

The vaginal corona may tear or thin out during exercise, masturbation, tampon use, or other forms of vaginal penetration. Because of this, no one can look at or touch a vaginal corona and know whether a person has had vaginal intercourse, or even whether they have masturbated.

In rare cases, the hymen covers the entire vaginal opening. This is called an imperforate or microperforate hymen. Sometimes an imperforate hymen isn’t discovered until puberty when a person experience cramping and pain because the menstrual blood in their uterus can’t pass through the vaginal opening. In these cases, the hymen can be surgically opened so that the person can have regular periods, use tampons, and have other kinds of vaginal penetration.

Somewhat more commonly, a hymen band may be present across the vaginal opening, allowing menstruation but preventing tampon insertion. If the opening is very small or partially obstructed, minor surgery can correct this.

 Why virginity is a big deal

 In both the Christian and Muslim communities, being a virgin is a religious and cultural construct, not a medical or scientific term.  Our value as human beings should not be based on our sex lives, whatever our gender. Because virginity is a big deal, in some communities, girls may be prevented from running, jumping, or riding horses to protect the hymen; girls’ and women’s activities may be tightly policed to prevent cross-sex mingling. This emphasis on virginity also sets up a “virgin/whore dichotomy,” in which sexually active women are rejected as bad, defiled, ruined, and dangerous. The rejection takes many forms, including “slut shaming,” social ostracizationun-marriageability, rape justifications, and “honour killings.”

This notwithstanding, two studies (Knight, Bernard, 1997; Sally et al. 2004) found that the hymen is not a reliable indicator of virginity. And does breaking the hymen define who a virgin is? If that is the case, then, in the Ghanaian jurisdiction where young girls are taken through puberty right called Dipo in the Krobo communities; what metrics do they use to know that they are virgins?

Also, if your hymen was broken by other means and not through sexual intercourse; would that amount to not being a virgin? How are they able to test these young girls’ virginity before accepting them into puberty rights?

This is because, from a scientific angle, some women are born with very small hymen or with no hymen at all. Would those born without a hymen be considered virgins for those puberty rights? Or do the gods reject them because they have no hymen? Okay, if a young lady completes puberty right and a man decides to marry her and later finds that she did not bleed during the wedding night; how would the gods justify that? Because the man would be expecting the lady, he marries to bleed the first night.

The fact that those girls do not have hymen doesn’t mean that they are not virgins. This is nature and this is perfectly healthy and does not mean that they are missing anything, or need medical attention. For some, hymens can be stretched long before they have penetrative sex, whether it’s from sports, self-exploration, or using menstrual products like tampons. So in a nutshell,  the hymen stretches – it doesn’t break. When we have penetrative sex for the first time, nothing disappears, the hymen may simply stretch.

This contradicts much of the language we’re familiar with when we talk about virginity. In reality, nothing physical is lost, and while the first time having sex may be significant for many of us, there isn’t a biological change to our bodies.

Virginity Testing: Not Scientific

In 2019 the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released a statement saying that they do not guide virginity testing. This is because you can’t tell whether a woman has had sex or not just by looking at her vagina.  Also, every hymen looks different, so there is no set standard for finding evidence of penetration.

This idea that the hymen breaks during first sex has also led to a belief that our first time should be painful. In reality, pain during penetration is more likely to arise from anxiety or sexual inexperience, than from stretching the hymen.

In 2018, UN Human Rights, UN Women, and the World Health Organization (WHO),  called to end what is termed virginity testing — a gynaecological examination conducted under the belief that it determines whether a woman or girl has had vaginal intercourse.  The WHO believes that is violence against women and girls everywhere. Also, the WHO held that this testing is medically unnecessary, and often painful, humiliating, and traumatic practice.

The WHO noted that there is no medical exam on earth that can tell if a woman or girl is a virgin. Unfortunately, parents, prospective in-laws, police, and even schools and employers still sometimes subject girls and women to coerced or forced “virginity testing.”

The WHO says: “From a human rights perspective virginity testing is a form of gender discrimination, as well as a violation of fundamental rights, and when carried out without consent, a form of sexual assault.

The use of virginity testing by police in cases of sexual assault is often paired with the sexist belief that if a woman isn’t a virgin, she “couldn’t” have been raped. Performing this medically unnecessary and harmful test violates several human rights and ethical standards including the fundamental principle in medicine to ‘do no harm’. WHO recommends that this test should not be performed under any circumstances.

UN Human Rights, UN Women, and WHO are committed to ending virginity testing and ensuring that the rights of all women and girls are upheld. The following are recommended strategies to eliminate virginity testing in settings where it occurs:

  • Health professionals and their professional associations should be aware that virginity testing has no scientific merit and cannot determine past vaginal penetration. They should also know the health and human rights consequences of virginity testing, and never perform or support the practice;
  • Governments should enact and enforce laws that ban virginity testing; and
  • Communities and all relevant stakeholders should implement awareness campaigns that challenge myths related to virginity and harmful gender norms that emphasize control of women’s and girls’ sexuality and bodies.

 

 

Finally, we concluded that the status of your hymen has nothing to do with your virginity and it is prudent to create awareness to educate the public on this issue affecting our families, homes, and marital institutions.

 

Prof. Nyarkotey Obu is a science and medical journalist, columnist, author, and BL Candidate at the Gambia Law School, Banjul, Gambia.  Fatou Camara is the author of the Book ‘Her Virginity’ E-mail: [email protected].

 

 

Economic boost: IMF approves over six million dollars for The Gambia

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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on 12th June 2023 completed the sixth and final review under The Gambia’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 5 million (about US$ 6.66 million) to help meet the country’s balance-of-payments and fiscal financing needs amid challenges, related primarily to the war in Ukraine and the lingering impacts of the pandemic. This disbursement brings the total disbursements under the ECF arrangement to SDR 70.55 million (about US$ 94 million).

In completing the sixth review, the Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for a waiver for nonobservance of the continuous performance criterion on the accumulation of new external payment arrears by the central government, based on corrective actions taken by the authorities.

The ECF arrangement for the Gambia was approved by the IMF’s Executive Board on March 23, 2020, with an initial total access of SDR 35 million (or 56.3 percent of quota). Access under the ECF arrangement was augmented twice, at the completion of the first ECF review in January 2021 and at the completion of the fifth ECF review in December 2022. The Gambia has also benefited from an IMF Rapid Credit Facility of SDR 15.55 million and received debt service relief from the IMF under the Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust , totaling SDR 7.9 million.

The repercussions of the war in Ukraine and the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are weighing on The Gambia’s socio-economic environment. Inflation pressures persist and are intensifying. The Gambian authorities are taking measures to address the exogenous shocks and remain committed to strong policies and reforms. The severe foreign exchange shortages that the country experienced in late 2022 have somewhat eased.

Following the Executive Board discussion, Mr. Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, made the following statement:

“The Gambia’s performance under the economic program supported by the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) has been broadly satisfactory despite challenges related to the war in Ukraine, the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a major flooding, and trade disruptions. These shocks have constrained economic activity and intensified inflationary pressures and are weighing on the country’s socio-economic environment.

“Despite pressures, fiscal policy remains appropriately anchored on the approved 2023 budget. Given high debt vulnerabilities, efforts should continue to bolster domestic revenue mobilization and prioritize investment projects. In anticipation of the expiration of the debt rescheduling period and to keep public debt on a downward path, it will be paramount to strengthen fiscal and external buffers by containing domestic borrowing, focusing on grants and highly concessional loans, and implementing a strong medium-term fiscal framework. Strengthening social safety nets remains important.

“The Central Bank has appropriately tightened its monetary policy stance to help tame inflationary pressures. The foreign exchange pressures have eased following the high tourism season and the exchange rate movements. Going forward, the central bank is encouraged to make full use of its policy toolkit to fight inflation and to continue to ensure that the exchange rate reflects market forces. Deepening and strengthening the financial sector would also be important.

“The authorities made significant progress in their structural reform agenda, including in the areas of procurement and SOE institutional framework. They are encouraged to maintain this renewed reform momentum, including by preparing and enforcing the regulations of the newly approved laws, adopting the anti-corruption bill, implementing the recommendations from the recent IMF governance diagnostic mission, and improving financial inclusion and the business environment to support private sector-led growth and poverty reduction. The authorities’ commitment to meet zero emission targets by 2050 is commendable.”

 

Medical Negligence: Medical Records as Patient’s Weapon?

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By Prof. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu & Daniel Sackey

 Medical Negligence: Medical Records as Patient’s Weapon?

In a recent news by kasapafmonline.com, the Accra High Court orders the Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS) and the 37 Military Hospital to release an investigation report conducted on the circumstances leading to the death of a 48-year-old man, Solomon Asare – Kumah to his family within 10 days.

The order culminated from an action of medical negligence which was commenced in 2019 by the family of Solomon Asare-Kumah (the deceased) against the Hospital, a medical doctor- Col/Dr. G. A. O. Appiah, the CDS, and Attorney General. The family is demanding GHc2 million in damages for alleged medical negligence that led to the death of the deceased. Prior to the suit, the family had petitioned the CDS to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding their relative’s death but after the investigation, the report was not made available to them.

After suing the hospital for damages in the sum of GHc2 million and pending the determination of the substantive matter, the family through Emmanuel Asare-Kumah, filed an application for an order for Discovery on October 21, 2022.

In this article, we will examine the legal question as to whether patients have the right to disclosure of their medical records in the case of medical negligence civil litigation and we will also interrogate the legal basis of discovery in medical negligence civil litigation.  We would finally look at the medical records of the patient as a weapon for the plaintiff.

 

 

Medical Records as a Plaintiff’s Weapon

Medical records are used to track events and transactions between patients and healthcare providers. They offer information on diagnoses, procedures, lab tests, and other services. Medical records help us measure and analyze trends in healthcare use, patient characteristics, and quality of care.

Indeed, medical records are patients’ strong weapon in medical negligence litigation. This is because, to be able to get legal advice from the lawyer, the lawyer’s first task is to review the medical records. Also don’t forget that medical negligence and malpractice litigation is built around the medical record, which provides the only objective record of the patient’s condition and the care provided.

For the lawyer, the medical records will help to establish specific acts of negligence and the overall quality of the record.  Good and strong medical litigation lawsuits are cemented on well-documented, specific acts of negligence. In most cases, however, negligence is inferred from documented and undocumented events. If the patient’s case depends at least partially on assuming that certain events were not recorded, the lawyer must be able to cast doubt on the credibility of the record.

Medical records are also the weapon for a physician’s defense. The patient has injuries to show the court; the physician or other medical care practitioner has only the medical records to prove that the injuries were not due to negligence. If the record is incomplete, illegible, or incompetently kept, this is the health care practitioner’s failure. Although courts and juries usually give a defendant the benefit of the doubt on ambiguous matters, this does not extend to ambiguities created by incompetent recordkeeping.

The least credible records are those that are internally inconsistent—for example, the physician’s progress notes report that the patient was doing well and improving steadily, but the nurses’ records indicate that the patient had developed a high fever and appeared to have a major infection. More commonly, the credibility of the records is attacked by demonstrating that it is incomplete. If it is clear that medically important information is missing from the record, then it is easier to convince a jury that the missing information supports the patient’s claims.  They are also the basis of expert opinion that will determine the outcome of the litigation.

Discovery: The Essence in Civil Litigation

In civil litigation, discovery is the process whereby a party to an action is obliged to disclose to the other party the existence of all documents which are or have been in his possession, custody, or power which are material to the issues in the action.

In law, ‘Documents’ is not restricted to paper writings, but extends to anything upon which evidence or information is recorded. Thus, tape recordings (whether audio or video) and computer disks are disclosable. Documents to be disclosed are those which relate to the matters in question in action. However, the scope of discovery is thus very wide.

A case law, Companies Financiere v Peravian Guano Co. (1882) 11 QBD 55, established that documents to be disclosed are those that relate to the subject matter and further went to include those that can indirectly enhance the party (requiring discovery) either to advance his case or to damage that of his opponent.

Hence, in the case of alleged medical negligence, medical records and any other medical information that tend to help the plaintiff requiring discovery to either advance his case or damage the case of the defendant (ie. the hospital) is important to that plaintiff.  Hence, the plaintiff can apply to the court for notice to produce to enable the hospital to disclose those medical-related documents.  Also, these medical-related records are important to the defendant-the hospital. In Ghana for instance, any party may apply at the stage of application of directions for such discovery as is necessary and the court may order the respondent to serve a list of documents in his or her custody or possession on the applicant. The court may order discovery even after the application for direction stage if reasonable cause is shown. Under Order 21 r 6 of the Ghanaian High Court Civil Procedure Rules (CI 47), the court will only order discovery when satisfy that the discovery is necessary to dispose fairly of the cause or matter and will save costs.

Disclosure, not Sacrosant

However, disclosure of these documents is not sacrosanct. This is because some documents are privileged from production and inspection.  For instance, documents protected by legal professional privilege; documents tending to incriminate the person making the disclosure, and documents privileged on the grounds of public policy. For instance, in the Gambia, Section 127(1) (d) of the 1997 Constitution excludes documents from discovery on the grounds of prejudice to National Security.

However, when the court gives such an order for discovery and a party fails to comply with an order for the discovery of documents or to produce any document or record for purposes of inspection or fails to comply with the rules, the court may make such orders as it thinks just, including the following: the action may be dismissed, the defence may be struck out and judgment entered accordingly, where the document is favourable to the defaulting party’s case, the party may not use the document at the trial, except with the leave of court or where the document is not favourable to the party’s case, the party may be committed for contempt.

Disclosure:  Right to obtain

The court may order any party to the suit to make a discovery on oath of the documents, which are or have been in his possession or power, relating to any matter in question in the suit per the rules of the court.  The party is also permitted to inspect these medical documents.

In the notice to produce, in the Gambia for instance, there is no time stated to produce. However, case law, Dwyer v Collins (1852) Exch 639, explained that a reasonable time should be given. In this case, the Accra High Court orders the Chief of Defence Staff, (CDS) and the 37 Military Hospital to release the documents within 10 days.

The Plaintiff’s Case for Disclosure

In this case, the plaintiff sought; “an order directed at the 2nd Defendant (CDS) to furnish plaintiff with the final Report of the Board of Inquiry held in respect of the death of Solomon Asare-Kumah and allegations of extortion against the 4th Defendant.”

Secondly, “an order directed at the 3rd Defendant to furnish Plaintiff with the full and complete medical record of Solomon Asare-Kumah (deceased)”.

 The Defendants relied on Privileged

But responding to the application in an affidavit to the request deposed to by Justice Oteng, a Legal Officer at the Department of Legal Services, Ghana Armed Forces, General Headquarters, on the authority of the 1st to 3rd Defendants/Respondents opposed to the request and said the report is exclusively for internal use.

“..The 2nd Respondent is vehemently opposed to the request by the Applicant for the Report/Record of the Board of inquiry,” the affidavit in opposition stated.

It contends that “the Report of the Board of Inquiry is a restricted document meant for the exclusive internal use of the Ghana Armed Forces.”

The defense further contended that the said report is exclusively for internal use. It further stated that “the Report of the Board of Inquiry conducted under the auspices of the Ghana Armed Forces is privileged and same cannot be disclosed to the Public even in legal proceedings.

“That per with the Armed Forces Regulations [Administration] Volume 1 (AFR Vol. 1) (C.I 12), applications for the release of record or report of a Board of an Inquiry requires the express instructions of the 2nd Defendant herein.

“That pursuant to the AFR. Vol 1, the 2nd Defendant stated that the Report of the Board of Inquiry as requested by the Applicant is confidential and same cannot be released.

It further contended that “that the discovery of the Report of the Board of Inquiry as prayed is not necessary for a fair and effectual disposal of the instant action and will rather prejudice the trial.”

It stated further that, “the Applicant has not shown any reasonable cause for the discovery of the report of the Board of Inquiry,” and “that the 3rd Respondent is however not opposed to Plaintiff/Applicant’s request for the disclosure of the medical records of the deceased in its custody.”

The Judge thinks the Patient’s Fundamental Human Right is Paramount

For a comprehensive analysis, we will at this point reproduce excerpts of the ruling of the discovery application which forms the crux of this article.

Justice Charles Ekow Baiden in his ruling stated as follows:

“I take judicial notice and it is so proven that on or around January 2023 a summary report of the Board of Inquiry into the alleged missing baby at the 3rd Defendant/Respondent hospital maternity unit, which the Board of Inquiry was convened by the 3rd Defendant/Respondent was disclosed to an aggrieved couple in that matter. In so doing, I am minded that judicial notice can be taken of facts that are so capable of accurate and ready determination by resorting to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned, as provided for pursuant to Section 9(1) of NRCD 323. According to Brobbey JSC., (as he then was), the learned author of ESSENTIALS OF THE GHANA LAW OF EVIDENCE, “I…J judicial notice is not just a form of evidence. It is a form of proof.” (Emphasis added).

After lengthy experiments with military regimes, we the people of Ghana began a new path towards constitutional supremacy in 1992.

The 1992 Constitution we adopted for ourselves embodied principles of accountability and the protection and preservation of fundamental human rights and freedoms.

To achieve these solemn goals, the 1992 Constitution vested final judicial power in the Judiciary. Article 125(3) of the 1992
Constitution provides that: “The judicial power of Ghana shall be vested in the Judiciary, accordingly, neither the President nor Parliament nor any organ or agency of the President or Parliament shall have or be given final judicial power.” (Emphasis added).

In furtherance of this, Article 140(1) of the 1992 Constitution vested the High Court with jurisdiction in all matters and in particular, in civil and criminal matters and such
original, appellate, and other jurisdiction as conferred by the Constitution or any other law. The combined effect of Articles 33(1) and 140(2) of the 1992 Constitution is that
this Court has the responsibility to protect and preserve the natural and inalienable rights fundamental to the well-being of all persons.

Article 12(1) of the 1992 Constitution provides that: ”The fundamental human rights and freedoms enshrined in this Chapter shall be respected and upheld by the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary and all other organs of government and its agencies and, where applicable by all natural and legal persons in Ghana, and shall be enforceable by the Courts as provided for in this Constitution.” (Emphasis added).

He further reasoned that the principles of accountability enshrined in the Preamble, Articles 23 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution frowns upon the unbridled exercise of such wide discretionary power contained in Article 21.17.1 of AFR (Volume 1) C.I 12 which purports to oust the jurisdiction of the court.

Even if, the 1st to 3rd Defendants/Respondents have the discretion to not disclose a Board of Inquiry Report to the Plaintiff/ Applicant, such discretion must be exercised fairly, reasonably, and not arbitrarily or in a biased manner.

He also referred to Article 17 of the 1992 Constitution that which abhors discrimination against persons such as the Plaintiff/Applicant herein. Article 17(3) provides that: “For the purposes of this article, “discriminate” means to give different treatment to different persons attributable only or mainly to their respective descriptions by race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, gender, occupation, religion or creed, whereby persons of one description are subjected to disabilities or restrictions to which persons of another description are not made subject or are granted privileges or disadvantages which are not granted to persons of another description.”

It has not been demonstrated to this Court that there is reasonable justification for treating the Plaintiff/Applicant differently from the manner the couple in Exhibit “D’ and “E” has been treated.

I find that the Plaintiff/Applicant alleges negligence in tort, breach of contract, misrepresentation, and undue influence.

The Defendants/Respondents have denied the existence of a contract. If so, the Defendants/Respondents must be made to subiect this dispute to the ordinary rules of negligence in tort, contract, and the remedies available to a party who alleges violation.

In so far as the Defendants/Respondents engage in commercial transactions, they must necessarily abide by the rules of engagement including good faith obligations and the duty of care, among others.

The 1st to 3rd Defendants/Respondents ought not to be allowed to seek refuge elsewhere.

For all the above reasons, “I am of the firm view that the Plaintiff/Applicant has shown reasonable cause for this Court to grant the order prayed for as the report relating to the death of the Deceased is necessary to fairly dispose of the matter, pursuant to the overriding objective of Order 1 rule 2 of C.I. 47.

The report or record of proceedings of the Board of Inquiry relating to the admission, treatment and death of the Deceased, howsoever described by the Is to 3rd Defendant/Respondents, together with the medical records of the Deceased shall be furnished to the Plaintiff/Applicant within ten (10) days hereof”.

With the subject matter, the family contends that “the hospital and its employees fail to exercise due care when they wrongly inserted Solomon’s breathing tube under his skin thereby denying oxygen for a considerable amount of time and as such causing stain on his heart and other organs and thus causing his death.”

Previous Rulings on Patient Medical Records as Human Rights

In Elizabeth Vaah v Lister Hospital and Fertility Centre, HRCM 69/10 [2010], a client who was under the care of the defendant hospital sued the hospital, relying on the right to information guaranteed under Article 21(1)(f) of 1992 Constitution of Ghana (the Constitution), when she sought to recover her medical record to clarify the cause of death of her stillborn baby. The applicant’s case is that her fundamental human rights have been violated by the respondent when the latter refused to release her medical records to her.

The respondent argued that it was justified in refusing the applicant’s request for medical records because by speaking to the press about the circumstances in which she gave birth at the respondent’s hospital, she had evinced an intention to abuse the records. It was held that the plaintiff was entitled to a copy of her medical record from Lister Hospital. The legal principle found, in this case, is that a medical facility cannot violate or prevent a patient from accessing their records.

Finally, in Jehu Appiah v Nyaho Healthcare Limited [2021], where the plaintiff accused the facility of allegedly damaging her fallopian tube, which nearly led to her death. According to the case, the plaintiff, upon conception utilized antenatal care services at the respondent hospital. But at a point, she claimed she had to undergo life-saving surgery at a different health facility due to the “actions and inactions” of the Nyaho hospital. After the life-saving surgery, she made a formal complaint to Nyaho Healthcare Limited, after which she was promised investigations into the matter and the results communicated to her. The plaintiff noted that all efforts to compel the respondent hospital to release her medical documents (including scans, tests, diagnosis, and treatment) proved futile. The court held that the complete medical records be released to the patient.

Conclusion

A party alleging medical negligence has the right to obtain disclosure from the defendant’s hospital.  Though, some documents are privileged from disclosure on public policy grounds. It is also prudent to know that the fundamental purpose of disclosure is to further the overriding objective by ensuring parties to litigation are on an equal footing. The court will exercise its discretion in favour of the plaintiff if the disclosure aids the court in dispensing justice and a fair trial.

Also, the meaning of ‘documents’ is not restricted to paper or writing but extends to any form of record-keeping. This includes computer databases, microfilms used to keep records, video and audio tapes, and discs. Hence, in today’s medical care industry, where hospitals have adopted electronic record systems, discovery extends to them.

Thus, in clinical negligence claims, the most important category of the document to be disclosed is likely to be the claimant’s medical records. They will provide the most contemporaneous record of the treatment given to a patient and will, in almost all cases, be the basis of expert opinion that will determine the outcome of the litigation. Early and objective scrutiny of medical records can save a lot of time and expense and is necessary to assess the merits, strengths, and weaknesses of any proposed claim from the outset. For the defendant, case laws proved that patients have rights to the medical records, and it is also your source of defense in medical negligence civil litigation.                             

Prof. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu is a (BL) candidate at the Gambia Law School, Banjul, The Gambia, and Daniel Sackey is a Part Two student of the Ghana School of Law, Accra, Ghana. E-mail: [email protected]The authors have an interest in medico-legal issues and patient rights. The legal article is for academic awareness only.  

Over 3rd-term bid: MC Cham Jr urges Barrow to focus on developing the country

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By: Dawda Baldeh

Momodou MC Cham Jr, former opposition Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) campaign manager, has called on President Adama Barrow to put aside politics and focus on developing the country in his second term rather than announcing a bid for the 2026 presidential election.

Last week, President Barrow announced that he will contest the 2026 presidential election during a meeting with locals in the Sami Constituency.

For MC Cham Jr, the recent announcement by President Barrow will further drag the country to a continuous campaign by political actors.

“Now that the President has announced that he will contest the next election is like there will be a continuous campaign for the next three years. Barrow should focus on developing the country by addressing the challenges of the people rather than announcing a third term bid,” MC Cham Jr said.

The young politician added that President Barrow should now prioritize uplifting people from abject poverty and make the country a promised land for its citizens.

“If he delivers well people will vote him for another term but that is not happening. Barrow’s announcement means he will continue campaigning for the next three years. There is nowhere in the world where people announce they will contest elections three years before,” Cham claimed.

According to MC Cham Jr, Barrow won the 2021 presidential election because of “inundating people’s mindset with tribal politics against UDP.”

“Nothing more or less. he should now focus on creating a legacy for himself so that he will be remembered for that,” Cham added.

He said no matter how people hate former president Yahya Jammeh they can still point out some of the developments he brought to the Gambian people.

He said many development projects which the incumbent is taking credit for can be attributed to ex-president Yahya Jammeh, noting that Barrow should also initiate developments that his successor will continue with.

The former GDC campaign manager claimed that there is lot of internal conflict in President Barrow’s NPP.

MC Cham attributed the recent conflict in the NPP to the announcement of Barrow at a meeting he had with elders at the State House where he revealed he will soon leave the presidency.

Mr Cham said the President has however made what he referred to as a U-turn after announcing his bid for the 2026 presidential election.

“This should not surprise anyone. Now, there are lots of internal fighting in the NPP. The party has different camps now.

Fafa Ceesay, who is part of the founding members of the party, left the party after a conflict with the National Women Mobilizer, Ajaratou Maimuna Baldeh.

If you look at the conflict audios between Demba Sabally and Maimuna Ceesay Darboe, it is another internal fight. This is why he made the U-turn to announce that he will contest the next presidential election so that the party will be steady,” Cham claimed.

Champions League-bound Newcastle sign precocious Gambian talent

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By: Hadram Hydara

English Premier League side Newcastle United have signed precocious 18-year-old Gambian forward Yankuba Minteh from Danish side Odense Boldklub for €7 million (D447,020,000), subject to approval.

The Bakoteh-born speedy winger will become an official Magpie on 1st July and then he will immediately be shipped out on loan to Dutch Champions and Champions League-bound Feyenoord on a season-long loan.

Minteh, whose parents originated from Keneba in the Lower River Region of The Gambia, has already made 17 senior appearances for OB in the Danish Superliga, scoring four goals and registering six assists.

Speaking on the highly coveted prospect, Newcastle sporting director, Dan Ashworth said: “We are very pleased to be bringing a player with Yankuba’s high potential to Newcastle United.

“He has done extremely well in his first full season in Denmark, and he has a promising career ahead of him. We look forward to working with him in this exciting phase of his development, and we’re excited to see how he performs at Feyenoord, a club that also has a strong development record of its own.

“As well as supporting the first team with players for the here and now, we have a clear philosophy to invest in emerging talent and we want to provide a player pathway that will help to build and sustain long-term success.”

Fans on social media could not contain their excitement over the Gambian’s signing.

@Mobinta10, a Gambian fan, tweeted: “From now on Newcastle for life”.

@TobyCoxonSports tweeted: “Never seen the lad kick a ball but seems like an exciting signing.

Good numbers and only 18. Going to the Eredivisie champions on loan at his age is also very exciting”.

“He sounds mint,” @hayrr tweeted while @Jayb190NUFC believes Minteh’s signing signals the brightness of Newcastle’s future, tweeting: “And so it begins! The future is bright…”

Minteh is set to feature for Feyenoord in the UEFA Champions League next season.

The Bonds That Bind

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REFLECTION

By Cherno Baba Jallow

Ousman “Ous” Kamara and I aren’t blood relatives, but the bonds between us, pardon the cliche, are as old as the hills. They have endured.

Ous Kamara (he is the only one in his family who spells his last name with a K), and I were once roommates in the US city of Detroit and then close neighbours in nearby Southfield, both in the state of Michigan. Our neighbourhoods were a walking distance from each other. But since we are talking about Michigan, where folks just love to drive for any distance, Ous and I often drove to each other’s homes, crossing the Telegraph Road off West 12 Mile.

We would link up during the weekends. We would watch sports, grill some lamb, snack up on fruits and peanuts, and turn ourselves into castaways of the maudlin past. We would go on long recollections about our upbringing, the soccer games in our childhood neighbourhood, the good, old stories, the episodes and personalities that have left lasting impressions on us.

Ous and I grew up in the same neighbourhood in Basse. We are the grandsons of the Jallows and the Camaras, two families that have lived next-door to each other for several decades —- a century isn’t far off.

How and when the two families came to live in close proximity with each other is still something for me to look into —- I haven’t asked about or researched, it yet. All I know is that the two families came from two different shores: mine, (maternal side), came from Dalein, several miles outside of Labe in north-central Guinea. And Ous’s came from Wuli Bantun-N’ding in the northeastern part of The Gambia.

They all resettled in Basse. Both of my maternal grannies arrived in the late 1920s. Probably they found the Camaras already there. Or probably their would-be neighbours were the ones who came sometime later, joining them in residency, in the present-day location once known for its thick bushes, and hyenas often heard howling their way from the nearby riverbanks to the hills of the contiguous areas of Sare Koba and Manneh Kunda.

These Jallow and Camara families are the perfect examples of close-knit neighbours — neighbours, who are each other’s support unit, who love and care for each other, who represent the best of neighbourly outreach and shared humanity.

Our grandmothers Adama Oury Diallo and Koday Camara were the best of chums. Granny, born in the exclusively Pulaar-speaking part of Guinea, spoke no Mandinka, the dialect of the Camara household. But Ma Koday spoke fluent Pulaar. They visited each other, had long chats, exchanged pleasantries and laughed out loud, the bonhomie of two elderly women partaking off some leisurely time together in rural Africa.

Both women loved to cook lots of food. Granny would cook “To-rie” and “Fut-ti,” two popular dishes in her rural part of Guinea. And she would ask me to carry some next-door to her friend. When Granny fell sick with the flu, Ma Koday would prepare her some soup, usually some fish sautéed in spices, lemon juice and thin tomato sauce. Sometimes she would bring it to Granny, walking over through the gate that separated the two homes. Other times she would send Ous or the other grandkids — Balaba or Wassa or Ba Juldeh.

During family crisis, the two friends were each other’s consoler-in-chief. Almost any distress could send Granny into an emotional tailspin. She was wont to be comprehensively anguished over family deaths in her native Guinea. She would wail intermittently throughout the day. Ma Koday would be by her side, consoling her and imploring her to let it go, to reconcile herself to the inevitability of death and to the vicissitudes of life.

Ma Koday and Ma Oury (how the Camaras called Granny) were like the head-representatives of the two families. Their warmth for each other was emblematic of the harmonious co-existence between the two families. From the grannies down on, we all interacted on a daily basis, attended each other’s functions and ran into each other doing errands on the opposite ends of the family homes.

It’s remarkable how these two families, hailed from two different cultures and origins, could get along so well. But then again this is Upper River, eastern Gambia, the land of the Ko’nyaji, the Fulbe, the Mandinka and the Serehule, the land where diversity is a cherished way of life.

As I occasionally traipse around the halcyon days of my upbringing, I am constantly reminded of a childhood steeped in fun and fanfare, enriched by an unshrinking love from my family and from the one next-door: the Camaras. Having good neighbours like them takes pure luck. Or an act of providence. G. K. Chesterton, the English writer and philosopher, told us: “We make our friends, we make our enemies, but God makes our next-door neighbour.”

Fire guts Brikama Market, woman loses 300k in goods

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By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh

Fifty-year-old breadwinner Mariama Bojang has lost properties worth over D300k in the Sunday morning blaze which swept through the Brikama market around 3 a.m., destroying almost ten shops and unquantifiable valuables.

In the early hours of Sunday at around 3 a.m., smoke began engulfing a canteen opposite the Gambia Revenue Authority office before turning into a full-blown fire outbreak, damaging properties in almost ten canteens.

Among the canteens/shops that the blaze ravaged, is a canteen owned by Mariama Bojang, a fifty-year-old woman who does stationery business as well as printing and photocopying with machines.

The devastated businesswoman narrated to The Fatu Network that she was informed about the fire incident around 3 a.m. by her husband before rushing to the ground.

“When I arrived, I found the shop in the fire. No chance for me to get in to rescue my machines from the fire,” the distressed woman explained.

“I have properties worth over three hundred thousand. My life has gone back to square one. I have nothing else, and I am basically taking care of my family with this business because my husband is old,” she narrated.

She explained that she uses whatever she earned from the canteen to take care of her family and relatives. With Tobaski almost around, the downhearted Mariama said difficult times await her.

Musa Drammeh is a middle age young man who has a tailoring shop. According to Musa, he arrived at the ground shortly before the smoke turned out into a fire outbreak.

With five tailoring machines and piles of sewed clothes, Musa damaged his canteen door when the fire and rescue service failed to douse the fire in their first attempt.

“I have clothes for my customers and pieces that I can pay for. When the fire and rescue services came with small water, I knew it was going to be devastating. So, I broke my door and took out my machines and some clothes before the fire reached my canteen,” he narrated.

However, despite his efforts to take out some of his material, the fire reached his canteen and burned it beyond recognition.

About nine canteens, including five tailoring shops, were all burned into ashes. All the tailors are busy sewing Tobaski clothes for customers. Ousman Janneh, who could only recognize his burnt seat in his tailoring shop, said only the Almighty knows what will happen to him after today.

Speaking to The Fatu Network, Ousman Bojang, the Governor of West Coast, who visited the venue to see firsthand what happened, said that it is sad that such a thing happened to shop owners.

He remarked that he will wait for the report from the Brikama Fire and Rescue Services and the Brikama Area Council Market Committee to establish the cause of the fire outbreak before taking any steps.
He called on the shop and canteen owners to be wary of electricity cables and their potential damage in fire incidents.

Most of the shops that were affected are makeshift canteens, which made it difficult to prevent the fire from reaching other canteens.

These canteens are around the Brikama Area Council office.
The Fatu Network could not reach out to The Brikama Area Council chairman Yankuba Darboe who is not in town.

Prof. Nyarkotey – Book Review: ‘Her Virginity’; thinking she was loved by the best!  

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She believed she had found the perfect man, the one she had always dreamed of. She loved him passionately and was completely infatuated with him. Her heart raced uncontrollably during their courtship, and she couldn’t help but feel a bit crazy when he wasn’t around. He consumed her thoughts, grounding her and making her feel alive. She lived in the moment whenever he was near, and she couldn’t deny the power he had over her.

But sadly, her fairy tale took an unexpected turn. Instead of living happily ever after, she found herself trapped with a monstrous being. It seemed like the story should have ended there, but fate had a different plan. Wherever she sought solace, she faced unimaginable horrors—men who would violate her, taking away her dignity and innocence.

It’s a devastating reality that she never anticipated. The dreams of a blissful future shattered, leaving her with scars that run deep. She thought she had chosen a companion who would protect and cherish her, but instead, she was left to face unimaginable torment.

But I think that God has a purpose for her to share her experiences to save so many Gambian ladies.  Sometimes, our bad experiences are orchestrated by God to accomplish his mission.

Indeed, Kenny Rogers could be right when he said: If you want to find love, go looking at home.  If you wanna find gold, go looking in the mountains. If you want to find silver, go digging in stones and if you wanna find heaven, go reading the Bible.

With my reading culture, I first heard about this book; ‘Her virginity’ through the Gambian newspapers. I was eager to get a copy to digest the motives behind it as someone interested in the affairs of the Gambia. Finally, a colleague gave me a copy.  Scanning through the book, one thing that caught my attention was how as humans, we turn to be blindfolded and marry people we presumed that they were good people by their show of affection, love, and kindness.

In the case of women, they are most moved when men show them love, and affection, showers them with gifts in the course of the courtship, and forget to pay much attention to studying the true character of the man before accepting to marry them.

The fact that a man showers you with so many gifts, and care does not mean such a man is a good material or a good man by all standards to marry him.  Besides, men also know the tricks of women and we turn to play along to get what we want.

But every man is like a politician, we campaign well to get the women we want, and after we win the election, no more campaign. It only takes a God-fearing man to still treat a woman right after the election to buy her a rose, call her from work, open the door for her, and know they are both on a journey together.

So sometimes, because we want women badly, we turn to show them all the fake attributes we do not possess. So, if you are not smart enough as a woman, you end up with such men in marriage and that is where the true character of the man manifests. This was the case of Fatou Camara, she had thought she married a good man, but the man was more than the devil himself.

I also learned that in life, when you pray to God to give you a good man or woman to marry, also pray to enter into a good family.

This is because it is not enough to marry only a good man or woman. In our part of the world, we cement the extended family system, and you cannot do away with them. Hence, the idea of marrying only the man or woman and not the family is untrue. The family of the man and woman can either make or break your married. This was the advice I picked from the book I once read: The Mafia Manager. The author said that; every family has one enemy, and we must do everything possible to make peace with them.

Fatuo Camara ended up in a family where the man adores the mother more than the wife. The husband’s family is a lion’s den, and she didn’t know until she entered. Sometimes, during the courtship, we turn to overlook so many things in the name of love forgetting that love is not enough in married. We finally became like the boiled frog in a pot of boiling water.

The family you marry into plays a key role in the success of the marriage and we must be sensitive about this.  Had the family of the man been sensitive to the plights of Fatou Camara, they would have solved their issue amicably.  The unfortunate thing is that they had no interest in the affairs of Fatou Camara and that even worsened the situation and led to the collapse of the married.

Some families too can pretend during the courtship as if they were angels until you enter before you know they are more than the devil itself. So, this thing called marriage needs God’s guidance and spiritual revelation.

The true test of a character is when the relationship is in crisis; how you both manage it determines the strength of the relationship.  You will know whether to continue with the marriage or not when the relationship hits a strong wind. The true character of both parties will surely manifest during this period of crisis.

I believe that any relationship before marriage that has not suffered any misunderstanding is a recipe for disaster. Also, any relationship that is too fine and appears both couples are angels is a recipe for disaster.  You can’t say we don’t fight in the course of our relationship; how is that possible as a human institution?

And then in the case of the Gambia, the challenge is the pressure to marry as a virgin, but society forgets that the virginity of a woman can be broken in diverse ways and not necessarily through sexual intercourse.

I think this issue has to be re-echoed and awareness created in this area. The public needs awareness so that women who broke their virginity without sexual intercourse with a man should not be subjected to the torture that Fatou Camara went through in her marriage. Even those who lost it do not deserve such inhume treatment. Nobody is without fault.

In her case, her virginity was broken when her sister accidentally pushed her to the floor. I also believe that when a lady in the Gambia breaks her virginity, due to the sensitive aspect of the situation, the lady should open up to tell the family.

Also, the lady should open up and tell the man about the situation at hand before marrying the man. The fact that you marry as a virgin is also not a catalyst for a successful marriage. However, it is chaste to marry as a virgin, especially for women. Though, Fatou Camara had a different view and believe that men should also marry as virgins.

Fatou Camara should know that we are men, and we make proposals to buy and not the other way. So once, we have our monies; we decide what to buy.  Even the devil wants the saint to destroy. So, the standard for women is high and cannot be compared to men- that fact should be established. We are working hard to look for good women to marry; the onus is also on the women to know that they live a chaste life for a man to spend his money on. This is just by the way.

My concern is that the notion that the hymen is what differentiates between being a virgin and not a virgin is archaic. The question is does “losing your virginity” the same as “losing” your hymen? And how do you lose your virginity anyway? I think Fatou Camara’s next assignment as an advocate is to write another book to explain to the Gambian community how women can lose their virginity apart from sexual intercourse. There is a lot of misinformation and many myths about the hymen.

Many people wrongly believe that the vaginal corona is a thick membrane that entirely covers the vaginal opening and ruptures the first time a person has intercourse or any kind of insertive vaginal sex. One myth goes like this: If a bride doesn’t bleed from a ruptured hymen on her wedding night, this means that she has had sex and isn’t a “virgin.” This is not true. And this ignorance was seen in her book as the family of the man was waiting patiently at her door to examine their bed after their marriage and they felt disappointed when no blood was seen on the white bed sheet.  This led to the man calling her so many names. Friends, families, and many others called her names as well; they assumed she was a prostitute.

Most women don’t know what the hymens look or looked like, how varied their appearance and dimensions are, and how little they comply with their cultural myths. Because of our lack of knowledge, we rely on stories that suggest hymen and virginity are some of the most important things about women.

In male-controlled societies, hymens have huge cultural significance and I noticed this from her husband’s attitude. He feels betrayed and lied to by his wife, but he should have known better. Sometimes those you assumed are educated are rather the problem because of wrong socialization.

They were told that a hymen that is intact until marriage, and bleeds on the wedding night, is thought to demonstrate the woman’s sexual and moral “purity.”  But in reality, many women don’t bleed during first intercourse, either because their hymen has already been stretched or torn through other activities, or because it was very thin or flexible, to begin with.

Learning about our hymens, and our bodies in general, can help us to feel more comfortable and in control in sexual situations. Unlearning the misinformation that we’ve been taught can help us better protect ourselves from STIs, as well as increase our sexual pleasure. Though Fatou Camara’s hymen was broken; she was ready to give her man some wild sexual experience and the husband was very myopic.

Ah! This man paa. Yes, as a noblewoman. Besides, nobody marries the enemy. Well, some men can also marry you just to punish and end your dreams. She wanted to do anything.

for him thinking she was loved by the best. Why should she settle for less? Why bother about the rest?

She packed her wardrobes with some wild see-through lingerie.  But the husband made her sexual experience also complicated with frequent marital rape. She is just not fortunate.  But one thing I noticed was that as an obedient lady, during her honeymoon she was still cooking for the family. She displayed good cooking skills.

But don’t be surprised to see a virgin who knows more about sex than a non-virgin because people read and watch things in this modern age.  I end with this: No medical exam on earth can tell if a woman or girl is a virgin. That is the reality. Grab a copy of this important book to read. We are in this together and I stand by Fatou Camara.

The reviewer is a Professor, science and medical journalist, columnist, author, and BL Candidate at the Gambia Law School, Banjul, Gambia. E-mail: [email protected].

Rural dwellers narrate COVID-19 vaccine success stories

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By: Dawda Baldeh


As the ongoing nationwide coronavirus vaccination campaign continues, residents in rural communities and urban areas have narrated their success stories after taking the vaccine.

Mama Sawo and Fatoumata Dampha, residents of Badibou Minteh Kunda, Jabang Tamba, a resident of Kalagi village, and Kebba Bojang, a resident of Jambur village respectively, said their health has improved after taking the vaccinations.

“I took the vaccine twice and all I see is improvement in my health conditions. Before, I kept having health issues such as constant headaches, fever, stomach aches, common cold, and general body pain, but all that stopped after I took the vaccine.

“Now the vaccine has saved me from visiting the hospital frequently and spending money every time.

“All my two children have also taken the vaccine and the other one is an asthmatic patient but after taking the vaccine she never experienced any issues,” Mama Sawo told The Fatu Network.

Fatoumata Dampha, also a Badibou Minteh Kunda resident, confirmed health improvement after taking the jab.

She mentioned that she was having misconceptions about the effectiveness of the vaccine but for her, it came as a surprise after accepting the injection.

“I was very sceptical about the vaccine but after taking it, all I see was a success because now I don’t go to the hospital like before,” she testified.

As the nationwide vaccination campaign to vaccinate at least 70% of the nation’s population continues, the vaccinators visited Kalagi village where Jabang Tamba, a village resident, also narrated how the vaccination helped improve his health condition.

Mr. Tamba, who is part of the Kalagi School Management Committee, said it is important for people to be vaccinated, adding that the country is known for accepting vaccines.

“When the vaccination started in the country the rumours and misinformation were very high, preventing most of the people from taking the vaccine.

After taking my first doze it came as a surprise because all the health complications I was having such as body pain, chest pain, headaches, and fatigue disappeared and this is why I’m convinced that the vaccines are safe and effective,” he narrated.

According to him, he is now healthy as he described the vaccination as lifesaving. For him, the vaccine can cure a lot of other diseases apart from the virus.

“Vaccination is not something new in the Gambia because a lot of other diseases were here such as chickenpox, polio but now they disappeared because of the vaccine people are taking,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kebba Bojang a resident of Jambur village in Kombo south, also outlined the benefits he gained after accepting the vaccine.

He called on the people who are yet to take the vaccine for any reason to rush and get vaccinated, saying prevention is better than cure.

These rural dwellers have not seen any negative effects of the vaccines contrary to what is being spread around that anyone who takes the jabs will die or have health problems.

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