With Amara Thoronka

British English and American English are the two standard English recognized globally. British English is the one spoken in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland and Wales); while American English is of the United States.

In English exams, students are permitted to use any of the two, but they should be consistent. For example, mechanical accuracy [an assessment component in making English essays] frowns at the intermittent use of both versions of English in writing letters, essays and other forms of continuous writing.

Are there differences between the two? Of course, there are. The are different in spelling, vocabulary, grammar and accent.

This series (Part 1) shows the difference in spelling. Other categories of difference will be featured in other series.

Part 1: Spelling

1. American English drops “U” in the following spellings:

George Floyd’s four-year-old great-niece Arianna Delane was shot at night while she was sleeping in what her father claimed was a targeted attack. Arianna was one of the two children and four adults who were sleeping inside the second floor of their south Houston, Texas apartment when a shooter opened fire at around 3 am on New Year’s Day.

Arianna was sleeping in the front bedroom when gunfire broke out. She survived the attack and is recovering after emergency surgery for a punctured lung and liver. She also suffered three broken ribs.

“My daughter jumped up and said, ‘Daddy, I’ve been hit’ and I was shocked until I saw the blood and I realised my four-year-old daughter was really hit,” Arianna’s father Derrick Delane told ABC 13 Houston.

“She didn’t know what was going on. She was asleep,” he added.

Houston police in a statement said they do not know the possible motive of the firing or if the girl or other family members were targeted. Mr Delane claimed it was a targeted shooting but did not elaborate.

The family has accused the police of a delayed response and said officials did not arrive until 7 am.

Houston’s police chief Troy Finner said in a statement that an Internal Affairs investigation has been launched into the late response.

“I am aware and have concerns regarding the delayed response time in this incident and have initiated an Internal Affairs investigation,” he said.

“I ask the city to continue to pray for the child’s full recovery and assist in providing information that would lead to the arrest of the suspect or suspects responsible.”

George Perry Floyd Jr. was an African-American man who was murdered by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest . Derek Chauvin, one of four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd’s neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. After his murder, protests against police brutality, especially towards black people, quickly spread across the United States and globally. His dying words, I Can’t Breathe” became a rallying cry.

Source: Independent

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off on Sunday in Cameroon after a delay over COVID concerns. Amidst the good news the tournament is also posing major security, political and organisational challenges for the host nation.

Some were fearing yet another postponement, with African football chief Patrice Motsepe saying late last month that the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in a country with a low vaccination rate is “an enormous challenge”.

The African Football Confederation (known by its French acronym CAF) has set down draconian rules that may bar fans from entering stadiums en masse.

Spectators must be fully vaccinated and show a negative PCR test less than 72 hours before a match.

Stadium capacity is set at 60% though it will be increased to 80% when Cameroon’s own “Indomitable Lions” play- notably, in the opening match against Burkina Faso on Sunday.

Motsepe, a South Africa mining tycoon, has already acknowledged the risks presented by a proliferation of false tests.

COVID is already having an impact with Senegal delaying its departure for the tournament, after three players tested positive and small Gambia saying it is facing a “catastrophe” because it is not allowed to replace players hit by COVID.

Cameroon, a central African country of 27 million people, has officially recorded 1,840 COVID deaths from 110,000 infections, though experts warn of under-reporting.

Few people wear masks and only 2.4% of the population has been vaccinated in the country led for nearly four decades by strongman Paul Biya.

‘A political tool’

Cameroon was chosen in 2014 to stage the African football showcase in 2019 but fell behind with preparations. Egypt stepped in at the last minute to host the event in Cameroon’s place.

The 2021 tournament was postponed twice, first because of fears that torrential seasonal rains could affect the tight schedule, and then because of the COVID pandemic.

But major infrastructure projects were also at issue, with the flagship Olembe complex in the capital Yaounde still not fully completed.

Cameroon’s hardline President Biya, 88, has looked to the hosting of the African football fiesta as a way to burnish his international image following his latest disputed election victory in 2018, handing him a seventh term.

Late last month, dozens of activists from the main opposition party were given prison terms of up to seven years for taking part in peaceful protests against his rule.

In Yaounde, Biya’s portrait often appears besides ads for the football tournament.

“He has always used football as a political tool to rally Cameroonians and surf on their success,” said Jean-Bruno Tagne, author of “The Tragedy of the Indomitable Lions.”

Some in the opposition and civil society have also denounced “the indecency” of the cost of organising the cup in a country whose poverty rate has hit nearly 40% and a third of the population lives on less than two euros a day, according to the World Bank.

“If Cameroon wins, Cameroonians can forget everything. But if it goes badly, there will need to be scapegoats and heads will certainly roll,” political scientist Stephane Akoa said.

Source: AFP 

By Christian Conteh

On January 6, 1999, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels attacked the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital and randomly massacred its inhabitants. This was just a fraction of the country’s civil war which lasted for 11 years (1991-2002).

They gunned down fleeing civilians, razed houses to the ground, rapped women indiscriminately, amputated limbs and gouged out eyes.

The RUF unleashed a wave of ruthless terror on Freetown, claiming more than 7000 lives according to Human Rights Watch (1999).

According to the report, James kajue, a resident of Freetown was stopped at gunpoint as he was trying to flee the city with his family. The rebels demanded money from Mr. Kajue, another rebel approached the scene and said,

“why are you wasting your time with these civilians? just kill them all.”

The rebel then emptied his AK-47 into the car, killing six members of James Kajue’s family, including his infant grandson. Human Rights Watch (1999) reported.

The major streets were littered with bodies, killed in cold blood, buildings reduced to rubbles. The invasion saw the death of thousands of Sierra Leoneans and foreigners and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of others.

According to the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Report, some of the root causes of the war (which are still prevalent today) were the abuse of human rights, lack of political space, curtailing of freedoms and civil liberty, economic and social deprivation, poor governance and corruption.

A few days to the expiration of the 14-day period within which names adversely mentioned in the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) Report can file a request for a ‘Plea for Amnesty’ the TRRC has decided to extend the deadline.

The new deadline is Friday, 21st January 2022 at 12.30 PM at the TRRC Secretariat, the former Dunes Hotel.

The ‘plea for amnesty’ is in line with Section 19(1) of the TRRC Act of 2017 which makes provision for individuals who made full and remorseful disclosure before the commission to be granted amnesty if the commission thinks they are deserving of it.

The TRRC Act further provides that a person may qualify for amnesty:

a. If the person has made full disclosure of his or her involvement in human rights violations and abuses; and

b. Expresses remorse for his or her acts or conduct.

However, it is important to note that amnesty shall not apply to crimes against humanity.
“In line with Section 19(3) amnesty shall not apply to acts which form part of a crime against humanity,”

Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dawda A. Jallow strongly maintained that the applicants will be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.

The National People’s Party (NPP) has informed the general public that His Excellency President Adama Barrow, Secretary-General and Party Leader of the NPP will grace the Party’s National Victory Celebrations in Basse, Upper River Region on Saturday 8th January 2022.

This is in line with an agreement in the run-up to the campaign and election that a national celebration will be hosted by the region that comes out first in the December 4th presidential election and that the President will attend the celebration.
In this regard, the Upper River Region took first and earned the hosting right of this great event.

“On behalf of His Excellency President Adama Barrow, the National Executive Members of the NPP, all partner parties and Independents of our grand Alliance I wish to congratulate URR for coming out on top and profoundly express the President’s gratitude to all Gambians for the unprecedented show of love and confidence in him by re-electing him with an absolute majority,” the NPP statement said.

It adds that, “President Adama Barrow wishes to seize this opportunity to assure all Gambians that he will be a president for all Gambians and will continue to serve the best interest of the country while renewing his gratefulness to a grateful nation and her people credited for the unprecedented development strides of his government over the last five years.”

His Excellency President Adama Barrow is expected to be joined by leaders of allied parties and Independents.

Hong Kong officials on Wednesday implemented the city’s strictest restrictions since the coronavirus was first detected two years ago, including banning all passenger flights from eight countries, as it holds firm to a “zero-covid” policy amid a growing outbreak of the omicron variant.

Hong Kong has only a handful of community infections, including six omicron cases linked to a restaurant cluster. But the harsh restrictions are in part a response to the territory’s relatively low vaccination rates, particularly among the elderly. Only about 20% of those above age 80 are fully vaccinated, according to government statistics.

The restrictions also underscore how Hong Kong is hardening on its pandemic policy of eradicating the virus in the community at all costs, with the aim of zero new infections, even if it is leaving the international financial hub increasingly isolated and eroding its global competitiveness.

In announcing the new measures, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam described them as more “decisive and comprehensive” than any other restrictions the city has seen over the past two years. Passenger flights from the eight countries — the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, India, Pakistan and the Philippines — had to be suspended, Lam said, because of a “drastic” increase in imported coronavirus cases.

“We are on the verge of another outbreak,” she said.

Those routes are the most heavily trafficked into and out of Hong Kong and include most of the cities where residents are returning from. The suspension will take effect Saturday and last for two weeks before it is reviewed.

Source: The Washington Post

By Amara Thoronka

Sierra Leone’s petroleum regulatory body, Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) has suspended the licenses of five gas stations in the country for doing what it described as ‘artificial shortage of fuel’ in the country.

In a release dated 4^th January 2022, the Agency noted that it had been monitoring the reports of artificial shortage of petroleum products despite the country being sufficiently stocked.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that a number of petroleum products dealers deliberately held back sales to end-users in anticipation of a price increase. This practice is tantamount to hoarding and it is an offence under Part VII, No.72 (2b) and Part VIII No.68 of the Statutory Instruments,” the release stated.

In consonance with its investigation, PRA has suspended the licenses of the following gas stations: Mohamed Kamalobee Koroma Enterprises at 1 Lower Allen Town in Freetown; NP at Campbell Street in Freetown; Total Fenesu Gas Station at Fenton Road in Bo District; Kalinga Enterprise Gas Station at Reservation Junction in Bo District; and Ibrahim Saccoh at Kenema Highway in Bo District.

The Agency cautioned that future defaulters would lose their licenses permanently.

“All Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and dealers are hereby warned that companies or dealers found to deliberately hold back sales of petroleum products will be deemed to have hoarded and shall not hesitate to permanently revoke licenses of companies or dealers found in breach of such.”

PRA disclosed that the official pump price for petroleum products is Ten Thousand Leones (about $1) for the month of January 2022 throughout Sierra Leone.

Seeming artificial scarcity of petroleum products has been a perennial issue in the country. This usually influences exponential hike in prices of petroleum products which invariably lead to transportation crisis and a whole lot of socio-economic inconveniences.

BY: GFF Media

Gambian journalist Momodou Bah has been appointed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to serve as a Media Editor for the body during the 2021 African Cup of Nations finals that gets underway in Cameroon this weekend.

Mr. Bah has since arrived in Cameroon this afternoon and together with GFF Executive member Lt. Col. Musa Jammeh and referee Bakary Papa Gassama, the trio will be amongst the non-playing staff that would be flying the Gambian flag in a tournament that The Gambia is participating for the very first time since the formation of Association football in our country 70 years ago.

“I’m really excited to be covering the AFCON for the first time. I’ve always wanted to be at this tournament and the last two editions I came so close but I couldn’t travel. The fact that I’ll be covering it for CAF makes it extra special – I will be covering it from the front the seat,” Mr. Bah GFF Media.

“I’m humbled that my first senior AFCON coverage features my Scorpions. I have covered the senior national team closely for the last seven years and to be at the AFCON with them is a dream come true for me.”

Together with the CAF Media, Mr. Bah also reports for BBC Africa Sports and is the Secretary General of Real de Banjul Football Club as well as the assistant Secretary General of the Sports Journalist Association of The Gambia.

The Gambia United Kingdom Forces Community (GUKFC) has on Wednesday 5th January 2022 officially presented assorted medical items to the Kanifing General Hospital.

The Counsellor at The Gambia High Commission London Mr. Suntou Touray and the hospital administrator presided over the presentation along with LAMIN Darboe RT.

The items will enhance the work of doctors and nurses at various hospitals. This donation is in line with Gambian Diasporans who seek to continue contributing immensely towards the improvement of the welfare of Gambians at home.

Gambian United Kingdom Forces Community was started exclusively for Gambian origins who are currently serving or have served in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces.

The Community is entirely free from any form of political and religious affiliation but will rather focus on socio-economic development and the creation of new opportunities for the members in the United Kingdom and around the globe.

Arsenal have been charged by the Football Association for failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion during the Premier League defeat to Man City on New Year’s Day.

An ill-tempered affair saw Gunner’s defender Gabriel Magalhaes sent off after being booked twice inside two minutes during the second half, with Arsenal unable to hold on for a point as City came from behind to win 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.

Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal the lead before Pep Guardiola’s side were awarded a controversial penalty just before the hour, with referee Stuart Atwell pointing to the spot after looking at the pitchside monitor and adjudging Granit Xhaka had fouled Bernardo Silva.

Gabriel caused a melee before the penalty could be taken and was shown a yellow card for scuffing the spot, although Riyad Mahrez finished coolly to level with City’s first shot on target before Rodri struck deep in stoppage time.

A statement from the FA read: “Arsenal FC has been charged with a breach of FA Rule E20.1 following its Premier League game against Manchester City FC on Saturday (01/01/22).

“It is alleged that Arsenal FC failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion during the 59th minute and the club has until Friday (07/01/22) to respond.”

Having seen City equalise, Arsenal should have retaken the lead moments later, Aymeric Laporte and Ederson suffering a miscommunication which saw the former’s back pass bounce towards the line and be hooked away by Nathan Ake.

Gabriel Martinelli should have tucked home the rebound but could only hit a post on the follow-up.

Things went from bad to worse for Arsenal when Gabriel was shown a second yellow card moments later for holding back compatriot Gabriel Jesus, with City eventually closing out an 11th straight Premier League win when Rodri slotted in following Kevin De Bruyne’s cross.

Source: Football360

A mother and her months-old baby were trampled to death by an elephant in south-eastern Zimbabwe.

The woman, who had been visiting relatives in rural Chipinge district on New Year’s Day, was on her way back home when an elephant charged at them.

Zimbabwe Parks Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo said the elephant suddenly attacked and killed the two on the spot. The elephant has since been killed.

Human-wildlife conflict is common in some rural parts of Zimbabwe.

Source: BBC

Liverpool’s assistant manager, Pepijn Lijnders, is the latest member of Jürgen Klopp’s staff to test positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation.

Lijnders, who has been in interim charge of the first team while Klopp isolates after a positive test, received the result late on Tuesday night.

The positive test result was received after Liverpool had requested the postponement of their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Arsenal on Thursday on the grounds of player availability and an escalating COVID outbreak.

The EFL has yet to decide whether to grant Liverpool’s request for a postponement. The club has cancelled its scheduled pre-match press conference on Wednesday, which was due to be taken by Lijnders.

Source: The Guradian

By: Christian Conteh

Former independent presidential aspirant Essa Mbye Faal has called on Gambians to embrace national unity and reconciliation.

According to Faal irrespective of our political differences, people must be united with the goals of strengthening the unity and cohesion of the entire Gambian people and improving their living conditions and economic well-being.

He made this call through a new year’s message to fellow Gambians.

“With greater unity and patriotism, less corruption and more rule of law and good governance and a healthy dose of meritocracy, we would be able to achieve the development goals of our people.”

Faal noted that the country has just concluded what he described as ‘a very peaceful and orderly presidential election’ which significantly strengthened the Gambia’s democracy and reinforced the value of respect for and resort to the law as the arbiter of societal disputes.

The former Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission chairman congratulated all the candidates and by extension the entire people of The Gambia for their tolerance, patience, maturity and indulgence in ensuring that the process was enviable and admirable in many respects.

He however cautioned that ‘all is not well,’ pointing out that tribalism reared its ugly head during and after the electioneering period. This he added if not tamed, shackled and buried could upset the peace and democracy dividends the country currently enjoys.

He drew the attention of the Adama Barrow led administration to critical issues including the rise in prices of basic commodities, massive youth unemployment, lack of opportunities for the youth, women and other vulnerable groups as well as poor infrastructure and non-existent healthcare system which must be addressed.

“While this litany of imperatives may appear daunting, they are not insurmountable. We have unyielding faith in the ability of Gambians to achieve durable solutions to difficult problems even against the odds. The responsibility belongs to all of us (whether we are in government or not), to work arduously for the alleviation of the plight of our people.”

He urged the government of President Adama Barrow to honour its promise to the people and deliver on their wishes and aspirations.

The Gambian Government has set a target of D13.5 billion as revenue to be collected by the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) in 2022, the Commissioner General’s Office has told pressmen. The new target is slightly higher than last years D12. 8 billion.

According to Yankuba Darboe, the institution’s Commissioner-General as of 30th December 2021, 95% of the 2021 revenue target had been met.

Speaking about reforms Darboe revealed that in the new year the Authority will seek to implement two major reforms which will be the transition from ASYCUDA ++ to ASYCUDA World and the transition from Gam tax net to ITAS tax net.

The Automated System for Customs Data otherwise known as ASYCUDA is a computerised system designed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva to administer a country’s customs.

ASYCUDA covers most foreign trade procedures and is used by over 90 countries worldwide. It takes into account the international codes and standards developed by ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation), WCO (World Customs Organization), and the United Nations.

It can be configured to suit the national characteristics of individual Customs regimes, National Tariff & legislation and provides Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) between traders and Customs using prevailing standards.

Lucy Fye Jagne is the board chairperson of the GRA, she expressed her appreciation of the Authorities performance over the years, describing it as outstanding.

She used the opportunity to commend the management of GRA and staff for their excellent commitment and hard work in making sure GRA collects the much-needed tax for the government.

Authorities in Rio de Janeiro announced on Tuesday the cancelation of next month’s carnival street celebrations due to an increase in Covid-19 cases brought on by the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

It is the second year running that the coronavirus has forced the Rio Street parade, which was due to take place from February 25 to March 1, to be called off.

“The street carnival in the form that took place in 2020, which did not happen in 2021, will not take place in 2022,” Mayor Eduardo Paes said in a live broadcast on social media platforms.

The street parade by musical bands called “blocos” is different to the better-known procession by samba schools that takes place in Rio’s Sambadrome.

The Sambadrome can hold 70,000 people in a stadium that allows authorities to control those that enter.

Amongst the options available to them are proof of vaccination, a negative covid test and the wearing of masks for those in attendance.

“The street carnival, given its nature and its democratic aspect, makes any type of control impossible,” said Paes.

In 2020, there were an estimated seven million revellers for the days-long street parades, according to the Riotour travel agency.

Although previous meetings between Rio authorities and the blocos failed to reach a compromise, new talks are planned for Friday where the musical groups association president Rita Fernandes told AFP they will make “a more decentralized proposal.”

The arrival of the highly contagious Omicron variant, coupled with an increase in social gatherings over Christmas and the New Year, has seen covid cases soar in Rio.

New covid cases jumped from 21 on December 14 to 458 just two weeks later.

So far, though, the rise in cases has not led to a significant increase in hospital admissions or deaths.

Four fifths of Rio’s population have had at least two vaccine doses while almost a quarter have also been given a booster shot.

Some 67 percent of the South American country’s 213 million population are vaccinated with two doses, while 12 percent have had the third.

Almost 620,000 people in Brazil have died of coronavirus, second only in the world to the United States.

Source: AFP

This past year saw an inundation of climate disasters worldwide. Changing weather patterns have led to extreme events like hurricanes in the US Northeast and floods inundated cities across Europe, which caught many residents off guard. Fire pummelled communities and sent emissions through the roof across Turkey, Siberia, and the western US. The intensity of many of this year’s events has destroyed public and private property displacing millions around the globe.

Christian Aid, a UK-based charity focused on addressing global poverty, released a report last week outlining some of the worst disasters this year–and the billions of dollars in damage they have caused. Out of the 15 climate-related disasters described in the study, ten have cost more than a billion dollars worth of damages. This will be the sixth year out of the last ten that have cost over $100 billion due to global natural catastrophes.

Hurricane Ida, which struck various states across the East Coast in late August into early September, was the most expensive climate event of the year—racking up damages and cost about $65 billion. Several months after this storm, thousands of displaced people, including 14,000 in one Louisiana parish alone, were still looking for suitable shelter. The report reflects a 13 percent increase in the price pinned to the most damaging climate disasters. Still, these estimates came from insured losses, which means actual damage could be significantly higher.

“This report gives a sense of the climate suffering which has taken place around the world in 2021,” Mohamed Adow, director of Nairobi-based think tank Power Shift Africa, said in a release. “It’s a powerful reminder that the atmosphere will not wait for us to deal with the COVID pandemic.  We need to act at scale and with urgency if we’re going to fend off these kinds of impacts into the future.”

Researchers at Christian Aid also noted that millions of people were displaced because some of the singular billion-dollar disasters forcibly displaced tens of thousands at once, like the floods in British Columbia in Canada. The South Sudan floods that went on for weeks displaced more than 800,000 people. More than 1,000 people have died as a result of these disastrous storms.

Kat Kramer, Christian Aid’s climate policy lead and a lead author of the study, told PopSci that the uptick of costly climate events means that poor communities are going to be disproportionately affected. Not only are populations being internally displaced, but it will take those communities longer to access safe housing and other necessities after a disaster.

“There are a lot of people in developing countries in camps three years afterward, trying to struggle on and carry on and relying on aid … not being able to rebuild their lives to have access to education, [or] decent health care,” she explains. “They might have better access to [resources] if the country wasn’t continually losing a huge proportion of its GDP to these kinds of climate impacts.”

Earlier this year, lower-income nations called out the lack of accountability from wealthy, high-emitting countries at COP 26. Financial support, a form of reparations for poorer countries for highly-affected governments, was written into the Paris Agreement. However, wealthier countries have not followed through on that pledge to fund resiliency for vulnerable nations.

“When we say fulfill your pledge, it’s not a matter of charity … It’s a matter of paying a clean-up fee,” said Lazarus Chakwera, the president of Malawi, in an interview with BBC Africa this past fall when he demanded that high emitting nations pay up the more than 100 billion pounds.

Kramer agrees that better policy globally, along with solidarity and financial support for vulnerable communities, could mitigate the cost of future disasters.

“If we’re throwing billions away to mop [after the climate disasters], why aren’t we spending those billions instead to try and avoid all of this happening anyway?” she says. “We’ve got to try and minimize the problem … that’s going to take political will.”

The ruling National People’s Party (NPP) has cautioned the country’s main opposition the United Democratic Party (UDP) to respect the laws and institutions created by the country’s constitution.

The NPP gave this caution whilst responding to UDP’s statement on the Supreme Court Ruling on the election petition.

The statement which was put out by Seedy SK Njie, Deputy Spokesman of the NPP said that consequent to the recent statement issued by A N M Ousainu Darboe, UDP and what it describes as ‘some unfortunate statements circulating in social media seeking to denigrate the recent decision of the Supreme Court’ in the election petition brought by United Democratic Party (UDP), the National Peoples Party (NPP) has deemed it necessary to release this statement.

The statement noted that the candidate of the NPP Adama Barrow won the said election by a very convincing number (Adama Barrow received 457,519 votes whilst A N M Ousainu Darboe received 283,253 votes) and the election was monitored by several international and national election observers who all commended the conduct of the said election.

The statement said that following the said loss, the UDP has made several unsubstantiated claims in a bid to have the verdict of the Gambian people set aside. One of the claims made related to the registration of non-Gambians.

“The registration of voters by IEC was very transparent and complaints about this should have been made to the revising court as required by the Elections Act. The Supreme Court would not, therefore, have been the proper forum to determine this issue.

On the other issues raised in the petition, NPP answered same and was satisfied that they would have prevailed at trial despite the 2000 pages of documents submitted by UDP.”

The NPP said, despite the above allegations it is satisfied that the Supreme Court of The Gambia carried out its constitutional mandate in dealing with the UDP petition.

“The Supreme Court could not legally proceed with the hearing of the petition on its merits without the UDP complying with the preliminary issues of law which would give the Court the jurisdiction and the mandate to proceed with such a hearing,”

The statement reminds the UDP that it was their (UDP) failure to comply with the law that caused the striking out of the petition and prevented the hearing on the merits.

Meanwhile, the NPP and His Excellency President Adama Barrow the statement reiterates have always accepted decisions of the courts including the Supreme Court decisions whether for or against the government without seeking to vilify the courts in any way.

The party, therefore, calls on all other political parties to act in a similar manner. Indicating that,

“Our judges must be allowed to give their judgments based on their oaths of office and their understanding of the law.”

“All of us need to respect our laws and the institutions created by our Constitution to ensure that we live in a peaceful and democratic country where we can continue to approach our courts with our grievances. We must not encourage our citizenry to ignore the laws and our institutions and must have respect for the Rule of Law,” the NPP statement maintained.

By: Christian Conteh

The mood was sombre, the silence deafening a group of people who identified themselves as victims sat at one end of the Gambia International Conference Centre at Bijilo as a list of names was read out from the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) Report.

The names were of people who had been brutally murdered and their alleged murderers. Former President Yahya Jammeh’s name was mentioned on almost every list. The TRRC report holds him responsible for these killings either due to his actions and or inactions.

Sulayman Ndow, Mahawa Cham, Ceesay Bujiling, Mamut Ceesay, Ebou Jobe, Ndure Cham, Mustapha Colley, Tumani Jallow and Abdoulie. The list goes on and on.

“Yahya Jammeh, Gen. Sulayman Badjie and Bora Colley bear joint responsibility for the killing of Ello Jallow. Yahya Jammeh, Gen. Saul Badjie, Nuha Badjie, Mustapha Sanneh, Momodou Jarjue (Rambo), Nfansu Nyabally, Omar Jallow (Oya) and Sulayman Sambou were responsible for the murder of Mustapha Colley,” the report states.

At the back of the hall, a lady, probably in her mid-30’s sat alone, isolated from the rest of the attendees. I couldn’t help but notice her puffy eyes and tears rolling down her cheeks. She later identified herself as Fatima (not her real name). She accused the Jammeh regime of killing her husband.

“They killed my husband, Jammeh killed him, and I will not rest until justice is served,” she said.

When asked about the details of what happened Fatima declined, saying she was not psychologically prepared to share the horrifying story again.

Fatima is one of the several victims of Jammeh’s 22-year dictatorial rule in The Gambia who seek justice.

Several women who came out to publicly testify particularly about being sexually violated during the era under review were met with the major challenge of stigmatization prompting a statement from the TRRC in 2019 appealing to all members of the public to be more sensitive to the pain of these vulnerable women and to respect their privacy and integrity.

The TRRC was established to investigate crimes committed in The Gambia under the leadership of Jammeh from 1994 to 2017. The report resulted in a three-year-long investigation during which the commission heard testimonies from over 300 witnesses. In summary, the report has called for the prosecution of Yahya Jammeh and his cohorts.

The Gambia telecoms company Gamtel have confirmed that there was a total internet outage affecting the entire country on Monday.

An internet outage hit the nation early Monday pushing citizens into communication blackout.

According to Gamtel in a tweet, the issue was due to ‘technical issues’ on the backup links.

“The isolation was due to technical issues on the backup links,” Gamtel said.