UDP leader Ousainou Darboe was personally on the ground on Thursday for campaign telling his supporters UDP is the only party that can restore the hopes of citiens.

Mr Darboe had missed UDP’s campaign’s second leg for the most part due to a leg injury but he defied every odd on Thursday to attend UDP’s final rally in Bakoteh.

Speaking there, Mr Darboe, 73, said: “We have to restore the hopes of our young people and it’s only United Democratic Party that can do that for you. Our determination to restore the hopes of the Gambian people has been tested over time.

“A lot of us would happened surrendered if we were doing this just for the show. The mission has to be accomplished and you Gambians will accomplish that mission.”

Saturday’s poll will feature Darboe and five other candidates with Darboe’s fiercest opponent now set to be incumbent President Adama Barrow who is seeking a second term.

Former speaker and APRC stalwart Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay has called on the people of Banjul to snub Essa Faal in tomorrow’s presidential election.

FJC made this call on Thursday at President Adama Barrow’s rally in Banjul on the final day of campaign.

She said: “Do not vote for Essa Faal people of Banjul. Do you know why? Essa Faal has insulted the founding fathers of Gambia. Who are those? Pierre Sarr Njie who was a lawyer and did not have little education. Rev JC Faye was an educationist, studied theology and got his degree. He did not have little education. IM Garba Jahumpa who is my father studied up to Cambridge and became a teacher. He did not have little knowledge. And Sir Dawda who was a veterinarian and was a surgeon.

“Essa Faal stood and said those who brought the people of independence were not educated. That is the educated, he is handsome, it’s his wife who holds designer bags costing D6,000, that he has money and investing in Senegal.

“So if Essa Mbye Faal insults the people of Banjul, the people of Banjul should not vote for him.”

By Tamsir A Mbai   –   Dallas, Texas

Conclusion:   In conclusion, Halifa Sallah handily won the debate and the right to the presidency. He has earned the right to be president of The Gambia because of his unimpeachable decades-long service to the nation. He deserves the mantle of power not only because of his patriotism and honesty, but also because of his clarity of vision for how he intends to govern, and what policies he sees as required to uplift the nation and the collective citizenry. More importantly, he will not try to entrench himself nor his party in power. We trust he will make the appropriate constitutional changes for term limits and thus rein in the insatiable desire of an imperial would-be aspirant for a lifelong presidency.

Okay, I join you, the astute reader, in observing that this article starts with the conclusion. So, I understand your bewilderment if you are tempted to ask, “What is matter with the author of this article? Who starts an article with the conclusion?”  In my defense, I did so only because the article is a little lengthy, and I fear some people may not read all of it if they see how far they have to scroll to get to the end. To ensure everybody reads my conclusion and my recommendations for president for the upcoming election, I chose to publish my conclusion at the top of the article. Halifa Sallah is my choice for president, and I recommend every Gambian voter to vote for him so we can save our country from the brink of being a Failed State. With that out of the way, let’s get to reading the article.

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The Willing Contenders   –   Winners

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1. Halifa Sallah
2. Essa Mbye Faal

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The No-Shows   –   Losers

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1. Ousainu Darboe
2. Adama Barrow
3. Abdoulie Jammeh

Each of the no-shows above flunked the debate, but they did so to spectacularly different degrees. From last to first, here is the ranking as we assessed the debate.

Ousainu Darboe & the UDP   –   In last place is Ousainu Darboe and the UDP. This was the easiest choice to make in the rankings, not because Darboe is unqualified to run The Gambia, but because he has a track record of reneging on prior agreements. When you combine that with the fact that he, justifiably or unjustifiably, is one of the most polarizing figures in the Gambian political landscape, he was the one that could least afford to skip the debate. He needed to show up, dominate the debate as a lawyer accustomed to answering tough questions, but above all, show the nation that he has the pedigree to run the affairs of the nation. He needed to be trite and apologetic for past mistakes that led to the breakup of Coalition 2016. He needed to show he understands the challenges that confront the nation and how he would remedy those challenges. He needed to extend an olive branch to the other contenders so that even if he eventually wins the presidency, he could pull the nation together and bring about collective healing. By failing to recognize this enormous need, and by failing to recognize that many (not me) hold him personally responsible for the disintegration of Coalition 2016, he has shown himself to either take it for granted that the people will blindly vote for him, or worse, that he has such contemptuous disregard and disrespect for the Gambian people that he does not believe he owes us any answers about what plans he has for the nation, and how his agenda is better than that of the other contenders. Neither of those positions is commendable.

As any gentleman would know, when you are the suitor to a girl whom you want to convince to entrust you with their life in blissful matrimony, you do what it takes to win their heart and mind. You not only say the right things, but you also do the right things by frequently calling and going to visit her. That shows interest. It shows respect. It shows commitment. As a presidential contender, what Darboe seeks is no different from the scenario of the gentlemanly suitor described above who is wooing a girl. In Darboe’s case, he is wooing a nation toward whom he is nonchalant and disdainful of our need to have him come to us at the debate and explain his plans for our future. But did Darboe do any of the acts expected of a suitor? No, he did not! When given the lonesome opportunity to come and answer questions of relevance to the Gambian people in how he intends to run the affairs of the nation, he chose not to show up. Worse, he offered no tangible or acceptable excuse for his nonchalant attitude toward the Gambian people who tuned in to watch and listen to the debate.

There is no greater job in any country than the presidency. If we don’t know what plans you have to run the country, why should we trust you with the levers of power? If Darboe had previously run the affairs of the country and performed an incredibly stellar job, then we could rely on his prior performance to gauge his future performance. Since he does not have the luxury of incumbency, he, more than anyone else, should have shown up at the debate and told the nation about his plans. He failed to do that. We must therefore take it that he has nothing to offer the nation, or if he does, what he has to offer is inferior to what the other candidates have to offer. Those are the only two logical conclusions one can make from his absence. For crying out loud, the man is a renowned lawyer used to contentious debate in the courtroom. Indeed, his supporters barely ever call him by his name. They call him Lawyer Darboe. Some go as far as calling him The Gambia’s preeminent lawyer (Gambia la lawyer baa). Given such high praise, if Darboe had anything convincing to say about his vision or his party’s platform, it is inconceivable that he would not show up to the debate and overwhelm the public and his fellow debaters with the superiority of his message.

In his absence at the debate, we can only surmise that he does not wish to expose himself to the scrutiny of a nation yearning for competent leadership and a visionary mind that can diagnose the ailments of the country, but beyond that, leadership that also has viable plans that can transform a decadent and almost-failed nation into a prosperous and thriving state. His failure in this regard is paramount. It must not be taken lightly. When you need our support and our votes, but are intransigent to attend a national event hosted to determine the best candidate to lead our nation, and when you further demonstrate an indifference to even feign any interest in addressing our concerns and aspirations at a nationally televised debate, we must look the other direction for someone who not only values our time, but also shares our national anxiety about the future of the nation and the next generations. We must therefore look for someone confident enough about their future plans for the nation to be able to tell us how they see the current state of affairs in our country, and what policies need to be implemented to change course and put our nation on a pathway to glorious prosperity. Halifa Sallah effortlessly did that at the debate. Essa Mbye Faal did that at the debate to a varying degree. Congratulations to those two gentlemen!

We must recognize that there is no leader who knows it all. Leadership is therefore about choices. So, it goes without saying that the one that makes better choices will usually succeed better than the one that does not. I mentioned in my preamble to why Mr. Darboe won last place at the debate that it is partly because he has a track record of reneging on prior agreements. Let us investigate that.

In 2016, as we all remember, while Darboe was unfairly jailed by the Yaya Jammeh regime, a coalition MOU was crafted that won the election and thus won our collective freedom from a brutal 22-year dictatorship. The benevolence that poured into The Gambia from the Diaspora and the international community was overwhelming. That soon subsided once it became obvious that Mr. Darboe’s personal ambitions superseded the interests of the nation. That ambition led to the collapse of the coalition as he sought to entrench his party in power in blatant disregard for the agreements and commitments his party made as spelt out in the MOU. Even if we are to give Darboe the benefit of the doubt as I have done in numerous debates and conversations with others because he was not a party to the MOU since he was in prison at the time of its crafting, the fact Darboe has repeated the offense of reneging on a prior agreement and commitment is characteristic of a repeat offender, and that cannot be brushed aside. Mr. Darboe and his party were a party to the negotiations about the debate parameters. Once those parameters were agreed upon, the debate committee set out to publicly advertise the eligible contestants that will partake in the debate, and thereafter established a date for the debate. Despite the best efforts of the debate committee, Darboe decided to walk away in blatant disregard of his prior commitment. We have seen this behavior before, and that is why it stuck out like a sore thumb this time around to those of us who pay attention to history. So, the question becomes, why did Darboe pull out of the debate?

We can only speculate about his reasons for pulling out of the debate, but the most obvious ones are the possibility that his party’s lack of a credible manifesto spelt doom for him at the debate. The party did come out with a FIVE-point campaign ad that later morphed into a TEN-point campaign ad. However, those were woefully inadequate for an individual running for a class prefect, much less someone seeking the highest office of the land. It showed a lack of preparedness for the job they seek. It showed a lack of understanding for the challenges that confront the nation. In short, their shortsighted TEN-point agenda is a recipe for disaster for The Gambia. That is the main reason why I chose to pen this writeup at the penultimate hour of the election cycle.  It could also be that Darboe feared he would have to answer at the debate to the disastrous debacle of his staunch advocacy for a 2017 Tactical Alliance that caused the disintegration of the coalition that won our freedom and independence. How does anyone explain that away to a discerning public? Faced with those two daunting challenges, Darboe chose to abstain from the debate, but that only heightened the public curiosity.

Whatever the reason, by choosing to abstain from an event of paramount national interest, Darboe and his party miserably miscalculated our collective desire to vote on the substance of a candidate’s agenda and party platform, rather than on the pomposity and meaningless beats of drums and wailing sycophants. We have matured in our desire to be led by competent forces. As a result, Darboe and his party owe the nation an apology for their intransigence, for their disrespect to the nation, and for their contemptuous treatment of the Gambian people. I must emphasize that Darboe and the UDP need us. We do not need them. Though I am sure they can help improve our lot from what Adama Barrow has given us, we don’t need them to prosper as a nation. We have a sufficiently high number of qualified candidates to pick from who can do the job as effectively and as efficiently as our national resource pool allows. Adama Barrow is not one of those qualified candidates!

In the final analysis, I think Darboe is qualified to be president. He is better qualified than Adama Barrow by a million miles. However, if you won’t tell us at a nationally televised debate how you intend to run the country so we can assess the efficacy of your plans, then we are left with no choice but to look the opposite direction. If we cannot trust that someone can honor their prior commitments, there is little reason to believe they will honor future agreements and commitments. What that means is that whatever promises Darboe makes now can dissipate into thin air when he later calculates that a prior agreement is no longer in his best political interest. Of course, we must recognize that when this type of flipflopping is done in the interest of the nation, it could be advantageous for everybody. For example, if a prior president had entered the country into international agreements that were self-serving to them, but pernicious to the nation, then a flipflopping president can come in, renege on the said agreements, and thus undo the damage to the nation. That could be the one positive way to look at it. Unfortunately, if we are to go by past behavior as a predictor of future behavior, we must recognize that Darboe’s prior flipflopping were indeed damaging to the interests of the nation. At a time when we needed to reset the carnage wrought by the 22-year dictatorship, in contravention to the Coalition 2016 MOU, Darboe encouraged the idea of a 2017 Tactical Alliance that split the coalition into fiefdoms. His only rationale for doing so, the national interest and prior party commitments be damned, was that it would advantage his personal ambition and that of his party. That act derailed the transitional government that we all wished for. This is crucial because by then, the massive deficiencies of Adama Barrow as a leader were glaringly obvious for any honest observer. We needed him out of State House as quickly as possible (3 years), but alas, thanks to Mr. Darboe’s personal agenda reneging on prior agreements as spelt out in the aforementioned MOU, we still have Adama Barrow as president when he has nothing to offer the nation. We are therefore still paying for Darboe’s miscalculation.

In light of the above, Ousainu Darboe and his party have lost any credibility to lead our nation. We must pick a different individual to lead our country. This individual must have the patriotic fervor and protective zeal toward the nation as that of a hen toward her chicks. This individual must be an intellectual powerhouse with a visionary mindset capable of not only diagnosing the ailments of the patient (The Gambia), but also able to prescribe the appropriate remedies to triage the patient and nurse them back to health. That individual is the Honorable Halifa Sallah!

Adama Barrow and the NPP   –   In second to place is Adama Barrow. He, of course, is on the seat of throne. He knows he is unqualified and unfit to occupy that seat, and he also knows he has little to offer the nation. His understanding of the machinery of government and the instruments used to keep those machines churning is rudimentary at best. He knows he cannot win any debate of substance that requires a broad spectrum of intellect imbued with the nuances of the complex systems of the state’s cornucopia of institutions. Faced with the daunting task of exposing the magnitude of his intellectual shortcomings for the entire nation to see and for history to indelibly record, he chose to run for the hills for cover rather than face a barrage of poignant questions about the state he heads. He knows he is expected to know the answers to these questions after being in office for 5 years (5 years too long), but he also knows he neither knows the answers, nor could he articulate them in English language, the chosen medium of communication for the debate.

Barrow’s absence at the debate is troublesome in many ways. It was a missed opportunity for him to provide Accountability to the people by answering questions about his government’s activities. It was a missed opportunity for him to attempt to:

1. Defend Fatoumata Kodolay
2. Defend the D10,000 monthly stipend he gave to some members of the national assembly
3. Defend the 57 trucks he claims were donations from a mysterious donor
4. Defend the abuse of our waterways and fish resources by the Chinese, and
5. Tell the nation the current state of the country, and how he intends to improve our economic prosperity and promote our national security interests especially given the exorbitantly high number of foreign forces in our country.

This was a missed opportunity for Adama Barrow to explain the deplorable state of our healthcare, the regressive state of our educational system, and the barren productivity of our agricultural land. All these missed opportunities were not missed of course. He does not have an answer for any of the issues I enumerated above. Therefore, his absence at the debate was not unexpected. This low expectation for him is why he earned second-to-last place and beat Ousainu Darboe who is more qualified than he is.

Abdoulie Jammeh   –   Abdoulie Jammeh gets honorable mention for being able to corral enough votes in every region to qualify to contest the presidency. He does not have a high-profile name recognition, so I cannot grade him. That said, because he did not show up for the debate, he is in no position to rank higher than the two candidates who respected the nation enough, and were confident enough of their vision and plans for the country to courageously face the nation to compete on ideas and promote their vision for the country. We acknowledge Abdoulie Jammeh, but we bow down to the gentlemen who competed at the debate.

Essa Mbye Faal   –   Essa Mbye Faal held his ground and did well against a formidable foe well known for his sharp mind and clarity of vision for where he wants to see The Gambia. There is no bias about the well-deserved accolades Essa received in the post-debate analysis, except from members of the UDP whose candidate didn’t even bother to show up, yet they incessantly lauded Essa’s performance against the UDP archrival. It was an unfortunate manifestation of their schadenfreude. Overall, I rank Mr. Faal second because his policies largely mirrored those of Halifa Sallah. Since Halifa has been advocating for these policies for several years, I concluded that Mr. Faal was the borrower of those policies. I am a firm believer that there is no need to reinvent the well. If you deem the policies of those who came before you, including Halifa Sallah’s policies, as great, then I see nothing wrong with borrowing some or all of them, and then refining them. That said, to leapfrog Halifa into first place would have required an originality of ideas and plans that were so divergent from Halifa’s, yet transcendental and viable. In the absence of such transcendental ideas, I must salute Essa for his composure, his eloquence, and his professionalism. We need sons and daughters like him at the forefront of our national institutions. Bravo, my brother!

Halifa Sallah   –   Halifa Sallah is a known commodity in Gambian affairs. His name is synonymous with intellectualism, with patriotism, with humility, with living within ones means, with honesty, with subservience to the truth, and with an unwavering principledness to the protocols of good governance that can be used as a launchpad to propel the Gambian nation and that of the Melanin man everywhere on planet Earth. He has earned the admiration and respect of a nation because of his intellectual prowess, but more pronounced, because of the consistency between his public pronouncements and the manner in which he lives his live. Halifa Sallah is a man of impeccable character. He loves his country and can be trusted to run a well-oiled machine free from the impurities of the albatross of corruption at the highest office of the land. Those glorious characteristics, while admirable and laudable, are not sufficient to win a debate. In my assessment, Halifa Sallah won the debate handily because of his depth of understanding of the pesky details that have hamstrung our development since independence. Without rehashing the debate, please allow me to cite one such detail-oriented understanding of the issues that confront the nation. When asked about healthcare, Halifa categorized the four tenets of a good healthcare system, and sought to explain what those are. Unfortunately, because of the 90 second limit at the debate, he couldn’t offer a robust enough answer to demonstrate the overwhelming superiority of his answer. I was impressed. Here is what he said that was so impressive.

When questioned on healthcare, Halifa Sallah identified the four cornerstones of a good healthcare system, namely

1. Preventive care,
2. Promotive or Proactive care,
3. Curative care, and
4. Restorative care.

I was impressed. This is what I need in my leader; someone who can think outside the box and articulate the deep thinking required to fix complex problems. In my judgment, Halifa Sallah is a National Treasure who must be celebrated, but beyond that, he must be given the opportunity to bring us national salvation and prosperity.

On the proactive and preventive scope, he promised to:

1. Utilize the Gambia college of nursing to ensure the country is graduating enough qualified medical professionals
2. Establish a local mini-clinic in every village. He would use the existing maternal aids. These are the grandmas who deliver babies in the provinces. His plan is to train them as midwives and auxiliary nurses in maternal care to supplement those graduating from the college
3. Allocate an ambulance (not sure how many) to the regions
4. Build regional hospitals to handle regional patients
5. Create a national database of the diseases and ailments pertinent in each region so we can have the appropriate medication that is most needed in each region, rather than have stockpiles of paracetamol in each region when that may not be the need. I was impressed by this!
6. Allow paternal leave to allow fathers to assist the nursing mothers because as he sees it, women are the producer base (bear children) AND the productive base of Gambian society. They work on the farms, gardens, and rice fields to grow food and simultaneously do household chores and operate market stalls and food sales.

After reading item 6 above, one must ask, “Where are the men”? Well, if we have Halifa Sallah as president, that question will be answered because he has an understanding of the burdensome yoke on women’s necks, and he has the vision to remedy that predicament by making the men available to support the women and the family. So, if you are a woman reading this article, you must recognize the leader who understands your challenges and has a plan to fix them. Choose Halifa Sallah.

See, Halifa is detail oriented. Unfortunately, the debate was limited to 90 second answers. These heavy topics cannot be articulated in 90 seconds when you provide details. In my assessment, the time constraint was the biggest problem working against Halifa. That’s why he couldn’t deliver his lecture style oratory that the country is accustomed to seeing from him. I hope I have helped you put your finger on the pulse of why Halifa didn’t appear to be as dominant at the debate as he normally is, but on substance, as shown in his response to healthcare, he was a master-class.

On the issue of reviving the economy, Halifa went to the guts of the problem, wisely identifying the need for us to rely on utilizing our land, sea, and air to generate the agricultural base and marine productivity to offset the trade imbalances between our overdependence on imported goods and services. We must fix that trade imbalance if we seek to usher in prosperity. This is what demonstrates an understanding of the problems and how to fix them. Talk is cheap!

Debate Committee

I applaud the debate committee for hosting such an excellent event. The initiative is brilliant and progressive. There are a few areas that can be improved upon, but with this being the first nationally televised presidential debate, there is a lot to celebrate. We thank them, and we commend them for their ingenious creativity to bring to The Gambia the concept of the Presidential-Debate that the modern world has adopted as a more sophisticated way to pick our leaders based on the novelty and nobility of their ideas, rather than based on other ethnolinguistic relationships or regional affiliations. Thank you, Debate Committee!

By Sarjo Brito

President Adama Barrow, Thursday, December 2nd, 2021, presided over the laying of the foundation stone for the multifaceted national emergency treatment centre in Farato, West Coast Region. The state-of-the-art complex once completed, is to serve as a centre that will respond to the country’s current and future public health emergencies.

Speaking at the ceremony, President Barrow said this project is part of a renewed process of revolutionising the Gambia’s healthcare delivery system, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to strain health sectors across the world.

The president said: “It is common knowledge that the frequency of pandemics is increasing globally and without warning. Health systems the worldwide are now struggling to cope with the demand for health services. To address such challenges, we are here today for the construction of a high-quality treatment centre with up-to-date equipment to effectively manage patients requiring special attention.”

The Gambian leader called on the private sector and other development partners to compliment government’s efforts to provide better healthcare services to the Gambian people.

“We have the collective task and goal of providing and sustaining quality, efficient and timely healthcare for all. My government has the will to work with everyone for the attainment of our development objectives in the best interest of the people,” the president said.

The National Emergency Treatment Centre is a World Bank funded project. The cost of the project is estimated at a staggering amount of 22,760,785.9 USD. The treatment centre will comprise the emergency treatment centre (ETC), intensive care unit with 20 beds, emergency observation and treatment centre with 84 beds, public health and training centre, conference centre and utility buildings required for the effective functioning of the facilities. The facility is also the first phase of a 1500 bed teaching hospital according to the President.

Leader of the dead Three Years Jotna group Abdou Njie has taken his new car to UDP leader Ousainou Darboe for him to give his blessing and officially present it to him.

Abdou Njie oversaw what is now a failed campaign of ending President Adama Barrow’s rule in 2019. His group, Three Years Jotna, was later banned from ever operating in The Gambia.

On Wednesday, Mr Njie who is a strong UDP supporter was at UDP leader Darboe’s house in Pipeline with his new vehicle.

He told UDP media-guy Camaraba it was rich UDP supporter Alhagie Conteh who gave him money to buy a car.

He said: “We had a mission of travelling around the country and there was no car. I told him and he called his people to give me a cheque but the cheque was not there at the time. He said I should return at 2pm and when I returned, he counted money and gave it to me to buy a car. He just gifted it to me and I thank God.

“We went to him to show it to him and then we came to the party leader to show it to him too who sent AmADOU Sanneh for him to present the key.

“We thank God and we pray for him (Alhagie Conteh) so that he would succeed against this bad government just as Prophet Musa succeeded against Pharoah.”

United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe has told the BBC exclusively his health condition is temporary.

Mr Darboe has physically pulled out of UDP’s campaign after sustaining an injury to his leg following a fall in Jarra.

The UDP leader, 73, spoke exclusively to the BBC where he insisted his condition is temporary.

“This just a temporary issue, it’s not a permanent future of my health situation and in any case I think I will be using my brain more than my feet in performing the functions of the office of president,” Mr Darboe said when asked if his health would permit him to be able to keep up with the demands of being a president.

Darboe has physically been absent from UDP’s rallies the whole of this week but he has been addressing his supporters remotely.

The presidential election is on Saturday and Darboe is one of six candidates contesting the election.

The nation’s presidential candidates will finally wrap up campaign on Thursday and spend Friday resting before the big day on Saturday.

United Democratic Party will hold a big rally in Bakoteh while the National People’s Party will spend the day talking to voters in Banjul.

Gambia Democratic Congress will hobnob with voters at Buffer Zone while the independent Essa Faal will be at the Independence Stadium.

Halifa Sallaha and his PDOIS will be at Serrekunda while National Unity Party will be at Brikama SSP.

By Dawda Baldeh

President Adama Barrow has revealed his government’s determination to end the backway irregular migration telling Senegalese outlet 2STV his government has 50 million dollars to invest in the country’s youth.

President Barrow speaking exclusive to 2STV said: “We already have $50m to invest on fishing to help eradicate irregular migration.

“Most of our youth are risking their lives through the back way. We want to stop this by providing them the jobs here. If they have the jobs here, they won’t risk their lives in the back way.

“Our people are not active in fishing. It is the Senegalese and Ghanaian who normally fish in the country.”

By Christian Alpha Conteh

Ahead of the Gambian Presidential Election on 4^th December 2021, Immediate Past President of Sierra Leone Ernest Bai Koroma has arrived in the country and paid a courtesy call on the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Chairman at Election House.

Koroma is set to lead another Elections Observation Mission with a team of 50 (fifty) ECOWAS elections experts and observers drawn from the 16 ECOWAS member states, including Government representatives, ECOWAS Ambassadors accredited to Abuja, Members of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Representatives of the Electoral Commissions of Member States, Civil Society and the Media.

The Observation Mission team will, among other things, leverage on documents put together from the fact-finding Mission and the report prepared by the Long-Term Electoral Observer Mission (LTEOM). The team will also hold high-level consultations with key stakeholders in the Gambian electoral process.

Former President Koroma is expected to speak with the press after the conclusion of the process.

The December 4th elections in the Gambia is the first to be held after President Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country for over two decades, was defeated in 2017 by then opposition leader, Adama Barrow. Five candidates already cleared by the Gambian electoral commission will be facing President Adama Barrow in the elections.

Gambia Moral Congress has written to the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission warning him that his refusal to obey a court order for him to contest Saturday’s presidential election is sending a clear signal of his blatant disregard for the law.

In a November 30 letter seen by The Fatu Network and signed by leader Mai Fatty, GMC said the IEC chairman promised to revert to GMC regarding the party’s nomination but the only response has been deafening silence a day to the election.

GMC then warned the IEC chief: “GMC and its candidate insist on exercising their entrenched constitutional rights, without equivocation. Your continued refusal to comply with the order of the court, is sending a clear signal to the whole world of your naked disregard for the law and due process, and your clear intention to continue to unlawfully exclude us from participating in this election.

“GMC and its entire supporters globally shall continue to be law abiding, and shall resort to the law courts to vigorously challenge the illegal actions of the IEC, even after the purported election, scheduled for the 4th of December 2021.”

United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe has said it is true that he is old and he is thanking God for it but insisted he is mentally alert than a lot of young folks.

Speaking to citizens at UDP’s rally in Banjul over video on Wednesday, Darboe said: “We hear that you say we are old. But we thank God for the long life and we will be happy if he can double it. We are old yes but the Mandinka say an old person is not God but has been alongside God for long. It means an old person knows what happened in the past, what happened presently and can tell you what would happen in the future.

“An old person is a serious person and would not do anything that would cause him shame or shame to his family. An old person brings experience and an old person brings wisdom to the Office of the President.

“The people saying he is old… It’s true and I thank God for it. But I have never seen any country other than Gambia where they say ‘this man is old’. The US president is old and I don’t even know how many years he is older than me.

“I have never seen anyone saying Ousainou Darboe is clueless, I have never seen anyone say Ousainou Darboe is suffering from amnesia. I am mentally alert than a lot of 35-year-olds. They talk about my age because they don’t have anything else to say.”

President Adama Barrow has explained how he told former justice minister Abubacarr Tambadou that Essa Faal was using the TRRC for political gain.

The former justice minister tapped Mr Faal as the TRRC’s lead prosecutor in 2018 but President Barrow said on Wednesday he has always been suspicious of the lawyer.

The president told his supporters at his Buffer Zone rally: “When he was at the TRRC, my minister who brought Essa Faal which is Abubacarr Tambadou. When I observed how he was conducting the TRRC, I called the minister and told him this man that you brought is politicking at the TRRC. I told him he will seek the presidency. He told me he would not dare do that. I told him wallahi he will. He went and confronted him and he said he has no interest in politics. I told him a day will come when I will tell you again. But I knew it early. One day he came to see me. He said he wanted a land, a land government would allocate to him to build houses and sell them. When he came, I told him ‘the most popular person in Gambia has come to see me today’. I tried to speak to him about it but he said he is not that type of person. But I knew he was politicking.

“But it’s unfortunate that someone who claims to be educated to be given a role involving victims… You should support those people but you’re using them for political gain. That is really unfortunate. You turned the TRRC into politics since that’s where he used for the whole Gambia to know him. And he is still using the TRRC to politic. But I want to tell the victims I will not use them for political gain. If I am looking for votes, I will look for it elsewhere than the TRRC and the victims who are aggrieved and hurt and need support. But let the victims know I am the architect of TRRC, I am the face of TRRC, I instituted it and I will be the one to implement it. Because I know on the 4th of December 2021, I will be the one who will win in this country. So let no one fool you. I will not politicize it as I don’t want cheap politics. You can’t take a knife and be stabbing someone in the back telling him you will help him when you will not.

“I appointed him there but he benefitted more than the place did from him since he was being paid more than myself. His salary was D500,000 and my salary was D200,000. So he profited from there. If he wanted to help the TRRC people and the victims, he would have said he would volunteer and come and work for Gambia for free. That’s when we would know he has come to help. But he asked for a big pay and we paid him big money and he has now turned and using the TRRC for political gain.”

Hamat Bah has claimed the TRRC at some point did not want to work with Essa Faal in a bombshell revelation.

Speaking during President Adama Barrow’s rally at Buffer Zone on Wednesday night, Mr Bah spent the entire time fact-checking claims Essa Faal made in an interview with a foreign journalist.

He said: “We will attack anyone who attacks the government of Adama Barrow. We will respond to anyone who says anything that is not true about the government. Today, I was very disappointed. I listened to one audio by Essa Faal and I was shocked. We have been properly grooming our young emerging politicians. Since we started our campaign, we never mention their name. It was only once we attacked Essa Faal and it was me. The president told me these are young politicians and we should let them grow. This is why we never mentioned their name until the tour’s end. But if you’re made a candidate and you grants a long interview with a foreign journalist and saying things that are not true, we will respond to you. Let Essa Faal listen to me carefully and I will tell him one after the other and tell him it’s not true. And if someone is seeking power, you have to have credibility no matter how much you want to be in power.

“The first thing Essa Faal said is that Gambian politics before does require education. That’s an insult to the first independence leaders of this country. He said those people were not educated. Does he want to tell me IM Garba Jahumpa was not educated? Does he want to tell me JC Faye wasn’t educated? Does he want to tell me Pierre Sarr Njie didn’t have knowledge? Does he want to tell me Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara didn’t have knowledge? Does he want to tell me Assan Musa Camara didn’t have knowledge? Does he want to tell me Sakouba Ceesay didn’t have knowledge? Sheriff Ceesay didn’t have knowledge? I can go on till tomorrow. These people were educated. So for him to insinuate those people are not educated means it’s you who should go and learn and also learn your history.

“Secondly, he said those who were wealthy were not into politics. Those people were not poor people. If he thinks he is rich, we respect him but our people who were here before were educated and rich. He has misled Gambians.

“He also said he was the one in charge of the TRRC. He was not in charge. He was an employee as a prosecutor. The journalist said that and we expected him to correct him to say he was not in charge. If the journalist didn’t know, he should make him know.

“And he said Gambian politics is dirty. That Gambians would be given cooking pots, threshers etc. And he said he didn’t want to enter into politics but the government grew suspicious of him and was hunting him. I swear Adama Barrow’s government has never gone after anyone. That too is not true. We knew Essa Faal will run for office and to prove that, when we were giving out the Covid rice, he too was going around giving Covid rice and writing people’s numbers and we were aware of what he said to the point they wanted to remove him from the TRRC but for the intervention of President Barrow. Because at that point the commission didn’t want to work with him anymore. And he was summoned, he knows what he was told and I also know it.

“He said the election has been rigged because they are giving out cooking pots and other things. He said running for president is difficult. He said he doesn’t have a structure, that he doesn’t have people for him in places. If he believes in his education, he should know what is involved in running for president in a country.

“And he said Adama Barrow’s ministers are each given three cars by the government. I want to tell Essa Faal that that is not true. Any minister you see has only one car and one utility car which makes it two. Let him tell Gambians which minister has three cars.

“He also said Gambia government has failed to reconcile the Gambian people. That was part of his responsibility because he was working for the truth and reconciliation commission. Because they even submitted their report, Essa Faal was gone. Who would Essa Faal blame? What we expected was he would follow everything to its logical conclusion and support the victims until they have their justice.”

Fabakary Tombong Jatta said on Wednesday President Adama Barrow’s first two years in office was marked by bad blood among citizens.

FTJ insisted the whole conflict was caused by UDP leader Darboe and it held President Barrow’s government in terms of delivery of development dividends.

FTJ said at President Barrow’s rally in his backyard Tallinding: “Honourable Fatoumata said something and Honourable Omar Amadou Jallow repeated it and Gambians are saying it quietly. Now we know why God made that for President Barrow. Fatoumatta said President Barrow could not work in the first two years of his term in office.

“But what was clear and the reason President Barrow trusted Ousainou Darboe so much to the point Gambians were wondering if there is a president… They did whatever they liked regarding government business. God enabled that for us to know who is Ousainou Darboe and his UDP people.

“What became clear is that when he fell out with the person he trusted (Darboe), this was when Gambians came to know who is President Adama Barrow.

“Fitna (conflict) decreased in the country, vileness decreased in the country and development started to come to Gambia. So if we had known you would have started your reign without your this old man.”

Ahead of the 4th December Presidential Election, #TeamGambia Organization has called on Gambians at home and abroad to ensure they maintain the peace. According to the organisation with their utmost dedication to duty, Team Gambia’s message for the remaining days of the election cycle to every one of its brethren is clear and precise:

Campaign in Peace. Vote in Peace. Go home in Peace. Celebrate in Peace. #GambiaWins

“We must never forget that our country is bigger than any one person, one party, one tribe or one religion. We are   ONE people, seeking a common destiny that includes education for our children, a healthcare system for our afflicted, infrastructure for our citizenry, job opportunities for our youth, access to technology throughout our land, and economic prosperity for all.”

Whilst calling on everyone to play their parts, it says none of these is possible without a peaceful election process and acceptance of the results.

#TeamGambia further notes that peace is the architect of meaningful development.

“When we accept and respect each other, our differences become small, and our commonalities become bigger. Which country would you have seen develop in the absence of peace? Every community, ward, village, district, city, and region in our country will prosper, as long as there is peace amongst the people,” the organisation maintained.

It adds that The Gambia will continue to fulfil its destiny of greatness, but peace must prevail and be championed and exercised by all for that to be possible.

“In our great democracy, each of our PEOPLE must be able to go to the polls, without threat or fear for their safety. And whatever their desired outcome, our country’s democratic ideals require citizens to accept the results of free and open elections.

According to #TeamGambia Organization “The People deserve to live in peace and tranquillity with their families, friends, neighbours, and citizens. The People must never accept, encourage, or enable violence. The People must maintain and enforce the integrity of the voting process. And the People must always maintain peace, as we can campaign, vote, and celebrate with whoever we want.”

It ends by clearly stating that its peace message is not an endorsement of any of the six presidential candidates. Encouraging all to accept the results and support the country’s newly elected leader’s legitimacy.

By Amara Thoronka

A judge in Sierra Leone [Hon. Justice Alhaji Momoh-Jah Stevens] has sentenced 65-year-old Mohamed Conteh to eight years imprisonment for sexually assaulting and impregnating his 17-year-old daughter.

The convict was before the court on a two-count indictment of incest contrary to section 10(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2012.

According to the particulars of offence, the Convict, Mohamed Conteh between the 1st January 2017 and 31st December 2017 at Orsu Guest House in Lungi northern Sierra Leone engaged in an act of sexual intercourse with the victim, his daughter. Conteh is also said to have had intercourse with the victim in August 2020 at Flymeaningo Guest House, Kambia District, northern Sierra Leone.

According to the victim, his father started making sexual advances at her in 2017 in Freetown (Sierra Leone’s capital), adding that on several occasions, his father (convict) approached her at night and had intercourse with her.

She noted that due to the severely beaten and sexual penetration by her father, she could no longer bear the situation, so she fled to her Aunty, Madam Kadie, the younger sister of the convict. The girl however stated that her aunt couldn’t remedy the situation so she was returned to her Father.

The high school sexually penetrated victim told the court that on two occasions in Lungi and Kambia, her father took her to herbalists for traditional healing after he referred to her as a witch who needed traditional treatment and counselling.

She pointed out that in each of those places her father lodged in a guest house where he invited her and sexually abused her and was later diagnosed to be five months pregnant.

In an initial statement, the accused (father) confirmed that he was in the same room with the victim at the very Orsu Guest House at Lungi for three months but had no intercourse with her.

The victim said upon noticing that she is pregnant, her father gave her a traditional medicine disguised as a syrup but she refused to drink and was severely beaten to the point that she did not remember anything but later woke up at the Kambia Government Hospital where she had a miscarriage of what was initially confirmed to be a twenty-four-week pregnancy.

Delivering his judgement, Justice Stevens noted that it was clear fact that the accused started sexual intercourse with the victim in Freetown in 2017.

“From the evidence of the victim, it seems to me that it was deliberate on the part of the accused to traffic the victim first from Freetown to Lungi at a guest house called Orsu Guest House where the victim said the accused first had sexual intercourse with her.”

“I therefore submit that the case of the prosecution is consistent and well corroborated and has been established beyond reasonable doubt as was provided in the case of Woolmington Vs Director of Public Prosecutions (1935),” he judged.

He emphasized, “The Defence case is weak and uncorroborated as the accused made several confessional statements such as taking the victim to a guest house in Lungi and shared the same room with her for three months without the consent or knowledge of a third party, and by taking the victim to Kambia District and shared the same bedroom with her for six months, again without the consent or knowledge of a third party.”

The judge asserted, “I therefore submit that the sole intention of the accused in taking the victim to Portloko District for three months and Kambia District for Six months, sharing the same bedroom was to have sexual intercourse with the victim, which the accused did, as supported by both endorsed medical reports obtained on behalf of the victim. I therefore hold that the accused is guilty on counts 1 and 2.”

Justice Stevens described the act of the accused as “sinful, disdainful and unorthodox.”

The convict accused the police to have cooked up the allegations against him, saying that he had done nothing wrong.

Justice Momoh-Jah Stevens sentenced the accused to eight years imprisonment and also ordered him to compensate the victim with Thirty Million Leones (Three Thousand United States Dollars approximately) ‘for emotional distress, pain and suffering’ the victim endured in the hands of the accused, her dad.

United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe has dismissed reports he has died, calling those who spread the reports as bad citizens from bad parties.

Reports were circulated on social media Wednesday of UDP leader Darboe passing away.

But Mr Darboe told Pa Modou Bojang over telephone in an audio that has been shared online: “They are just desperate but a human being regardless of whatever religion you are, this is not a good behavior.

“It shows the people who did this, the party they belong to are bad parties. You don’t wish anything for someone other than death? You pray for someone if you hear he is sick.

“These people are not people with good behavior. These are bad citizens. But I am here and nothing has happened to me. I just returned from African Princess Hotel where I had a meeting with former Ghana president John Mahama.”

Mr Darboe has however been recovering from home following an injury he sustained during campaign in Jarra.

The Inspector-General of Police have rejected a request for permit to peacefully protest against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) by the Gambia For 5 Years and Peace-Building group.

This is in direct response to several allegations of intimidation and unprofessionalism against the institutions Chief Electoral Officer Samboujang Njie.

In his response, the IGP stated that,

“This office writes to inform you that your request cannot be met at the moment due to the following reasons: The current political environment is filled with a lot of political activities (campaigns) ongoing with few days before the elections thus, it is not fitting to hold a march past against the body responsible to elections in the country.

“Secondly, the Gambia Police Force has made strategic deployments across the country in a bid to ensure peaceful conduct of elections (before, during and after) and does not intend to issue any permit for such gathering that may compromise the security of the country.”

In response Ebrima Soribah the group’s president noted that they have accepted the police decision “in good faith” but, will now hold a press briefing on the matter.

The Gambia’s Presidential Election slated for 4^th December 2021 will go on as scheduled, the country’s electoral body has assured Election Observer Groups.

Speaking at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre at Bijilo, IEC Chairman, Alieu Momar Njie said that the polls are expected to be very organised, assuring the election observers, the media and the Gambian people that it will be free, fair, credible and transparent.

Njie further noted that of the 26 candidates who submitted nomination papers, 5 withdrew from the race, 15 were rejected and 6 were accepted. The six who were successful will contest the December election.

Some rejected candidates including Citizens’ Alliance (CA) Dr Ismaila Ceesay and Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) Mai Ahmed Fatty took to the courts and had judgements in their favour, judgements the IEC has appealed.

“Every aspect of the electoral process is observed by political party agents, starting from the registration of voters where all candidates and parties are asked to send agents to observe everything,”  Alieu Momar Njie said.

He further noted that this year saw a 100% approval of the voters register.

“Fortunately, this year out of the 962,157 voters registered not one single objection was raised, so the voters list is 100% approved”

He noted that as usual the votes will be counted on the spot and party agents will be given the results in each polling station. He however maintained that only the Chairman of the IEC has the authority to announce final elections.

“I would like to assure the electorate, political parties and candidates that the IEC will conduct free, fair and credible election come December and beyond,” Alieu Momar Njie said.

Momodou Sowen is the Deputy Inspector General of The Gambia Police Force, he informed observers that the country’s security situation remains relatively calm, peaceful and stable. Emphasising that no major disturbances have been recorded so far.

“Since the start of the process, we have not recorded any major incident so far and we are not anticipating any problem. We have deployed our men in every polling station across the country, so we anticipate a smooth process,” DIG Sowen said.

By Dawda Baldeh

President Adama Barrow the National People’s Party’s presidential candidate has told Senegalese private Television 2STV at the State House in Banjul that he is confident of winning the presidential election on Saturday.

Gambians will exercise their constitutional right to elect a new president who will be leading the country for the next five years.

And speaking exclusively to 2STV, President Barrow said the campaign has been peaceful while expressing gratitude over the warm welcomed accorded him from different parts of the country as he met with voters.

“I am confident that we are going to win the election. From all the regions we visited, we have been the majority. This has given us the hope that Gambians are behind us and they want President Barrow to continue his development projects he has for the country,” the president said.

The president said since the beginning of the campaign, his campaign contingent haven’t encountered any difficulties.

“We have no difficulties. People really appreciate the work am doing for the country. It is just three days before the election and the gap is huge [with respect to] the polls. I’m not sure if the opponents can level it up. We have the trust in Gambians,” the president said.