The Supreme Court has ordered that the D100,000 it awarded as in favour of President Adama Barrow against the UDP be recovered from the D300,000 UDP lodged with the court as security for costs.

“This court awards costs in the sum of D100,000 against the petitioner in favour of the applicant/first respondent. Such costs are to be recovered from the deposit of D300,000 lodged with the court by the petitioner,” Justice Hassan B Jallow ordered in a ruling on Tuesday striking out UDP’s petition.

UDP had sued President Adama Barrow over the December 4 presidential election, accusing the president of bribing voters.

But the party’s petition ran into serious trouble on Tuesday over its failure to respect the law around filing a petition.

The Supreme Court had earlier this month asked UDP to provide security in the sum of D300,000 for the payment of all costs relating to its lawsuit.

UDP had prayed for the court to fix the amount the party would give as security for the payment of all costs.

UDP’s commando Momodou Sabally vowed that ‘it’s not over yet’ as he reacted to UDP’s petition collapsing at the first hurdle.

Lawyers for President laid an ambush for UDP regarding the way and manner the party filed its petition – and the Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed UDP failed to comply with the law around filing a petition.

It’s the latest heartbreak for UDP in a space of less than a month, with supporters of the party struggling to make sense of their devastating defeat in the hands of President Adama Barrow in the December 4 poll.

Momodou Sabally told UDP supporters today: “If you (Adama Barrow) think you have escaped, you haven’t. This is not over yet. There is law in this country and its course is not yet exhausted.

“And let it be known this is not an issue for just UDP. GDC is with us, there are people who are not involved in party politics who also want the truth to prevail.

“So let UDP supporters still accept God’s decision again and continue fighting against injustice. The prayers have been answered but only God knows when it will be revealed. We should not our hard work has not gone in vail.”

Momodou Sabally had earlier said it was his belief the Supreme Court would rule in UDP’s favour regarding the petition.

By Premium Times

Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has urged the Africa Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to take immediate action on the recommendation by Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRCC) that the former president, Yahya Jammeh, be prosecuted.

The TRCC recommends that Mr Jammeh and several of his accomplices be prosecuted for extra-judicial killings of citizens and foreigners, rape, clampdown on the press and opposition among other crimes perpetrated in his 22-year rule in The Gambia.

Describing the recommendation as a ‘turning point for justice’ in The Gambia, Mr Falana first charged the Equatorial Guinea president, Teodoro Obiang, to not continue to “protect” Mr Jammeh or shield him from prosecution.

He then called on the AU and UN to act swiftly to ensure Mr Jammeh is extradited to Senegal to face trial before the Extraordinary African Chambers.

A statement he released on Tuesday reads, “In view of the fact that the victims were not only Gambian nationals, the Commission recommends that a special international court be set up to try Jammeh and others in West Africa, but outside of Gambia. I call on the leadership of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that Mr Jammeh and senior members of his government are extradited to Senegal to face trial before the Extraordinary African Chambers in the Senegalese courts, for the sake of Jammeh’s victims.

“I believe that the recommended trial will not require separate structures and institutions. With the existence of the Extraordinary African Chambers, the AU leaders do not have to reinvent the wheel. Immediately extraditing Mr Jammeh and others to face trial before the Chambers would save time and resources. The Chambers’ statute gives it competence over crimes against humanity and torture as defined in the statute. The definitions of these crimes generally mirror those used in the Rome Stature of the International Criminal Court and other international tribunals.

“Mr Jammeh will be entitled to his fair trial rights before the Extraordinary Chambers, including those guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights both of which Senegal has ratified. These human rights treaties outline the minimum guarantees that must be afforded to defendants in criminal proceedings.”

Mr Falana appealed to the European Union and other global bodies committed to the cause of justice and accountability for international crimes in Africa to support the trial with adequate funds.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) went further to explain the workings of the Extraordinary African Chambers and the process Mr Jammeh’s trial should follow.

“The Extraordinary African Chambers have four levels: an Investigative Chamber with four investigative judges, an Indicting Chamber of three judges, a Trial Chamber, and an Appeals Chamber. The Trial Chamber and the Appeals Chamber each have two Senegalese Judges and a President from another African Union member state. The chambers also have an administrator to ensure the smooth functioning of their activities and to handle all non-judicial aspects of the work.

“Jammeh’s victims must be afforded the opportunity to participate in proceedings as civil parties. Should he be convicted of the charges against him, the victims of his crimes must receive adequate compensation, and reparations, including guarantee of non-repetition.”

The TRCC after the release of the report had called on individuals who made full and remorseful disclosure before the commission and were not involved in crimes against humanity to apply for amnesty.

The Gambian government promised to release a white paper on or before May 25, 2022, on the commission’s report.

United Democratic Party executive official Yankuba Dabo has advised the party to take its petition to the ECOWAS court.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out UDP’s petition for failing to comply with the law around filing a petition. The top court also ordered the party to pay D100,000.

Unhappy with the striking out of the petition, Yankuba Dabo said: “I would advise my party, UDP Gambia, to continue with our petition appeal matter to the ECOWAS court of Justice.

“The overwhelming evidence of election fraud that marred the December 4th presidential elections cannot be ignored!”

He is the second UDP executive member to react aside leader Ousainou Darboe.

China put hundreds of thousands more people under lockdown on Tuesday to try and stamp out a worsening coronavirus outbreak, as infections hit new highs in multiple US states and Europe.

Covid surges have wreaked havoc around the world, with many nations in Europe and North America trying to strike a balance between economically punishing restrictions and controlling the spread of the virus.

The United States halved the isolation period for asymptomatic cases to try and blunt the disruptions, while France ordered firms to have employees work from home for at least three days a week.

Despite facing a much smaller outbreak compared with global virus hotspots, China has not relaxed its “zero Covid” strategy, imposing stay-at-home orders in many parts of the city of Yan’an.

The hundreds of thousands of affected residents there joined the 13 million people in the city of Xi’an, who entered a sixth day of home confinement as China battled its highest daily case numbers in 21 months.

I’m about to be starved to death,” wrote one Xi’an resident on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

“There’s no food, my housing compound won’t let me out, and I’m about to run out of instant noodles… please help!”

Many Xi’an residents have similarly complained on social media about the restrictions, which include a ban on driving and only one member of a household permitted to go outside for groceries every three days.

This lockdown is the most sweeping in China since the similarly sized city Wuhan was cut off from the world in the early days of the pandemic.

Source:  AFP

By Amara Thoronka

Childhood, Poverty and desire for films

I grew up at Jalloh Terrace, a large, populated community in east Freetown, the capital of the West African state of Sierra Leone. The movie ‘Issakaba’ was released in 2000 at a time when most of the houses in the Jalloh Terrace community [mine inclusive] were without television. I was in my early stage at primary/elementary school.

Children who wanted to watch films would have to go to the privileged few, behave themselves and watch films from Nollywood (Nigerian film industry), Bollywood (Indian film industry) Hollywood (United States film industry) and Ghallywood (Ghanaian film industry).

Sometimes we are carried away by the appealing scenes of some movies which would cause us to be late to return to our respective homes. Such lateness could warrant knocks on the head and/or lashes on the buttocks as a form of punishment for staying away from home at a time we should be studying or be in bed. The few families who had television were highly respected. We sometimes helped them draw or fetch water from the well as a way of having undenied access to their homes to watch more movies.

The plot of Issakaba

To date, many adult Africans are of the assertion that the Nollywood movie, Issakaba, is the greatest African action movie ever. It is a 2000 Nigerian film in which a secret society turned vigilante boys called “Issakabba Boys” use charms and cutlasses to fight against serious crimes such as armed robbery, murder, ritual killing and more.

The justice-driven Issakabba boys are led by the protagonist (main actor) of the movie, Ebube (Sam Dede). They are dressed in black and red with cutlasses in their hands and charms on their bodies. The kingdom is overwhelmed with crime and evil everywhere. Armed robbers have a superpower that is given to them by evil traditional medicine men. The robbers are also being protected by some corrupt elders and security personnel occupying influential positions in the kingdom.

Amidst challenges, the Issakaba were able to bring to book all armed robbers, corrupt police officers, crooked elders and evil medicine men. Issakaba punishes evil and crime doers by either chopping off their limbs or heads or burning them alive.

Impact on childhood

I was eight years old when the movie was released. After a few weeks of watching Issakaba, I and other male children started using the actions in the movie in our interactions and fun games. Some could take the role of Issakaba boys while others acted as the armed robbers, native medicine men, elders, police and other villagers.

Instead of using cutlasses like the Issakaba boys, we instead used dry okra sticks and other light objects to punish the wrongdoers. We used palm oil or any red-coloured liquid to symbolize the blood of an amputated criminal.

In the absence of black clothes used by Issakaba, we tied a small piece of black cloth on our wrists and heads. When the hand or head of a criminal was to be cut off, the leader of our own Issakaba play would shout “Eeeeee” and the rest would say “Sakabaaaaaa.”

The Issakaba play influenced our play style for years. We put so much effort, time and energy to imitate characters, actions and even sounds in the Issakaba film. Even when we were often warmed and beaten to stop such a play, we were adamant and resistant. The play was everywhere. People talked about the movie in schools, offices, marketplaces, homes, social gatherings, public transport – everywhere.

We could watch the film twice a week but would still want to watch it the following week. Personally, at around 10 years old, I had a small notebook for proverbs, idioms and other unique expressions used in the play.

The ones I will never forget are: “The river does not flow throw down the forest without bringing down trees,” “The child who says the mother will not sleep, he too will not sleep,” “The smoke and the rabbit have never been friends,” “Your evil deeds have come to light so this is the end of the road,” “When the fire dies the ashes remain to bear testimony of the flames,” and “When the birds become too big for its cage you let it go.” The film preoccupied the leisure moments of kids both on-screen and in their playing.

To parents and other adults

The media, especially televised content, have an indelible and influential impact on someone. Television is far much powerful in influencing the attitude and behaviour of kids than any mass medium. TV is audiovisual, a blend of video and audio. Its contents are graphic and captivating.

Parents and all adults should endeavour to guide the TV contents which their children are exposed to. Children should not be exposed to films or TV/video programmes with sexual, gory and violent scenes. Research has shown that cartoons and teaching videos can help children to be smart, bold and friendly; while violent, drug-addicted and sexual TV content can influence children to engage in antisocial activities and early sex.

Schools should also embrace visual teaching aides to enable pupils to have lasting imagery of concepts, practices, techniques and principles.

A senior reporter with Foroyaa newspaper Abdoulie Dibba has died, the newspaper confirmed on Tuesday.

In a statement, Foroyaa said Mr Dibba’s death was confirmed by his Family in the early hours of Tuesday 28th Dec 2021.

Foroyaa said: He died after battling with illness. He was indeed a voice for Farmers and the rural Gambia. His stories made so many impacts on the lives of Farmers and people in the rural Gambia. He was called the ‘Farmers Eye’.

“May Allah grant Him Janatul Firdaws.”

Opposition United Democratic Party’s petition against the 4 December presidential election has been thrown out by the Supreme Court.

The development came on Tuesday morning, with the justices of the top court also ordering UDP to pay D100,000 to President Barrow.

The justices held that UDP failed to comply with a rule around election petition, as argued in one motion by lawyers for President Adama Barrow.

UDP failed to comply with Rule 11 which says when filing an election petition, the petitioner must provide a notice of the presentation of a petition and of the nature of the proposed security accompanied by a copy of the petition. This also must be served by the petitioner on the respondent within five days after the presentation, exclusively of the day of presentation.

UDP leader Darboe dismissed the decision of the Supreme Court saying UDP did not lose because of the merit of the case. Instead he said the striking out of the petition was done out of a technicality.

But one lawyer said: “The Petitioner was way off. With their years in practice, I am quite sure they were aware of this rule but took their chances. So the case lost even before it started. That explains the amount of court costs awarded to President Elect Barrow…a whopping GMD100K.”

United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe has reacted the Supreme Court’s decision to strike out his party’s election dispute petition.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the UDP failed to comply with the rules of filing an election petition. The top court struck the petition out and placed a D100,000 compensation cost on UDP to be paid to President Barrow.

But Darboe said, in a message circulated by his supporters: “?????? ?????????? ????? ??? ????? ???? ???????? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ?? ????????????.  ?? ???? ???????? ??? ????????????? ?? ???? ???????, ??’?? ???????? ??? ??? ???????????? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ????.

“?? ???? ??? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ???????? ??? ??? ????????? ????? ?? ????? ??? ? ???? ????????????. ?? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ????????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ??? ???????.”

CA leader Dr Ismaila Ceesay has insisted it is now time for Gambians to unite and build their nation, speaking amid the Supreme Court striking out UDP’s election dispute petition.

UDP will have another day to forget as the party has lost its last hope of getting anything out of the December 4 presidential election.

The party lost the election to President Adama Barrow but refused to accept the result and mounted a legal battle. But the Supreme Court has struck out the petition and has ordered UDP to pay D100,000.

Dr Ismaila Ceesay wrote Tuesday afternoon: “The Dec 4 election is lost and won. It’s now time to unite and build the nation. It’s now time to provide our people with the most basic of their needs.

“Jobs for young people, water for communities, quality education and healthcare etc. It’s time we build this country for the future.”

President Adama Barrow has thanked Gambians for their trust in him following the Supreme Court’s decision in throwing out UDP’s petition.

UDP sped off to court after rejecting the December 4 election result, accusing the president of bribing voters.

The Supreme Court however on Tuesday struck out the petition after finding UDP guilty of not filing its petition in line with the Elections Petition Rules. The party was also ordered to pay D100,000.

President Barrow tweeted: “I am pleased that Gambians have decided. Our democracy works, citizens can rely on our judiciary to lay their complaint and justice would be served. Thank you Gambia for your trust in me.”

National People’s Party deputy spokesman Seedy Njie has reacted that UDP has been living on deception and fooling its people following the party’s Supreme Court misery.

UDP has lost its legal challenge to the election result after the Supreme Court threw out its petition Tuesday morning. The court held the party failed to abide by the rules of filing a petition.

Seedy Njie told reporters at the high court after their victory: “We knew the will of the Gambian people must be sustained. For us as a party, we know the United Democratic Party over the years have been living on deception, have been living fooling and hoodwinking their people and also by hypnotizing them.

“You see people who have no value to their party, who have no value to the country, who have no agenda and program for this country. What they wanted was to destroy people and we are never distracted.

“We are committed to serving this country and we committed to delivering the services as social contract that we have with the Gambian people.”

Senegal on Monday launched a new 1.3 billion U.S. dollar commuter railway meant to ease traffic gridlock and modernize a crumbling public transport system.

President of Senegal Macky Sall on Monday launched the operating phase of the Regional Express Train, or TER, which will connect the city of Dakar to the new city of Diamniadio, around 40km to the east.

It’s expected to carry some 115,000 passengers daily, according to the Senegalese authorities.

A 45-minute ride on the train will cost commuters $3, although shorter trips will be much cheaper.

Speaking at the launch, President Sall said the goal of the train is to spread out the country’s economy.

Sall said Dakar currently holds “26 percent of the Senegalese population and nearly 70 percent of the country’s economic activity”, with only “0.3 percent of the national territory”.

The TER, the first new railway since independence from France in 1960, is one of the flagship projects of the Emerging Senegalese Plan.  Sall’s plans also include a new airport, roads, sports arenas and a sleek conference center. (CGTN Africa)

The Supreme Court has struck out United Democratic Party’s petition against the December 4 presidential election result.

Supreme Court top justices led by Justice Hassan B Jallow held Tuesday that UDP failed to comply with Rule 11 of the Elections Petition Rules.

That rule says when a petitioner files a petition, the petitioner is required to file a notice showing the proposed security, nature of the security and must attach the petition itself within five days of the filing of the petition.

The top court also ordered UDP to pay D100,000.

Officials of President Adama Barrow’s National People’s Party celebrated as they came out of court on Tuesday morning.

The UDP has refused to accept the December 4 election result, accusing President Adama Barrow of bribing voters. UDP also made the charge foreigners voted in the election.

The Supreme Court has struck out United Democratic Party’s petition against the December 4 presidential election result.

Supreme Court top justices led by Justice Hassan B Jallow held Tuesday that UDP failed to comply with Rule 11 of the Elections Petition Rules.

That rule says when a petitioner files a petition, the petitioner is required to file a notice showing the proposed security, nature of the security and must attach the petition itself within five days of the filing of the petition.

The top court also ordered UDP to pay D100,000.

Officials of President Adama Barrow’s National People’s Party celebrated as they came out of court on Tuesday morning.

The UDP has refused to accept the December 4 election result, accusing President Adama Barrow of bribing voters. UDP also made the charge foreigners voted in the election.

By: Christian Conteh

AdvocAid an organisation that works on providing holistic access to justice via free legal representation, education empowerment, detainee support and a moving forward programme has strongly condemned what it described as ‘the tragic loss of life of a baby who died in a police cell in Makeni, Northern Sierra Leone while being detained with her mother’. The mother is said to have been arrested on allegations of stealing a handbag.

“AdvocAid has over the period repeatedly called for pregnant women and women with young children not to be detained and instead to be supported through alternatives to incarceration such as community support, mediation or diversion,” a statement from the institution reads.

Adding that, “this is in line with the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (Article 30), UN Standards for the Treatment of Female Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Rule 64), and Sierra Leone’s Bail Regulations 2018.”

This mother AdvocAid maintained was arrested for a minor, non-violent offence and should not have been detained, especially with a young baby. The institution calls for the police to ‘immediately and unconditionally release the mother and for the Ministry of Social Welfare to provide the required medical and psycho-social support.’

Whilst it will be investigating the matter further it calls on the Independent Police Complaints Board and the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone to also undertake an investigation.

“AdvocAid calls on the Government of Sierra Leone to urgently review all cases of pregnant women and women with young children detained in police stations and correctional facilities across the country.

“We urge the Government to facilitate early releases of this group of women as a COVID-19 prevention measure given the increasing infection rates, in line with our press statements of 25 March and 8 July 2020, and calls by the UN, WHO and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”

The rights group further stressed the need for petty offences to be decriminalised.

AdvocAid works with girls and women caught up in Sierra Leone’s often unjust legal system. It is the only organisation in West Africa providing holistic access to justice via free legal representation, education empowerment, detainee support and  ensuring detainees leave as stronger women with brighter prospects.

Police have issued a statement contradicting a report by What’s On Gambia that a driver was seriously beaten by an angry mob after killing a boy.

Police in a statement on Monday clarified: “We can confirm an accident which occurred on Sunday 26th December 2021.

“The accident involves a Motorcycle with registration number KM 5583 C ridden by Makhary Thiam of Latri-Kunda German and motor vehicle with registration number KM 6724 D driven by Muhammed Darboe of the same address.

“Preliminary accident investigations revealed that the motorcycle was riding towards Manjai when the private car left its lane knocking the motorcycle carrying a passenger known as Modou Penn. The driver tried fleeing the accident scene leading to a hot pursuit and was intercepted at Pipeline where an angry mob attacked damaging the vehicle.

“Personnel of the PIU intervened and rescued the driver for further investigations.

“Makhary Thiam sustained minor injuries and was rushed to Serrekunda General Hospital where he was treated and discharged. Meanwhile, police probe continues and appropriate actions will follow.”

By Christian Conteh

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Women In Liberation and Leadership (WILL) has said that her organisation will keep advocating for the implementation of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) Report recommendations especially those that involve sexual and gender-based violence.

Fatou Baldeh MBE was speaking to The Fatu Network in an exclusive interview following the release of the TRRC Report to the public.

“As someone who has been working directly with victims this is quite encouraging because for us it shows government commitment, which we are very encouraged by,” she said.

Fatou further noted that often issues of sexual and gender-based violence as serious as they are, are not given the much-needed importance when compared to other crimes.

“Our fear was that more attention would be placed on crimes like murder and enforced disappearance than sexual gender-based violence. So that’s why we have been working tirelessly these few years to make sure that victims of sexual gender-based violence are heard from and their stories inform the decision-making process,” Fatou said.

Adding that her institution is very pleased that the names of victims who came forward were mentioned and criminal liability attached to certain individuals.

When asked about whether her organisation will be monitoring the implementation phase of the TRRC process she replied,

“absolutely, we shall be following the process through, this is another milestone, there are more things to be done. As an organisation we shall continue to popularise the TRRC Report and advocate for implementation of the recommendations around sexual and gender-based violence,” she noted.

WILL is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) aiming to transform and protect the lives and rights of Gambian women and girls in The Gambia.