The Gambian Government has signed a grant for an electricity supply project to the tune of $25 Million. According to The Gambia’s Ambassador to the United States of America, His Excellency Dawda Docka Fadera who led the negotiation efforts that culminated into the signing of the grant, the amount is expected to increase the access rate of electricity supply throughout the country.

The project was signed between the Government of The Gambia and the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Board of Directors of the Government of the United States on Tuesday 16^th November 2021 in Washington D.C.

The programme is made up of two components. First, a governance reform project which aims to develop a more effective, accountable and transparent power sector governance in The Gambia. A second, an operational project which seeks to improve the country’s capability to operate The Gambia’s Power System in a manner that reduces the frequency and duration of outages.

Speaking at the ceremony in Washington D.C, The Gambia’s Ambassador to the United States of America, His Excellency Dawda Docka Fadera, commended the Government and people of the United States of America for supporting the implementation of what he described as policy reforms crucial to tackling constraints that impede economic growth in The Gambia.

Ambassador Fadera observed that the assistance comes at a time when the Government of The Gambia is working strenuously to meet Universal Access to electricity by 2025.

Addressing the occasion from Banjul through video conferencing, the US Ambassador to The Gambia, His Excellency Richard C. Paschall, thanked Ambassador Fadera and described him as a great ally who has been working with the US to deepen and broaden ties between the two countries. Ambassador Paschall used the opportunity to assure the Gambian delegation that the US would remain a firm and steadfast friend of The Gambia.

The occasion was graced by the Honourable Ministers of Petroleum and Energy and Finance and Economic Affairs, Honourable Fafa Sanyang and Honourable Mambury Njie respectively.

Former International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Beatrice Allen who currently serves as the first vice president of the Gambia National Olympic Committee (GNOC) has officially expressed her interest to run for the office of president of the committee in the27th November elective congress.

As an aspiring president, Madam Allen has already made it clear that the new GNOC Executive Board under her leadership will contribute immensely to the transformation of sports in the Gambia. This she says will be done in accordance with the Basic Universal Principles of Good Governance.

On Monday Beatrice Allen unveiled her ‘Reform Agenda’ covering 2021- 2024. The agenda contains a 10-point action plan based on her vision to keep The Gambia on track for national and international sporting success.

The ten key action points are:

1. The Promotion of Good Governance in the NOC and the National Federations (NFs) at all times.
2. Promotion of sports through financial support to NFs and revenue generation
3. Promotion of diversity and the participation of Women in Sports
4. Ensuring Community service for sustainability
5. Encouraging the development of high performance
6. Improving collaboration with government and other key stakeholders
7. Focusing on strategies leading to international sporting success
8. Promoting the fundamental principles and values of Olympism
9. Ensuring Athletes Career Development support
10. And training and Development of Coaches and Sport Administrators

Madam Allen believes that her team of professionals will implement this vision for the development of Gambian sports, and everything they do will be done using the highest standards of professionalism, excellence and integrity.

Beatrice Allen has served in various capacities including at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Consultant/ Coordinator- National Trade Fair in the Gambia, Executive Director- Trade & Investment Promotion in The Gambia. She is a Member of the Lions Club of Cape Point; Member of the Special Olympics (Gambia); First Vice-President of the National Olympic Committee of Gambia; Member of the Women and Sports Commission of Committee of Gambia; Honorary Member of the Gambia Softball Association; Honorary Member of the Gambia Golf Association; Honorary Member, ANOCA Zone II; First Vice-President of the World Baseball Softball Confederation among several others.

She holds a BA in International Development; a Diploma in Gender and Development; a Diploma in Gender Responsive Project Implementation and a Certificate in Training of Gender Trainers.

Source BBC Website

US Vice-President Kamala Harris will become the first woman to briefly be given presidential powers as Joe Biden undergoes his regular health check. President Biden will transfer power to Ms Harris for the period in which he is placed under anaesthesia for a routine colonoscopy on Friday.

The medical examination will be Mr Biden’s first as president and comes on the eve of his 79th birthday. Ms Harris will temporarily take control of the US military and nuclear weapons.

“The vice-president will work from her office in the West Wing during this time,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Ms Harris, 57, is the first woman – and the first black and South Asian American – to be elected US vice-president.

Ms Psaki said the temporary transfer of powers in such circumstances was not unprecedented, and that it was part of the process set out in the US constitution.

“As was the case when President George W Bush had the same procedure in 2002 and 2007,” her statement said.

Mr Biden, the oldest US president to take office, had his last full medical examination in December 2019.

At the time, his doctor released a medical report describing him as “healthy, vigorous” and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency”.

The president’s latest health check comes on the day that the US House of Representatives approved his landmark $1.9tn (£1.4tn) Build Back Better Act.

The sweeping social spending and climate package is considered a key pillar of Mr Biden’s agenda.

By Khadijah Aja Tambajang

November 19th, 2021.

Gambians are preparing for what is bound to be a historic Presidential election. Historic in the fact that from 1995 to 2016, Gambians knew nothing but tense and volatile elections. Most Gambians under the age of 30 would tell you that green is the colour they associate most with Gambian politics.

It’s the party colour of the then autocratic APRC and has dominated our public media space under the leadership of Yayah Jammeh from 1994 to 2016. Not that there weren’t other political parties, it’s just that Jammeh’s grip on the local traditional media meant that up until 15 years ago with the advent of social networks, most Gambians consumed heavily moderated state-controlled media content.

The upcoming December 2021 Presidential election has given us a rainbow – a true blessing as the rainbow is. In 2016, the tides changed with the creation of Coalition 2016, choosing the colour gray as their organization colour. The coalition comprised of seven political parties: United Democratic Party (UDP); People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS); National Reconciliation Party (NRP); Peoples Progressive Party (PPP); the National Congress Party (NCP); the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC); the Inter-Party Coordination and Unification Committee (IPCOU). Two Independent National Assembly Members, Committee for Democratization, Sustainable Peace and Development (CDSPD), and other civil society organizations.

After many failed attempts to beat Jammeh at the polls, the parties realized their strength was in a collective strive, not individualist aspirations. This was truly a national and diaspora effort to free The Gambia from one of its most brutal sons and has become a bookcase example of how to peacefully uproot a dictatorship.

The diaspora component, in particular, was crucial in the struggle by exposing and amplifying the voices of dissent due to the repressive nature of the then toxic political environment. Activist and media organizations such as DUGA, GDF, GYU, Coalition for Change, Freedom Radio, Gainako, Diasporium, The Gambian Echo, The Fatou Network and many others contributed immensely towards our freedom.

In December 2016, a new inconspicuous and achromatic shade of gray beamed through, riding on the coattails of a very inexperienced but lucky leader, Adama Barrow, a former UDP member, who won 45% of the votes under the Coalition 2016 ticket. It was the Italian polymath and painter, Leonardo Da Vinci who stated, “A gray day provides the best light” and Coalition 2016 did just that for all Gambians.

Collectively as a nation, we happily applauded for anyone but Jammeh. Anyone but a king wannabe, we said. There was a national high and international benevolence. The Gambia became the world’s darling overnight. The seemingly dull gray folks pushed out the vibrant and boisterous green party out of office.

In retrospect, the gray of Coalition 2016, synonymous with our second liberation (first was from colonialism) mirrored our grim national mood. According to psychology, we think of gray as solemn. It’s not a colour of extremes, but rather of middle ground, of reasonable agreement. The dull nature of the Coalition 2016 colour itself and its unassuming methods kept the nation guessing its possibility to succeed and had us all on the edge of our seats. Coalition 2016 became a mockery magnet for Jammeh. He underestimated the gray folks – to his detriment.

Three years into office, the mysterious and shady nature of the colour gray rubbed off Coalition 2016’s flagbearer, President Adama Barrow. The man whose now party colour, gray is nowhere on the rainbow spectrum, slid his way through the rainbow positioning himself as a player- a stranger imposing himself on historic dominant party colours, red (PDOIS), yellow (UDP), blue (NRP), former blue now pink (PPP), and purple (GDC).

President Barrow subliminally hijacked Coalition 2016 by taking most of its members from other parties and then took their colours as his now party, National People’s Party’s (NPP) official party colour. Gray too became a big boy overnight in Gambian politics, showcasing that President Barrow must not be underestimated.

Just as power emboldened President Barrow, freedom too emboldened Gambians. It took only a few months of President Barrow being in office for new political parties to pop up. The political party colour struggle began with the mushrooming of dozens of new parties due to our newfound freedom. During the Presidential nomination process in October 2021, 26 presidential aspirates submitted their applications but only six parties NPP, NUP, PDOIS, UDP, GDC, and one independent candidate qualified on November 4th, 2021.

Colours colliding

Gambians under the age of 30 most likely do not remember presidential elections this boisterous, emotional and exciting. Gambians are free once more to express themselves sans reserve. The cacophony on social media is at fever pitch. The debates, insults, arguments and absurd tribal divide have taken over the Gambia media space. Each party is aggressively selling their agenda with most parties being unreserved in their opposing tactics. Gambians are blinded by team gray, team yellow, team red, team blue & white, team orange, and team purple. Sentiments are raw as we only have two weeks left to elections. The media blitz is both entertaining and captivating for an audience who had only been accustomed to seeing APRC’s green dominate the media space during elections. These elections are very different due to their kaleidoscopic nature. Each party is busy churning out their spiel justifying why we should favour them:

◊ Team Essa Faal, the independent candidate with his accomplished local and diaspora strategy team is acting superstar and promises to be the saviour that will uplift us from deep stagnation. The newie high-flying-high-strong (as proven by his nomination transport fiasco speech) politician is paddling his way into the belly of the country to share his message. He too wants us to give him a chance to turn around our country as their campaign slogan states. His supporters are young, energetic and ready for system change.

◊ GDC’s flamboyant Mama Kandeh is busy attacking the incumbent on his ‘ineffectiveness’ and his ‘naxanteh’ (deceiving) politics. Both Barrow and Kandeh have been calling for a so-called unification of Gambians via a very dangerous and sly strategy — by going to bed with the APRC camp. Both men have bitterly split up the APRC cake to their benefit, under the disguise of a ‘unified’ Gambia. If any party understands showmanship, it is GDC.

Their leader, Kandeh understands the power of the media better than PDOIS and UDP, as he was heavily visible and available to the press pre-2016. This might also be because Kandeh had more liberty than PDOIS and UDP hence the mainstream suspicion that he was always Yayah Jammeh’s proxy.

◊ PDOIS’ Halifa Sallah is talking directly to Gambians for a chance to deliver a credible and socially-inclusive government with his cogent arguments. They too have not been left behind in media framing. They have young influential faces trying very hard to showcase a less rigid party that will be for all Gambians whilst trying to debunk the notion that they will not turn us into a socialist state, as the socialism stigma is generally associated with PDOIS. Their poverty eradication focus is one we have heard plenty of times from politicians yet to be in the system – once in, they soon realize that it’s a herculean task that many end up quitting.

Does PDOIS have what it takes to uplift Gambian’s socio-economic status in five years, since Sallah claims to only want to serve one term? The ‘conscience’ of Gambian politics has been busy adding new PDOIS members to his steadfast supporter base due to his party’s new mainstream communication strategy. One must confess that he is one of our politicians whose rhetoric has been most consistent – even if he scares plenty with his sometimes rigid manner.

◊ NPP’s emboldened incumbent President is flexing his muscle by constantly attacking his ‘Famaa’ (Darboe, his former Godfather), endlessly calling on him to retire on the campaign trail. His party has been continuously bombarding us with manifested infrastructure development videos forgetting about the Coalition 2016 promises that got him into office. His media handlers are trying to portray a man on a mission to turn The Gambia into a first-world country overnight, missing out on the human impact he has had on the lives of the average Gambian since he came into office. We want to know how he will curb the disastrous infant/mother mortality rate in our country. We want to know when we can enjoy constant electricity like our Senegalese neighbours.

We want to know how he is dealing with corruption issues in government. Mr. President, we want to know how you will impact our lives beyond concrete and asphalt. We do not need a constant reminder of how you ‘saved’ us all from Jammeh in 2016. That is behind us. We need you to look forward. Mr. President, hubris is a deadly trap. Please bring down the temperature for our national unity and cohesion.

◊ UDP’s Ousainou Darboe is calling out President Barrow on his ‘corrupt’ and inept ways and trying to convince Gambians that UDP is truly not a Sosseh (Mandinka) party due to its ethnically diverse executive and membership. As he crisscrosses the country discussing his 5-Point Agenda, some of his staunchest militants are busy destroying his strides by foolishly boycotting media houses and personalities. Their media strategists and social media troopers are passionate and force-feeding us a new image of him – a softer, friendlier and agile Darboe. A man who we must give a chance to prove to us just how much he loves the Gambia. A man whose handlers say, paid the highest price in the fight for our freedom due to the forfeiting of his properties, the damaging of his lucrative law practice, and his eventual imprisonment by Jammeh’s jungle court.

A price many Gambians have paid as well during Jammeh’s repressive rule. Many believe that individuals such as Koro Ceesay, Solo Sandeng, Chief Ebrima Manneh, Alhagie Mamut Ceesay, Ebou Jobe, the 50 plus migrants massacred, and many more Gambians and non-Gambians Jammeh murdered, maimed, castrated, raped and psychologically tortured have all paid the ultimate price.

◊ NUP’s Abdoulie Jammeh, the dark horse as he is being called is a newie politician. This man who kept his cards close to his heart surprised all by breezing through the nomination process and beating out better known or heavily branded parties. The boy from Satay Ba (slang for Brikama) really shook Kairaba Avenue. NUP is silently making strides in their western region base, which can be a spoiler for both UDP and NPP. As the local saying goes, he has truly thrown sand in the big boy’s chereh / thiéré (mil couscous).

Looking back at the last five years, The Gambian has transformed into a better place for most of us, or at least for the people who are still not yearning for Yayah Jammeh’s return. There is an undeniable fact we are more at ease in our country. We feel that we can finally participate politically without retribution.

Whether the government is dealing appropriately with internal insecurity, the flourishing of blatant corruption, harnessing a thriving economy, putting in place a solid healthcare and education system, amongst other pertinent issues, that is another argument. What is for sure is, we finally have our individual liberties back. Now we can share and post photos of our candidates of choice on our social networks giving the Gambian social media space a rainbow effect without repression.

As we go to the voting booths with our beloved marbles in hand, it will be a proud moment to delight our eyes on the array of colourful metal boxes to be made up of orange, red, blue & white, yellow, purple, and gray. We have prayed for decades for a day like this; a day we can have options to drop our marbles into any box of our choice and then freely discuss our choices when we get home, without worrying about the Jammeh informal informants made up of our maids, gardeners, drivers and even neighbours.

Come December 5th, our new President is expected to peel himself off his party colour and embrace us all as Gambians, even if we did not vote for him. We envisage a leader that will allow us to weave our colourful expectations on our national fabric he is to safeguard.

Source: Foreign Policy Research Institute

This article is dedicated to all the victims of the Jammeh era. For more information, visit: https://victimscentergm.org/

The author is founder of MakalliMatta Consulting, a global communications firm based in SeneGambia.

Muhammed Kandoro Yaffa has called on citizens to vote for Mamma Kandeh and has expressed disgust at the decision of their leader Ayatollah Musa Yali Batchilly to back President Adama Barrow.

Mr Yaffa is the senior administrative secretary of the Gambia Action Party and they party has been at loggerheads with leader Batchilly over his decision to endorse President Barrow. The party took disciplinary action against him and appointing a new leader.

Speaking at Mamma Kandeh’s rally in Sare Bojo in the Upper River Region on Thursday, Mr Yaffa said: “Our founding father said he has joined President Barrow and we know President Barrow did not do any good work in the four years he has been in power. So he can’t do any good work from now to election which is around the corner.

“There are many parties and leaders in the country but they are different. If we want peace and development, it’s a choice we must make. If we give our votes to Honourable Mamma Kandeh, we will get the development and peace we want.

“But if we give our votes to someone, we will remain where we are. I want to ask Sarahules to be careful and not allow President Barrow to drag us into his tribal politics.”

Gambia Moral Congress leader Mai Ahmad Fatty set being leader of a political party to one side briefly as he slipped back into the wig and gown to represent himself and his party in court regarding a lawsuit they brought against the Independent Electoral Commission.

GMC sued IEC after Election House rejected Mr Fatty’s nomination for president for allegedly failing to collect 200 signatures from Banjul.

Unhappy with the decision, the party sued the electoral body at the high court in Banjul and the case was mentioned on Friday.

Mr Fatty himself wrote: “This morning at Banjul High Court with GMC National Executive members and supporters, the case of GMC against IEC. The matter continues on Monday the 22nd November 2021.”

The GMC leader is a lawyer by training.

Every year on November 19, World Toilet Day is celebrated to create awareness among the people regarding the importance of sanitation and to initiate action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. On this day, the United Nations, along with the collaboration of the international community, calls for collective action to end the sanitisation crisis prevalent across the world.

According to a report published by the United Nations (UN), 3.6 billion people across the globe don’t have access to a proper toilet, meaning less than half of the world’s population is facing issues of proper sanitisation, which can turn into a serious threat for the upcoming generation.

Established in the year 2013 by the United Nations General Assembly, World Toilet Day was an initiative taken by a philanthropist, Jack Sim from Singapore, who founded the World Toilet Organization NGO back in the year 2001 to raise awareness about the importance of sanitation and hygiene.

After Singapore tabled the resolution, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 19 as World Toilet Day. At the 67th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the members pointed out the need to build a proper sanitisation system highlighting the unsatisfactory progress being made in providing basic sanitary services across the country

Since the day came into existence, it has been celebrated under various themes based on the situation across the world. This year’s World Toilet Day theme is “valuing toilets”.

“The theme aims to stress the absolute necessity of toilets in our lives,” the official statement issued by the United Nations said.

“The campaign draws attention to the fact that toilets and the sanitation systems that support them are underfunded, poorly managed, or neglected in many parts of the world, with devastating consequences for health, the economy, and the environment, particularly in the poorest and most marginalized communities.”

Today when the 3.6 billion people across the globe are facing a sanitisation crisis the World Toilet Day gives an opportunity to create awareness and take necessary action towards building toilets to make this world a hygienic place for everyone to live.

António Guterres is Secretary-General of the United Nations he says, the advantages of investing in an adequate sanitation system are immense. For instance, every $1 invested in basic sanitation returns up to $5 in saved medical costs and increased productivity, and jobs are created along the entire service chain.

He further noted that for women and girls, toilets at home, school and at work help them fulfil their potential and play their full role in society, especially during menstruation and pregnancy.

“Life without a toilet is dirty, dangerous, and undignified,” António Guterres says.

Adding that “everyone should have access to hygienic, safe, and sustainable sanitation. Yet 3.6 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation, threatening health, harming the environment, and hindering economic development.

Every day, 700 children under five years old die from diseases linked to unsafe water and sanitation. Toilets save lives and drive improvements in gender equality and society as a whole,” Guterres Says.

He calls for urgent and massive investment and innovation along the entire ‘sanitation chain’, from toilets to the transport, collection and treatment of human waste.

“History teaches us that rapid progress is possible. Many countries have transformed their health systems by acting on sanitation facilities and ensuring everyone has access to toilets. On World Toilet Day, let us keep our promise to leave no one behind and take action to deliver health and sanitation for all,” António Guterres says.

Former President Yahya Jammeh repeated his lie the 2016 presidential election which saw his 22-year rule end was stolen – and accused President Adama Barrow of trying to credit to himself development projects that he (Jammeh) started.

Jammeh has been helping opposition Gambia Democratic Congress leader Mamma Kandeh with his campaign and he called again on Thursday from his Equatorial Guinea hideout to speak to citizens.

The former dictator told citizens in Sare Bojo via telephone: “They rigged the election and brought in this group that has destroyed the country in just four years. But that is behind us.

“I have heard many times Adama Barrow trying to hoodwink you Gambians telling you that the projects I have implemented, he is the one who brought those projects. That is not true. Laminkoto-Passamas, you people know I started the project and up to 40 kilometers and there was a delay and the reason for the delay was that they wanted to stop that project, end it at 40 kilometers and then they will complete it in phase 2. I told them that I don’t want an incomplete project it has to be completed.

“Now somebody is coming to claim that he is the one who built this project, Adama Barrow. I have only one question for Adama Barrow and I want him to answer my question: how many stages are in a project? How many stages must one go through before the project is started? And I also want to ask him this question: with regards to Laminkoto-Passamas, who was the first consultant for the project? Let him answer these two questions.

“Secondly he claims to build the Farafenni bridge. The Farafenni bridge, there was a delay. It started and there was a delay. Why? Let him answer that too.”

By Amara Thoronka

Gambia Bar Association, Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, International Commission of Jurists, International Center for Transitional Justice and other bodies operating on human rights and justice have on Wednesday 17th November 2021 held a conference at Gambia’s International Conference Centre to discuss the importance of accountability for the crimes reportedly committed under the 22-year rule of former president Yahya Jammeh.

This comes at a time when The Gambia and the wider global community await the release of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) report, its recommendations and subsequent prosecution of alleged crime perpetrators.

The TRRC was established by the TRRC Act of 2017. Section 13 of the said Act, the main objectives of the TRRC are as follow: to create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights from July 1994 to January 2017 in order to promote healing and reconciliation, respond to the needs of the victims, address impunity, and prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses suffered by making recommendations for the establishment of appropriate preventive mechanisms including institutional and legal reforms; to establish and make known the fate or whereabouts of disappeared victims; to provide victims an opportunity to relate their own accounts of the violations and abuses suffered; and to grant reparations to victims in appropriate cases.

Speaking on the importance of accountability on the said crimes and Gambia in general, human rights lawyer Neneh M.C. Cham spoke on the need for bringing alleged perpetrators to justice:

“We witness about 300 people confessing the perpetration of crimes ranging from murder, rape, torture, disappearance and many more. There is a responsibility on the state to prosecute alleged perpetrators because if they go unprosecuted, it is a recipe for more crimes and we should not allow that to happen. I still speak to many victims who are still traumatized and do not understand why their alleged perpetrators are not being prosecuted.”

On the same need for accountability, Executive Director of Article 19 in West Africa, Fatou Jagne Senghore said prosecuting the said perpetrators is going to be uneasy because there are people who don’t want Gambians to discuss the alleged atrocities:

“There are people who want us to sweep everything under the carpet because they benefitted or because they have guilt feelings due to their actions or inactions. So, it is going to be a struggle to ensure that accountability happens. We saw a lot of impunity in the past regime. We need to do more investigations to get the full picture of what really happened and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice in a fair manner.”

Speaking on lessons from other African nations, President of Liberia Bar Association, Tiawan Gongloe said most perpetrators of crimes never admit their wrongdoings even when there are overwhelming evidence justifying their guilt.

“If the perpetrators are not held accountable there will be a repetition of the same crimes or even worse. Also, victims or children of victims would possibly revenge because they would take the entire Gambian society as co-conspirators to crimes committed against them or their parents.”

He called on Gambians to compel the current leadership and all political actors in the country to make strong commitment of implementing the pending TRRC recommendations.

Former US Ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, Stephen Rapp suggested a hybrid [internationalized] court system to try the alleged perpetrators. He noted that the said judicial accountability mechanism would have a blend of the Gambia’s judicial officials and that of other countries.

Justifying the efficiency of such a hybrid mechanism, Ambassador Rapp cited the case of Sierra Leone where the same system was successfully used to try former Liberia President Charles Taylor and others.

Representing the International Commission of Jurists, Mr. Reed Broody cited what he described as one of the worst atrocities committed in the Yayah Jammeh era:

“The worse massacre of the Yahya Jammeh era was the case of the migrants. We believe that 59 West African migrants were killed here: 40 from Ghana, 9 from Nigeria, 3 from Senegal, 2 from Togo, 2 from Cote D’Ivoire, 1 from Liberia, 1 from Sierra Leone and 1 from Congo.”

President of Gambia Bar Association, Salieu Taal said the current Gambian legal system is not victim friendly:

“Torture, enforce disappearance are not part of the Gambian laws. The Gambian Constitution grants immunity to the Head of State which can only be lifted by two third of members of parliament. Our legal system was not designed for democracy, it was rather designed for dictatorship. Therefore, any proposed accountability mechanism to try the alleged perpetrators should have the support of the west Africa regional body [ECOWAS].”

Other speakers [in person and via Skype] made similar statements on the relevance of such accountability process in The Gambia; and video documentaries depicting some reported atrocities during the said period climaxed the conference.

Former President Yahya Jammeh has just finished speaking at Gambia Democratic Congress’s rally in Sare Bojo, in a show of defiance by the former dictator and GDC leader Mamma Kandeh.

Jammeh spoke briefly at GDC’s rally in Sare Bojo picked live by GDC national youth president MC Cham Jnr. Cham Jnr confirmed that it was Jammeh who was speaking.

While Jammeh was inaudible, a translate is heard saying Jammeh said he is ready to live and die with Gambians. He also said Jammeh said the country has in the last four years turned into a country where people get killed and a country of drugs.

MC Cham Jnr said Jammeh could not continue talking due to bad internet.

It comes after Mamma Kandeh vowed to let Jammeh continue speaking at his rallies after a warning from President Adama Barrow that he should stop inviting the former dictator to his platforms.

United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe has told citizens in Basse Upper River Region his party is the party that can take the country to the Promised Land.

Mr Darboe is looking to take State House from President Adama Barrow and his campaign trail has now reached the Upper River Region.

Mr Darboe told citizens at his Basse rally on Wednesday: “For me to be seeking office should not mean my opponents should be my enemy and vice versa. But what we are showing Gambians is that it’s UDP that should rule this country. The reason is that for two years, we put experts together to analyze how this country should be run.

“We have seen how this country was run in the past and we have seen how it’s being run presently. The Independent Electoral Commission said we should submit our manifesto and we have done that. But we singled out five important issues which we named the five-point agenda. This is the five pillars that a government should run by.

“Our youth are all leaving the country nowadays and some are dying in the Sahara desert. Some enter boats and die in the Mediterranean. UDP says our youth should no longer leave our country. We say we can work hard and take care of ourselves and our families. We want to build 10 specialised skills centres in the country.”

By: Dawda Baldeh

President Adama Barrow leader of the National People’s Party (NPP) has promised to end rice importation in The Gambia if re-elected as president in December. He made these remarks at a campaign in Fula Bantang Village, Central River Region (CRR) and Jahanka Village, CRR north.

Barrow stated that his government will invest heavily in rice production to ensure the country produces enough rice. “We have eighty million dollars ($80m) for agriculture,” he said. Adding that the project will construct roads, storage facilities, fertilizers, create new irrigation systems to ensure year-round cultivation of rice.

President Barrow was responding to concerns raised by various villages that expressed the need for more development in agriculture. Various people highlighted the high cost of living while urging the government to help regulate the price of basic products.

Among the key issues highlighted was the need for yearly rice production especially the ‘Jakhally Pacharr’ which many believed will sustain the country’s rice consumption if properly managed.

President Barrow gave a solemn promise that if he is re-elected in December, he will end rice importation within two to three years.

In his meeting at Jahanka Village on Wednesday night, residents called on the President to assist them through the provision of good health facilities, schools, roads, regulation of price high among others.

The head of state said that agriculture is one of the key areas that he will focus on if re-elected, assuring farmers of his government’s commitment to eradicating poverty in the country. He further stated that his government will provide sufficient farming implements to make the fight against poverty easier.

Former President Yahya Jammeh will be speaking at Gambia Democratic Congress’s rally in Janjangbureh on Thursday, a top official has said.

“Jammeh is going to speak. There is no law that bans Jammeh from speaking,” MC Cham Jnr told The Fatu Network.

It comes as GDC leader Mamma Kandeh responded to President Barrow that Jammeh will continue speaking at his rallies.

The president had warned Mr Kandeh not to invite Jammeh to his platforms as the exiled former dictator’s asylum doesn’t allow him to participate in Gambians politics.

The president of the Gambia Bar Association has strongly recommended a regional-backed hybrid court to try the Jammeh-era crimes but insists that Gambians must own the process.

Salieu Taal was addressing an international conference of human rights lawyers and activists discussing the implementation of Gambia’s TRRC recommendations on prosecution.

“Any recommendations by the TRRC for the prosecution of abusive officials should be followed by a process of criminal accountability,” Taal said. Adding that internationalisation could provide more capacity and give victims a greater role in trials.

Taal’s position conformed with Adama Dieng, the special adviser to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court who said,

“if the Gambian government is unwilling or unable to prosecute Jammeh-era crimes, the ICC in conformity with the principle of complementarity in international criminal law may do its part in investigating and prosecuting those most responsible.”

Adding that “legal responsibility for prosecuting these crimes rests in the first instance with the government of the Gambia. We hope and we expect that the Gambia will be able to effectively prosecute these crimes either alone or with the support of regional or international partners.

However, whether it is in The Gambia, or another African country, before a special court, or at the ICC, justice must happen, and justice will happen.”

The Senegalese-born lawyer, who was addressing the meeting via a video link from his base at The Hague, revealed that “Impunity is not an option in The Gambia.

Mai Ahmad Fatty and his Gambia Moral Congress have also sued the Independent Electoral Commission over its decision to reject the party’s nomination.

Mai Fatty was one of 15 candidates the IEC rejected for failing to collect 200 signatures from Banjul. He appealed the decision but it was discarded.

The politician and his party are unhappy and have now turned to the courts for a permanent resolution of the matter.

Mai Fatty himself wrote: “What is at stake is a matter of fundamental national importance, much greater than the sum total of our extant political ambitions. We are in court to protect the rights of those who may come after us – young Gambians – who may aspire to lead this country. It is a matter of law and principle.

“No state institution should be granted the authority to abuse its purposes of existence. No state institution should be permitted to scuttle the constitutional rights of a single citizen. No state official must be enabled to be a law unto him/self. This fight is about the sanctity and supremacy of an entrenched right.”

The case will be heard on Friday and it is coming amid Citizens’ Alliance’s legal battle with the IEC.

The Drug Law Enforcement Agency has announced arresting a couple suspected of cannabis possession.

DLEAG’s Kanifing Municipal Regional Command took into custody a husband and wife suspected to be dealing in prohibited drugs.

“Operatives launched a sting operation that resulted in the seizure of three (3) big bundles of suspected cannabis wrapped in brown papers and concealed in a black and orange suite case,” the agency said in a statement.

Pa George Njie and Fatoumata Jaiteh were arrested on the 16th November 2021 around 11:45 am at Bundung.

GACH Global has issued a statement setting the record straight regarding the vexed fuel supply saga as well as the misappropriation of one million Euros.

Below is the company’s statement issued on Wednesday:

There have been many rumours circulating in media circles centering on Mr. Abubakary Jawara and the fuel lifting saga at Gampetroleum as well as the case of missing 1 Million Euros. Both matters have been the subject of Police investigations and it was prudent to let that process play out before issuing any public statements.

For so many years, especially during the Jammeh era, the fuel importation and distribution sector was deemed to be the sole reserve of a few very often non-Gambian business men. This sector was a no-go area for indigenous Gambian business men and was often shrouded in a lot of secrecy. As luck will have it the Government after its assumption of power in 2017 implemented a series of policies which lifted the shroud of secrecy on this sector and made it easier for Gambian businessmen to venture into hitherto reserved business sectors.

In keeping with this move towards Gambians venturing into and taking ownership of key business sectors, it comes as no surprise that Mr. Abubakary Jawara, a serial entrepreneur decided to venture into the fuel sector. Gach Global Trading made bids for the supply of fuel to GNPC with a bid price that is $20 lower per tonne than any of the closest competitors. This favourable and unmatchable price put Gach in a prime position to win the bid without any external influence whatsoever. Any suggestions that this bid was won through any undue influence or political patronage are absurd and at best unrealistic in light of our very competitive bid price.

The uproar in certain circles with regards to the involvement of Gach in the energy sector is baffling. This boils down to a trend that has come to encompass our attitude to our fellow Gambian folk. We increasingly take tough and aggressive stances towards Gambian business men and women striving to forge a path in the challenging Gambian business sector, very often ridiculing and pulling them down while we are all too willing to roll out the red carpet for foreign business entities and turn a blind eye to their activities even when detrimental to our interest as a nation. If we are to grow as a country we ought to do better. The makers of these social media statements ought to know better as in this day and age of fast information unverified statements of this nature have far reaching and damaging consequences. We have always maintained our availability to verify or clarify any information, but then again this will not fit into the sinister agenda of these unrepentant propagators of mischief.

Of further concern is the fact that all these personal attacks are inextricably linked to political agenda as the makers of these statements believe that an attack on Mr Abubakary  Jawara constitutes an attack on the President. While understanding that this is a campaign period, responsible politicking demands honesty and objectivity in our criticism of each other. It is concerning that the President will receive critique for encouraging and supporting Gambian businesses. Business men that may claim any association with the President are painted as rouges while business men associated with other political parties even when found to be involved in questionable business practices are tagged as “victims of witch-hunts”.   Since 2017 the number of Gambian entities in key sectors like energy, telecommunications, hospitality has increased exponentially with much positive effects on the wider economy. Such divisive attacks which have only increased as we approach elections while might seem to offer short term political dividend are counterproductive and leave permanent cracks in our social fabric.

Returning to the topic at hand, our company received funds from our client being revenue from fuel supplies. The funds were held at our bank accounts for future payments to our suppliers. A staffer who was leading operations on the fuel supply arm of our business concocted a plan to misappropriate a significant amount of money from the company. The said staffer informed management that our supplier had requested prompt payment of the previous month’s fuel supplies. It is our belief that the staffer used forged messages to convey urgent payment demands from the purported supplier. Relying on the trust placed on this staffer as the head of supply operations a transfer of 1Million Euros was made to the account provided in what we believe to be a false invoice conveyed by the Staffer as emanating from the supplier.

We believed everything was well and fine until a recent investigation raised the suspicion that the funds might have been diverted by the said staffer and not used to pay the supplier as alleged. The matter has been reported to the police and the said staffer arrested. Upon examination, after being evasive, the said staffer admitted to having diverted the funds. The investigation is still ongoing in which we are allowing the law take its course.  The public is reminded that these still remain an active investigation and the staffer in question benefits from a presumption of innocence.

We remain available to respond to any clarifications that the public may have on these developments.

Opposition leader Mamma Kandeh of the Gambia Democratic Congress has announced that former President Yahya Jammeh will be speaking at his rally again, reacting to President Adama Barrow’s warning regarding his bromance with the former president.

The president warned Mr Kandeh on Tuesday against inviting the exiled former president to his platforms and asked the Independent Electoral Commission to intervene.

“I am warning Mamma Kandeh. We want peace in this country. Yahya Jammeh is on asylum. The asylum doesn’t give him any right to participate in Gambian politics.

“If you want to facilitate that, for him to be speaking at your platforms, platforms that can bring conflict in this country, we are warning the party leaders. We are warning them seriously. We are also calling on IEC to notice Mamma Kandeh,” the president said at a rally in Sare Ngai on Tuesday.

Mr Kandeh reacted on Wednesday during a rally held in Kerr Sait Maram in Central River Region South.

He said: “I have heard his statement and we agree to it. He said no one is above the law and that’s true. You said you’re the president and that too is true.

“But my response to Adama Barrow is that Yahya Jammeh will be speaking at a meeting. Since Adama Barrow said if that happens again, he will invoke the law against Mamma Kandeh. So we are waiting for that law tomorrow.”