New Gambia Action Party presidential candidate Alieu Sowe has said he stands a chance of winning the presidential election in December.

Mr Sowe, 46, was churned out as the new battle axe of GAP this past weekend and he has now told The Fatu Network he is on his way to State House.

“Don’t underrate us. We are well structured, as we are speaking our people are on the ground making sure things are done,” Mr Sowe said.

Mr Sowe is a former army major who was dismissed from the army when the Barrow government took over.

On his sacking, he said: “When change of government happened, I was the officer commanding defense platoon. They just called me one day and served me a letter that they retired me.

“I said, ‘for what, with my age?’ They did not give me any answer. I was served a letter by the military police and they told me it was from the CDS.”

Asked if being close to former President Jammeh is what cost him his military career, he replied: “Being close to a president doesn’t mean you’re serving the president. You are doing your job, what is expected from you by the Gambians society.”

The Kanifing Municipal Council has requested that chief executive officer Sainabou Martin Sonko to be ‘summarily’ sacked, KM Mayor Talib Bensouda has said.

Mr Bensouda told reporters Monday Mrs Martin Sonko illegally took 12 million dalasis and bought a land with it.

He blasted: “The actions of Mrs Sonko are very serious and we believe they are criminal in nature, ranging from fraud, tax evasion and theft.

“Mrs Sonko was confronted in a directors’ meeting of 12th July 2021 wherein she confessed to her actions and apologized to the management team of KMC.

“Although she has since recanted her position, we have proceeded to complete the investigations and table the matter before the council.”

According to Mayor Bensouda, “we have requested that the local government service commission summarily dismiss Mrs Sonko and the director of finance”.

President Adama Barrow has dismissed UDP leader Ousainou Darboe’s claim he became president after he used his (Darboe’s) name to market himself to Gambian voters.

The UDP leader has always contended President Barrow won the election because he used his name during his campaign. Darboe said President Barrow always told voters he was his father.

But the president speaking this week fired back, laughing: “I heard him giving an interview yesterday and he said I used his name when I was campaigning. That I was saying ‘You cannot do anything when your father dies but it would be uselessness on your part if you allow your father’s home get broken’. He said I was campaigning on his name.

“But he is listening to me. If at all I campaigned on his name and Gambians agreed and supported me, how about he himself who campaigned with his own name for 20 years and took part in four elections and got defeated four times? He could not win using his own name? And for me to suddenly use his name and win? It’s strange.

“He himself campaigned with his name and Gambians refused to vote for him.  But I want to tell him I was fighting his fight. I did it with a clean heart. When campaigning, you look at the environment and know the issues. That was the issue at that time. And during the campaign, I did say we will win and free Ousainou Darboe from jail. That we would give him a position and make him minister and vice president. And I fulfilled all the promises I made to him.”

President Barrow also said Mr Darboe’s family was discouraging people from going with him on tour.

He said: “When I was going on tour, even the dog of Ousainou Darboe did not come with me. And anyone they could encourgage not to come with me, they did talk to them. The likes of Ndey Marong. They refused. I exchange blessings with the likes of Njobu Kanteh and we boarded the vehicles and crossed the river.

“But it was all about fighting for Ousainou Darboe. I knew we were not fighting for his family but him. We share the party and we cannot sit when he is in jail. And we campaigned on that platform.”

MPs early Thursday approved 1.5 billion dalasis supplementary appropriation after a debate that lasted nearly 20 hours.

Finance Minister Mambury Njie had on Wednesday morning asked MPs to support his 1.7 billion dalasis additional spending. He said the government needed the staggering sum amid unexpected developmental services.

The MPs took time to go through the proposal and they finished debating it at around 4am on Thursday.

Their approval of the proposal came after they ruthlessly slashed 200 million dalasis from the initial sum of 1.7 billion dalasis.

By Fatou Camara II

At least 30 Gambian journalists have been participating in a Unesco-funded programme designed to hone their skills on fact-checking and debunking fake news particularly from politicians ahead of the December election.

The training is aimed and designed to better equip journalist on ways to battle unfactual information. It’s stands to empower the media with tools, resources and skills to counter the phenomenon of disinformation and misinformation.

The UN Peace and Development Advisor in The Gambia Patrick McCarthy represented the Resident Coordinator of the UN system in The Gambia, Ms. Seraphine Wakana, as well as the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa (Sahel), Dr Dimitri SANGA at the opening of the training.

Mr Patrick stressed the need to empower the media with tools, resources and skills neccesary to stand firm against fake news particularly heading to the upcoming presidential election.

“As The Gambia prepares to head to polls on 4th December for the presidential election, it is critical to empower the media with tools, resources and skills to counter the phenomenon of disinformation and misinformation,” he said.

He added “Elections constitute a key moment in the political life of a country as they allow citizens to express their choices and designate the political representatives who will determine important aspects of the present and future of their countries.”

“However, in as much as elections create avenues for citizens of a country to exercise its civic right, election periods are also a time where so called fake news can proliferate, with the aim of misleading the public and propagating false information.  In times like this, facts can be a matter of life and death.  Therefore, the need for effective fact-checking and verification of information cannot be overstated.”

Appreciating the efforts of UNESCO on behalf of GPU is it’s Vice President  Muhammed Bah. Bah commended UNESCO for their efforts thus addressed journalist by  emphasizing the undisputed importance of fact-checking in journalism more so with politicians considering the upcoming elections .

“Fact-checking is a part of everyday journalism, but it is even more important that this culture of verification is entrenched during elections. Misinformation and disinformation (or fake news) comes in many forms, and it is important for journalists to identify and debunk them,” he said.

The dismissal of Fatou Bojang of New Yundum from the Gambia Prison Service has sparked anger among the UDP community online.

Corporal Bojang was dismissed from Prisons on July 28 after being found guilty of attending a political event.

Prison authorities intercepted a video of Corporal Bojang where she is seen wearing a yellow shirt bearing UDP leader Darboe’s photo at a UDP event.

The Fatu Network understands Corporal Bojang’s dismissal is not the first time a prison officer has been sacked for publicly taking part in partisan politics.

The founder of the pro-President Adama Barrow movement ‘We’re Barrow 2021’ Sheikh Sidia Bayo has said UDP Ousainou Darboe is responsible for the nation’s current turmoil of the three years and five years.

President Barrow was supposed to be in power for just three years according to a 2016 deal but UDP leader Darboe threatened to drag to court anyone who tries to ask President Barrow to resign after three years. He insisted the president should serve for five years.

Mr Bayo who was a political activist during former President Jammeh’s rule told The Fatu Network: “Who convinced Adama Barrow to be in office for five years, which political leader?  Ousainou Darboe as UDP leader. You remember the statement. ‘Everybody who is trying to force Adama Barrow, to remove him from power I am going to bring you to court’.

“He said it, it convinced him. Ousainou is my uncle but we’re in politics, we are not here to joke. Ousainou Darboe is the one who advised him.  I respect Ousainou Darboe, he is my family but when it comes to the national interest, especially to prepare our generation to understand what’s going on in our political arena, the way everything was set up during the last 20, 25 years, Ousainou did a lot for this country and we have to tell him thank you.

“But when you’re frustrated, sometimes you act in such manner that you don’t have to do that. But he is the main reason for the turmoil we are inside today regarding three years and this five years.”

Government spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh said on Thursday the minister of justice has taken note of the misinformation around the announced postponement of the submission of the TRRC report.

The TRRC was supposed to meet President Barrow on July 30 to submit the results of their investigation into the human rights violations and abuses of the 22 years rule of former President Jammeh. But the TRRC in a news conference on Wednesday said it was overwhelmed by work which has forced it to abandon the date.

But the government spokesperson said on Thursday there were misinformation around the announcement.

Mr Sankareh said: “The Hon. Attorney General and Minister of Justice has taken note of misinformation circulating in media spheres and public discourse regarding the recently announced deferment of the Submission of the TRRC’s Report.

“Crucially, Section 29 of the TRRC Act provides that the Commission shall submit a report of its work to the President at the end of its operations while Section 29(2) and (3) detail the form and contents of such report.

“The President of the Republic of The Gambia, was ready to receive the Commission’s Report on the 30th of July as planned. In a meeting with the Attorney General & Minister of Justice on the 27th of July 2021, the Chairman of the Commission indicated that the Report was not ready and the Commission will need more time to complete it. The Chairman confirmed that what was ready was a compendium of the Findings and Recommendations and not the full Report.

“In light of the need to comply with the provisions of the TRRC Act, and most importantly, the post-submission timelines, The Attorney General deemed it essential that the full Report was submitted and not just a compendium. The Chairman subsequently made a request for an 8-week extension which was granted by the Government. It is important to state that the postponement of the initial submission date of July 12th is immaterial in light of the fact that the Report is still unfinished.

“As indicated in the statement released by the Chairman, the Commission has a considerable amount of work to do in completing the sixteen volumes that make up the findings and recommendations, sixteen volumes of transcripts as well as other ancillary reports. It is imperative therefore, that the Commission is given sufficient time to complete this very important task, so as not to jeopardize 3 years of remarkable work.

“The Gambia Government remains fully committed to supporting the TRRC throughout this important process including by ensuring that it is properly funded until the completion of its work. Furthermore, His Excellency, the President is ready to receive the complete TRRC Report as prescribed by the TRRC Act as and when it is ready.”

A top medical doctor has said victims of sexual and gender-based violence who are minors do not usually over-exaggerate or lie about their clinical condition except if there is adult interference.

Dr Babanding Daffeh made the comment while winding up his main testimony in the rape trial of Bubacarr Keita on Wednesday.

“Generally and not only SGBV cases… In our clinical practice and in my experience, kids underage usually do not over-exaggerate their condition or lie to you concerning their clinical condition except when there is adult interference,” the doctor said when Alasan Jobe, prosecuting, asked him to speak out of his experience if victims of SGBV cases have any vested interest or motive to just point at somebody and falsely accuse that person as the one who sexually abused them.

The doctor had also on Wednesday testified the best way to test paternity when there is a dispute is to do DNA analysis.

The doctor has now begun taking questions from Mr Keita’s lawyers, where he accepted to not being an investigator.

“It is correct that you’re not an investigator?” Lamin Camara, cross-examining, asked him.

The doctor replied: “No, I am not an investigator.”

“And because you’re not an investigator, you have no way of establishing the veracity of the allegation against the accused person?” the top lawyer followed-up. The doctor said, “yes that’s correct.”

The lawyer then asked him if part of his findings in his investigation was based on what he was told by the victim.

Dr Daffeh responded: “Not actually. There are two fundamental issues that came up in the history which I already informed the court. That the two issues are that the victim did admit she had a boyfriend whom she met in September during the school holiday but they never had sex at all.

“The second issue was it was the husband… That was the word of the victim. That after Ramadan in June 2019, that it was the husband of the sister who forcefully slept with her in her room and this was not once. These two fundamental issues led us to investigate this victim. That’s why we did the test just to correlate to the issues in the history.”

Minister of Finance Mambury Njie said it’s unfortunate that he has been accused of misleading parliament over diaspora voting.

Mr Njie had in April told lawmakers the participation of the Gambian diaspora in the upcoming presidential election will require a supplementary appropriation as diaspora voting is not budgeted in the 2021 estimates.

Badibou MP Sulayman Saho then told The Standard said the minister’s comment that there is no money to fund diaspora voting contradicted a previous statement to lawmakers.

But the minister fired back on Wednesday, saying: “Let me make one clarification. The IEC and the judiciary, the only time we see their budget is when it is handed over to us for inputting. They don’t come from  bilaterals, we have no idea of what the content is. From the executive to the National Assembly, then it will come to us.

“This is why we were surprised when we saw headline talking about the minister misleading the National Assembly. It’s unfortunate.

“I was invited to a committee meeting here just to maybe advise and I was asked… When we looked at the budget, we didn’t see any line item on diaspora voting. I said there is nothing here for diaspora voting. They said ‘what can you advise?’ I said ‘the only advice I have is SAB’.”

President Adama Barrow has said UDP turned to marabouts in the party’s desperate bid to avert its leader Darboe from being convicted.

Mr Darboe was jailed in 2016 after leading an illegal protest demanding the release of activist Ebrima Solo Sandeng.

President Barrow was then treasurer of UDP and speaking Wednesday, the president said their desperation saw them engage the services of marabouts.

The president told NPP reporters at State House: “To me, jailing them meant the end of the world and UDP’s end. Our people went there. But before going, in the night, people came to my house saying they were looking for me. Lamin Ceesay was part of them.

“When I came out, it was our people (UDP). They said a certain marabout said he would do something. [That] Ousainou Darboe would not be sentenced and anyone who sentences him would die in the courtroom. The marabout wanted I think 50,000 or 30,000.

“I told them I would not give my money for that. I told them the marabout acts we did was too many, where amulets are given to cemetery security men to place them under the heads of dead people. We did all that. I remember there was a day, it was three amulets, to place them under the heads of three dead people. We did all of that for Ousainou to be free.

“I told them we did all of that and it never succeed. I asked them if this man would be able to succeed, they said he said it and it would happen. I told them I had no money but they insisted I should borrow them money for them to go and do that. People in the diaspora called me pressuring me to give the money. I then gave the money and spoke with the marabout and told him I will make advance payment. But when they got to the marabout, the marabout told them he has abandoned killing anyone.”

The nation’s MPs are still debating the Supplementary Appropriation Bill presented on Wednesday by the Minister of Finance Mambury Njie.

“The main objective of the bill is to provide additional public service including national security, election related services, infrastructure, pandemic and disaster-related services as well as commitments to international financial institutions,” Mr Njie told MPs while providing justification for the approval of over 1.7 billion dalasis additional government expenditure.

MP Halifa Sallah who is one of the first MPs who reacted to the proposal on Wednesday said they have authority to interrogate the proposal.

“Our business here is to do what we are elected to do. We have authority to scrutinize what is laid before us and agree or disagree whether what is laid before us is in the right interest of the people or not based on the circumstances, based on the context,” he said. The MP said he had gone through the proposal and found it reasonable under the circumstances.

Upper Fulladu West MP Sanna Jawara while offering his view said he doesn’t support the finance minister’s proposal.

He argued: “I do not support the proposal on this SAB. I hope my colleagues will understand that… what the Honourable Minister is doing, he is doing his job. He has a job, he has an employer who is employed him to do a job for him.

“But we are the representatives of the employer of the employee and we should ensure that regardless of our differences in vision or in view, we all mean the same thing. That is to serve the best interest of the people who have elected us and his boss to represent them and therefore I would urge my colleagues to work together on this. I am not asking us to throw this out and call it a day.

“But let’s re-prioritise. If we cannot save this money as added revenue that would make the minister not to go and borrow money locally, if we have to spend it in 2021, then let’s prioritise the spending of it. But not these payments of arrears, that can be differed.”

Gambia Football Federation President Lamin Kaba Bajo and Third Vice President of the federation Lang Tombong Tamba got into a spat over a ‘letter’ that reportedly needed to be written to the Ministry of Sport.

Mr Bajo and Mr Tamba who were once top Gambian army commanders suddenly quarreled on the GFF exclusive WhatsApp page on July 14. It came five days after a meeting of the executive of GFF.

One person familiar with the issue said the quarrel began after Mr Tamba suggested Mr Bajo was dragging his feet for a letter to be written to the Ministry of Sport over an AFCON 2022 preparation committee.

Mr Tamba confirmed there was an exchange between him and Mr Bajo but said he could not speak on the issue ‘for now’ as there is going to be a meeting of the executive. He however dismissed claims he spoke to the minister of youth and sport on his own; instead it was the executive that tasked him to meet the minister after their meeting.

Mr Bajo on his part said ‘I didn’t do any audio’ when contacted for comment. The GFF president quickly added: “I have no comment on it. I think what you saw you can make your judgment out of it.”

The GFF spokesman Babucarr Camara told The Fatu Network the narrative some people are putting out there that Kaba over-reacted is wrong.

“Knowing the kind of leader that he is, he is never going to over-react to a mere question. Yes these exchanges happen but it is just any normal exchange of divergent opinions that can happen in any organization. This happens even in cabinet. But as two mature people who have a collective interest, they have dropped the issue from that moment,” Mr Camara said.

He added: “But this happened more than two weeks ago. But some people who have another agenda are trying to go around making the narrative all is not well at football house. But I can tell you that the president is in absolute control of his team, he is in charge.”

Fifty Gambians returned to the country on Tuesday night from Libya, the International Organisation for Migration has said.

IOM runs a Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) Programme which is a life-saving programme for migrants stranded in Libya who wish to return home.

And according to the organization Last night, it supported the return of 50 Gambians from Tripoli on Tuesday night.

They join over 3,000 who have returned home to from Libya since 2017, IOM said Wednesday.

Banjul mayor Rohey Lowe has announced testing positive for Covid-19 despite taking the Covid vaccine.

In a statement on his official Facebook page, the mayor said: “Fellow citizens, an unexpected and unwanted guest, the DEADLY COVID-19 has finally hit the door of Her Worship, Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe so hard without any mercy.  She has contracted the virus even after being vaccinated.  Compatriots, we need to mask up  right now, avoid social gatherings and keep washing our hands to protect ourselves and our families. Remember to take the INJECTION and practice social distancing.

“To our fellow Banjulians, by extension every citizen and non citizen, especially women and youths living in The Gambia. Please always stick to the guidance of our selfless health workers. We are speaking from experience, this coronavirus is attacking without any notice or symptoms other than a mile body pain. COVID-19 is deadly, we are losing people everyday. Let us protect ourselves. We also seek for your prayers. May Allah keep us safe!”

President Adama Barrow has lifted the lid on how UDP struggled to have bank accounts due to the party’s debt portfolio.

President Barrow was once in charge of UDP’s treasury and he on Wednesday disclosed the party was could not at some point open bank accounts due to debt.

The president, while facing NPP reporters, said: “When I was taking over as treasurer, I was given D14,600. And the day they were giving me that money, we did not have a bank account.

“The bank accounts they had, they took loan and could not put money into those accounts. If they put money into it, they [banks] take it. So we dare not head there. We did not have an account.

“I took that D14,000 labelled it UDP and put it in a safe. But I realized nobody owns his soul, anything could happen and I wanted us to have a bank account.

“We gave the responsibility to Mr Darboe. [But] until I became president, he did not open an account. Any time I ask him, he tells me, ‘I will call Fatou Darboe, she will sort it out’. It was never sorted out.”

A growing number of Gambians say corruption is on the rise and the government is not doing enough to combat it, the latest Afrobarometer survey shows.

Over the past three years, citizens’ perceptions of widespread corruption among public officials have increased significantly.

A substantial number of Gambians also report having to pay bribes to obtain public services, and only half believe they can report corruption to the authorities without fear of retaliation.

An anti-corruption bill introduced in the National Assembly in December 2019 is yet to be passed, and the Gambia has no anti-corruption commission despite being a signatory to numerous conventions, including the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked the Gambia 102nd, or more corrupt than 101 out of 179 countries.

In the survey’s findings, six in 10 Gambians (61%) say the overall level of corruption in the country increased ‘somewhat’ or ‘a lot’ during the past year, almost double the proportion recorded in 2018 (32%).

Three-fourths (76%) of citizens say the government is not doing a good job of fighting corruption, a 39-percentage-point increase compared to 2018 (37%), the survey said.

More than four in 10 Gambians say “most” or “all” officials in the police (48%) and the president’s office (42%) are corrupt, the survey revealed.

Public perceptions of corruption among key public officials increased sharply except with regard to religious leaders, the survery said.

A top doctor at the Kanifing General Hospital testified in the rape trial of businessman Bubacarr Keita on Wednesday offering his view that DNA analysis is the best way to test the paternity of a child when there is dispute. Dr Babanding Daffeh said it was the best option all over the world.

Bubacarr Keita, 29, is standing trial for raping his former wife’s 15-year-old sister. He denies the serious charge.

At the high court in Bundung on Wednesday, Dr Babanding Daffeh testified in the case for the third time as the prosecution’s seventh witness.

And replying to a question by Alasan Jobe who was prosecuting regarding the best way to settle the paternity of a child amid a dispute, the top doctor responded:  “All over the world, the best way to test paternity is to do DNA when there is a dispute.”

The Fatu Network understands state lawyers have written to lawyers defending Mr Keita twice between April and June for a DNA test to be conducted but they have not responded to their request.

Mr Keita’s lawyer Lamin Camara told The Fatu Network they would not submit to the state because they do not trust it.

“We want to proceed with the case to its end now. Why didn’t they bring this at the start of the trial but waited until after our client was remanded,” Mr Camara said. Mr Camara also wondered why two people’s name came up in the investigation only for the state to cherry-pick who to drag to court.

However, in court on Wednesday, Dr Babanding Daffeh explained how he took management of the complainant’s case when she appeared at Kanifing General Hospital on November 8, 2019.

He testified: “On the 8th of Nov 2019, in the morning, the victim and her sister plus a police officer came to the Kanifing General Hospital at the One-Stop Centre. It’s where GBV cases are handled. I was not on the ground when they arrived. However they were received by a midwife who initially asked the victim as to why they were at the hospital in order to categorise it, whether it falls under GBV. Indeed she opened a case file and asked few questions, examined and sent them for lab investigation before I arrived.

“When I arrived later in the day, I picked up management of the case. This management has four components: the first is the history taking, the second is the physical and vaginal examination, third [is] lab investigation and scanning which she already did before I came, fourthly treatment. The treatment also had three components: psycho-social counseling, antibiotic treatment if need be and prophylacsis treatment. It’s (prophylacsis) to prevent infection where we suspect there is an intercourse that is not protected.

“Starting from the history taking, two fundamental issues arose when I started questioning. The victim did admit that she has a boyfriend and according to her they met in September 2019, that was during the summer holidays and they have been communicating but they never had sex at all. The second fundamental issue that arose from the history was that some time around June after Ramadan 2019, that the husband of the sister forcefully had a sexual intercourse with her in her room and this was not once.

“Then we went to the physical examination. On physical examination what we got was the suprapubic mass. This mass was suggestive of pregnancy. On the vaginal examination, we could not [find] bleeding, bruises or lacerations at that time.”

According to the doctor, the victim appeared few months after the incident, “so obviously you may not see those things at that time except for menstrual bleeding if you are not pregnant”.

He added: “However, the hymen of the victim on vaginal examination was open allowing examination finger difficult. Then the lab investigation, that is the pregnancy test, was positive pregnancy VCT that is. The HIV test was negative, hepatitis test was negative. The scanning results showed 16 weeks five days pregnancy. That is four months, five days. So now we have two scanning reports, one from family planning [and] one from the hospital. The one from family planning said 21 weeks (+/-) and one from Kanifing [hospital] said 16 weeks, five days (+/-).

“So if you go by the two reports, you go by the one from the hospital and not the private clinic because that’s where the case is filed. If you go by either of the results, you will realize that the victim appeared at the health facility when she was already four months pregnant. And if you go by calculation of the scanning, the victim was pregnant around June and July and this will addressed the fundamental issues gathered from my history. Then we went to the treatment. We did psycho-social counseling for the victim.”

The witness explained that SGBV victims are often traumatised hence the need for psycho-social counseling.

He said: “The victims of SGBVs are usually the underage and what they go through usually is they are traumatised. Therefore they need psycho-social support and counseling.”

Still, Dr Daffeh testified that in the case of the complainant, she needed ante-natal care at the Kanifing General Hospital because she was pregnant.

“This care continued through the nine months of pregnancy, until the 11th of April I conducted caesarian section on the lady. The reason being because she’s a teenager, the pelvis is not ready to allow vaginal delivery and also not to subject her to another pain because of the trauma she went through. I also circumcised the little child born few months later.

But prior to this C-section – the delivery – when we completed the investigation I wrote a report. That report indicated briefly what was found out on our examination and investigation and what the conclusion was. And I also did inform myself in the main file of the victim a case like this will attract DNA analysis in order to determine the real paternity of the unborn child. The medical report was handed over to the police and the case file was filed at the One-Stop Centre,” he said.

The doctor said he put his findings on record “in the main file and also in the report that I gave to the police officer”. He also said he could identify the medical report he prepared when he saw it. When asked by prosecuting attorney Alasan Jobe how he could identify it, he said he could through his name, hand-writing and signature.

The report was then admitted into evidence after he confirmed preparing it, with Lamin Camara, defending, having no qualms in having it admitted.

Elsewhere, the doctor testified that the complainant was not sexually active prior to the incident of the alleged rape.

He said: “I think my explanation on vaginal examination will suffice. Because I said on vaginal examination, the hymen was open allowing only one examination finger with difficulty which clearly shows the girl was not sexually active otherwise there would be no such difficulty.”

The TRRC has announced withdrawing from its July 30 date of meeting President Adama Barrow and submitting its findings into the human rights violations and abuses of the 22 years rule of former President Yahya Jammeh.

The TRRC had appointed July 30 as the date to meet President Barrow after completing its public hearings in June.

The chairman of the TRRC Dr Lamin J Sise told reporters Wednesday afternoon: “Following the end of the Public Hearings of the TRRC on 28^thMay 2021, the Commission embarked intensely on the preparation of its Final Report for submission to the President of the Republic of The Gambia pursuant to Section 29(1) of the TRRC Act, 2017.

“The Commission, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and the Office of the President, after consultations, agreed on 12 July 2021 as the date for the submission of the Final Report to the President.  However, The Office of the President informed that due to the previously arranged engagement, the President was not available to receive the Commission on the 12th of July and therefore proposed the new date of 30 July 2021.
“Notwithstanding the heavy schedule of work devoted to completing the draft report, the Commission informed the Attorney General on 27 July that it needed more time (about eight weeks) to complete all 16 volumes of the report and other important documents. Accordingly, and following a meeting between the Chairman of the Commission and the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Commission suggested a new date of Thursday, 30 September 2021 as the date of submission of the Final Report of the TRRC to the President.

“The Attorney General, in his capacity as the line-Minister for the TRRC, confirmed the new date on behalf of the Office of the President. He assured the Chairman of the TRRC that the Government will fully fund the extension requested to complete the report.

“Considering that the commission received Two thousand six hundred statements and heard testimonies from 393 witnesses covering sixteen themes, the report writing process was a daunting task for the commission. The team involved in the process is working round the clock to make sure it is given the attention it deserved.
“The work to be continued during the eight week extension period involves the finalization of the following: sixteen volumes, each containing overview, findings, and recommendations on; (a) Soldiers with a difference; (b) November 11^th 1994 – Extra Judicial Killings of Security officers; (C) Unlawful killing of Finance Minister Ousman Koro Ceesay; (D) The convoy of the President – Accidents and Deaths; (E) April 10^th and 11^th, 2000: Student Demonstrations; (F) Attacks on Freedom of Expression and the Media; (G) Attacks on Religious Freedoms; (H) The Junglars – Unlawful killings, Tortures and Human Rights Violations; (I) The Presidential Alternative Treatment (HIV/AIDS) Programme; (J) Sexual and Gender based Violence; (K) President Witch Hunt Exercise; (L) Enforced Disappearances; (M) Killing of West African Migrants; (N) Institutional hearings – National Intelligence Agency (NIA); (O) Institutional Hearings – Prisons; (P) Institutional Hearings – Justice Sector Institutions.”
According to Dr Sise, the TRRC is also working on the 16 volumes of transcripts of the Commission’s public hearings, activity report of the TRRC’s outreach engagements and witness portrait album.
“The commission is currently intensely working on final stages of these documents in an effort to present the report in full to the President on the new scheduled date. The TRRC expects to complete the preparation of its Final Report and does not expect any further extension,” he said.