The Fatu Network

President Adama Barrow received goodwill Ramadan messages from Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, President of Egypt and Mahmoud Abass, President of the State of Palestine, according to State House.

In a statement on Monday, State House said: “President Al Sisi described the sacred month of Ramadan as ‘a great opportunity for the Muslim Ummah to uphold the spirit, sublime Islamic values of fraternity, solidarity and cooperation, which are very much needed to overcome the big challenge our world has been facing lately’.

“He prayed for Allah to save the world from the unprecedented pandemic and bless their shared endeavour towards a safer, healthier and prosperous world.

“Meanwhile, His Majesty the Sultan of Brunei Darrusalam, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah expressed confidence in the warm relations and cooperation between The Gambia and Brunei in a message of acknowledgement to President Barrow.

“On behalf of the Government and the People of Brunei Darrusalam thanked the Gambian leader for the warm congratulatory message extended to him on the occasion of their 36th National Day.

“The message concluded with best wishes of good health and happiness as well as progress and prosperity for the people of the Republic of The Gambia.”

By Lamin Njie

The aunt of Momodou Lamin Sisay killed on Friday in the United States has called for justice in her slaying.

Sera Wadda, a younger sister to Momodou Lamin’s late mom Aunty Mam Wadda told The Fatu Network her nephew was a humble man who loved people.

“We would want justice, we would want to know whatever they did until they killed Boy. Because what they are saying that he took out a gun is not true. We would need surveillance videos,” Sera who could not stop crying said.

Momodou Lamin was born in Banjul but left The Gambia for the United States in 1991. He has a brother who also lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Boy was a humble man. Boy was religious, he was quiet and wouldn’t look anyone in the eye. He loved people and he was respectful,” Sera who lives in Norway said.

Investigation is intensifying into the circumstances surrounding the death of Gambian Momodou Lamin Sisay.

Sisay, 39, was shot and killed by police in the US state of Georgia last Friday.

“The attorney working on behalf of the family is in touch with the Snellville police, Gwinnett County, and GBI investigators. Both Gwinnett County and GBI are working to establish the facts as to what transpired on that fateful night that Sisay was killed.

“Several matters being looked into are: did Sisay have a gun as alleged by the police report?; If he had a gun, did he point it in the direction of the law enforcement officers trying to apprehend him?; which bullet killed him?; [and] whether use of force was necessary in the first place?,” Banka Manneh said in a Facebook post on Monday.

He added: “The attorney is also working on securing documents and video footages from Police body cams and car dashboard cameras.

“The process is on and we are imploring the community to respect the family’s privacy during this difficult period.

“Do not draw any quick conclusions, nor rely on hearsay. One of the stories making rounds is that Sisay was shot during a protest. This is totally false.

“In the meantime, efforts are underway by Alhaji Habib Mbye and others to secure the body for proper burial. Gambian Embassy officials are also on the ground to help.”

Family of veteran Gambian journalist Junkunda Daffeh are getting disturbed as one month passes without any trace of their loved one, according to The Standard.

Daffeh, a former journalist who worked for the AP news agency and other international news organizations, disappeared from home since beginning of May and has since not returned after persistent searches conducted by the family, The Standard reported on Monday.

Kemo Conteh, a family member said one month has gone by since Daffeh went missing without trace or any information regarding his whereabouts, according to The Standard.

He added that the matter is reported to the police but no progress has been made, according to The Standard.

The family is seeking the support of the public on any information about him, to contact numbers 236 6475 or 373 0077 or 2484149.

By Lamin Njie

The Government of President Adama Barrow in ushering a democratic dispensation in The Gambia understood that reform programmes need to be implemented to transform the democratic credentials of the country, Dr Mamadou Tangara has told a high-level African summit.

“The country has since 2017, introduced reform programmes particularly for the security and judiciary sectors,” the foreign affairs minister said during the Africa Day virtual conference on Silencing the Guns in Africa on Monday.

The foreign affairs minister added: “This is done in recognition of the correlation between the entrenched respect for human right and rule of law and, the discipline of the institutions tasked to defend and implement these values and ethos.

“It is on this basis that the Gambia Government with the support of the United Nations conceived and implemented Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC), Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) and an SSR Programme.

“Important milestones have been made in the implementation of these national programmes supported by partners among them the African Union.”

By Lamin Njie

The entire GTBoard staff have been asked to stay home with their salary slashed by half after coronavirus ravaged the country’s tourism.

The decision came into effect Monday 1 June. It will remain this way for the next six months until something changes.

Tourism Minister Hamat Bah told The Fatu Network he acted ‘responsibly’ as a minister in reaching the decision.

“It’s my power to approve budget and I approved the budget based on no revenue for GTBoard. Tourism is dead. Not one single penny is going to GTBoard, where are they getting it?

“I took certain measures to cut cost. This is taxpayer’s money. I don’t send anybody on redundancy, I don’t send anybody on leave without pay. I said, ‘stay home, you’ll be paid half salary’. You will be paid half salary and park your vehicle. No cost to the board,” Mr Bah said.

He then added: “I am acting as a responsible minister. I’m making sure that I save them and save the institution.

“That they are not redundant and the law gives me right to redundant them because they are not getting any revenue. Tourism is dead.

“The hotels have sent all their staff on redundancy, all the bars have sent their staff on redundancy. Tourism is at ground zero and they are part of the tourism fraternity. Who are they to continue earning full salary when we don’t have the money?”

Banjul South National Assembly Member Touma Njie has expressed frustration at the Gambia government’s silence in the death of Momodou Lamin Sisay.

Sisay, 39, died in the US state of Georgia last Friday following a shooting involving police.

His death has caused rage among some Gambians. Some are planning to stage a protest in front of the US Embassy in Banjul.

Touma Njie wrote on his official Facebook page today on the issue but hers is with the government.

She said: “Again, as I keep saying , it is the corruption and personal interest that is Killing us in Africa .

“Days after the gunning down of a fellow compatriot in the US, we are yet to hear from the Government of The Gambia and yet we have a ministry for Foreign Affairs and Gambians Abroad. Who are they here for?”

By Lamin Njie

A group of Gambians are mobilising for a peaceful protest in front of the US Embassy in Banjul over the death of Gambian Momodou Lamin Sisay.

Sisay, 39, was shot and killed by police in Georgia, United States on Friday. Police there said he engaged them in a shootout.

His death has ignited appreciable anger in The Gambia, coming as protests rocked US over the fatal arrest of black man George Floyd.

Madi Jobarteh who is proving to be the man behind the protest said in a Facebook post today: “Tomorrow Monday June 1 we will apply for a permit to the Inspector General of Police to provide security for a peaceful assembly in front of the US Embassy on Kairaba Avenue. The protest is planned for Monday June 8 at 10am. We will converge in silence.

“We will stand on one knee like Colin Kaepernick to symbolize our mourning and condemnation of the acts of violence meted out to Blacks in the US by the police. By 10:30am we will hand over a signed petition to the Ambassador and then peacefully disperse. You can sign the petition if you come to the protest site.

“We will ensure social distancing and we urge all to donate and bring face masks, water buckets and soap and hand sanitizers in respect of the state of emergency regulations.”

For months, Latin America watched the rest of the world suffer as the coronavirus spread. It is a spectator no longer.

“This is the new epicenter,” said Dr. Marcos Espinal, director of communicable diseases at the Pan American Health Organization.

Months after emerging from a relatively obscure Chinese province, the eye of this viral storm has firmly landed in Latin America.

There are roughly 920,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 50,000 deaths across the region’s 33 countries, but those numbers are fast on the rise.

As new deaths and cases fall in the United States, Europe and Asia, Latin America now stands as the world’s sole region where the outbreak is unequivocally reaching new heights.

“In many ways this is no surprise,” said Dr. Ana Diez Roux, dean of Drexel University’s School of Public Health. “It was predictable that this was going to happen.”

In conversations with eight different experts, including a former head of state, epidemiologists and top researchers on the region, there is wide agreement that faulty government response coupled with Latin America’s unique economic and public health situation led to the severity of the current outbreak.

The experts were also nearly unanimous in the view that things are likely to get worse.

How we got here

Latin America recorded its first confirmed case in February, when a 61-year-old man tested positive in São Paulo, Brazil after returning from a trip to Italy.

For weeks afterward, things seemed to be under control. Case totals in the region crept only marginally higher. The first death wouldn’t be recorded until March 7 in Argentina.

But some already suspected there would be tragedy to come.

In a March 19 op-ed for the New York Times, Miguel Lago, a Brazilian public health expert, wrote that Latin America was not prepared for the virus and that the region might eventually become worse than Europe.

“[Latin America] could become the biggest victim of Covid-19 if health authorities and governments… do not take immediate actions.”

His words would prove prescient. By the middle of May, Latin America was reporting higher daily case total increases than both the United States and Europe.

Brazil would surge past Italy, the United Kingdom and Russia to record the second highest number of cases in the world.

A global shortage of tests and some countries’ reluctance to mass test have also raised doubts about whether cases and deaths are being accurately counted in the region.

“[The official numbers] provide a false sense of security. The number of cases is not showing close to the magnitude of the problem,” said Dr. Espinal. (CNN)

By Lamin Njie

A 39-year-old Gambian has died in the US State of Georgia after a reported police shootout on Friday.

Momodou Lamin Sisay was killed after a shooting that happened on Temple Johnson Road near Pate Road in Snellville, Georgia, according to local media.

Father of the 39-year-old told The Fatu Network while his family is not accepting or disputing the narrative police in Georgia are pushing, they intend to do their own investigation into the circumstances surrounding Momodou’s death.

“The narrative that is being given by the police is that it was a routine traffic stop. Now, from a routine traffic stop you now get to a point they’re claiming he was armed, he brandished a weapon and based on that they called several other SWAT cars,” Lare Sisay, a UN diplomat told The Fatu Network.

He added: “They literally walked towards the car and since this officer reported that he brandished a weapon, they made no attempts to frisk him, to ask him to come out of the vehicle or to say drop your weapon. They just shot. Multiple shots were fired and he died on the spot.

“We’re not saying we accept or dispute the narrative but we want to wait until the autopsy report is out and we do our own investigation. We will do an independent autopsy and we want to get a private investigator to investigate the circumstances of his death and if necessary hire a lawyer to sue the Georgia state police. We’re not going to let it go.

“[I spoke with him] just a few days ago. He’s a very pious somebody, goes to the mosque and prays and even when he was in school, he wasn’t into any sort of trouble that I am aware of. So to say that he has a gun… This is sombody who abhors violence, he does not like violence of any kind.”

Momodou’s slaying comes as US descends into chaos following the fatal arrest of black man George Floyd, which has thrust back to the fore a fresh conversation on how blacks are treated in the country.

By Lamin Njie

Riot police descended on New Yundum on Saturday as natives toured a land area they say was being illegally taken from them.

The people of New Yundum have accused the government of orchestrating a wicked plot to seize their land after initially making them believe the land would be reserved for developmental purposes.

The town through its VDC on Thursday issued a statement drawing the attention of Gambians and ‘by extension the Government of The Gambia in particular the Ministry of Lands and the Members of the National Assembly of our utmost dismay, disappointment and frustration of the unlawful allocations of plots belonging to the community of New Yundum to government officials and in particular the Honourable members of the National Assembly of The Gambia’.

“We truly find this regrettable and utterly unease of how insensitive our own Public officials more so National Assembly Members could venture into such act of rubbing the very people they are to serve genuinely. We wonder where we will end up as a country when the apex law making body is bent on such a dubious activity without considering the plight of the very people who elected them into position,” the people of the town said in their statement.

The people of the town on Saturday toured the land in question.

“Usually we do go there for observation to see whether there is any new development. So we realised that there is development at the reserve land so what we did is we consulted the community to go there and find out,” an official of the VDC told The Fatu Network.

He added: “During that process, we met the paramilitary were there, I think two or three vehicles fully armed.

“So we went there, we observed the place and we found out there are some real estates. Of course the government also trying to encroach on parts of the other area that was initially allocated to the MPs and other public officcers.

“So that was our reason of going there. So we had this encounter with them. So guided us up to the place, we observed the place and that was it. It was smooth.”

A man has died in the United States after a reported shoot-out with the police, according to reports.

WSBTV 2 reported on Friday the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called to investigate a police shooting involving the Snellville police department and the Gwinnett County police department that left one person dead.

The shooting happened on Temple Johnson Road near Pate Road in Snellville, according to the outlet.

Authorities said it started off as a traffic stop around 4 a.m. and then turned into a chase, the outlet said.

“The driver of the vehicle took off at full-speed and refused to stop,” Snellville police said. “Officers attempted at PIT maneuver on the vehicle, took the vehicle off the roadway.”

The vehicle crashed into the tree line on Temple Johnson Road. Once the vehicle came to a stop, officers approached the car and gave the driver commands but he refused to comply, the outlet reported.

“The subject produced a handgun and began firing at the officers. There was an exchange of gunfire,” Snellville police said.

Snellville police called in a SWAT team from Gwinnett County to assist, according to WSBTV.

“At one point he lifted up his firearm and pointed it at our officers,” Cpl. Michele Pihera with Gwinnett County Police Department said. “One of our officers assigned to the SWAT team fired one round.”

Pihera said right now, they don’t know if that round hit the suspect, but he was later found dead in the car, the outlet said.

Atlanta-based Gambian Banka Manneh said in a Facebook post on Saturday the man involved is Momodou Lamin Sisay.

By Lamin Njie

Marie Sock’s emergence as a contender for the job of president will enrich The Gambia’s political landscape, according to Dr Ismaila Ceesay.

“Marie Sock joining the race as an independent candidate augurs well for Gambian politics. This will enrich our competitive political landscape. We need more women candidates to come forward and contest for political positions,” the senior political science lecturer at the University of The Gambia tweeted Saturday.

It comes as Sock announced on Saturday she will be joining the race to become the country’s next president.

Gambians will go to the polls in about 16 months to elect a new president. Sock is the first woman to express interest in the job.

In light of the continued low scale spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its unavoidable socio-economic consequences, the European Union has taken the decision to extend the successful Building Resilience through Social Transfers- BReST project being implemented by UNICEF, the National Nutrition Agency NaNA and the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare until end of August 2020, according to a statement by the EU.

BReST is a successful nutrition, social protection and cash transfer project funded by the European Union in the tune of 3 million Euro and implemented by UNICEF that has been benefitting pregnant and lactating mothers with children under the age of two and has been under implementation since 2017.

The statement by EU on Thursday said: “This 3 months extension will allow for a second wave of emergency COVID-19 cash transfers to the most vulnerable households in the project implementing regions of CRR, URR and NBR. In the last few weeks, the EU BReST project already provided a first COVID-19 cash transfers of 1,500 GMD per mother and child pair.

“This second transfer intends to continue supporting the purchase of essential food and hygiene items to combat the spread of COVID-19 using funds from the final remaining financial balance under the project. It shows the commitment of the European Union to ensure EU funds directly reach the people, wherever possible.”

The European Union Ambassador to the Republic of The Gambia, H.E. Attila LAJOS: ”The European Union continues to stand in support of the Gambian people in their efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19 and overcome its consequences. In this case, the EU is once again using BReST as the main conduit for cash transfers directly to the people. This project is indeed a working example that could be built on for future social protection systems in The Gambia once the COVID crisis is over.”

APRC deputy spokesman Dodou Jah on Friday responded to claims President Adama Barrow goes about giving money to top officials of the party.

Mr Jah warned that the officials do not own the party and President Barrow will lose his money if he gives it to them.

“If Barrow takes his money and gives it to the executive, whoever it is, it’s Barrow who would lose his money,” the senior APRC official said on Giss Giss.

He added: “Because the people he gives the money to do not own the party. They were only selected to lead.

“The party is owned by the people and what the people want is what stands. So whatever Barrow gives, he would be the one to lose his money.”

Defence Minister Sheikh OmAr Faye visited Garawol Kuta Village in the Upper River Region on Wednesday, nearly three months after Senegalese gendarmerie illegally entered The Gambia and shot a Gambian and then fled with him.

Sulayman Trawally was pursued into the country on March 8.

Defence Minister Sheikh Omar Faye (SOF) has now visited the village, nearly three months after the incident.

“The visit was to reassure the great people of Upper River Region and the people of Garawol Kuta in particular that the Government of Mr Adama Barrow has been working tirelessly since 8 March 2020 when the shooting incident occurred and the subsequent arrest of one of our own Mr Sulayman Trawally,” according to a statement by the ministry of defence.

It added: “He (defence minister) assured the people that the Government of the Gambia will never abandon her citizens and the immediate deployment of a patrol team that crossed into Senegal to follow up the case it’s a clear indication that the security forces and the government will never abdicate their responsibilities.

“At the diplomatic level according to him a mediation team has been composed to work out modalities to avoid the reoccurrence of this kind of incident but however the mediation efforts has been marred by this global pandemic Covid-19.”