Director General of Gambia Radio and Television Services Abdou Touray has been removed as head of GRTS.

Touray has been head of GRTS since Ebrima Sillah was tapped for minister of information and communication infrastructure in July 2018. His sacking emerged on Friday.

He has been redeployed to the ministry of information as adviser to the minister. His advisor role will take effect on March 1.

Former US Embassy official Malick Jeng is said to have been lined to replace him. Jeng’s last known employment was at the Gambia High Commission in London where he worked as tourism destination manager.

Fifteen contractors toured the Bertil Harding Highway on Tuesday ahead a bidding battle in the coming weeks.

Under the auspices of the OIC Gambia Road Project, fifteen (15) domestic and international contractors participating in the bidding for the construction of the Bertil Harding Highway were taken on a tour of the Bertil Harding Highway on Tuesday,” OIC Gambia said in a statement.

The secretariat added: “The site visit, which was facilitated by the National Roads Authority as the government agency implementing the project, is a critical requirement of the tender process.

“According to Bala Ceesay, Contracts Manager, National Road Authority said the group excursion is aimed at introducing prospective contractors to the ecology of the project site as well as highlighting the intersections and other crucial components of the road.”

“Here’s the road and space available. Tell us what you can do with it and for how much as per the requirement mentioned in the tender document,” Ceesay said according to OIC Gambia’s statement.

“To ensure timely implementation, the project will be undertaken as a Design & Build Contract (FIDIC EPC/TURNKEY). The so-called Turnkey model means the successful bidder will provide both the required design and construction services.

“Completed tender documents are to be enclosed in plain sealed envelopes marked with the tender reference number and be deposited in the Tender Box at the NRA Headquarters, on or before 25th March 2021 at 11.00,” the statement said.

Senegalese President Macky Sall received his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinopharm in the presidential palace on Thursday.

Several members of the government and presidential office staffers were also vaccinated.

Addressing the nation afterward, the Senegalese president said that he wanted to emphasize that all people over the age of 60 should be able to be vaccinated.

He said that he and members of the government wished to set an example. (CGTN)

Top Senegal opposition leader Ousmane Sonko said on Thursday none of Adji Sarr’s claims of rape has foundation as he speaks to the press on the raging issue.

Sonko has been fighting to clear his name in the past two weeks after a woman accused him of raping him at a massage parlour in Dakar. Sonko was a regular at the parlour.

On Thursday, Sonko told journalists in Dakar Sarr’s claims are baseless. Sarr claimed Sonko raped him three times at gun-point.

Sonko said: “[When she said] it’s a car that picked me up, they checked and found that a car picked her up. She then talked about SMS and they checked and there was no SMS. They asked her about the SMS and she said she’s deleted it.

“[She said] my dad lodged a complaint against Sonko and they checked and found there was no complaint lodged. If we’re to reveal everything, it would fill a page or two pages. This shows that person doesn’t have the credibility which could make one to believe her.”

Sonko accused Senegal president Macky Sall of being behind the scheme.

The head coach of Samger Sulayman Kuyateh died on Thursday following a brief illness. He was 39.

In a statement, the club said the gaffer died at the Brikama Hospital.

“He was a family-oriented and an amazing human being both as a coach and a mentor to our players. He held a CAF B License coaching certificate,” the club said.

The club added: “Sulayman was signed by Samger Football Club ahead of the 2019/20 season and tasked with returning to team to the elite of Gambian football. Therefore, it is a devastating blow and indeed sad that he wouldn’t be able to complete the journey that he started with us.

“In other to celebrate his legacy and a show of appreciation to his undivided loyalty and services to Samger Football Club, our owners, Mr. Harry Gerber and Mr. Cherno Samba have announced that the Club will continue to pay Sulayman Kuyateh’s monthly salary in full for the rest of the current football season.”

“It is a sad day for football and a sad day for Gambia obviously because he is one of the very inspiring young coaches and he’s always had a talent that you could see. He’s always talked about football and how it should be played and a young person has lost his life so young. We’re saddened and sorry obviously,” a very emotional Cherno Samba told Samger’s in house medium, according to the club’s statement.

“It breaks my heart to see young ones like him goes but it’s always the good ones that go early and we’re here to make sure that his family are taken care of at least until the end of the season. And our condolence to the Kuyateh family and especially his wife and the six-month old baby,” he added, according to the club’s statement.

NPP’s Seedy Njie on Thursday refused to be drawn into any exchanges with those who frowned at his attendance of the Abuja constitution talks.

Njie rubbed shoulders with the nation’s top political leaders at the Abuja talks meant to find an understanding over the crisis-gripped draft constitution. His attendance of the talks was much criticized.

But when asked to comment on Gambians who criticized him, the smart politician simply dismissed: “Definitely I won’t respond to that. I represented a party, I won’t respond to that.”

The Gambia government is racing against time to trigger in a new constitution before the presidential election in December. The draft constitution which was put together by the CRC ran into trouble after MPs loyal to President Barrow voted against it late last year.

In respect of the Abuja talks, Njie said: “We made progress. Most of the issues that were of course contentious issues were raised and most of the political parties, almost all the political parties except one agreed on everything.

“But I hope when we resume the talks in about two weeks time here in Banjul, we will be able to communicate to the Gambian people. But it was very fruitful, very frank and all political parties came up with there positions and thank God all of them who were present agreed except one.

“I wouldn’t want to disclose that but many the organisers in the coming days would want to tell Gambians what was the bone of contention, which political parties agree and which political parties did not agree.”

UDP leader Ousainou Darboe on Thursday declined to speak following his return to the country from Abuja, Nigeria – where he participated in talks over the crisis-gripped draft constitution alongside compatriot political leaders.

The leaders jetted out to Nigeria on Monday for a showdown with former Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan who has been preoccupied with the job of speaking to them for them to come to a common understanding.

After three days of talks, the leaders returned to the country amid reports of the talks failing to clinch success.

UDP is said to have disagreed in two key areas: the issue of whether President Barrow’s current term should count as part of a two-term limit under the new constitution and whether amendments should be made to the draft constitution before it’s taken back to the national assembly.

However, UDP leader Darboe declined to speak when approached by The Fatu Network for comment.

Five young girls who underwent female genital mutilation in Boune, Senegal have developed complications, according to local media.

Senego said on Thursday six girls were put through FGM by their mothers but five of them have been taken to hospital after they suffered complications.

Three moms and a woman who allegedly cut the girls have been placed under custody.

FGM is procedure common among African societies that entails the partial or complete removal of the female clitoris.

By Fatou Camara II

Disgust over Gambian political leaders travelling to Nigeria to discuss the fate of the draft constitution has intensified.

The nation’s political leaders this week flew to Abuja to meet former Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan in search of a deal over the failed draft constitution. Many Gambians have publicly criticized the development.

Speaking to The Fatu Network, Yusef Tailor (Flex Dan) Editor of Gainako Online News blasted that the trip doesn’t make sense.

He said: “It defies logic in so many ways because I don’t know how it made sense to have about ten people travel to go and meet one mediator, so financially it doesn’t really make sense at all.

“I don’t know who is paying the bills but looking at it the other way at the end of the day if they take our constitution talks out of this country and they are going to have to bring same results here, pass it at the National Assembly so it’s definitely baffling and it defies logic they are going to bring whatever it is they have agree back to the Gambia for it to be decided at the National Assembly.”

Ousainu Colley popularly known as Ousainu Gambia said: “We understand that diplomacy works from country to country but this is the constitution of the Gambia we are talking about.

“This is a law that directly affects Gambians, it is something that is going to affect me or you more than Jonathan or any other so it’s something that the Gambians should have their 100% voice on. Therefore before we listen to any other we should listen to ourselves.

“We have the national assembly representing the people ,the executive presenting the people so if we really want to give the constitution a second trial let them come together and we solve it in our own Gambian way.”

At least 41 migrants drowned off the Libyan coast in a shipwreck, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday.

According to testimonies of the 77 migrants who were rescued by a commercial vessel, a total of 120 people were on a dinghy that left Libya on Feb. 18, including six women, one of whom was pregnant, and four children, UNHCR and IOM said in a statement.

“Tens of thousands of persons travelling along the route through Libya to the Central Mediterranean have fallen victim to unspeakable brutality at the hands of traffickers and militias,” the statement said.

Migrants who were rescued and returned to Libya are forced into arbitrary detention and risk becoming victims of abuse, violence and major human rights violations, the statement said.

IOM and UNHCR reiterated that Libya “cannot be considered a safe port and that every effort must be made to ensure that persons rescued at sea are not sent back there.”

Due to the state of insecurity and chaos in the North African nation following the overthrow of its leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, thousands of immigrants, mostly Africans, chose to cross the Mediterranean from Libya towards Europe.

Some 160 migrants have died in the Central Mediterranean, while more than 3,500 others were rescued and returned to Libya so far this year, the statement said. (XINHUA)

GMC leader Mai Ahmad Fatty has said truth will ‘always’ triumph amid a trip to Nigeria to participate in talks alongside his compatriots.

The nation’s political leaders including Fatty left the country earlier this week to meet Goodluck Jonathan over the draft constitution. And it was Fatty who first publicly dropped a hint of the trip by posting a photo of himself, Mamma Kandeh and Dr Ismaila Ceesay.

And writing on Thursday, Mai Fatty said: “There is nothing between truth and falsehood except what is false. When the truth shifts its ground, even by an inch, it loses its status as the truth. Truth will always triumph.

“Politics is NOT a game. It’s not simply about winning or losing. It’s about the truth, principle and morality. These are the cardinal pillars of our political philosophy.”

The leaders are now on their way home after talks concluded on Wednesday.

A 25-year-old woman has died after contracting coronavirus taking the number of people who died from the disease to 147.

According to the health ministry, the woman had an underlying health problem of diabetes.

The ministry also disclosed 24 new cases have been registered bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases ever confirmed in the country to 4,640.

Those who have contracted the disease newly are between the ages of three months and 86 years.

The nation’s political leaders have left Nigeria and are currently transiting in Lome, Togo ahead of their arrival Thursday evening.

More than a dozen of political party leaders travelled to Nigeria on Monday for talks over the draft constitution. The talks however failed.

They have now left Nigeria and are due back Thursday evening, The Fatu Network understands.

The man between them, Goodluck Jonathan, will fly into the country on March 8.

U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday revoked a proclamation made by his predecessor blocking many green card applicants from entering the United States, Reuters reports.

Former President Donald Trump issued the ban last year, saying it was needed to protect US workers amid high unemployment due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The ban included visas for work in high-tech industries and a range of others for low-skill workers, interns, teachers, managers and au pairs in the H-1B, H-4, H-2B, L-1 and J categories, and company transfers.

Biden rejected that reasoning in a proclamation on Wednesday rescinding the visa ban. The Democratic president said it had prevented families from reuniting in the United States and harmed US businesses.

“The suspension of entry imposed in Proclamation 10014… does not advance the interests of the United States. To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here,” Biden said.

Biden, pledged to reverse many of Trump’s hardline immigration policies. Business groups and immigrant advocates pressed in recent weeks for him to lift the visa ban, which was set to expire on March 31.

The reversal means that thousands of foreigners who had expected to wait until the end of March for the chance to apply for the coveted visas can now do so immediately.

U.S.-based tech companies use H-1B visas to hire highly skilled workers, including engineers, IT specialists and architects from outside of the country. The companies claim there is a shortage of U.S.-resident talent. The visas are good for three years and can be renewed for a second three-year term. Prior to the shutdown, about 65,000 visas were issued each year.

Critics say they serve as loopholes for businesses seeking to undercut American salaries because companies can pay foreign workers less.

Biden left in place another ban on most foreign temporary workers.

Presidential Proclamation 10052, which continues to block certain work visa applicants from entering the U.S. during the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic, as well as rules blocking visa issuance to applicants in the Schengen area, Iran, China, Brazil and South Africa, remains in place for now. (CGTN Africa)

Talks with Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, Nigeria geared towards shaping a consensus around the beleaguered draft constitution has failed to produce a breakthrough.

Gambia political leaders are in Nigeria for talks over the draft constitution as the charter remains trapped in uncertainty following its collapse in parliament last year.

The leaders have been bitterly split over it and former Nigerian leader Goodluck Jonathan has since been spearheading dialogue among them.

The dialogue process has now taken them to Nigeria but a deal could not be reached after three days of talks, one person familiar with the talks told The Fatu Network.

All leaders but UDP’s Darboe agreed for the knocking out of the so-called retroactive clause which would have condemned President Barrow to just one new five-year term in office if the new constitution is adopted, with his current term counted. UDP’s disagreement on this means there was no deal.

Still, the whole process has now been thrown into further uncertainty after the UDP also dissented over the way and manner the draft constitution should be returned to parliament.

Parties have conceded to the idea of changes to be made to the draft before its re-submission in parliament but UDP has rejected that idea and wants the draft to remain unaltered and be taken to parliament as it is.

President Adama Barrow on Wednesday met with the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium, a day after meeting with those of Cote D’Ivoire and Italy.

State House said: “After receiving the Letters of Credence of The Spanish Ambassador, H.E Olga Cabarga Gomez, President Barrow recognised the support provided to the Gambians living in Spain in particular, through skills transfer, while promoting bilateral cooperation in the areas of tourism and the manufacturing industry. He said such investments would create youth employment opportunities and help curb migration.

“The Spanish Ambassador extended best wishes to the President from the King of Spain noting that she felt honoured to be accredited to The Gambia.

“Additionally, she stated that she would further strengthen the bilateral ties between the two countries by encouraging more Spanish Investors and bring more tourists to The Gambia.”

“We have a big community of Gambians in Spain that are working hard for both the success of Spain and The Gambia. This means our relationship is stronger and we looking for ways to make it even stronger,’’ she noted, according to State House.

With a population of forty-five (45,000) thousand, Spain has the largest concentration of Gambians, while the Gambia is home to one thousand (1000) Spaniards, State House said.

“For the Belgian Ambassador, H.E. Hubert Roisin, the relationship between The Gambia and the Kingdom of Belgium is manifested daily by the frequency of Brussels Airlines entering and leaving the Gambia. He praised the trade links between The Gambia and the cities in Belgium, stating that it extends across sectors. He also highlighted the EU-funded cooperation that is currently creating decent jobs for young people in The Gambia through agriculture while commending the cooperation between the Belgium Port of Ghent and The Gambia Ports Authority.

“On the relationship with Belgium, President Barrow observed the special interest Belgium has in The Gambia and said there is potential to enhance trade and tourism for the mutual interest of both countries. On the promotion of tourism, Brussels Airline already contributes to air travel with at least five flights per week.

“The Belgian Development Agency is also supporting The Gambia with its transitional programme and other areas of mutual interest through the European Union.”