UDP leader Ousainou Darboe has President Adama Barrow did not inherit anything from his father which he could rely on to help Gambians – warning citizens to resist any impression the monies being splashed are coming from the Gambian leader himself.

Speaking to supporters from Kunkujang, Darboe said: “We should make sure those underhand dealings that are going on and will be going on for several months before the 4th of December 2021, we must resist them.

“We must make sure your future is not mortgaged to any unscrupulous person. Look, if I say I want to help you, why should I come to you to give you money, [and you wiill say] ‘give me a position for me to help you’. Does it make sense? You’re asking for a position to help me develop the country. Why do I have to give you money?

“If anything, you should be the one to sponsor and support me because you believe in what I am saying. So those who do not believe in what they say are those that put money in their pocket and going to people and bribing them and telling people things that are not true.”

Mr Darboe stated that what he told former President Yahya Jammeh is the same thing he will tell President Adama Barrow.

“They take aids and support from our development partners and convert them to be their own personal [support] to the Gambian people. I have told Yahya Jammeh and I am telling Adama Barrow. That his father doesn’t have an estate. Adama Barrow did not inherit anything from his father that he could use to benefit Gambians,” Darboe said.

The UDP leader also said: “Before he became president, who did he give a bag of rice to as a gift in Kunkujang? If at all he was doing it, it would be to his uncles and aunts in Mankamang Kunda.

“Now that person is now coming to say I will spend 250 million dalasis to give rice when we know that that 250 million dalasis is coming from our development partners to help us cushion up our hardship and this is what the Gambian people must know. The lies that they’re telling Gambians and sweet talks, is all rubbish, no truth in them.”

Gambia Football Federation has reacted to CAF’s decision to impose a five million dalasis fine on it after Africa’s top football governing body held that Gambia deliberately caused Gabon players distress.

“…the GFF wishes to reiterate that it had nothing to do with the alleged incident between the local Gambian health authorities and the Gabonese delegation, rather it was purely within the mandate of the latter as per the laid down National COVID-19 Protocols and Regulations,” GFF said while reacting to the decision on Wednesday in a statement.

The statement said elsewhere: “Whilst expressing her disappointment and disagreement with the decision of the CAF Disciplinary Board, the GFF felt that the actions of the Gabonese delegation was disrespectful and an insult to our national laws, which in our view was endorsed by CAF.

“Worst of all, and as far as we know, the Gambia VS Gabon match was the only match out of the 48 matches which were played during that period where a particular team was allowed to play the match without undergoing the COVID-19 Test in the host country. This is yet another manifestation of the bias decision of CAF as the referee in this matter.

“After due consultations on the matter, the GFF has decided to launch an appeal against the Decision to the CAF Appeals Board.”

Mamma Kandeh has used executive power and pulled the trigger on GDC’s desk officer in Central River Region (South).

In an relieve letter on December 3, Kandeh informed Gagigo that he was being removed from his position as the party’s desk officer in the region ‘with immediate effect’. He relied on article 14.1 (iii) (V) of the constitution of the GDC.

“Therefore, Hon. Mamma Kandeh wishes to take this opportunity to thank and commend you on your efforts over the years.

“You are also informed that the content of this letter is not to expel you from the party but to relieve you from your position as the Desk Officer for CRR South,” the letter said.

No reason was advanced in the letter. Gagigo could not be immediately reached for comment.

Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo has won re-election, securing another four-year mandate to lead the West African country, the electoral commission announced.

The 76-year-old Akufo-Addo got 51.6% of the votes, while his closest rival John Mahama, of the main opposition National Democratic Congress, got 47.4%, the head of the country’s electoral commission Jean Mensa said.

More than 13 million ballots were cast out of a total electorate of 17 million and across 38,000 polling stations throughout the country. Voters also chose 275 lawmakers for the national parliament.

African regional and West African sub-regional groups which observed Monday’s general elections in Ghana were satisfied with the conduct of the elections, a statement sent early Wednesday said.

In a joint statement, the election observation groups from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Office in West Africa and Sahel (UNOWAS) commended the people of Ghana for the peaceful conduct of the polls.

They also urged state institutions in charge of the elections to discharge their duties with professionalism and transparency. (CGTN Africa)

Government spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh has said claims lands minister Musa Drammeh has said Gambians should not sell land to Gambians in the diaspora are ‘totally’ false.

Drammeh has come under fire amid reports he asked Gambians not to sell their land to people of African descent living in The Gambia and others.

The government has now come out to say the minister never made such comments.

“In the wake of widespread reports attributing discriminatory remarks to the Local Government Minister about land grabbing, the Gambia government wishes to allay the fears of Diaspora Gambians that the remarks attributed to the Hon Musa Drammeh are totally false and grossly exaggerated to potentially smear the image of the minister and the Barrow government,” Ebrima Sankareh said in a signed statement on Wednesday.

Sankareh said the lands minister simply cautioned farmers while with the President on tour in the Nuimis to be weary [sic] of foreigners posing as genuine investors who may end up ‘seizing’ their lands.

Prolific Charles Taylor fighter Balo Kanteh has detailed how he surveyed Yahya Jammeh’s meetings to assess possibilities of him being captured.

Speaking to the TRRC on Wednesday Mr Kanteh, 55, said: “I entered The Gambia but no one would know how I did. It was only Abdoulie Sonko who would know how I entered Gambia. But my entering into Gambia is based on knowledge. When I entered Gambia, Yahya Jammeh was holding a meeting in Fass Njaga Choi.

“I went there to observe everything like how their seating arrangement is. But at that time, apart from Sana Sabally, they all are usually there. So one can capture him from these meeting. He went to Ndungu Kebbeh to Baddibu Kerewan and I went to all these places to observe how he goes about his meetings and how one can capture him.

“His NIAs did not know because I have means which if I use to enter without anyone knowing it’s me. I then realised if we are going to capture him, we will have to have something. For example two AK-47 [rifles]. Because if you’re going about such operations, since they’re commando operations, you have to have equip yourself. In such an operation, you go into it with two things [plans]. To kidnap him there or he dies there.

“I came all the way to State House and entered it. This was before the election [in 1997]. I came there twice and my mission was to find out how one could attack the place. I used a strategy. I inserted myself in a group of people who were at State House. But there are means which if I used, I could walk past you and you would not see or say anything.

“I could not find out where their armoury was. Because if you’re attacking a place, I am not talking about a so-called soldier, but if you’re good soldier, the first place you try to take is the armoury. When I could not find the armoury, I went back to Senegal and told Abdoulie Sonko that I could not locate the armoury. That was how Abdoulie told me the only place for us to now turn to was Farafenni.”

GDC’s new national chairman Omar Ceesay has said claims Jimara MP Alhagie Sowe has withdrawn his support of the party.

Reports whirled since on Tuesday that Sowe too has flipped.

But the party’s new chairman who is also the MP for Niamina East Omar Ceesay said on Wednesday: “Contrary to the news spread in the social media regarding the resignation of HON. ALHAGIE H. SOWE NAM for JIMARA CONSTITUENCY from the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) to National people’s party (NPP) it has been clear that it is totally FALSE and unfounded story.

“I took it upon myself this very morning to engage the said NAM on this very subject as the newly nominated acting chairman of the GDC but according to him ” I am still a member of the GDC and I am always committed and determined to serve the mighty party irrespective of the news spread on the media”.

“Again, he said ‘there is no vehicle allocated to me by the president as circulated in the social media’.

“I wish to reaffirm to all the supporters, militants and sympathizers of the GDC that Hon. SOWE is with us and dedicated more than before to serve the party.”

Foreign Minister Dr Mamadou Tangara on Tuesday 8 December penned a message in the Condolence Book opened at the Diplomatic Residence of the Republic of France to Banjul.

The written message was in honour of the former French President, H.E. Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who died on 2nd December 2020 in France, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“In a message written on behalf of the Government of The Gambia, Foreign Minister Tangara indicated that news of the demise of President Giscard d’Estaing was received with deep sorrow and extended heartfelt condolences to the family, the Government and people of France,” the statement said.

Ballo Kanteh on Wednesday began his TRRC testimony by telling the investigation he worked as a special forces soldier in Liberia fighting for former Liberian leader Charles Taylor.

Kanteh who is appearing before the TRRC to testify on the Farafenni attack shared with the probe what he did in Liberia.

“When I was in Liberia, I had 1,000 to 1,500 people under my command. I had 18 bodyguards but they were all women because I could not trust men,” Kanteh who said he had the rank of captain at the time and was often called by his nickname Nelson Mandela said. He said he was the only Gambian among the lot.

His testimony continues.

Gambia Democratic Congress as appointed MP Omar Ceesay as its new national chairman following the departure of Dr Demba Sabally.

Dr Sabally on Monday made public he has left GDC for good.

GDC on Tuesday held an executive meeting to refill Dr Sabally’s executive position as well as one other.

A statement by the party’s assistant administrative secretary said: “Today 08th December, 2020 at the party Executive meeting, the members of the Central Executive Committee has the utmost power to refill vacant positions in the party Executive. The position of Campaign Manager and the recently vacant position of the chairmanship were filled in at the today’s meeting.

“Ousman Sowe is appointed by the Central Executive as the new Campaign Manager of the party and Hon. Omar Ceesay of Niamina East as the newly appointed Chairman of the party.

“The two filled positions have been unanimously agreed by the executive at today’s meeting.

“We congratulate them and wishing them all the best of luck in their new role.”

Confedaration of African Football, CAF, has imposed a 100,000 dollars (five million dalasis) on the Gambia Football Federation.

Gabon’s team last month spent hours at the airport for refusing to take fresh coronavirus test from health authorities. They were required to do so under Gambian law.

But the disciplinary board of CAF has on December 6 held the “Gambian federation did not comply to the loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship values and rules of Fair Play concerning the reception of the Gabonese Delegation”.

CAF said half of the 100,000 is suspended on the condition that the “federation is not found guilty of a similar offense within a period of twenty-four (24) months”.

Meanwhile, CAF has also decided to punish Gabon’s captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang for “publicly published offensive and degrading material that undermines the honor and image of the Confederation of African Football”.

“The CAF Disciplinary Board decided to impose a fine of 10,000 USD for breach of the values of sportsmanship and integrity on the Gabonese Football Federation for the regrettable behavior of the player,” CAF said on Tuesday in a statement.

By AFP

A Senegalese court on Tuesday handed down jail terms to three fathers accused of pushing their sons to migrate to Europe by sea, sending them on a trip that left one of them dead, a defence lawyer said.

In a high-profile case, the trio were given two-year jail terms, 23 months of which were suspended, on a charge of “placing the lives of others in danger,” attorney Assane Dioma Ndiaye said.

They were acquitted of the charge of abetting migrant trafficking, the lawyer said.

The sons were with other migrants who boarded a canoe to make the crossing from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands, the first step in a plan to reach continental Europe.

But one of them, a lad aged about 15 nicknamed Doudou, fell ill and died during the trip.

The fathers of the three, all of them fishermen in the coastal town of Mbour, were arrested a couple of weeks later.

Doudou’s fate triggered uproar in Senegal, prompting anguished debate about poverty, parental pressure and the allure of life in wealthy but distant Europe.

His father had paid 250,000 CFA francs ($460 / 380 euros) to a smuggler, who was to take the boy to Spain. His destination after that was Italy, where he hoped to sign up for a football training academy.

A source close to the investigation said Doudou “died after having problems eating” during the trip.

Further details are unclear, as according to local media his body was tipped overboard after he died.

The children of the two other fathers survived the attempted crossing and returned home.

“I wanted to open the doors of success to him,” the father was quoted by a local newspaper as saying during the trial.

“I took him to see the marabouts (witch doctors) so that they would pray for him. If I knew that he wasn’t going to come back I would never have taken the risk.”

He told the court: “I am here before you today but my spirit has left me.”

The prosecution had called for two-year terms against the three, while the defence had urged their acquittal.

The Canaries lie more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the coast of Africa at their closest point, and many boats — big canoes also called pirogues — are overcrowded, underpowered and in poor shape.

Over 500 people have died this year, mostly in October and November, according to the UN’s International Office for Migration (IOM), compared to 210 fatalities for the whole of last year.

The pressure to migrate is especially strong among fishing communities. Coastal villages in Senegal have been badly hit by dwindling catches, allegedly inflicted by foreign factory ships, and by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Businessman Sillaba Samateh has told the TRRC the NIA used him to pack chopped parts of humans into bags.

Mr Samateh while continuing his testimony before the investigation on Tuesday said during the course of his 2010 detention at the NIA over claims of him selling drugs in the name of President Yahya Jammeh said he was tortured and showed parts of humans in a bid to make him admit he did indeed sold drugs in the name of the former president.

“NIA showed me a lot of things,” Samateh told the TRRC.

He continued: “When they torture people, I was the one who mostly cleaned upstairs [where the beating takes place]. When they’re done, very early in the morning, I was the one putting into bags those that died or those whose pieces of body parts cut from others.

“I was the one they take around showing me things like human heads. Omar Cham did that many times, two to three times, showing me human head and telling me if you speak this is what we are going to do to you too and throw you into the sewer.”

Dr Demba Sabally has said he decided to join NPP because the truth lied with President Adama Barrow.

Speaking on the reason why he abandoned a party he was central in forming, Dr Sabally said: “GDC ceases today. It will not grow again. It’s us who formed it. Since the beginning to today, we were in the party and I was the national chairman of GDC.

“It’s us who built all the structures, from Banjul to Basse and it’s us who maintained it. But I have left the party today and I have left the party tomorrow.

“I’m behind President Barrow. I’m behind him today, we’re behind him tomorrow. Because he’s the wielder of the truth.”

Dr Sabally spoke on Monday at President Barrrow’s meeting in Nuimi Essau.

Moriba Susso quickly returned to interpreting on Monday a few days after leaving opposition Gambia Democratic Congress.

Susso is one of a number of supporters of GDC who have defected to National People’s Party.

He joined President Barrow on his 30-day tour of the nation – and in Essau, he interpreted for a number of people at a meeting held in the NBR town on Monday.

Over a dozen drivers spent the night in police custody amid a huge row over queueing at the ports, The Fatu Network understands.

Drivers under the Gambia Transport Union clashed with clearing agents over who should transport goods arriving at the country’s port.

Clearing agents are allegedly bringing in trucks that are not part of those that are licensed strictly for the ports. And anger by this, the drivers on Monday protested against such acts.

At least 20 drivers are said to be arrested Monday when riot police were called at the ports to bring the tension under control.

The president of the Gambia Transport Union Omar Ceesay told The Fatu Network he was on his way to the police station in Banjul to secure the release of his drivers.

Police spokesman Lamin Njie has not been able to immediately comment on the issue.