President Adama Barrow said ‘Billahi Wallahi’ National People’s Party will win the 2021 presidential election if the party stuck to the rigorous campaign it employed in last Saturday’s by-elections.

“The campaign we did in this instance, if we do the same in 2021, Billahi, Wallahi we will win Gambia,” President Barrow told his supporters at the Arch in Banjul.

NPP candidates of Birom Sowe and Awa Gaye handed the party its first electoral victories last Saturday when they won the Niamina West parliamentary and Kerr Jarga council by-elections.

According the president, NPP won because they were united.

“We went to Kerr Jarga and worked hand in hand with the influential people. We did the same thing in Niamina,” the president said.

President Adama Barrow has lavished praise on Hamat Bah saying the tourism minister told him not to bother himself travelling to Niamina because the NPP’s campaign was safe in his hands.

At NPP victory celebration in Banjul on Monday, the president said of his loyal minister: “I will not forget my minister who is Hamat NK Bah. From the beginning of the campaign to the end, he was in Niamina.

“As things went progressed, I told him I wanted to come to Niamina but he told me, ‘President Barrow do not muddy your name, I alone is enough in Niamina’. He said ‘no matter who comes here, we will win Niamina’.

“And the promise they made they have fulfilled. So I should not speak long, I should just show my joy.”

By Sarjo Brito

Tourism Minister Hamat Bah has insisted the NPP’s by-election wins were brought upon by the work of politicians, telling his fellow ministers they must be politicians if they want to continue in their roles.

“…I therefore want to reiterate my position, if you want to continue being a minister you must be a politician. This victory was brought by the politician. Without this victory we would not have been here today. Every cabinet minister must be ready to be a politician on the campaign trail,” Mr Bah said late on Monday during NPP’s victory celebration in Banjul.

Earlier on, the tourism minister asked politicians to desist from politics of insults and character assassination and instead begin to engage in politics of issues and development.

‘’Do not bring insults, abuses and character assassination to Adama Barrow and the National People’s Party. Let us speak to unite the Gambian people. God chose President Barrow to lead us and He will continue leading as long as God says so with the will of The Gambian people. Stop using platforms to insult people,” he said.

By Lamin Njie

An ex-wife on Tuesday said she called her then-husband Bubacarr Keita’s sister immediately she left the hospital with her sister and told her the businessman has been wronging her for long but she wasn’t in this instance going to let it go.

Picking from her Monday testimony, the businesswoman witness explained how she immediately called Mr Keita’s elder sister after she finished consulting a doctor over her sister.

“I told her ‘your brother has for long been wronging me and this time I will not forgive him’. She asked me what happened and I explained everything to her,” the witness said.

The witness had on Tuesday begin her testimony by telling Judge Momodou SM Jallow of the Bundung High Court the doctor she consulted, Dr Daffeh, counseled her to take the right steps by reporting the matter.

According to her, the doctor informed her of an incident of a dad raping his daughter when she told the doctor it would be a great shame on her to face people and tell them her husband impregnated her younger sister

“Dr Daffeh told me that [such] was rampant, that just the previous week there was a father who raped his daughter,” the witness who arrived in court late by five minutes which saw her lawyer apologise on her behalf said.

She earlier on testified that she explained everything to Dr Daffeh when she took her sister to family planning clinic at Westfield.

“I told him I want him to check and scan her to confirm how old the pregnancy was. Dr Daffeh then checked her and confirmed that she was pregnant and the pregnancy was 21 weeks old,” the witness said and then quickly added she told the doctor that was not possible because by looking at her sister one would not think she is pregnant by even two months. She said the doctor told her young persons’ pregnancy is not easily noticed – that their stomachs show visible signs when they’re about to give birth.

“I was then worried and asked the doctor how he could help me who informed that there is nothing that he could do and that I should take the rights steps by reporting the matter,” the witness testified and detailed she told the doctor it would be a great shame on her for her to face people and tell them her husband impregnated her sister.

She told the court there were ‘results and everything’ after her lawyer asked her if the doctor ‘scanned’ her sister and whether there were results.

“That same day I was given the results,” she responded when her lawyer asked when she received the results.

According to the witness, while at the hospital the doctor asked her to excuse him so he could speak with her sister in private.

“I then excused them. They were for 30 minutes discussing, him and *T. After 30 minutes, the doctor called me and I went back inside the office,” she testified.

The witness then sparked protest from Bubacarr Keita’s lawyer Lamin Camara when she said the doctor told her, ‘I have discussed with your younger sister and what she is saying is the truth, it’s your husband who impregnated your younger sister’.

The veteran defence attorney who didn’t take that statement kindly rose and said: “My lord, we are objecting to the statement because clearly it is not admissible and we want that last part of the evidence to be expunged from the record.”

Camara then outlined his reasons thus: “My Lord, Section 19 (b) of the Evidence Act is very clear on what is admissible and what is not admissible in terms of hearsay.

“My Lord Section 19 (b) reads, with the permission of the court… My Lord let me change that to 19 (a) instead of 19 (b). Let’s start with 19 (a). My Lord it says hearsay evidence is a statement other than a statement made by a witness at a relevant trial as evidence of the truth of what was asserted.

“This statement ascribed to Dr Daffeh who is listed as Witness No. 4 in the indictment is meant for the truth and that is why she said, and I quote the witness verbatim, ‘after 30 minutes, Dr Daffeh called me inside and what you told me is the truth, she was impregnated by your husband’. It’s not admissible because she’s telling the court what Dr Daffeh allegedly said, and this can only be meant for the truth.

“If and only if, it’s not meant for the truth, they will come under the exceptions under Section 19 (b) and this cannot be admitted under 19(b) because it’s said it’s the truth of what’s asserted. Let Dr Daffeh come here and say that to the court since he’s Witness No. 4. My Lord Section 19 of the EA is the codification of the hearsay rules.”

Camara then said when the judge asked him to read Section 19 (b) of the EA: “Section 19 (b) says ‘it is not hearsay when it’s intended to establish, by the evidence, not the truth of the statement but the fact that it was made.”

When the defence attorney’s argument that she (witness) was relying on Dr Daffeh alleged statements as the truth was interpreted to the witness, the attorney for the state and the witness Alasan Jobe said the defence attorney took them by the scruff of the neck insisting he was actually going to guide the witness to skip the whole conversation that happened between Dr Daffeh and her sister.

“Because as senior counsel already argued, they are already listed as witnesses. We will get to hear it from the horse’s mouth. We are therefore not opposed to the objection,” the tall state lawyer said and then asked the witness to skip the conversation between Dr Daffeh and her sister. The judge had at this time already expunged that statement.

And pressing ahead with her testimony, the witness said immediately she left the hospital, the first thing she did was to call Bubacarr Keita’s elder sister.

According to her, she said she told Mr Keita’s sister she didn’t know what to do and wanted the sister to take a step in the matter, because if she told her dad he would take drastic action immediately.

“*A (accused person’s sister) told me she was confused but I should let her call him (Bubacarr) and talk to him,” she said, adding the sister called Bubacarr but later called her back to say she shouldn’t go to work the next morning as she would come to the house so they all could sit and talk. She outlined that it was a meeting that involved her, her mom, Bubacarr and her sister.

“She (Bubacarr’s sister) then told me to go home and pretend that nothing happened and let her to settle the issue,” she said.

When the state lawyer intervened to ask her if Mr Keita was aware of the issue at this time, the witness replied: “No, he wasn’t aware of it yet.”

The case continues on November 23.

President Adama Barrow has presented a brand new pickup truck to MP-elect Birom Sowe as the supporters of the party gathered at the Arch in Banjul for a victory celebrations.

NPP candidates in the Niamina West parliamentary and Kerr Jarga council by-elections defeated their challengers in impressive style on Saturday. Birom Sowe and Awa Gaye were congratulated by President Barrow at a victory celebration held at the Arch in Banjul on Monday.

Birom Sowe was presented a brand new white pickup truck bought for him by President Barrow.

Niamina East parliamentarian Omar Ceesay has fired back at Dou Sanno branding the president’s adviser a ‘parrot’ while vowing to ‘disorganise’ State House.

Sanno had promised to annihilate Omar Ceesay in Niamina East to serve as is punishment for disrespecting elders and the president.

But in a statement on Monday, the nation’s youngest MP vowed to stay true to ‘demanding’ the interest of his electorate.

He said: “The pet parrot in the state house should remain silent. I have no business whatsoever with the noisy pet parrot (Dou Sano) in the state house but my mission as an elected MP is to continue engaging the owner of the parrot that’s the president to meet the needs of my electorate and not Dou Sanno

“If demanding the needs of my electorate is considered lack of respect for president Barrow, then I will encourage the so-called adviser Dou Sanno to advise the president to meet the needs of my electorate Niamina East or else I will continue to disorganize the state house by further amplifying my voice for the interest of my electorate and the Gambia at large.

“As a political adviser to the president, it would be wise you advise and warn the president and your very self as to how you can win the minds of your own electorate Jimara constituency to trust the president as the area is still under the control of the GDC.

“I will advise that if you want to convince the electorate of Niamina East constituency to support the NPP, better go and put your house in order because the political elites in the state house cannot stand my heat while I am alive and well.

“Dou Sanno be reminded that you are irrelevant in my eyes as you represent nothing but your pocket.”

Karpowership’s Koray Bey powership has began her journey back to Turkey after she got replaced by a new powership Gotkay Bey.

Karpowership has since 2018 been NAWEC’s leading partner in electricity generation and supply. The company produces power using vessels.

The vessel that has been producing electricity for the past years has now given way for a new one, Goktay Bey.

Koray Bey sailed out Monday morning after the lines that connected her to fellow ship Faruk Bey got disconnected, according to NAWEC.

President Adama Barrow and his NPP first made sure Gambians starved before going ahead to give them money which resulted in them voting for NPP, GDC’s national youth president MC Cham Jnr has reckoned.

Newly NPP brushed aside GDC in the Niamina West national assembly by-election held this past Saturday to hand itself its first elected MP.

Speaking on the development, MC Cham Jnr argued: “President Barrow made Gambians to starve, made them suffer by keeping them at one place. It’s almost ten months since Hon Demba Sowe died. They were dragging the election.

“All this they were trying to pave a way for NPP to have a base. Barrow made Gambians to starve, everyone was suffering because of poverty.

“So from there when he knew the weak point of Gambians, he started pumping in money and giving them. What happened in Niamina is all about money.”

The GDC official also claimed that village heads were being packed in NPP vehicles and taken to voting centres to vote.

President Adama Barrow’s top aide Dou Sanno has fired a warning to Omar Ceesay Niamina East MP asking him to get ready because ruthless NPP is coming for him.

Speaking in a Kerr Fatou video shortly after NPP overwhelmed GDC in Niamina West, Sanno said: “I want to warn the MP called Omar Ceesay. Because he’s a child who doesn’t have respect for elders, he’s a child who doesn’t have respect for the president. I want to warn him, to let him know he is next.

“We will enter Niamina East. He is doing his first and last mandate. I will wipe him out in Niamina East. Because I am already finished with Alhagie Sowe of Jimara.

“So the promise I made earlier that GDC is a candle… It will not burn going up but it will burn going down until it’s left with the wax which we will take and give to Mamma Kandeh.”

By Lamin Njie

An ex-wife has told the high court in Bundung her sister told her Bubacarr Keita forced himself on her.

The witness who had testified earlier that she was married to the 29-year-old businessman continued with her testimony before Judge Momodou SM Jallow on Monday.

In her Monday testimony, the witness said her sister told her ‘Bubacarr forced and slept with me, that he has been following me for long’.

The witness had earlier sparked protest from the defence lawyer Lamin Camara about her earlier comment that she enquired from her sister about when Bubacarr raped her.

“I then asked her when did Bubacarr rape you?” the witness said while recollecting her one-to-one conversation with her sister at her mother’s house. The defence lawyer quickly rose to protest the statement saying what was on the record was impregnation and not rape.

Intervening, the judge asked the prosecuting attorney to advise her witness to stick to what was on the court record.

“My Lord, she’s explaining what her sister told her,” the prosecuting lawyer reacted.

“He’s (prosecuting attorney) speaking as if he was there and he was not,” Keita’s veteran lawyer Camara fired back.

The judge advised that the witness sticks to what was on the record to avoid making things complicated. He also suggested that the witness speaks in English as it appeared she was good in it but her lawyer said she would continue to give her testimony in Wolof.

In continuing, the witness said she asked her sister when Bubacarr forced her to sleep with her and her sister told her it was since after the Koriteh prayers in 2019.

“Then I told her she wasn’t speaking the truth because from June to that time would have been five months and since her stomach did not show clear signs of pregnancy was unbelievable,” the witness said.

She added: “I then told her I will take her to the hospital for confirmation. That’s how I took her to the hospital at family planning at Westfield. [And] when I took her to the hospital, I met a Dr called Dr Daffeh.”

The witness had earlier detailed she was shocked when her mom told her her sister was pregnant and the person who impregnated her.

“I was shocked. When I got to the house, I sat with her (sister) face to face and asked her to tell me the truth for God’s sake. She told me it’s true,” she testified.

The witness had on Monday begin her testimony by clarifying her previous statement to the court that she knew her sister was pregnant before she even went to the hospital.

“What I meant with (statement) ‘my sister was pregnant before we went to the hospital’ is that my mom called me while I was exchanging text messages with my ex-husband and told me *T was pregnant. [And she told me] ‘Because I (mother) have checked her and I have experience about pregnant women and found her to be pregnant’,” the witness said.

She said she then told her mother that was impossible because “*T cannot be pregnant because she was a child’.

The case continues on Tuesday.

The National Assembly has announced its fourth ordinary session will commence on Thursday November 11 through Tuesday December 22.

In a statement, the House said members will during this period “consider the Draft Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure of the Government of The Gambia for the fiscal year 2021 and other businesses such as Questions to Hon. Ministers for Oral Answers, Reports of various Committees and Parliamentary delegations, Motions and Bills.”

“Daily Sitting commences at 10:00am prompt. All those who wish to attend the daily sittings are requested to obtain admittance card from the Office of the Clerk at the entrance gate.

“The public is reminded to comply with the general safety measures on Covid-19, standard dress code (traditional/lounge suit) required and also to observe the silence rule during proceedings of the Session,” the National Assembly said.

TRRC chairman Dr Lamin J Sise on Monday slammed Yahya Jammeh’s HIV/AIDS cure saying it constituted a gross violation and abuse of the human rights of those who underwent the treatment programme.

Speaking as the TRRC resumed its public hearings, Dr Sise insisted it was mendacious on the part of the former president to claim he could cure HIV.

“These unfortunate souls, the majority of them citizens of The Gambia, were victims of the State who were lured into the PATP, having been told that the President of The Republic of The Gambia could cure HIV/AIDS, the ailment afflicting these individuals. It was a brazen and mendacious claim! The treatment, in all its manifestations, constituted a gross violation and abuse of the human rights of these patients,” Dr Sise said.

He then named 31 people who died either during the treatment programme or shortly after leaving it.

It came even as the leading medical doctor who supported former President Jammeh in the programme Dr Tamsir Mbowe told the TRRC the cure was true.

The UTG Judicial Tribunal hearing a case of electoral fraud involving students has adjourned hearing to Wednesday November 11.

Principal arbitrator PA Mendy adjourned the case shortly after it was mentioned on Sunday to allow the respondents prepare and respond to the motion against them.

Students of the nation’s varsity recently held an election but the Kemo Fatty-led camp charged that the election was fraudulent. The aggrieved camp then filed a petition at the judicial tribunal which reacted by barring the Ousman Jassey-led camp from assuming office.

“After listening to the submissions by the respondent counsel, the court will aver its mind that the respondent counsel has the constitutional right to be given adequate time to respond to the motion,” PA Mendy said before adjourning the case.

The public hearing held at the School of Law attracted scores of students and members of the press.

Mamma Kandeh said ‘there’s no stress’ as he reacted to Saturday’s by-elections which saw GDC fail to defend Niamina West parliamentary and Kerr Jarga council seats.

Saturday’s by-elections were forced by the demise of GDC MP Demba Sowe and the resignation of the Kerr Jarga councillor who was also a GDC councillor. The party was effectively defending both seats when it lost them to newly NPP.

Speaking on the development, GDC leader Mamma Kandeh said he could only thank everyone for their respective inputs.

“We thank you, we pray for you and we say sorry for the inconvenience,” Kandeh said in an audio message to GDC supporters

He added: “This is democracy, it’s about us fastening our belts and work hard for the party. Everyone has done what he could.

“The people of Niamina and in Kerr Jarga have decided. It is not for GDC to decide. So we can only thank everyone.

“This is God’s will and whatever God wills happens. So there is no stress. Let’s continue working.”

The GDC leader also thanked UDP for the support the party has rendered GDC.

President Adama Barrow has joined world leaders in congratulating Joe Biden following his victory in the US presidential election.

Biden denied President Donald Trump a second term in office after most of America electoral college votes went his way. Trump is however insisting the election was stolen in Mr Biden favour.

President Barrow knows all too well how a disputed election smells like; former President Yahya Jammeh dismissed his 2016 triumph as fraudulent which sparked a month-long impasse.

However on Sunday, President Barrow said he looks forward to working with ‘President-elect Biden for the mutual benefit of their two countries, and a stronger multilateral system’.

State House said in a statement published alongside a photo of Biden and Kamala Harris: “His Excellency, President Adama Barrow on behalf of the Government and people of The Gambia congratulates President-elect Joe Biden for his victory in the elections of November 3rd 2020, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, for becoming the first female to occupy such an office.

“President Barrow looks forward to working with President-elect Biden for the mutual benefit of their two countries, and a stronger multilateral system.”

A man saw the not-so-nice side of Hamat Bah after he bent in front of him while the politician addressed a gathering.

Tourism Minister Hamat Bah was addressing a crowd in one of NPP’s rallies in Niamina when the man walked past him and appeared to be explaining something to someone seated.

Hamat then strikes the man who is bending forwards on his back and then pulls him away. The six-second clip was shared on Facebook by Bulli Sowe.

Watch video in the link below.

https://www.facebook.com/sowebalo.sowe/videos/3827325930612337/

President Adama Barrow has congratulated the NPP after the party’s heroics at Saturday’s by-elections.

“I congratulate the National People’s Party -NPP for winning the Niamina West Constituency and Kerr Jarga Council elections,” the president wrote on his official Facebook page.

NPP’s duo candidates of Birom Sowe and Awa Gaye convincingly thrashed their opponents in the Niamina West parliamentary and Kerr Jarga council by-elections elections.

UDP leader Ousainou Darboe has assured that UDP will intensify its engagement in Jokadu following the Kerr Jarga by-election which saw the party’s candidate came in last.

Momodou Sillah polled a little over 200 votes in a councillorship election which saw NPP’s Awa Gaye go home with over 1,300 votes.

Reacting to the development, Mr Darboe said: “I want to congratulate the campaign team for UDP in this ward. They have done well. The history of this ward and the constituency in particular has shown that UDP have not been active in this constituency and in this ward in particular. But we believe that wherever we have ten…

“Even if ten supporters and they’re local people really insist that we should put up a candidate, we will do so, notwithstanding that we know we might not be successful at the polls. But I want to congratulate Lamin Mass and his entire campaign team and I also want to congratulate our candidate Muhammed Sillah for really having the tenacity, for having the courage for fighting as usual in order to really achieve his goals in this by-elections.

“And I want to assure everyone the United Democratic Party will intensify its engagement with the people of Jokadu and with the people of North Bank Region in general.”

Darboe has meanwhile congratulated NPP’s candidate on her victory and as well sent her his admiration for not surrendering politics to men.