Detectives have visited Gambia Revenue Authority in Banjul following a burglary incident on 11 September, police said.

Police spokesman Superintendent Lamin Njie said: “We can confirm an office breaking incident at the GRA reported on the 11th September 2020.

“According to the report received, no money was taken, a TV set and desktop computer were among items taken.

“Crime scene investigators have visited the scene and investigations are currently ongoing.”

Police on Wednesday swooped on a birthday party in Bijilo where they arrested 22 people including two Senegalese soldiers who said they form part of an ECOMIG contingent.

Police spokesman Lamin Njie confirmed the incident in a statement.

The statement said: “On the 16th Sept 2020, Our Officers on patrol got a tip off about certain individuals throwing up a Birthday party at Bijilo thereby violating the regulations.

“The team arrived at the venue where they found a crowd attending a Birthday pool party.

“Twenty-two individuals where arrested together with the proprietor of the venue. Among the arrested people two individuals identified themselves as members of the Senegalese ECOMIG Contingent.

“They are all being processed for appropriate actions.”

Gambia Revenue Authority has confirmed that a burglary incident occurred at its HQ in Banjul.

Reports emerged on Thursday an incident of burglary had hit the nation’s leading revenue collection institution.

The authority said in a statement Thursday afternoon: “It has come to the notice of the GRA Management that certain media outlets have been reporting a story of a burglary and theft at the office of the Deputy Commissioner General and Head of Domestic Taxes Department leading to millions of taxpayer’s monies taken away together with other office equipment.

“First and foremost, we want to salute the efforts of the media in the new Gambia in trying to keep the public well informed and helping the citizenry hold government to account. These efforts are by no means insignificant in helping us strengthen democracy and the rule of law in the country. We want to clarify certain statements made by the media for the interest of accurate reporting and to keep the public properly informed on this matter.

“We want to inform the general public that the GRA is established by an Act of the National Assembly in 2004 and has structures and checks and balances to ensure full accountability and transparency in its operations.

“Moving to the subject matter, GRA wishes to confirm that the incident of the burglary and theft at the office of the Deputy Commissioner General did take place on Thursday night, 10th September 2020. The incident was discovered the following day on Friday, 11th September 2020, when the Deputy Commissioner General reported to work in the morning and found his office upside down.

“GRA can confirm that office equipment installed in the office and a safe for keeping office items were taken away. We want to clarify that the safe is not for keeping state funds as no revenue collection responsibilities are assigned to that office. GRA can confirm that the matter was reported to the Inspector General of Police who immediately dispatched police officers from the Crime Management Unit of the Gambia Police Force who visited the office, collected evidence and opened an investigation into the matter. The matter is now under police investigation and so we will not be pushed into any making speculation on the matter as the right government agency is doing its work on the matter.

“GRA wishes to clarify that the office of the Deputy Commissioner General is not a revenue collection office neither is it an office for the safekeeping of revenues collected under the revenue laws administered by the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA). Under the current structure of the GRA, revenue departments perform only tax administration functions and the responsibility to collect the revenues and carryout daily banking is handled by the Department of Finance and Accounting.

“All revenues collected are banked daily in line with the GRA Act, 2004. In addition to the collection and banking of revenues, there is an Internal Audit Department to ensure that all checks and balances are implemented in line with the relevant laws and procedures. The entire operations of the Authority are subjected to both internal and external audits and the submission of audited accounts and activity reports to the National Assembly.

“It should be of interest for the public to know that GRA has implemented many reforms aimed at bringing efficiency, effectiveness and best practices in tax administration. These include: as per the Central Bank regulations in place, all cash payments above hundred thousand dalasis can only be made through the commercial banks and not to GRA cashiers; through the Real Time Gross Settlement payment system, taxpayers usually issue payment advise to their commercial banks to make payments of tax on their behalf by making direct transfers from their accounts to the GRA revenue collection accounts at the Central Bank of The Gambia; GRA has entered into Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with most of the commercial banks in the country.

“Through these MoUs the Authority deployed its IT systems, namely the GamTaxNet and ASYCUDA++ to the partner banks allowing their customers to make tax and customs payments at the banks. The banks are enabled with these systems to collect revenues on behalf of GRA, issue payment receipts to taxpayers and transfer all funds to the GRA revenue collection accounts at the Central Bank of The Gambia.

“The reforms undertaken in the area of revenue collection and banking by GRA and the Central Bank has ensured that very limited revenue collection and cash handling activities are taking place in the GRA offices.

“In conclusion, we want to thank the media for partnering with the national revenue collection agency in our sensitization and education programs geared towards national development. While GRA desists from making comments during the investigation of this matter, we kindly urge the general public to provide any information that will assist the Police in their investigations. In the same vein we want the media to be responsible and hold itself to account by desisting from misinformation and sensational journalism. The GRA Management is surprised that the on-line media who have worked on this story made no attempts to corroborate their information with statements from GRA.”

By Lamin Njie

An MP took on President Adama Barrow after he removed his face mask during the State of the Nation Address.

Tumana MP Foday NM Drammeh stood Thursday and asked the speaker to ask President Barrow to put on his face mask – as the President attempted to begin his speech.

“Honourable Speaker, can you ask the president to put on a face mask since it’s the rule of the parliament? Thank you,” Drammeh told the speaker.

The speaker however appeared not interested as she chose not to react to the MP’s request. The awkward moment saw the President all the while looking at the MP.

Wearing of face mask is compulsory under the public health emergency regulations that have been triggered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Health minister Dr Ahmadou Lamin Samateh who is the custodian of the law governing face mask however insisted there some exceptions.

“You know when we say face mask rules and you know there are quite some exceptions. There are those people sometimes when they speak… How long was that speech? It was a very long speech. So when some people speak with a face mask for that long, sometimes it creates challenges for them with regards to breathing and so on and so forth,” Dr Samateh told The Fatu Network.

Gambia Action Party has issued a statement expressing its disappointment over a story the party says is false.

According to GAP, GUNJUR ONLINE carried a story under the heading ‘GAP Leader Faces Trial in Multi-Million Dalasi Fraud Case’ – and the party says the story is incorrect.

The party said in a statement signed by Public Relations Director Alhaji M. Bayo: “The administration of GAP has contacted the number on their page to expressed our disappointment on the false publication but amazingly, the main administrator claimed that he wasn’t aware of such publication as most of their editors are in USA and UK. Then, we drew conclusions that no verification was made prior to the publication and their hatred has only strengthened the party than ever before.

“As a transparent political party, we did our findings from the very moment this scandal brokered from both ends and we came to realized that the business was clean beyond reasonable limits. The property is owned by both the GAP leader and his brother and the documents are in the name of his blood brother who shares the same mother and father with the GAP leader who lives in Angola. The deal collapsed mainly because the brother requested more cash than initially agreed with GAP leader.

“We also realized that the lady was in haste to complete the deal and the balance to be paid later as she made a down payment of 6million CFA and a Ford Taurus American vehicle after the deal legally signed between both parties in a renowned Gambian lawyer’s chambers. The legality of the business is what GAP was interested in and it’s far from criminality. The matter was then reported to the police by the a brother of the woman an agreement was reached, the lady finally sued him to court. She complained to the freedom media outlet and cover the elements of truth which GAP discovered. He has more plans to ensure that everything is done within the frames of peace.

“Thus, we believe that in this 21st century, information sharing must be protected and verified from both ends before any malicious broadcast. In mind that challenges must come our way as a party, but that doesn’t limit our pace in the political arena as vibrant Gambians are there to judge which party wins the upcoming elections. We remain committed to the national discourse and haters cannot afford to stop one of the fastest growing party in the country.

“We equally noticed under the comment section that the GMC Tida Bobo Kijera disrespected the stance of GAP and would further want to advise the national executive committee of GAP which she has no audacity. We respect the leader of GMC party leader and the memorandum of understanding of the Inter Party Committee (IPC-GAMBIA) as well as the code of conduct to which GAP is signatory. We shall make no further remark on this regard.”

By Sarjo Brito and Lamin Njie, at the National Assembly

President Adama Barrow stated on Thursday The Gambia was on a ‘steep’ rise towards economic boom when the ‘unexpected’ struck – the coronavirus pandemic – and caused a major hold-back.

President Barrow on Thursday spent one hour and twenty minutes addressing members of the national assembly on his government’s plans as required by law. It was the fourth time the president was involved in a State of the Nation Address since he took power nearly four years ago.

The coronavirus pandemic meant this year’s State of the Nation Address took a subdued outlook, with members of the public, the business and diplomatic community all missing.

House speaker Mariam Jack Denton insisted that this year’s State of the Nation Address is being conducted in a ‘very unusual manner since we’re living in extraordinary times’.

“I have acted in good faith and conscience to invoke Section 98(2) of the 1997 constitution and Clause 11(4) of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly to restrict the admission of strangers into the public gallery, in line with the general principles of public gathering regulations amid Covid-19,” she said.

The president while addressing MPs said his government was on course towards delivering democratic dividends when the coronavirus pandemic struck and caused a disruption.

Mr Barrow said in the early stages of his speech: “Today, my address presents the successes and challenges of a country that was on a steep rise towards economic boom and socio-political transformation when the unexpected struck. This was the sudden outbreak and rapid spread of the coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic.”

“This is a crisis that has taken the world by storm, and remains a threat to all nations – rich and poor, big and small.

“In The Gambia, the momentum and expectations for rapid progress were evidently very high. Major development projects and achievements closely followed one another, as support and resources were sought and tapped from various sources.

“The people were politically excited, and my government was optimistic of delivering on our promise of leading the nation to unprecedented economic growth and social regeneration in a democratic haven for all Gambians.

“Unfortunately, like other nations, we had to curtail certain economic activities, restrict movement, scale down work schedules and, finally, declare a state of emergency. Economically, key revenue-earning institutions have since been crippled, people grounded and communities adversely affected,” he said.

President Adama Barrow will today appear before lawmakers to address them on the plans and policies of his government.

The president is mandated by law to appear at least once before members of parliament to talk to them about his priorities.

Dubbed State of the Nation Address, this year’s event is however happening at a time when the country confronts the deadly coronavirus pandemic.

Latrikunda Sabiji MP Saikou Marong has made it categorically clear he will not support a retroactive law – as he offered his view of the draft constitution on Wednesday.

The draft constitution has been a subject of intense protest by supporters of President Adama Barrow as the draft constitution states President Barrow’s current term would be counted. It means the President will be allowed to be in office for only one term under the new constitution.

“Honourable Speaker, you talk about the term limit: nobody will say that we’re not in support of the term limit. But what we are denying here or what we are saying or what I am saying is that, I am not going to support any a retroactive law. Mark my words. I am not saying I am not supporting the two term limit of the president,” Saikou Marong insisted Wednesday.

Cutting and pasting was not reason why the Constitutional Review Commission was set up, Jarra Central MP Kebba Jallow insisted today.

The GDC NAM while contributing in the House’s debate over the draft constitution tore into the CRC, the drafter of the draft constitution.

He said: “What a surprise was to me Honourable Speaker is that the CRC in some instances whiles drafting this constitution, would just go directly and cut from the Kenyan constitution and paste.

“I am not disputing the fact that they can go and make their research on various countries as how they work but Honourable Speaker, cutting and pasting was not the reason why we instituted CRC in two years ago.”

Jallow has however praised the CRC for capturing issues of term limit and the inclusion of national language to be used in the national assembly

Wulli West MP Sidia Jatta has insisted there should not be any resistance to people born in the country automatically becoming Gambians.

Mr Jatta while taking part in the debate on the draft constitution slammed Chapter IV of the document which is dedicated to the important issue of citizenship – and it says children born in the country are only qualified to be citizens if their parents or grandparents are Gambians.

Mr Jatta said: “The Gambians like to enjoy international standards. What is internationally valid, Gambians want to enjoy that but they don’t want to reciprocate that. We know that Gambian women leave this territory, they have never lived in France, they have never lived in the United States, they have never lived in England but they go there pregnant to have their children have their nationality.

“Why can’t we reciprocate that? Our people are enjoying that and we don’t want to give that to other people to enjoy. People have been living here for 40 years, 50 years, all their lives, their children are born here and they’re not Gambians. This is terrible.”

Senegalese troops at Bwiam deployed a spike on a Gambia Prisons Service truck damaging one of its tyres.

A GPS truck was returning from collecting firewood on Tuesday when Senegalese troops threw a spike at it.

A GPS source confirmed the incident telling The Fatu the soldiers claimed they didn’t recognise the vehicle – as they were newly deployed to the country.

The commander himself apologised and gave money for the tyre to be fixed, the source said.

By AP

Mali’s military rulers face a regional deadline for naming a civilian interim leader Tuesday, as the junta meet with West Africa leaders who maintain that new elections must be held within a year.

The 15-nation regional bloc known as ECOWAS had issued the ultimatum to Mali’s military leaders after they initially proposed remaining in power for three more years. In recent days, the junta that seized power in an Aug. 18 coup has cut that timeline in half, but it is still longer than the year set by ECOWAS.

Another possible disagreement is over who will lead Mali’s transition. The coup leaders say the interim president chosen to oversee the transitional government could come from the military, but the regional leaders have said the leader must be a civilian.

These issues are expected to be at the top of the agenda on Tuesday at the summit including presidents from six countries in the regional bloc. The gathering is taking place in Ghana, whose president is the newly chosen ECOWAS chairman.

“We need to bring finality to our deliberations on Mali,” Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said in his opening remarks. That country can no longer afford any delay in putting a responsible government in place.”

There has been widespread concern that the ongoing political upheaval in Mali will set back efforts to contain the country’s growing Islamic insurgency. After a similar coup in 2012, Islamic extremists took advantage of a power vacuum and grabbed control of major towns in northern Mali.

Only a 2013 military intervention led by former colonizer France pushed extremists from those cities, and the international community has invested more than seven years into the fight against extremism there.

“The terrorists are taking advantage of the situation in Mali to flex their muscles even more,” Ghana’s president warned Tuesday.

ECOWAS had attempted to mediate Mali’s political crisis back in July after growing street demonstrations called for the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. However, the political opposition made clear it would accept nothing short of his ouster, and mutinous soldiers capitalized on Keita’s unpopularity when they launched the Aug. 18 coup.

Deep divisions have emerged in the weeks since between the opposition coalition and the junta leaders. Over the weekend, the opposition publicly criticized the junta for saying that the country’s interim leader didn’t have to be a civilian.

The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) has successfully completed a nation-wide distribution of audio-visual format of the Draft Constitution to regional authorities and community radios, the commission said on Tuesday.

“The four-day exercise began from Monday 31st August to Thursday 3rd September, 2020,” the CRC said in a statement.

It added: “The purpose of the translation of the Draft Constitution is a fulfillment of the promise the CRC made to Gambians during the public consultations to have the Draft Constitution translated into the local languages to enhance citizens’ understanding and awareness of the content of the Draft Constitution.

“Delivering on this promise, the Commission has, of recent, translated the content of 20 Chapters of the Draft Constitution into the following languages: Mandinka, Fula, Wollof, Jola, Manjago, Serere, Sarahule, Aku and Gambian Sign Language for the hard-of-hearing. There is also a Braille and a Gambian Sign Language versions of the Draft Constitution for the visually impaired and the hard-of-hearing.

“The content of the translated chapters of the Draft Constitution in audio-visual format contained in flash drives was distributed to the general populace through their regional authorities and information dissemination outlets such as Governors’ Offices, Chiefs, Area Councils and Community Radios.

“The CRC therefore encourages the public to access and listen to these translated versions of the Draft Constitution to deepen their understanding of its contents. The Draft Constitution, in all manner and shape, is people-centered and this is made possible by the overwhelming participation and involvement of Gambians from all walks of life during the consultation process.

“Furthermore, the Commission has also distributed copies of the Draft Constitution to Senior Secondary Schools across the country. As integral stakeholders in developing the Draft Constitution, the Senior Secondary Schools have been provided with copies of the Draft Constitution to enable them to learn and strengthen their understanding on the constitutional matters contained in, and to enhance their ownership of, the document.

“Gambians hailed the CRC for not only fulfilling its promise, but also providing the Draft Constitution in their mother-tongue. Recipients of the documents commended the CRC for a job well done, saying it will have a far-reaching impact on the people in terms of dispelling misinformation and misrepresentation of facts about the contents of the Draft Constitution.

“The CRC enjoins the Gambian public to access these translated audio recordings of the Draft Constitution in eight languages to reinforce their understanding of its provisions. It is only through this way that we can collectively protect and inform on the Draft Constitution in its pristine form.

“Equally, people can access these translated recordings of of the Draft Constitution in local languages at the CRC Website: www.crc220.org.”

The National Assembly has pooh-poohed claims it was engaging in discriminating members of the media – as it explains that coronavirus informed its decision to limit the participation of journalists at the House.

The House came under fire on Monday after the larger section of the media were stopped from covering sessions.

The Office of the Clerk in a statement today said: ” The Office of the Clerk wishes to inform journalists and media organizations that the Third Ordinary Session of the National Assembly is being convened from the 14th-24th September 2020. The Session is convened at a time that The Gambia is at its peak in the Covid 19 pandemic.

“Aware of the severity of the Covid 19 situation in the country and considering the need to convene this Session in a safe and conducive manner, protecting the health and wellbeing of both Hon. Members staff and journalist who cover National Assembly proceedings is paramount.

“The Office of the Clerk after due consultations and mindful of the need to convene a safe Session and the citizens right to information, adopted a media strategy that limits the participation of journalists in the Chamber but provides real time information on diverse platforms to enable journalists and other information media to follow the proceedings of this Session and disseminate to their respective audiences.

“In this regard, Journalists and media outlets who wish to cover the proceedings of the Assembly are kindly advised to take feeds from the National Assembly’s social media platforms (Facebook page and YouTube channel). Permission is also granted to all journalists and media organizations to use and brand the raw footage streamed on the National Assembly’s media platforms to suit their respective media standards.

“Furthermore, the Office of the Clerk has also designated the Auditorium as a Press Center from where journalists who wish to be within the precincts of the Assembly can monitor the proceedings of the Session and file their news reports. Journalists will also be able to conduct safe interviews with Hon. Members at the Press Center.

“The strategy is not implemented with a discriminatory intent; it is designed to protect Hon. Members, staff and the journalists themselves from possible exposure to contact.

“The Fifth Legislature has never at any given time limited access of anybody more so journalists from attending Sessions and Committee proceedings. However, we are in extra ordinary times and care and caution is what should dictate our actions.

“We hope the media and all those concern understand our collective situation as these are temporary measures initiated due to the Covid 19 situation of the Country.

“The Office of the Clerk solicits the usual cooperation and understanding of the media fraternity.”