Let me repeat, the vast majority of the citizens of the Gambia appreciate and respect the men and women of the Gambia Police Force. I am sure this is a fact that many police officers would attest in their daily interactions with citizens. The police are an indispensable necessity and the majority of police officers are hardworking men and women who are committed to their work as they should, professionally and efficiently.

In their line of duty police officers face clear and direct danger yet they execute their functions to the best of their ability without favour or ill will, for or against any individual. They simply want to enforce the law and then go back home to their families. Hence it is also in the interest of each ad every citizen to respect and cooperate with the police. In fact, a citizen who abides by the law is a police officer of his or her own since by abiding by the law that citizen is in fact enforcing the law.

The law that the Gambia Police enforce are the laws that protect our rights. The Police Act states that the general duty of the police is to preserve law and order, to protect property, to prevent and detect crime and to apprehend and prosecute offenders. When there is law and order it means there is safety for all such that citizens’ rights, life and properties are safe and secure.

Anytime crime occurs it means an injury to our life, property and safety. Hence anyone protecting our lives, properties and safety means that person or entity is indeed protecting our human rights. This is why to me the police are the foremost and immediate human rights protector in society! As citizens this is how we should perceive the police,

At the same time the police must also perceive themselves as human rights defenders at all times. This means the police themselves must not break the law. For example, if the police arrest a suspect, not matter the gravity of the crime committed by that suspect, the police must not torture that person in anyway. This is because torture constitutes a damage to life and liberty hence a violation of human rights. The police must not do that!

For that matter our men and women in law enforcement must educate themselves adequately about their role and function and create the necessary structures, tools and processes to ensure that they combat crime without having to cause harm to both the victims and the perpetrators of crime. This is the only way the police can guarantee the trust and confidence of the public hence enhance the cooperation of citizens in the fight against crime.

Yes, no one likes criminals especially if one is a victim. We are always happy when we hear the police have apprehended criminals. But we will all harm ourselves if we allow the police to manhandle suspects just because we think they are criminals. The laws of the Gambia are such that they favour the police more than the criminal. Hence the police have no need to fuss since the law is always on their side. Therefore, let the police uphold the law and enjoy the continued appreciation of citizens.

To enable the police to uphold the law effectively and enjoy public trust and cooperation, it is necessary that the police review themselves. This means the police need to re-organize, renew and rebrand itself in all ways. For example, it is necessary that police officers act professional and disciplined at all times when they deal with citizens no matter how rudely an individual acted towards them or what crime was committed. The police officer is expected to be a well-trained professional to contain difficult persons or challenging situations.

Secondly it is pertinent that the police appear professional in their comportment, i.e.  to be neat and tidy in uniform and attitude. They should put on proper uniforms with visible identification tags for all to see. Our police officers in uniform should not be smoking in public. Our traffic officers should not be texting or speaking on phone while in the middle of the traffic. Police officers must not be seen cursing or quarrelling with citizens. Above all our police officers must not be begging or extorting money from people.

Furthermore, it is necessary that the police adopt smart strategies and tactics in combating crime. To use the same old crude and blunt methods will only undermine the trust and image of the police in the eyes of citizens. For that matter it is necessary that there is lot more investment into law enforcement with modern gadgets for detection and investigation of crime. Our police officers need constant refresher training.

To enhance better police and civilian relations the police must do away with old and crude forms of policing such as mounting checkpoints indiscriminately all over the country. Criminals know where checkpoints are hence it is every easy for them to avoid the checkpoints. This is why hardly would the police intercept illicit materials at checkpoints. Foe example I always see trucks and certain vehicles avoid the checkpoint in front of Bottrop school in Kembujeh by branching off into the community to circumvent the checkpoint only to enter the highway again after the checkpoint!

In the absence of checkpoints what the police therefore need to do is to enhance their intelligence capabilities. Without effective and innovative intelligence tools and skills no security institution will be able to do its work well. Hence the intelligence facilities and capabilities of the police must be developed so as to detect crimes. Criminals use intelligence hence the police must also use intelligence.

Talking about modern gadgets and methods of policing, it is necessary that the Police create and popularise a hotline such as 911 as in other countries. But it is not also enough to create such a hotline when there are no proper vehicles that can respond immediately to the call. This is why if the Government is interested in ensuring a safe and secure society it must indeed invest heavily into the Gambia Police Force. Such investment must not only be about working conditions and tools but also about the welfare of police officers such as their salaries, living quarters and transportation among others must be enhanced.

Community policing has been a longstanding program of the Gambia Police Force however this program remains weak and not effectively implemented. It is necessary that community policing is well funded and supported. Ultimately the fight against crime cannot be done by the police all alone. Community police is the idea that by working with the members of the community the police will be able to contain crime more effectively. In fact, community policing concept holds that sometimes crime is caused by the social and economic conditions of an individual and not necessary because individuals are violent or vicious. This means some crimes are best solved through mediation within the community and not by going to court.

Above all our police must uphold the standards of the law. For example, there are standard procedures to arrest and detain. These standards need to be enforced at all times so as to ensure that there is no abuse. Secondly our Constitution stipulates that no one should be detained by the police beyond 72 hours. This must be respected too at all times. In respecting this constitutional requirement, it is also necessary that the police avoid subjecting people to unnecessary bail or reporting routinely to the station. Through bail and reporting we have realised that a lot of abuse also takes place hence further undermining the public trust and appreciation of the police.

Finally, it is urgently necessary that the Ministry of Interior and the Gambia Police Force review the Police Act. For example, when you look at the name ‘Gambia Police Force’ in itself you will realise that this is not supposed to be a friendly entity because of the word, ‘Force’. The police are not a ‘force’ rather they are a service. Force is about power and violence. Our police are providing a service to citizens by protecting our rights and saving our lives and property. Therefore, the need to change the name itself is urgent because sometimes names can influence people to act accordingly.

A well-disciplined and effective police service is in the national interest. It is what each and every citizen need. While we appreciate the police, we must at the same time hold them accountable to ensure that they do not exceed their powers to the point of damaging our rights. Let’s recognise, appreciate and respect our police. The vast majority of these officers are indeed among the best sons and daughters of the Gambia. But let the police also abide by the law at all times. #RespectandAppreciateThePolice

For the Gambia Our Homeland

……………………………………………..

Madi Jobarteh

Skype: madi.jobarteh

Twitter: @jobartehmadi

LinkedIn: Madi Jobarteh

Phone: +220 9995093

The SaGG Foundation (Sponsor a Gambian Girl) is a girls’ education movement, with the aim of championing the cause for the education of girls in The Gambia. Education is a basic human right and our vision is to advocate this and pair up girls with sponsors to help with their education.

Founded in November 2018, The Foundation has so far paired up 50 girls with sponsors helping to shape their lives through education. Those currently sponsoring girls are from a wide range of countries including The Gambia, United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, USA, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Taiwan.

Our slogan “education changes everything for a girl” symbolises our strong belief that education is the only tool for total girl empowerment, helping to ensure they live independent and successful lives.  Formal education enables them to develop skills that can help them earn a living and support themselves in the future, reducing child marriage, harmful cultural practices and gender-based violence.

The primary aim of the SaGG Foundation is to advocate education and pair up girls with sponsors to support them financially (paying of school fees).  These sponsorships give the girls access to education and ensure they stay in school.  The Foundation also raises funds to equip girls with essential educational resources to improve their learning experience. In the long term, the foundation aims to:

1. Support mentoring and career advisory schemes for girls and women;
2. Support or establish skills training centres for girls and young adults

1. Increase the amount of girls and women in education, encourage skills development and entrepreneurship;
2. Collaborate with other stakeholders, agencies and associations involved in similar activities or activities consistent with the objectives and goals of the Foundation.

In order to achieve the aims of the Foundation, various initiatives are employed, our Sponsor a Gambian Girl Champions in their respective countries and cities, use their voices and passion to advocate for girls’ education, connect girls with sponsors and contribute in lots of ways.

The Foundation attends awareness days at various locations and will be present at theGambian Cultural Week in Oslo. Our Norway Champion Betty Marong will be at the Seminar on Friday August 2^nd2019.   Betty will explain more about the organisations sponsorship opportunities, which start at a minimum monthly payment of 100 NOK.

Sulayman Suwareh, Eku Grant and Annetta Paps-King will be at the Gambian Cultural Event in East London on 25^thAugust 2019 to create more awareness of the Foundation and its activities.

From 1^stAugust, The SaGG Foundation will be launching The D1, £1, $1, €1 fundraising campaign drive to equip girls with educational resources for the upcoming academic year in September. You can be part of the campaign by sponsoring a girl, becoming a Champion to help spread the word, by donating educational materials or a donation help with our administrative work.

To make a donation now for D1, £1, $1, €1 or any other amount click here

Those in Gambia can donate D1 or any other amount by paying it into the Foundation’s account:

The SaGG Foundation, Guaranty Trust Bank (Gambia) Ltd.

Account Number: 207-408491-110

To learn more about the SaGG Foundation, visit our website https://www.saggfoundation.org/

For any further questions, see our frequently asked questions page

https://www.saggfoundation.org/frequently-asked-questions.html

For daily updates, follow the SaGG Foundation on Facebookand Twitter

Meet the Volunteers behind Sponsor a Gambian Girl

Rev. Charles King – Secretary

Eku P.L Grant – Deputy Public Relations Officer

Betty Marong – Vice President

Tala Jobe – Public Relations Officer

Sulayman Ben Suwareh – Treasurer

John Paul Gomez – Deputy Treasurer

Annetta Paps-King – President

Thank you.

The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad of the Republic of The Gambia on Monday July 29, 2019 said Ecomig forces are serving as a stabilising force in The Gambia. 

Dr. Tangara made the remark in a meeting with delegates of African Union Peace and Security Council as show of appreciation for the role played by Ecomig forces in the maintenance of peace and security in the country.

The 26-member AU Security Council Field Mission to the country met Dr Tangara at his office on Monday to acquaint themselves with the security situation in the country. 

In welcoming the delegation, Dr. Tangara commended their respective countries for standing by the people of the Gambia in ensuring that the will of Gambians prevailed during the political impasse the country experienced in December 2016. He paid special homage to Nigeria, Mauritania and Equatorial Guinea for the role they played during the political impasse. 

He further urged the Council Members to extend the mandate of Ecomig forces adding that the Security Sector Reform is ongoing. 

He emphasise the need to build the capacity of security forces, notably the military. He applauded the AU Security Council Team for their hard work and called on them to redouble their efforts towards bringing greater development on the continent through ensuring peace. The Government, he said is working on attracting foreign direct investment and tourism among others in the country. 

The Ambassador of Togo to the African Union, H.E. Sebade Toba, expressed delight at progress registered and expressed optimism that the trend would be maintain. He said this the courtesy call is a learning experience for them and thanked Foreign Minister for the warm welcome accorded. 

Issued by: Communication Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad

And so my first encounter with the man Peter Bonu Johnson, was through the enchanting commentaries of Radio Gambia legends like Bora Mbodge and Malick Jones. On those intense match days, the voices of the commentators would boom over the airwaves on medium wave (MW): “meanwhile Bonu Johnson; takes possession of the ball and clears it away. But blocked to touch; and ball since taken, the Gambians…”

I was to meet Bonu in person when I was hired as youth assistant at the Department  of Youth and Sports headquartered at the independence stadium. Bonu was to be one of my supervisors there alongside other cool kotos like Pa Suwareh Faye, Abdoulie Kah, Mr. Demba and others.

Bonu always stood out for his businesslike attitude, devotion to duty and the occasional telling of the hard, unpleasant truth that can make others uncomfortable; but those of us who knew him well enough knew he always meant well.

His exploits in national service are quite legendary – from national team player to national team coach, Bonu has truly served his nation with distinction.

Has the nation rewarded him in turn? That is the question worth answering; not just for his sake but in the long term interesting of the nation. Or, Alas, are we going to continue to plead guilty to the timeless charge preferred against us by the Kora maestro Jaliba Kuyateh who sang in Mandinka “fatafing laa jamani bay kang; moe nyimmaa e mang wo keh feng ti. Naa faa ta, e kaa yeh tooraa yeh e laa!” (In Africa we don’t honour our great people but once they are dead we all proclaim : Indeed a great hero has passed away!”

I was to have further contacts with Bonu many years after I left the Department of Youth and Sports in my neighborhood at Kerr Sering and Sanchaba. That was when I found out the other side of Bonu, as a cultural connoisseur and a man devoted to religious service and communal activities.

He came to my mother-in-law’s house on festive occasions of the Christian tradition singing Christmas carols with children and youths. Those occasions just heightened my admiration and respect for Bonu. Here I saw a man who had “been there, done it,“ but remained well-grounded and in tune with his higher self.

I am no Saul Njie or Bora Mboge; neither am I Malick Jones. But I have breathed a bit of their legendary commentary spirits . And so I dare draw inspiration from them to bid the legend, Peter Bonu Johnson, Farewell:

Meanwhile, in the greater game of life, our man, the legendary Peter Bonu Johnson, did collect the pass, skillfully disciplined the ball on the ground; laid his own pass to the next generation, and bowed out gracefully.

Farewell Bonu, servant of the people 

Never condoned hate or evil

On the pitch you proved your mettle

On the bench you raised the mantle 

Thrust the nation to global level

Served Gambia without forgetting Jehova

To country and church you gave your all

Rest well commander of the ball

We shall remember your service to all. 

RIP, Coach. Till we meet again.

#GambiaMourns

Momodou Sabally

Former Secretary General and Minister of Presidential Affairs, Economist, Author, and International Speaker.  

The presence of men armed with AK47 rifles with no uniforms on our streets is indeed a new threat to national security in case the Director General of NIA has not noticed. The Gambia is not a narco-state or engulfed in a civil war neither fighting an insurgency or terrorism. Hence it is utterly unjustified that law enforcement officers of the Gambia could carry assault rifles openly without uniforms while facing ordinary citizens protesting the death of another citizen.

In the first-place assault rifles must not be in the hands of law enforcement agents when they are engaging the civilian population. AK47 is a combat rifle that must not be used ever again by our police as a first instance weapon in controlling crowds. There was no evidence that angry demonstrators in Serre Kunda on July 24 were armed especially with assault rifles so as to warrant a similar response from the police.

Secondly even if the police were to use these weapons in a faceoff with an armed civilian population those officers must be inside their police uniforms. One of the purposes of police putting on uniforms is to ensure identification, legitimacy and accountability. Every Gambian is required to recognise the uniform of the Gambia Police Force. Hence to deploy men without uniforms is to undermine the identification, legitimacy and accountability of those officers in the eyes of the people and therefore undermine the cooperation of the public towards those armed men.

Thirdly the presence of men without uniforms and bearing arms in such situations as a demonstration threatens peace. This is because where such men were to unlawfully use their weapons it will be difficult to identify the shooters. Even where the use of that gun was lawful it has the potential to generate a negative and violent reaction from the demonstrators as they might mistaken the officer to be a criminal. Therefore, this would have endangered the life of that officer just because he was not in a uniform.

Therefore, it is pertinent that we ask why the Anti-Crime Unit command decided to hand weapons to its men knowing fully well that they were not in uniform? What is their objective? If indeed those officers were CID officers as claimed by the Police PRO, I wish to put it to the PRO that CID officers expected to be undercover agents or operate in counter-insurgency scenarios. For that matter it is unjustified to arm CID officers in such public situations.

What we know is that the practice of law enforcement agents bearing such arms openly and in public and without uniforms happens mainly under authoritarian and criminal regimes. They do so because they wish to generate chaos with an objective to shoot to kill identified persons or implicate certain people. Such regimes also employ these tactics in order to create an unpleasant situation that they will now use to justify the creation of more draconian laws or adoption of more oppressive measures against the people. Is this the objective of the Barrow Government?

We all recall how in April 2000 after killing 14 schoolchildren the Jammeh Regime came to say that shooting came out from the protesting students. It appears by then the regime had not fully mastered the gimmicks of notorious regimes in full otherwise they would have planted gunmen inside the students and take their pictures so they can show that as evidence. This is why it is so dangerous to see today, in 2019 after defeating that Dictatorship that this Government would put armed men without uniforms on the streets!

When all is considered it will be clear that this country urgently needs a security sector reform otherwise the peace and security of this country is fast eroding. Since the launch of the security sector program several weeks ago, may we ask the Minister of Justice what is happening so far? The events of July 24 in Brikama and Serre Kunda clearly point to the urgent need for these reforms.

One will find more justification for these reforms when you read the Faraba Commission Report. In that report it was categorically recommended that the IGP should vet all PIU officers and those found to have been involved in torture to be removed. Has the IGP done that? We know that some of the PIU officers deployed in Brikama and Serre Kunda on that fateful day are notorious torturers and killers since 2000! Why are they still in our uniforms?

The Anti-Crime Unit is notorious for torture. The evidence is overwhelming, yet the Gambia Government continues to close its eyes to malpractices that characterised the country under Yaya Jammeh. Those of us monitoring this Unit have reports that the detention conditions at the ACU headquarters are subhuman while various other abuses continue to take place there. The death of Ousman Darboe is a case in point which must be thoroughly investigated.

After 22 years of indiscriminate killing of Gambians by the Gambia Government under Yaya Jammeh, we must not ever again allow a single Gambian to die at the hands of Gambian armed and security forces. So far, we have registered the death of several Gambians at the hands of security forces in Kanilai, Faraba and now Serre Kunda. This is unacceptable and there must be accountability.

Meantime the practice of Gambian law enforcement officers appearing with guns and without uniforms in public must also be investigated and those responsible held accountable.

For The Gambia Our Homeland

……………………………………………..

Madi Jobarteh

Skype: madi.jobarteh

Twitter: @jobartehmadi

LinkedIn: Madi Jobarteh

Phone: +220 9995093