The Centre for Policy Research and Strategy Studies (CepRass) has been adjudged the top performing new member of the Afrobarometer network. CepRass, who joined the Afrobarometer network in 2018, was honoured for their timely and efficient execution on Afrobarometer’s fieldwork and dissemination requirements and the production of high quality outputs.

Afrobarometer, which is marking its 20th anniversary this year, is a non-partisan survey research project that measures public attitudes and perceptions on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues in Africa. In its seventh round of national surveys in 2016-2018, the network overcame funding challenges to complete surveys in 34 countries while successfully transitioning from paper-based to electronic data collection.

Awards were presented during Afrobarometer’s planning meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, with researchers from across the continent who will conduct its next round of surveys in 2019-2020. Seven other organisations were also recognised by Afrobarometer and the awards include:

Star of the Round Award: Zimbabwe’s Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) for best overall performance among the network’s three dozen national partners during Round 7 surveys.

Best Stakeholder Engagement Award: South Africa’s Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), for its successful efforts to promote stakeholder engagement and data use.

Best Face Forward Award: One to One Research and Polling of Tunisia, for its exemplary outreach and communications efforts.

Best Publications Award: Togo’s Center for Research and Opinion Polls (CROP), for its diverse, timely, and high-quality publications.

Best Conversation Starter Award: The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDDGhana) for its outstanding achievements in promoting visibility and use of survey findings.

Extra Mile Award: Advision Lesotho, for its extraordinary efforts to ensure the success of its Round 7 survey.

On Time Award: The Centre for Social Research, University of Malawi, for its timeliness in executing all aspects of the survey.

By Lamin Njie

Teachers at Njaba Kunda Upper Basic and Senior Secondary School Thursday burned tree branches in front of the school demanding their salary for three months be paid.

At least a dozen teachers out of a 21-man teaching staff said they have ran out of patience as they have not received their salary since March.

One of the teachers told The Fatu Network: “We want the school board and the ministry to pay our salary before we go for Koriteh.

“We have raised the issue with the management as well as the deputy permanent secretary at the ministry of basic and secondary education, Adama Jimba Jobe.

“He was here in the first week of the Ramadan and he promised us that we will receive our salary but up to now we have not received anything.”

Another one said: “We assembled the students and told them about the matter [protest]. We have informed them that without our salary there will be no lessons, that they should stay home.

“It’s painful to be working without being paid. Some of us, our families find it hard to believe it when we tell them we are not being paid.”

The principal of Njaba Kunda Upper Basic and Senior Secondary School Dawda Joof told The Fatu Network what the teachers were doing was understandable.

Joof said: “What they claim is a fact but not all our teachers in the school. [It’s] about 12 of them. We had a budget deficit. The school was very big and the roll [payroll] fell down, and the financing of the school is based on the roll.

“When the roll fell down, the number of teachers that were there you cannot just lay them off. So we were managing to pay them. In October last year, there was a small problem. We were unable the get the money to pay them.

“So went to the GTUCCU who definitely came to support us. In October, November and December they were giving us overdraft and we were paying salaries. But by then our budget was at the ministry and we were expecting that when the budget starts in January we will get the required finance to foot the bill of all the salaries.

“But when this budget came, it fell short. Still we were getting about D133,000 but later on it went to D171,000 but with the salary increase we were not able to pay all. The problem was there and GTU said they cannot continue giving us overdraft so I wrote to the permanent secretary who said to get money was finance [ministry] at the time was a little bit problem[atic] but he will include their names in the main ministry payroll and will be paying them until December.”

A ministry of basic and secondary education official could not immediately comment on the issue.

Njaba Kunda Upper Basic and Senior Secondary School has 305 students and 21 teachers.

By Lamin Njie

A Brussels Airlines flight landed at the Banjul International Airport Wednesday evening, officially bringing to an end a runway mishap that has rocked the country’s air transport sector.

All flight operations were suspended at the Banjul International Airport on Wednesday after a UK-bound flight got stuck on the runway after a burst tyre.

The incident meant all flights to Banjul had to be either cancelled or diverted – with many passengers left stranded in Senegal and other parts of the world.

On Wednesday, the Gambia government called an emergency press conference saying there was more to the airport mishap than just a plane suffering a burst tyre.

“The causes of the problem has a lot to do with ourselves. The manner in which we dispose waste…, All these are attracting birds and other ruminants that affect the smooth operation of our airport,” Mai Ahmad Fatty special adviser to President Barrow told journalists Wednesday, adding there will be a cleaning exercise at the airport on Saturday.

The Gambia Press Union welcomes and highly appreciates the payment of compensation to four journalists by the Government of The Gambia.

In a landmark ruling made in February 2018, the Ecowas Community Court of Justice based in Abuja, Nigeria, ordered the government to pay compensation of US$25, 000 to journalists Fatou Camara, Lamin Fatty, Alagie Jobe and Fatou Jaw Manneh for violation of their rights to press freedom.

The four journalists were variously charged and prosecuted under anti-free speech laws that the sub-regional court condemned as undemocratic, ruling that their enforcement constitutes a violation of freedom of press.

Fatou Camara, one of the journalists, said: “I am glad that The Gambia has endorsed the Ecowas Court judgment. I hope this serve as a lesson for governments to allow journalists do our work without harassment and intimidation. Our rights to freedom of expression, liberty, and freedom of movement should always be respected.”

The suit against the government was filed in 2015 by the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), along with the then four exiled journalists. It came about following consultations between the Gambia Press Union and Media Legal Defence Initiative, who supported the GPU to launch a similar suit filed by the GPU here at the Supreme Court of The Gambia.

The GPU has confirmed that each of the four journalists on Tuesday May 28 received the Dalasi equivalent of US$25, 000 from the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Abubacarr Tambadou.

Sheriff Bojang Jr., the GPU president said: “The payment of the compensation to these four journalists is an important step towards addressing the crimes committed against journalists, who have suffered enormously under the former government. This move by the government is highly appreciated and we encourage them to swiftly deal with other pending payments, including the one for Musa Saidykhan and the completion of payment for the family of Deyda Hydara.”

Mr Bojang Jr. added: “On behalf of the good people of The Gambia, I wish to thank Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI) and our parent body, the Federation of African Journalists, for their support and cooperation during those very difficult times. The journalists also have to be commended for accepting to participate knowing the potential attendant dangers.”

Meanwhile, in the Ecowas ruling, the Gambia government was ordered to decriminalise anti press freedom laws, including sedition, defamation and false news. The Union therefore calls on the government to go beyond the payment of compensation and fully implement the decision of the Ecowas by repealing laws that undemocratically interfere with the right to freedom of expression.

By GPU

A court in Myanmar has issued an arrest warrant against Wirathu, a notorious Buddhist monk whose hate-preaching sermons against the Rohingya and other minority Muslims have stoked religious tensions.

The monk, who once reportedly dubbed himself the “Burmese bin Laden”, faces up to life imprisonment under the country’s sedition law, which prohibits stirring up “hatred”, “contempt” or “disaffection” towards the government.

Police have so far declined to say why Wirathu has been charged, but the monk recently drew anger from senior officials for a series of speeches in which he attacked Myanmar’s de facto civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Wirathu has not yet been arrested and his exact whereabouts are unknown. A police spokesperson did not answer calls from Al Jazeera seeking comment.

He is usually based at his monastery in the city of Mandalay, but a judge has told police to bring him before a court in the country’s main city of Yangon before June 4, the Myanmar Now news agency reported. (Al Jazeera)

President Adama Barrow is scheduled to travel to Mecca, Saudi Arabia to attend the 14th session of the summit of heads of state and government of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

A statement by the presidency on Wednesday said President Barrow will be accompanied by a high ranking delegation and will leave the Banjul International Airport Thursday 30th May, 2019 at 10:00am.

Those invited to see the president off are requested to be at the airport at least half-an-hour before, the statement added.

The summit is titled Together for the Future.

BY CRC Communication Unit

The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) has conducted successful meetings with key stakeholders in the country. The series of stakeholder consultations began on 12th of May, 2019 with Political Parties and it was followed by the Legislature, the Judiciary, the Executive, the Office of the Ombudsman, the National Human Rights Commission, Security Services, the Independent Electoral Commission and the Land Commission.

The meetings were aimed at eliciting the views and aspirations of key stakeholders in specific constitutional provisions as part of the review process. The CRC was established by an Act of the National Assembly to prepare a new constitution for the Republic of The Gambia and to prepare a report in relation to the draft Constitution.

During its meeting with the Executive at State House in Banjul on Thursday 16th May, 2019, President Adama Barrow commended the Commission for its commitment in achieving the objectives of its mandate. ‘I think it is very important that we consult as a country. We (the Executive) are independent and will not interfere with your work, but we are citizens also and we have opinions, too,’ he noted.

He emphasized the need to build a constitution that will reflect the wishes of the people in order to for it to be generally accepted and embraced.

‘Our main objective is to build a strong foundation for democracy for this country. And this document is very important as far as that is concerned’, the President said.

Speaking at the Commission’s office on Wednesday 15th May, 2019, the Chief Justice Hon. Hassan B. Jallow said they look forward to seeing a constitution that would serve the test of time. He added that the rule of law is a prerequisite for a peaceful society and hailed the CRC for the approach it is  employing in seeking the views and aspirations of Gambians.

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Mariam Jack Denton, speaking at a consultation in the National Assembly, commended the Commission for engaging key stakeholders in its quest to develop a constitution that will be for all Gambians.

Reacting to CRC Dialogue with key stakeholders, Chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission, Justice Cherno Sulayman said: “The CRC recognized from the inception of its work that it needed to consult with Gambians and other key stakeholders in designing and developing a new Constitution for The Gambia. We have received full support on our approach and all persons and institutions we’ve consulted with thus far have taken the consultation process seriously and, as a consequence, have added value to the CRC’s work. We are truly grateful for the level and quality of public participation, no less that received from key Government institutions.”

By Momodou Justice Darboe

The Commander of the Anti-crime Unit of the Gambia Police Force, Commissioner Gorgui Mboob, has given assurances that The Gambia will be crime-free by 2020.

He, however, called on the general public to work with the police in a mutually reinforcing manner for the actualisation of a crime-free Gambia.

Commissioner Mboob gave this assurance on Tuesday following recent successes made by his men and women,including the arrest of seven suspected burglars as well as a suspect with 43 fraud-related cases under his belt.

“In 2019/2020, Gambia will be a crime-free country. If you don’t have work, go find one,” he stressed.

He said his unit was created just a year ago but that the successes that it recorded in tackling crime was heart-warming.

The anti-crime boss however lamented that burglary is on the rise in the country and advised shop-keepers to be vigilant, especially in the small hours of night when many are usually at low ebb.

“We want shopkeepers to be vigilant, especially from 3am to 5am,” he added.

He also made a clarion call on the members of the larger public not to obstruct law enforcement agents in due execution of their duties as well as harbouring criminals.

“We have seen instances of obstruction to the police in the execution of their duties but I want to make it clear to everyone that obstruction is a crime punishable by law and we wouldn’t hesitate to prosecute anyone found wanting,” he underlined.

By Momodou Justice Darboe

A 45-year-old Sukuta man is currently in custody following his arrest over 40 fraud-related offences.

Karanta Darboe of Kombo Sukuta was Tuesday paraded before the media at the headquarters of the Anti-crime Unit of the Gambia Police Force in Bijilo and according to the police, 43 cases of elaborate fraud await him.

The police say he has been preying on the business community for quite a long time and his modus operandi includes selling out stories to his unsuspecting victims; most of them businesspeople.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the Gambia Police Force, Karanta had caused huge economic loss to the business community.

PRO Lamin Njie added:” He targeted bureux de change with counterfeit banknotes. He will also tell shopkeepers that he came from Europe but doesn’t have Gambian Dalasi and could obtain goods like rice, oil,onions……

“He sometimes come with his vehicle to convince you that he has construction workers and will take cooking oil, onions,rice…. and will drive away never to be seen again.He’d caused lot of economic loss to the business community.”

Karanta is, in the meantime, awaiting trial over charges of obtaining goods by false pretences as well as possession of counterfeit Euro and dollar notes.

In another development, seven young men were also on Tuesday afternoon paraded before the press following their arrests on allegations of burglary. The men have been nabbed for allegedly breaking into a shop in Bakoteh recently.

By Lamin Njie

Footage of former president Yahya Jammeh celebrating his birthday has emerged on social media. Jammeh turned 54 on May 25.

Former Banjul mayoral hopeful Ebrima Jawo uploaded the video with the caption, ‘Former President in Equatorial Guinea on his birthday’ on Monday. It has garnered hundreds of views and dozens of shares.

In the video, over a dozen people formed a circle and could seen singing in what appears to be Spanish. The Fatu Network has not been able to independently verify the one-minute video.

Watch video below:

A Baddibu man has filed a lawsuit against the chief of central Baddibu for allegedly ending his marriage to his second wife.

Omar Camara of Suwareh Kunda village in the Lower Baddibu district filed a suit at the Kanifing Cadi Court against the chief of Central Baddibu Alagie Jagne, accusing him of unlawfully dissolving his marriage to Fatou Jaiteh, The Standard newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Mr Camara had earlier told The Standard newspaper that his wife, Fatou Jaiteh, had asked him for divorce but he refused the request. In his suit, the aggrieved husband is demanding to know whether a chief in central Baddibu could end a marriage in Lower Baddibu and whether it is in fact within the remit of a district head chief to annul a marriage where cadi courts are functioning.

The case which came up in court on Monday has been adjourned to July 1, 2019 for continuation of hearing.

Humans have ushered in a new geological epoch called the Anthropocene, according to a panel of scientists.

Experts have voted to recognise the term and the dawn of the epoch, a vast period of geological time spanning millennia, but it will be several years before the term is fully accepted.

The term means ‘Age of man’ and its origin will be back-dated to the middle of the 20th-century to mark when humans started irrevocably damaging the planet.

Scientists are now working on defining when it started and what geological feature best describes its initiation.

This quest for a so-called ‘golden spike’ may include the Hydrogen bomb tests of the 50s which produced vast amounts of radioactive matter immortalised in the world’s geological records.

The explosion of chicken farming and increased fossil fuel incineration are also potential signs of the Anthropocene, leaving an indelible mark on the world.

Professor Jan Zalasiewicz, from the University of Leicester, chaired the panel of experts on the issue who took their first formal vote this week.

The result and start of the term’s acceptance is unsurprising as it passed an informal vote in 2016 at the International Geological Congress in Cape Town.

‘The Anthropocene works as a geological unit of time, process and strata,’ said Professor Zalasiewicz.

‘It is distinguishable. It is distinctive.’

Today will see them discuss what further action is required in order to find a ‘golden spike’ – a clear indicator of the Anthropocene in the geological record.

This clear marker the researchers are searching for is technically called a Global boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) and the future of the Anthropocene hinges on its discovery.

The spike nails down a date, but also pinpoints a primary ‘signal’ at a specific location.

The 34-member Anthropocene Working Group (AWG) will now build a proposal to put forward to the International Commission on Stratigraphy in 2021, which oversees the official geologic time chart.

Another vote will then be needed to re-write the history books and formally recognise the epoch.

Scientists refer to the period starting from 1950 as the ‘Great Acceleration’ due to the explosion in various factors associated with humans.

Concentrations in the air of carbon dioxide, methane and stratospheric ozone; surface temperatures, ocean acidification, marine fish harvesting, and tropical forest loss; population growth, construction of large dams and international tourism all increase exponentially from about midway though the 20th century.

Many experts agree the Anthropocene has begun, but how to classify the origin of this geological epoch is hotly debated.

A leading explanation focuses on the hydrogen bomb tests off the 1950s and claims this will provide the best marker for the Anthropocene’s birth.

Others suggest the best sign of human-activity shaping the world will be fossil fuel remnants, plastics or fertiliser.

One of the main culprits is global warming driven by the burning of fossil fuels.

A telltale surge in the spread of invasive plant and animal species is also a legacy of our species.

But the working group is not allowed to take any of these measures into consideration unless they show up in the geological record.

It has to be able to measured in rocks, lake sediments, ice cores, or other such formations to meet the criteria used to determine eons, era, periods and ages.

This, however, is not a problem when it comes to the Anthropocene, Professor Zalasiewicz previously revealed.

‘We are spoiled for choice,’ he told AFP in 2016. ‘There’s a whole array of potential signals out there.’ (DailyMail)

By Fatu Network reporter

A high ranking officer of the Gambia Armed Forces has admonished officers and soldiers of the army to uphold the laws of the land as well as show unalloyed loyalty to the country.

General Ansumana Tamba made this admonition on Monday when a general court martial exonerated him of a charge of desertion. He had been undergoing trial alongside Gen Umpa Mendy for allegedly deserting the army in 2017 by fleeing with former president Yahya Jammeh to Equatorial Guinea.

Speaking to The Fatu Network on Monday, shortly after the not-guilty-verdict, Gen. Tamba said: “My advice to officers is to be law-abiding and be patriotic citizens and then be ready to serve their nation come what may. Come what may, let them be ready to serve their nation. This nation is what we have and nowhere else. I have only Gambia and let also have Gambia at heart than anywhere.”

Asked as to his reaction to the judgment, Tamba said: “First of all I thank God, the Almighty Allah for making this day possible. It’s the will of God. Also, I believe in truth and nothing but the truth and as far as life is concerned, one does not always have to rush or hesitate. Always keep patient and be obedient.

“This country belongs to everybody; all of us. So, I believe in discipline. I believe in courtesy and being patient and at the end of the day I leave all my fate in the hands of the Almighty. Ever since, I felt very much comfortable and I felt very much at ease ever since I even step my foot from Equatorial Guinea to Gambia because I know myself and I know I am very much innocent and I’m a patriotic citizen of this country.

“I’ve served this country in the armed forces for the past 29 to 30 years or so. So, I know what it takes to serve your nation and I know what it takes to be a good citizen and I’m assuring all Gambians that I’m more ready to serve my nation than ever before. And, I’m just assuring all Gambians that today I’m ready to serve my nation and to lay my life for this nation; for the security of the nation and for the development of this nation than ever before.

On his arrest and subsequent charge, he said:  This doesn’t move me. I know this is just the will of God and it’s an obstacle that I have to pass through come what may, I was ready to accept the outcome.”

The attorney general Abubacarr Tambadou Monday asked individuals adversely mentioned by the Janneh commission in its probe to reach out to his office.

A statement by the justice minister said “following the conclusion of the work of the Commission of Inquiry into the financial activities of public bodies, enterprises and offices as regards their dealings with former President Yahya Jammeh, a number of adverse findings have been made by the Commission against certain individuals and companies who have been notified of these adverse findings.”

“While the Government continues to review the Commission’s voluminous report, the Attorney General wishes to invite all those who have received notices of adverse findings from the Commission to contact the Solicitor General or the Attorney General at the Ministry of Justice, in person or through authorized 3^rd parties, between 3^rd and 8^th June 2019,” the statement said

By Lamin Njie

Former army captain Yahya Jammeh Monday chanted ‘we are happy’ after a general court martial at Yundum Barracks slapped him with a nine-year jail term over his role in a 2017 coup plot.

A military panel last Thursday found Jammeh, a former aide to former President Yahya Jammeh and seven others guilty of plotting to overthrow President Adama Barrow’s government.

In 2017, twelves GAF soldiers were arrested and charged before a military court for being part of a WhatsApp group which they created to hatch an elaborate plot to topple President Adama Barrow’s government. Four of the men have been discharged for want of evidence.

On Monday, the president of the panel Colonel Salifu Bojang handed various jail terms to the soldiers on various charges. Seven of the soldiers however each received a nine-year sentence for committing a crime of treason including ringleader Yahya Jammeh.

By Lamin Njie

President Adama Barrow has said he capitulated after realizing PDOIS was balking at any effort to have its members serve in his government.

President Barrow speaking to Paradise TV in an exclusive interview detailed how he doled out positions to all coalition stakeholder leaders except PDOIS whose leaders declined at every turn.

Mr Barrow said: “I called Halifa and told him I will give them two ministerial posts but I told him I want him to be part of that two. I also told I want Sidia to be part it.

“He said he would have to consult his party. He returned and said the central committee told him that they should not take position.

“I invited Sidia too. I told him I want him in my cabinet. We had a long conversation. I told him I wanted him to be at higher education. He too told me he would have to consult the party. He returned and he too said the same thing: central committee.

“I later realized it’s not about an individual; it’s about the party. That the party took a position and I needed to respect it. But I was a bit disappointed.”

By Lamin Njie

President Adama Barrow has said that Ousainou Darboe elected to be foreign minister even after advice that his age would not allow him.

President Barrow told Paradise TV in an exclusive interview how he summoned the UDP leader during the early days of his administration and extended three cabinet positions to his party.

Mr Barrow said: [I] told him I would give them [UDP] three ministerial positions but out of that three positions, I will make him (Ousainou Darboe) vice president. The two other positions, I told him [for the position of] finance [minister], I don’t think there is anyone who is qualified financially than Amadou Sanneh. I told him (Darboe) I can give it to him (Sanneh). The third post, I told him to choose which post he wants and he told me Local Government. I told him I can give them that too.

“He (Darboe) left and came and told me he cannot be vice president; that the constitution doesn’t allow him because of his age. He came with Omar Sey and he said he would like to be foreign minister. Omar Sey told him he cannot run the position of foreign minister, that the job is too hard, with his age, that he should consider another position which is not foreign minister. We suspended talks but he came back and said he would be able to be foreign minister.”

President Barrow eventually appointed Darboe to the position of foreign minister. He served in the position for over a year and he was then elevated to the position of vice president but bad feeling crept in between him and the president which led to his sack in March this year.