By Momodou Justice Darboe

Staff of Banjul Breweries on Thursday took to the street to bring in home on the Gambian authorities their growing fears and apprehension over prospects of losing their jobs.

The staff believe that if the government insists on the 75% hike in tax levied on the company, many of them risk losing their livelihoods.

Negotiations between the company and government have stalled and the company staff are worried that sooner rather than later, many of them would be sent packing if the government did not reverse its decision of not revisiting the tax increase.

Consequently, they converged on the busy Westfield intersection in Serekunda to take part in a march that was aimed at drawing the attention of government and the general public to prospects of huge job loss at the brewery.

“Our sister company has already closed. Presently, they are dismantling their materials in Niger. That is facing us, too. So, we have fears of our people too because they [Banjul Breweries] have laid off 18 staff already. So, we came out today to showcase our concerns to the Gambian people so that they can know what is happening within The Gambia. I think government should advocate increasing employment not reducing it. If Banjul Breweries closes down, so many people will suffer. Even government will lose revenue,” Alhagie Ceesay, one of the organisers of the march, told reporters.

He added:” We need the tax to come down because it is too high for us. 50 years [tax] was 10% and within 3 years, they [government] increased it to 65% making it 75%. If you observe, Banjul Breweries has so far the highest alcoholic tax in the world.”

Asked as to the state of negotiations between the brewery and government, Mr Ceesay lamented: “Even the negotiation is broken because we don’t have information from neither trade nor finance. We also wrote to the National Assembly. We wrote to all these institutions about the situation but nothing has come out of it.National Assembly have been sitting from Monday to date but we’ve not heard anything about our issue.”

Atleast 150 members of staff were believed to have taken part in Thursday’s march.

By Lamin Njie

One of The Gambia’s most senior army officers to have so far been accused of serious human rights violations on Thursday couldn’t discern Allah was the same as God.

Brigadier general Alagie Martin is accused of masterminding the torture of political prisoners in the early days of former president Yahya Jammeh’s regime.

On Thursday, Martin appeared before the TRRC during which he was relentlessly questioned and when the investigation’s led counsel at one point asked him whether it was ‘Oga before God’ the top army officer replied: “No sir, it’s God before Oga.”

Martin then said: “I mean, I mean, Allah before God.”

The general then added after the audience burst into laughter: “Yes. Yes. Oga before God.”

TRRC counsel was referring to how Martin worked for former president Yahya Jammeh.

Martin is the most senior Gambian army officer of all time to have been accused of torture and other human rights abuses.

He piloted the brutal torture of then vice chairman of the AFPRC junta Sana Sabally and a raft of other political prisoners most of them soldiers. The incidents happened at various times in the mid-90s and early 2000s when Martin was only a sergeant.

By Lamin Njie

The United States government has said The Gambia is not making significant efforts to fight the scourge of human trafficking.

The US Department of State has released the 2019 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, an annual publication by the US government documenting the efforts of the governments of 187 countries and territories to combat human trafficking.

A statement by the US government through its embassy in Banjul on Thursday said the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report “found that the Government of The Gambia does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.”

“Consequently, in this year’s TIP Report, The Gambia was ranked Tier 3,” the statement added.

The TIP report arranges countries into three tiers based on their efforts to fight trafficking, and a country in Tier 3 is placed under special scrutiny and risks US sanctions.

Still on The Gambia, the US government said while the country “did take some steps to address trafficking, the report details many deficiencies and a lack of significant effort.”

The US government statement added: “The government partnered with an NGO to prevent forced begging in Quranic schools and doubled the National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons (NAATIP) budget for 2019.  However, the government did not complete any trafficking prosecutions for the second consecutive year, did not investigate reported cases of child sex tourism, identified and assisted the fewest number of trafficking victims in five years, failed to protect trafficking victims from intimidation, and decreased efforts to raise public awareness about human trafficking.

“Human trafficking represents a threat to international peace and security.  It undermines the rule of law, robs millions of their dignity and freedom, enriches transnational criminals and terrorists, and threatens public safety and national security everywhere.  The message could not be more clear: addressing human trafficking at home takes willingness to challenge misperceptions of what human trafficking is or is not and unwavering determination at all levels of governance.

“Neither the United States nor The Gambia are immune from the continued scourge of human exploitation.  It is our sincere desire to partner with the government and the people of The Gambia to ensure that trafficking victims are cared for, and the government of The Gambia uses its rule of law mechanisms to fully enforce Gambian law and bring perpetrators of such exploitation of human beings to justice.

“Through the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (J/TIP) the United States recently provided a $750,000 (GMD 37.1 Million) grant to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support The Gambia’s national efforts to combat human trafficking in the country and to support Gambian-led progress toward effectively combatting trafficking in persons.

“We encourage the Gambian Government to direct and fund law enforcement and increase efforts to vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers, while following due process.  The government should develop and train government officials on standard procedures to proactively identify trafficking victims and to provide trafficking victims with adequate social services.”

By Lamin Njie

The most senior Gambian army officer so far accused of serious human rights abuses on Thursday told the TRRC he was acting on orders.

Brigadier general Alagie Martin is accused of masterminding the torture of political prisoners in the early days of former president Yahya Jammeh’s regime. He piloted the brutal torture of then vice chairman of the AFPRC junta Sana Sabally and a raft of other political prisoners most of them soldiers. The incidents happened at various times in the mid-90s and early 2000s when Martin was only a sergeant.

On Thursday, Martin appeared before the TRRC telling the investigation he indeed ‘beat not tortured’ Sana Sabally and other political detainees. Sana Sabally was arrested in January 1995 after being accused of plotting to overthrow Jammeh.

The top general told the investigation: “He (Sana Sabally) was beaten, but-stroked, slapped, all those things have been done to him because he refused to talk.”

Martin’s behaviour drew laughter out of the audience at various points including when he was asked by the commission’s counsel Essa Faal about whether beating someone amounted to torture.

“Well, he was beaten mercilessly. I can say that,” Martin told Faal.

When Faal told him if he was satisfied to call it ‘beaten’ but would not call it ‘torture,’ the top general shook his head and said: “No. No. It’s not torture.”

Martin was a close protection officer to former president Yahya Jammeh. He was also once the commander of the state guard battalion.

The Gambia government on Wednesday issued a statement expressing concern over the recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and on Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia.

Two oil tankers last week came under attack in the Gulf of Oman and on Monday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed to have launched a drone attack on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia.

The Government of the Republic of The Gambia in a statement on Wednesday said it was expressing ‘grave’ concern over the recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman and on Abha International Airport in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“The Government of the Republic of The Gambia condemns in no uncertain terms these dastardly acts that threaten lives, property and world peace; and, calls on the International Community to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“By the same token, the Gambia Government reaffirms its solidarity with the people and government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Arab coalition partners,” the statement issued by the foreign affairs ministry said.

By Lamin Njie

Gambian lawmakers on Wednesday approved a request by the Minister of Justice Abubacarr Tambadou for three top former officials of the Janneh Commission to be paid their outstanding salary of D600,000.

Surahata Janneh, Abioseh George and Bai Mass Saine in 2017 led a painstaking investigation into the financial activities of public enterprises, bodies and offices as regards their dealings with former President Yahya Jammeh. The three former commissioners were receiving D100,000 in honoraria each every month. But the officials in a letter written to the minister of justice on June 10, 2019 said three months after the submission of their report to President Adama Barrow, they were yet to receive payments for February and March.

“We have armed you with all the correspondence and documents you require to obtain approval for our payments. As far as you know, there is no resistance from the National Assembly with respect to our honoraria,” the officials told the justice minister in their letter.

They added: “However, you seem to have discomfort appearing before the National Assembly to justify payment for work done. This reluctance on your part is rather unjust.”

On Wednesday, the Minister of Justice appeared before the National Assembly where he secured an approval for D200,000 to be paid to each of the three commissioners.

Gambia Democratic Congress said Wednesday it has postponed its planned nationwide tour.

The opposition party had planned to begin a tour of the country on Thursday June 20.

On Wednesday, the party said in a statement the two-week tour has been postponed ‘with immediate effect.’

“This decision came as a result of the heavy wind and rainfall that seriously affected many parts of CRR North, CRR South, URR and other parts of the country where our rallies suppose to be held,” the party said in its statement signed by its spokesman Ahmadou Kah.

The statement added: “It is therefore part of the concepts of the GDC that the party must sympathize with affected communities during times of such disasters instead of running a tour.

“The general public will be duly updated with further decisions to be taken in relation to the proposed tour.

“Hon. Mamma Kandeh and members of the GDC executive will depart tomorrow to the affected communities to sympathize and offer them support and good wishes of the GDC.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to the public, supporters and well-wishers of the party.”

By Lamin Njie

A senior officer of the Gambia Armed Forces who was implicated in the 2006 coup has told the TRRC the misfired venture was not properly planned.

“There was no proper planning of the coup. We had no meeting. There was no meeting at all,” lieutenant colonel Bunja Darboe appearing before the TRRC on Wednesday said.

Darboe was part of a group of officers who attempted to overthrow former president Yahya Jammeh in March 2006 – but the coup misfired leading to the arrest of at least 10 people. The leader of the coup then army colonel Ndure Cham later fled the country.

Darboe said: “It was only Ndure Cham who was at the centre of the gravity. He was the one who was coordinating everything.

“Some of us were advising him that we have to act… Because the coup was planned when the president travelled to Mauritania.

“That was the time the coup was supposed to happen. We wanted to do the operation the very day the president flew.”

At least four people involved in the coup were later killed during their detention. The leader of the coup Ndure Cham is also believed to have been killed after he was arrested while trying to sneak into the country from neighbouring Senegal.

Developing countries, not rich Western nations, are bearing the brunt of the world’s refugee crisis and are hosting most of the record 70.8 million displaced people who have fled war and persecution, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

The UN refugee agency said in its annual flagship report, Global Trends : Half of the World’s forcibly displaced are children and the 2018 total is the highest in nearly 70 years.

The agency said the global figure, which comprises 25.9 million refugees, 41.3 million people uprooted within their homelands, and 3.5 million asylum-seekers, is “conservative.

That is because it does not include most of the four million Venezuelans who have fled abroad since 2015 as they do not need visas or to lodge asylum claims to stay in most host countries.

The agency said if the outflow continues, a total of five million Venezuelans could have left by year-end.

“Certainly if the situation is not solved politically in Venezuela, with a political agreement, we will see a continuation of this exodus,” Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told a news briefing.

Venezuelans, arriving mainly in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, formed the second biggest flow abroad last year, after Syrians fleeing to Turkey following eight years of war, the report said.

“When you say Europe has a refugee emergency, or the U.S., or Australia – no. Most of the refugees are in fact in the country next to where the war is, and unfortunately that means mostly in poor countries or in middle-income countries,” Grandi said.

“That’s where the crisis is, that’s need where we need to focus,” he told a news briefing.

More than two-thirds of the world’s refugees come from five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia, the report said.

U.S. President Donald Trump has made reducing illegal migration along the border with Mexico one of his signature policy pledges.

Central Americans reaching the United States after fleeing violence or persecution in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are entitled to request asylum, Grandi said.

The United States should give such people a fair hearing and not separate children from their parents, he said, adding that his agency stood ready to help U.S. authorities’ deal with the challenge.

With 254,300 asylum claims lodged in 2018, the United States is the world’s largest recipient of applications, the report said.

But Grandi said the United States has a huge backlog of 800,000 cases to be processed and that his agency was also helping Mexico to beef up its capacity to handle asylum-seekers.

Asked whether Trump’s policies had made the work of UNHCR more difficult, he said: “It’s not just in the United States, in Europe as well, and Australia.

“This is the crisis of solidarity that I have mentioned. It is identifying refugees and migrants with a problem instead of people that are fleeing from a problem,” he said.

In Europe, the issue has been heavily politicized, leaving some governments “terrified’’ to commit to take in people rescued at sea after fleeing Libya or other conflict zones, Grandi said.

“So the appeal I make, now that we are in a situation where European (Parliament) elections are behind us, is to stop this electoral agitation. The numbers arriving in Europe are frankly manageable,” he said. (Reuters/NAN)

By Lamin Njie

The National Human Rights Commission of The Gambia has said it has received reports of ‘serious’ and ‘discriminatory’ practices in Serahule communities in The Gambia.

“It has been brought to the attention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that, serious and discriminatory practices are being meted out by some members of the Sarahule tribe who regard themselves as nobles on other members of the same tribe they regard as slaves. The said discriminatory practices among the Sarahule tribe has been recently reported in Koina and Fatoto villages of Kantora District in the Upper River Region,” the NHRC said in a statement Tuesday.

The statement comes five days after a painstaking investigation by The Fatu Network that offered a comprehensive understanding as well as a real peep into the Koina incident. The special report was first aired by The Fatu Network on Thursday June 13.

A fortnight ago, the nation woke up to the news of an outbreak of another caste-related clashes in the Upper River Region this time in Koina in which houses were set ablaze and properties vandalised. Scores were also injured during the violence. The police later rounded up and detained nearly two dozen people suspected of involvement in the rampage.

On Tuesday, NHRC said it has received reports of serious and discriminatory practices in Serahule communities in The Gambia where “those who regard themselves as nobles have been provoking those that they regard as slaves by using derogatory, Insulting and threatening language resulting in fighting, assault and disorderly conduct.”

“The Commission is also aware that caste system is still widespread in some parts of the country in the North Bank Region, the Central River Region, and the Central River Region where some tribes and clans regard others within their own tribes and communities as inferior (slaves) and others as superior (nobles),” the commission said.

It added: “Some communities have also been known to discriminate those they regard as “recent arrivals” and therefore regard them as strangers as opposed to those they regard as the original settlers.

“This kind of discriminatory labelling has translated into discriminatory practices in relation to land ownership and land use, marriage, including segregated burial sites for “nobles” and “slaves”. The NHRC not only condemns any and all forms of discrimination against anyone within the soil of the Gambia but also wants to make it categorically clear that it is illegal and unlawful under the laws of the Gambia and all the international treaties and conventions that the Gambia has ratified for anyone to discriminate against anybody based on tribe, ethnicity, race, gender, religion and or social status.

“The NHRC is therefore calling on all community leaders, religious leaders, opinion leaders, elders, civil and public servants and the citizenry to be very wary and to desist from making discriminatory statements and or engaging in discriminatory practices. Discrimination cannot be condoned in our communities and those responsible for fanning the seeds of hatred and division will be brought to book.

“The police are also advised to be very vigilant, take an active role in the fight against all forms of discrimination and treat seriously all cases of discrimination reported to them with professionalism and impartiality.

“As part of its promotional mandate, The NHRC, in collaboration with stakeholders, will engage the affected communities and will also roll out a series of activities geared towards sensitizing the general public on human rights, promoting a culture of human rights in The Gambia and assisting the Government in the formulation of appropriate policies to guarantee human rights.”

The National Human Rights Commission, created in 2017, is mandated to promote, monitor, investigate and protect human rights, as well as create a culture of human rights in The Gambia. The institution can also recommend appropriate remedial action to the government regarding a human rights violation.

By Lamin Njie

A group of engineers at the Gambia Ports Authority Ferry Service are carrying out a sophisticated heist in which ten of gallons of fuel are being siphoned on weekly basis, it has been alleged.

Impeccable sources have told The Fatu Network a group of engineers with the technical department at the ferries are engaged in the grand fuel heist.

A source said: “The engineers are the custodians of the fuel in the ferries. They are the ones involved in this. They siphoned it from the bunker while the ferry is moving. They often sell the fuel to taxi drivers on board the ferry. Also, some officials of the senior management team fuel their private vehicles from this.”

Security officers at the ferries on Monday busted an operation in which two engineers and a driver were arrested and taken to the police station at the terminal and charged.

“These security officers have been forwarding these kinds of matter to senior management but for some reason they do not take any action,” the source added.

“The security are doing their job but the engineers always boast that nothing will happen.

“There is the issue of nepotism as some senior management officials are related to those who are involved in this.”

Another source also confirmed to The Fatu Network on Tuesday that two engineers were detained at a police station at the ferry terminal in Banjul on Monday over allegations they stole fuel, adding a member of the staff of ferries protested the detention of the engineers in the middle of a crowd.

The source who was present during the incident and has an audio recording which has been made available to The Fatu Network added: “While the matter was at the police, a gentleman named Mustapha Cham who is a weld man in technical department was standing in the middle of the terminal surrounded by a group of people.

“He was saying that the fuel theft should not be an issue since both the GPA management and that of the ferries have been taking millions of dalasis from the coffers and that has never been investigated. He was shouting and insulting.”

‘I do not know anything about fuel theft’

The public relations manager at the ferries Omar Touray told The Fatu Network on Tuesday he doesn’t know anything about the alleged fuel heist.

“I do not know anything about fuel theft. It has not been reported to me and nobody has shown me anything like that,” he said.

He added: “With regard to the fuel, I have not gotten any report from the police or the NIA. We have all the security sections here and I have not heard of any report about fuel theft.

“I cannot remember any case reported to senior management. There are certain issues which happened. We have our service rules. There are disciplinary measures we normally take within ourselves. It’s not that whatever comes here we have to expose it to the police.”

On the issue of millions of dalasis being pilfered by officials, Touray said: “That is a fabrication. If people are collecting millions, the government is responsible and we have management who are responsible and you can be just picking millions here and nobody will alarm it.”

The Fatu Network has also learnt that one hundred containers at the ports have gone missing. The case is reportedly being investigated by the serious crime unit of the Gambia Police Force.

The Fatu Network contacted the spokesman of the Gambia Police Force Lamin Njie over the case but he said he was going to find out from the crime department.

Editor’s note: The Fatu Network will launch a full investigation into the alleged fuel theft as well as the alleged stealing of millions of dalasis by some senior officials of GPA

By Lamin Njie

Muhammad Krubally, the man at the heart of Koina’s caste hostilities, has been released on bail.

Krubally was released on bail on Monday by the Basse Magistrates Court after police prosecutors said they needed time to review the ‘desirability’ of prosecuting him on a charge of incitement to violence.

Krubally has been in detention since May 25 following violent clashes in Koina over the so-called slaves and the so-called nobles social arrangement.

On May 25, 2019, Krubally wore a cap to a mosque in Koina. His action led to him being tied by a group of boys. The move triggered violent clashes in which houses were set on fire and properties vandalised. Scores were injured as a result of the clashes.

By Lamin Njie

The Basse Magistrates Court on Monday extended the remand in custody of 23 people arrested over the Koina caste violence.

A fortnight ago, the nation woke up to the news of an outbreak of another caste-related clashes in the Upper River Region this time in Koina in which houses were set ablaze and properties vandalised. Scores were also injured during the violence. The police later rounded up and detained nearly two dozen people suspected of involvement in the rampage.

The suspects, numbering 23, have been accused by the police of inciting violence, arson and assault.

On Monday, they appeared in court for a second time in 20 days with scores of people mostly family and friends turning up to see what was going to happen next to their loved ones. The case however could not proceed following an argument.

The argument started after the police prosecutor MD Mballow made an application for the case to be transferred to the special criminal division of the high court as one of the charges against the accused persons involved arson.

Arson is a very serious crime – a capital offence – that carries a life imprisonment sentence and a person accused of the crime cannot be granted bail. The police prosecutor cited the constitution and various sections of the criminal procedure code to support his argument that the Basse Magistrates Court was not empowered to try the case.

The lawyer representing 14 of the accused persons Kaddijatou Jallow rejected the prosecutor’s claims and said the court can in fact try the case. She also cited the constitution and various sections of the criminal procedure code to support her argument.

In the end, the magistrate Omar Jabang adjourned the case to June 24^th for a ruling over whether the lower court has the power to try the case. He also ordered that the accused persons be remanded in custody.

The world is about to get a whole lot more crowded, according to a new report by the United Nations, with the planet’s population expected to climb to nearly 10 billion by the middle of this century.

The UN’s World Population Prospects 2019, published on Tuesday, estimated that the next three decades will see today’s figure of 7.7 billion people rise to 9.7 billion by 2050 despite a continued slowdown in the global birth rate.

More than half of the increase will be concentrated in just nine countries – India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States – while the population of sub-Saharan Africa is projected to nearly double.

“Many of the fastest-growing populations are in the poorest countries, where population growth brings additional challenges in the effort to eradicate poverty, achieve greater equality, combat hunger and malnutrition and strengthen the coverage and quality of health and education systems to ensure that no one is left behind,” said Liu Zhenmin, the UN’s undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs.

The study concluded that the world’s population could reach a peak of nearly 11 billion around the end of the current century. (Al Jazeera)

By Fatu Network reporter

There appears to be no shortage of criticism against authorities in The Gambia over its perceived failure in forestalling a recent caste tension in Koina that led to destruction of property and some injuries.

Some viewers of The Fatu Network yesterday accused the Gambian authorities of, what they described, dereliction of duty and apathy to a grave security concern after a panoramic report was aired in the medium’s News Review program about the festering caste problem in Koina.

During the 40-minute documentary giving a panoramic view of the social upheaval in Gambia’s Upper River Region town, some commentators did not mince their words when they accused government of watching Koina and other communities in the URR fall apart as a result of deepening suspicions engendered and stoked by caste issue.

The latest to add his voice to the debate of the authorities’ perceived carefree attitude towards Koina is Muhammadu Touray who is also born and raised in Koina but now resides in Canada.

Speaking in our studios along Kairaba Avenue on Friday, Touray expressed conviction that had the Gambian authorities adopted the right measures the Koina situation would not have degenerated to such level.

Touray is of the belief that had the police in Fatoto and the former local government minister in Banjul shown interest as far as the Koina problem was concerned, then the recent burning of houses and other properties in Koina would have been prevented.

Koina is an influential settlement in The Gambia but was refused to be heard when the town raised alarm bells of a disturbing trend threatening the fabric of the society, said Touray.

Mr Touray is still struggling to understand why former minister of local government Lamin Dibba and police in Fatato could not listen to the wails and lamentations of the people they swore to serve.

“We may be far removed from the capital but this doesn’t translate that we do not need to be treated like any other citizen. If our appeals for interventions were heeded to, then Koina would not have been in the situation that it is in today,” he posited.

Touray contended that the police and the former local government minister were not proactive when an emergence of the so-called Gambana campaign in Koina was reported to them sometime last year.

Gambana is a Serahule word which literally translates We Are All One. But it is seen in some communities in the URR as signifying a movement that is propagating imported ideology to fan tensions between people of same communities.

“Gambana is a very soothing and fine word on the surface but the word has deeper connotations. It is used by people who feel they are minorities in Serahule communities. It is used in Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia and wherever you have Serahules as indegenes. This is a movement that is being used to create a rift between people who have co-existed in peace for generations.

“Problems caused by this issue was reported to the police on several occasions but the police in Fatato saw this as an opportunity to milk our people because they knew Serahules eschew conflict with the law. The minister also failed us when his office refused to respond to appeals for sanity in our village because this Gambana thing was getting out of control.”

Editor’s note: Watch out next week for more of our interview with Touray

By Fatu Network reporter

The Inspector General of Police Mamour Jobe has said that it is the desire of the Gambia Police Force to drastically reduce road traffic accidents in The Gambia.

Jobe speaking through his deputy Ebrima Bah on Thursday at the police day ceremony said the police will continue to do everything possible to reduce accidents on Gambian roads.

Jobe said: “We urge all and sundry to support and collaborate with the police at all times and provide us with timely and important information to facilitate our daily operations.

“It is also my administration’s goal to drastic reduce road traffic accidents and enhance road safety through our highways.

“We will be doing this through our road safety management strategies and this we intend to do in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders in the enterprise.”

Jobe’s comments come one week after a passenger van collided with a truck in Pirang killing six people including two women.