Ecowas is developing modalities to increase job creation to address illegal migration in the region, officials have said.

This formed part of discussions at the opening session of the ongoing Delocalised Meeting of a Joint Committee holding in Conakry, Guinea.

The committees include Communications and Information Technology, Education, Science and Technology, Labour, Employment, as well as Youth, Sports and Culture.

A number of irregular migrants from Africa to Europe via different migratory routes had been recorded since the peak of migration in 2014, with more deaths in the Mediterranean Sea also recorded.

Risk Analysis for 2018 concluded that the sea, especially along the Mediterranean routes, will remain the most active path for illegal crossing of the EU external borders, but also one of the most dangerous for migrants.

This is according to Relief Web, a leading humanitarian information source on global crises and disasters and a specialised digital service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Also, according to statistics from Missing Migrants Project of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 98 deaths of migrants in Africa have been recorded since the beginning of 2019.

This is compared to 107 deaths recorded in 2018 under the period in review.

The meeting attributed one of the major causes of irregular migration of its citizens to the high rate of unemployment in the region.

The Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, Mr Moustapha Cisse Lo, charged the members of committees to ensure that they come up with recommendations aimed at job creation.

Lo said this would be done through promoting the development of small and medium enterprises.

The speaker also said the meeting would renew the parliament’s commitment to develop strategies for economic integration.

He added that the consideration and the adoption of the draft report and recommendations of the committees would be done at the plenary session of the ECOWAS parliament meeting to be held in Nigeria in May.

Mrs Liliane Alapini, a representative of the ECOWAS Commission, said that the issues of unemployment were at the heart of the region’s integration pursuit.

Alapini said the non-implementation of policies on job creation and unemployment was also responsible for the rate of illegal migration in West Africa.

She urged the committees present to strengthen policies on small and medium enterprises in the region.

Mr Tibou Camara, the Guinean Minister of Industry and Small and Medium Enterprises, said that unemployment was “a time bomb” that must be tackled to ensure economic growth and development in the region.

Mr Ansoumane Berete, the Country Representative of United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), said that industrialisation was paramount to the eradication of poverty in the ECOWAS region.
Berete assured of UNIDO’s continued support to the skills development of young entrepreneurs through proper training.

Another representative the parliament, Mr Alpha Fischer, said the meeting would also develop modalities to facilitate vocational training of youths in the region.

“This meeting will advocate and promote skills acquisition of youths to enable them stay in their countries rather than venture into illegal migration.

“This meeting will deal with job creation and training of our youth so that they can overcome the temptation of being trapped in the Mediterranean Sea,” he said.

Fischer also said that the meeting would equip the members of parliament to play a major role in job creation and also commended UNIDO for its contribution to development in the region.

The theme for the delocalised meeting is “Job Creation in the ECOWAS region through Entrepreneurship and the Development of SMEs”.

By Lamin Njie

Opposition APRC on Thursday commenced a 14-day tour of the country.

The spokesperson of the party Musa Amul Nyassi speaking to The Fatu Network on Friday said the venture will last for two weeks.

Nyassi said: “The purpose of the tour is to go and assess the political situation in the country, as far as our party is concerned. Because as you may know we were dominating in all regions and in all constituencies when it comes to voter turnout and voter population and in terms of party support.

“So since the advent of the presidential election in 2016 December coming to the national assembly election, mayoral and chairperson, one can notice that there has been a lot of change as far as our grip on the ground is concerned.

“So as a result we were able to go on a tour some time last year and we have seen the impact that it had. This is why we have thought it fitting that we have to go back again on the ground to talk to our sympathizers as per the current situation.

“You may also be aware that there have been commissions – since 2017 to date. For us [the way] we are analysing it as, the commissions are also meant to stain APRC as party. So we need to go out and talk to the Gambians, the Gambian electorate for them to be able to distinguish between AFPRC and APRC and again try to convince Gambians that APRC as a party when we were in power, we have also impacted the lives of every Gambian citizen developmentally and also our development has gone across the length and breadth of The Gambia. So we are going back to renew that APRC government coming back to power is poised to do more than what it had done in the past.”

By Lamin Njie

The national assembly member for Foni Kansala constituency Musa Amul Nyassi has said that the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission is a breach of the 1997 constitution.

The TRRC was set up by President Adama Barrow in July 2017 but it started work in January 2019.

The idea is to investigate the human rights violations and abuses of the 22 years rule of former president Yahya Jammeh.

But Nyassi speaking to The Fatu Network in an exclusive interview said: “If you look at the current commission which is the TRRC, I am not legally minded but if you go to the 1997 constitution through which the government is operating the state of affairs, Section 13 has clearly stated that under no circumstances should any person who worked with the junta – be it the junta or any other person who has served in the government of the junta – appear before any court of law, commission or whatever.

“That is clearly stated in the constitution but what are we seeing? We are seeing something different from what the constitution is saying. What is responsible for that? Like I said, I am a layman but I know this is clearly stated in the constitution.”

Experts said Thursday the toppling of Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir raised the possibility of him standing trial before the Hague-based International Criminal Court, where he faces genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity charges.

Here are four key questions about Bashir and the ICC, the world’s only independent tribunal set up in 2002 to try those suspected of the world’s worst crimes.

Why is Bashir wanted by the ICC?

Darfur, a Sudanese region the size of France has been torn by violence since 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Khartoum’s Arab-dominated government under Bashir, accusing it of economic and political marginalisation.

About 300,000 people have been killed in the conflict and another 2.5 million displaced, according to the United Nations. Most of those displaced still live in sprawling camps.

In 2005, the UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC for investigation after an international commission found that there was reason to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor at the time, Luis Moreno Ocampo, opened a probe into Bashir and other suspects in Darfur’s conflict later that year.

Following investigations, the ICC issued two arrest warrants against Bashir in 2009 and 2010.

The latter warrant contained three counts of genocide — the “most heinous” of crimes.

What are the charges against Bashir?

Bashir is facing a total of 10 counts for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He was also the first sitting president of a country to be wanted by the ICC and the first person to be charged with genocide.

Pre-trial judges at the ICC said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Bashir and other high-ranking members of his government formed a common plan to carry out a counter-insurgency campaign against rebel groups opposing the Sudanese government.

The judges concluded that Bashir acted with specific intent to destroy in part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups during the campaign since 2002.

Omar al-Bashir, as the “de jure and de facto” president of Sudan “played an essential role in coordinating the design and implementation of the common plan,” the ICC said.

Bashir, 75, has always denied the charges.

Why hasn’t he been arrested?

The International Criminal Court does not have a police force and relies on member states to carry out arrest warrants against suspects.

But despite two warrants against Bashir, he continued to travel with impunity to various countries in Africa and the rest of the world.

This included to ICC member states South Africa and Jordan, which under the court’s founding Rome Statute had an obligation to arrest him.

Both countries however have argued that Bashir was a sitting head of state and therefore was entitled to immunity.

The ICC however ruled in 2017 that Pretoria flouted its duties when failing to arrest Bashir, while referring Jordan to the UN Security Council for its “non-compliance” to arrest Bashir.

The court’s judges however admitted that further action by the Council was unlikely, saying the body has failed to take measures against states who shirked their duties.

What happens now?

Bashir’s toppling could raise the possibility that he is sent to the ICC to face the charges, said Asser Institute international law expert Christophe Paulussen.

“Of course, chances are bigger that a new ruler would want to work with the ICC, than in the past, when the very same ruler was wanted by the ICC,” he told AFP.

“The arguments by some states in which they say they don’t have to work with the ICC because of immunity will play no further role,” added Paulussen.

However, reality is always a lot more unpredictable.

“It could be that in exchange for his freedom Bashir may agree to go (in exile) to a ‘safe haven’ where he won’t be bugged,” Paulussen said.

Frederiek de Vlaming of the University of Amsterdam agreed, saying much depended on Sudan’s new rulers.

“They may also decide to put him on trial at home,” in which case the ICC’s role would be limited, De Vlaming said.

Two British sisters have been accused of “fetishing black men” after they admitted to visiting Gambia 15 times in eight years for “the Snoop Dogg lookalikes”.

Appearing on This Morning, Jackie Simpson, 63, and Julie Ramsey, 60 – who explained their “love of Bob Marley and reggae music” first drew them to the West African country – have been accused of “causing offence” over their remarks about young Gambian men.

Just weeks after the sisters were caught posing on the beach in bikinis next to men young enough to be their sons, the women have taken to ITV to defend their holiday habits.

Dubbed the “real-life Tinder dream for geriatrics” by Bake Off’s Prue Leith, Gambia is said to be an appealing fantasy for British grannies looking for romance.

“There’s so much candy in here it’s hard to control yourself, even at my age,” an eighty-something-year-old married woman admitted to our reporters. “What happens in Gambia, stays in Gambia.”

And while sisters Jackie and Julie from Lincolnshire tried to make things look better, telling Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford that their love of reggae music first attracted them to the country, viewers were enraged by the “offensive” way they discussed young Gambian men.
“It’s the music – the nightlife is great,” Jackie said of her reasoning behind the trip. “I wanted to go because I like reggae music – Bob Marley – and it’s just great fun. It’s a proper woman’s holiday.”

This prospect alone left many viewers confused, suggesting that Jamaica may have been a better choice if they truly were looking for reggae, let alone their behaviour with men half their age.

One person wrote on Twitter: “She went to Gambia because of Bob Marley and reggae music? Did I just hear that, This Morning? Perhaps some cultural training and geography lessons are in order.”

The British ladies went on to talk about their exploits, with Jackie admitting that she’d had a three-year relationship with one of the young men she’d met in the west-African nation, leaving many blasting them for “fetishising black men”.

“Is no one else offended by how these grans are talking about Gambian men like they’re objects to be used at their disposal and for their pleasure,” one woman asked, as Jackie described her lovers.

“I’ve had a Gambian boyfriend and I’m still friends with him now,” Jackie admitted. “We kept in touch while I was away. I took him a guitar over to help him with his music.”

“You get all kinds of propositions,” Julie added. “All of the men say they are 36 years old, but they’re poor – and with us they get a nice meal and a few drinks.”

One viewer added: “I couldn’t image such a lighthearted atmosphere were this two 60 year old British men going off to Gambia to party with young women and buying them things…””Is no one else offended by how these grans are talking about Gambian men like they’re objects to be used at their disposal and for their pleasure,” one woman asked, as Jackie described her lovers.

“I’ve had a Gambian boyfriend and I’m still friends with him now,” Jackie admitted. “We kept in touch while I was away. I took him a guitar over to help him with his music.”

“You get all kinds of propositions,” Julie added. “All of the men say they are 36 years old, but they’re poor – and with us they get a nice meal and a few drinks.”

One viewer added: “I couldn’t image such a lighthearted atmosphere were this two 60 year old British men going off to Gambia to party with young women and buying them things…”

While another clapped back: “This is pure ignorance – ‘because they want to get to England’ and they are ‘poor’? Africa is one of the richest continents in resources that the Western world bleeds it dry of.”

The two women went on to reveal that the young men are interested in women even at “70 or 80”, and that they are obviously not attracted to these women, but it is a “fantasy”.

“I think they want to get to England,” Julie said when asked by Eamonn what she thinks drives these young men to pursue women often twice their age or more.

“I just tell them straight that they’ve got no chance of getting there,” Jackie agreed. “I told my Gambian boyfriend that there was no way I’d be able to get him [here].”

They continued to encourage Ruth to go on one of their holidays too, adding that she might find herself a “Tinie Tempah, Snoop Dogg and Will.I.Am”.

“Those poor Gambian men,” another viewer responded. “These women are using them, and letting themselves me used. It isn’t romantic or love, it’s manipulation.”

Jackie and Julie had an answer for this too, claiming to choose their Gambian lovers over their English equivalents due to their “gentlemanly” nature, with Jackie adding that British men could learn a few things from them.

“The men there don’t speak vulgar [things] to women,” she concluded. “Or shout down the street and walk around drunk. Probably because they’re so laid back on the weed.” (The Sun)

By Lamin Njie

Lamin Colley’s alleged untruthfulness at the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission is what cost him his job in the army, The Fatu Network has been informed.

The former class two warrant officer was dismissed from the army on Tuesday.

The spokesperson of the Gambia Armed Forces Major Lamin K Sanyang told The Fatu Network Colley was dismissed because of his untruthfulness at the TRRC.

Colley was a medic in the army who was hauled up before the TRRC on March 20 where he claimed he killed fellow soldier Fafa Nyang by accident. Fafa Nyang was part of a group of soldiers executed in 1994.

“He was found to be not truthful despite the overwhelming evidence. The ministry of justice recommended to our commander in chief (President Adama Barrow) for his dismissal who then instructed the chief of defense staff [for him to be dismissed],” Major Sanyang told The Fatu Network.

Masanneh Kinteh has said that the army leadership is aware of some soldiers being implicated in serious human rights violations and abuses.

The army chief stated this in an exclusive interview with The Fatu Network.

The top general said: “Yes we are aware that some of our soldiers have been involved in human rights abuses as has been witnessed by all of us, from the commissions which are ongoing. But are we going to use that to be able to settle scores with every soldier that has been mentioned or are we going to wait for that natural process to really come to an end so that anybody who is indicted will also be given the chance to be able to speak and we hear that person’s side of the story or are we going to forestall the progress that we have made with the TRRC.

“f we start indicting soldiers at this point in time, will they willingly come forward to speak the truth? Will they be willingly comfortably tell the Gambian people the things that they know? I think we should leave that natural process of the TRRC to unravel and each and every person whether victim or perpetrator is given the chance to be able to be heard by the Gambian people.”

A man handed himself in to police on Wednesday night saying he had killed his wife in a fight at their Hong Kong flat, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday.

The 37-year-old man, from Gambia, was arrested on suspicion of murder, according to the paper.

He approached Wong Tai Sin Police Station at about 9.50pm, saying he killed the 40-year-old Filipino, who held a Hong Kong identity card.

He said he had a physical fight with her in their subdivided To Kwa Wan flat that morning.

Firefighters forced open the door to the flat, on Pang Ching Street, and found the woman on a bed.

She was confirmed dead at the scene.

Finding wounds on her head, police believed she might have been punched. Officers said she could have been dead for 12 to 20 hours.

There will be an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.

Police said the man, who held a temporary identification document called a recognisance form, had been in the city since 2012.

The holder of a recognisance form is allowed to remain in the city temporarily but is not allowed to take a job. (South China Morning Post)

By Lamin Njie

UDP leader Ousainou Darboe has accused President Adama Barrow of trying to destroy his party.

Speaking to supporters from Central River Region at his house on Tuesday, Darboe who was sacked by President Barrow as the vice president of The Gambia last month said: “Adama said he wants to survive on UDP and UDP gave him his share, to do something for him that no other party did for any one in this country. Because it was UDP that sold him until these other parties accepted him and picked him at the convention. He then became the leader, he now wants to destroy that party just because he wants to stand in the next election.

“You (President Barrow) entered smartly in our midst as a termit would [enter a wood]. You’re corrupting my chairmen, even national assembly members he went to them. But we are not bothered because those national assembly members were elected by their people. If Sanna Jawara wants to behave in a certain way, his people are there. If the election comes, they will sack him.

“I want you to know that yesterday they came and told you we are all the same. They would tell you, ‘don’t you see Amadou Sanneh is a minister and UDP.’ They will tell you, ‘Lawyer Darboe is the vice president and he is UDP.’ ‘Mariam Denton is the speaker she is UDP.’ ‘Momodou Sanneh is the deputy speaker he is UDP.’ But I have told you anyone who comes to you and tell you they’re UDP and that message didn’t come directly from us, you should not listen to them.

“You see things are now clear. They are now saying that UDP is their enemey, that there is no other party here that is their enemy. For us UDP, we don’t have enemies. We have rivals. I want you to know that we share maybe only two things with Adama Barrow and his people: being Gambian and being Muslim. We differ in terms of our politics. They are running their own politics, we are running our own politics. He will go for his annual leave and he will target you who are in the Fulladu area.

“They will form delegations to go to his place asking him to stand for elections. That’s the plan. But what you should do what the Jarankas and Kingkas did. Please refuse to go to him. No one can force you. The era when people are bullied is gone. Do not allow any chief to come to you. In fact if any chief comes to you, send him away.

“What we fought yesterday is what Adama Barrow is trying to bring. I will not accuse him. I think Adama should be grateful to UDP. I didn’t say it, he said it himself that he never vied for a position in UDP. That’s the truth. That I Ousainou Darboe was the one who would call him and ask him man this position or that position. So now after that party gave you a noble position, you want to destroy that party.”

By Lamin Njie

Victims of the April 2000 student massacre have urged the government to bring the alleged perpetrators to justice.

Police in The Gambia on April 10, 2000 opened fire on a student demonstration killing 14 students.

Victims supported by concerned Gambians on Wednesday commemorated the brutal crackdown, where they directed their pleas for justice at the government.

Speaking to The Fatu Network at the event held at the Westfield monument, Yusupha Mbaye who now sits in a wheelchair as a result of the incident said he will not forget what happened to him.

“This is a day which we cannot forget. It’s a very sad their and it’s a history in The Gambia. I went to school on this day by then we were having assessment test. We went to school and I was not aware of any student protest. The students came to our class and took us to go and protest because Gambians students are protesting on behalf of a colleague who was raped at the Independence Stadium during the inter-schools competition and another student who was beaten to death,” he said.

Madi Jobarteh, an activist, said justice is what is needed “and that justice entails addressing the plight of victims, providing them the necessary medical attention.”

“As you can see, there are survivors who until today are living in pain, are in crutches, are in bed, are in wheelchairs. So they need urgent medial attention,” Jobarteh said.

According to Jobarteh, the Gambia government should repeal the Indemnity Act “because that will allow for justice to prevail, so that perpetrators are brought to book and victims are adequately compensated and eventually to put an end to impunity.”

Dr Ismaila Ceesay of the University of The Gambia said: “Today is a very important day. We are here to remember the April 10 and April 11 victims, to share the pain their families have been going through for the past 19 years.

“That day was a solemn day, a very sad day for this country. It was a day when school children decided to come out to fight injustice and in their quest to fight injustice they were brutalised by a murderous regime.”

By Lamin Njie

At least 130 Gambian soldiers have returned to the country from a deployment to Darfur, Sudan.

The troops who were part of the Gamcoy 21 contingent returned to The Gambia on Tuesday after spending one year in Darfur.

They were received at the Banjul International Airport by the commander of the Gambia Armed Forces Brigadier General Mamat O Cham.

Addressing the troops at the airport, Gen Cham said the soldiers have represented their country well at one of the most troubled regions of the world.

The top general said: “On behalf of the chief of defence staff of the Gambia Armed Forces Lt Gen Masanneh Kinteh and on behalf of His Excellency the President and commander in chief of the Gambia Armed Forces and on behalf of the officers admin of the Gambia Armed Forces I happily welcome you back home after a successful one year mission in Darfur.

“Welcome home and thank you for a job well done. The report that we have so far is that you’ve done extremely well. You represented the country and the Gambia Armed Forces amicably well. You’ve done very well and you deserve a pat on your back and congratulations to every one of you.”

Gamcoy 21 was commanded by Major Abdoulie Manneh who was assisted by Major Abdoulie Mboob.

A report released on Wednesday by human rights group Amnesty International says the number of global executions fell by a third in 2018, making it the lowest number of executions in at least a decade.

The report came as the Malaysian government continued to grapple with whether or not to abolish the death penalty, a move fiercely opposed by conservative and opposition groups.

The Pakatan Harapan government, led by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, had initially outlined plans to fully abolish the death penalty as part of its election manifesto in March 2018.

Report says the move would have granted reprieve to over 1,200 people on death row.

However since taking power in May, the coalition government has backpedaled on the initial promise.

It has instead debated whether to remove the mandatory death penalty on certain crimes and leave it to the courts’ discretion to enforce the death penalty, much to the dismay of human rights groups and pro-abolitionists.

“The reversal of the earlier decision is shocking, unprincipled and embarrassing,’’ N. Surendran, advisor to human rights group Lawyers for Liberty, said in March.

The government has however placed a moratorium on the death penalty, which means any death sentence handed down in the meantime cannot be carried out until the moratorium is lifted, or a final decision is reached on abolition.

“We believe the Malaysian government knows exactly what is the right thing to do,’’ Shamini Kaliemuthu, executive director of Amnesty International Malaysia, said during the official launch of the organisation’s report in Kuala Lumpur.

Parliamentarian Kasthuri Patto, a pro-abolition politician who was also at the launch, said the minister for law Liew Vui Keong is “very much on board with abolishing the death penalty.’’

“However the challenge is for him to convince the Cabinet to speak in that same language,’’ she added.

Opposition parties Parti Se-Islam Malaysia (PAS), an Islamist party that controls the eastern states of Kelantan and Terengganu, along with the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), have expressed their reluctance in doing away completely with the death penalty.

MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong said the government should not abolish capital punishment for the sake of fulfilling its election manifesto, in comments reported by The Star.

Although PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang recommended that a detailed study first is undertaken on the issue.

Meanwhile, parliamentary sittings are due to end on Thursday, making it unlikely that a landmark abolition decision will be reached within the next 24 hours.

The next parliamentary sitting is scheduled to take place in July. (dpa/NAN)

By Lamin Njie

Lamin Fatty of the Gambia Armed Forces has denied taking part in the November 11, 1994 brutal execution of soldiers.

Witness after witness mostly former soldiers told the TRRC the army major played a key part in the savagery.

On Wednesday, Fatty was given the chance to give his own side of the story and he denied any involvement in the killings.

“Counsel, I’m not here to argue but wallahi (by Allah) I can tell you, am sure if you bring other witnesses who were with Edward they will tell you Fatty was not in the bush. I’m sure people sat here and told lies but I will not face this whole nation and tell lies,” Fatty told the TRRC after a video in which his named was mentioned by Alagie Kanyi who admitted taking part in the killings was screened.

Fatty told the TRRC he was at AFPFRC junta leader Edward Singhateh’s house in Fajara on the day of the incident but he did not go with Edward to either State House or the execution ground at a bush near Brikama.

He said: “Alagie [Kanyi] is telling lies. I will not sit here and lie. The whole nation is looking at me and beyond The Gambia. I cannot lie. What happens (sic), I’m an orderly still serving in the army. Anybody will remember I was an orderly.

“These things never happened as I told you. These people can establish that night there are people with Edward, maybe one is late but there are living witnesses who are with Edward at that time wherever they went (sic).”