By Lamin Njie

Social media network Facebook saw less political content in The Gambia Monday as Muslims in the country joined the rest of the Muslim Ummah to observe the start of this year’s Ramadan.

Checks by The Fatu Network on Monday revealed social media networks like Facebook and WhatsApp were instead recording a hike in religious content.

Thousands of Gambians have also taken to the two platforms to greet each other on what is the holiest month of the Islamic year.

Momodou Sabally is a social media user and he told The Fatu Network it is best that Gambians abstained from politics during Ramadan.

“For the politics, maybe after two, three days you will hear statements. But if we can take a break that will be better because too much of everything is bad,” Sabally said.

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter are popular platforms in The Gambia .

By Lamin Njie

President Adama Barrow woke up early on Monday to begin his day at work, his spokesperson Amie Bojang Sissoho has said.

Muslims in The Gambia fasted on Monday officially marking the start of this year’s Ramadan fast.

Speaking to The Fatu Network on Monday on whether the President’s work life has been affected by the Ramadan fast, Amie Bojang Sissoho said it is business as usual for President Barrow.

Nothing has changed up to this time, she added.

President Barrow’s work life during Ramadan contrasts sharply to former president Yahya Jammeh whose typical day started late and ended late.

Jammeh would often come to the office at around 2pm and leave at the end of the day-long fast.

Meghan Markle, aka the Duchess of Sussex, has given birth to a son. This is her first child with husband Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex.

The newborn prince was born at 5:26 a.m. local time and weighed 7lbs, 3oz.

The royal couple confirmed the news via their official Instagram on Monday.

“We are pleased to announce that Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed their firstborn child in the early morning on May 6th, 2019.”

The duchess went into labor “in the early hours of this morning,” the palace said in a statement provided to BuzzFeed News.

“The Duchess and baby are both healthy and well, and the couple thank members of the public for their shared excitement and support during this very special time in their lives. More details will be shared in the forthcoming days.”

Prince Harry greeted reporters after the baby’s birth, saying the birth has “been the most amazing experience I can ever possibly imagine.”

He also had plenty of praise for his wife.

A court in Senegal court on Monday sentenced in absentia Muslim leader Sheikh Bethio Thioune to 10 years of hard labour for abetting the murder of two followers.

The high criminal court in Mbour found the influential head of a branch of the Mouride Brotherhood guilty of failing to denounce a crime and being an accomplice to murder seven years ago.

His deputy, Sheikh Faye, was convicted of the same charges and received the same sentence from the court in the coastal town about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Dakar.

Ten other defendants, more or less directly involved in the grisly killings, were given 15 years of hard labour, while two were given eight years.

Prosecutor Youssou Diallo last week asked the court to give hard labour for life to Sheikh Bethio over the killings on April 22, 2012.

The charges ranged from murder entailing barbaric acts, criminal association, receiving and burying corpses without authorisation, possessing weapons illegally and failing to report a crime.

The case bas been widely followed in the West African country, where 90 percent of the population are Muslims and the Mouride Brotherhood is a Sufi order of Islam wielding considerable political sway.

Thioune was arrested on April 23, 2012, a day after the deaths of two followers whose savagely beaten bodies were found 800 metres (yards) from his house in the village of Keur Samba Laobe, western Senegal.

When the trial began exactly five years after the arrest, one of the sheikh’s defence attorneys, El Hadji Mamadou Ndiaye, said he had barred one of the victims from entering his home.

The man, according to this account, had been accused of zealously worshipping Thioune and even comparing him to God — an act of sacrilege.

He refused to obey the ban on entering the residence, which prompted Thioune’s outraged supporters to kill him and one of his friends, the lawyer said.

Thioune was freed on bail in February 2013 and has been in France for medical treatment during the trial.

The court announced that he would not be summoned “because of his age”, but seized his assets and awarded 100 million CFA francs (about 152,500 euros / $171,000) to the heirs of each murdered man.

The Duchess of Sussex has gone into labour, Buckingham Palace has announced.

Meghan went into labour “in the early hours” of Monday morning, the palace said in a statement.

Prince Harry was by her side and a further announcement “will be made soon”, it added.

The new arrival – whose sex is not yet known – will be the Queen’s eighth great-grandchild, and seventh in line to the throne.

The infant will be behind the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge and his children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – and the Duke of Sussex.

Harry and Meghan have said they will only share the news of the baby’s arrival once they have had a chance to celebrate privately as a family.

The couple announced the pregnancy publicly on 15 October 2018 – the first day of their royal tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The duchess was last seen on an official engagement on 19 March when she signed a book of condolences in London with Harry for the victims of the Christchurch terror attack.

The former actress and the duke moved into their renovated home Frogmore Cottage on the Windsor Estate at the beginning of April, as they prepared for their baby’s arrival.

The baby will not be an HRH, or a prince or princess, unless the Queen steps in, because George V limited royal titles in 1917.

A boy will be able to use one of Harry’s lesser titles and be known as the Earl of Dumbarton, but a girl is not allowed to become the Countess of Dumbarton because of male bias in the rules surrounding hereditary peer titles.

Instead, a daughter would be Lady (first name) Mountbatten-Windsor. (BBC)

By Fatu Network reporter

The lead investigator of TRRC has married the investigation’s No. 2 lawyer.

Alhagie Barrow and Horeja Balla Gaye got married on Thursday, a source close to Mr Barrow has told The Fatu Network.

The pair are said to have met at a few months ago at the TRRC, the source added.

A close friend of Barrow, Bubacarr Sidiqi Jammeh congratulating the newlyweds said in a Facebook post Saturday: “Am super stoked and happy for my Kotoké Alagie Saidy-Barrow and Horeja Bala Gaye on their wedding. Two amazing humans.”

The TRRC is an investigation into the human rights violations and abuses of the 22 years rule of former president Yahya Jammeh.

By Lamin Njie

The Ecowas Mission in The Gambia has announced the death of one of its peacekeepers, Staff Sergeant Bamidele Akinwale of the Nigerian Contingent.

Akinwale, 45, passed on in the early hours of Friday 3 May, 2019 after a suspected cardiac arrest, a statement by ECOMIG on Friday said.

The body of the late Soldier is currently being kept at the Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital Morgue for an autopsy while arrangements being made to convey the body home (Nigeria) for the necessary rites and burial in accordance with national, traditional and military customs, it added.

Meanwhile President Adama Barrow has condoled with the family of Staff Sergeant Bamidele Akinwale.

Director of press and public relations Amie Bojang Sissoho said in a statement on Friday said President Barrow “has received with deep sadness the news of the untimely demise of Sergeant Chief Bamidele AKINWALE of the Nigerian Contingent of the ECOWAS Military Intervention in The Gambia.”

“On behalf of the Gambian people, the president sends his condolences to the family of the deceased. Thank you to the late Sergeant AKINWALE for his bravery and dedication to peace and security in The Gambia and the subregion,” she said.

By Lamin Njie

Karpowership on Friday donated rice and sugar to the Fatoumatta Bah Barrow Foundation to support the foundation in fulfilling its mandate to Gambians.

The donation comes at a back of a similar gesture on Thursday where the power company put smiles on the faces of at least 200 Gambian families by giving them rice and sugar on the occasion of Ramadan.

On Friday, the company gave the Fatoumatta Bah Barrow Foundation 100 bags of rice and 100 bags of sugar at a ceremony held at State House.

Speaking at the event, the country manager of Karpowership Yankuba Mamburay said the gesture was aimed at supporting the First Lady through her foundation in helping Gambians.

“Karpowership is a Turkish company. We are engaged in electricity production. Currently we have fleet of powerships around the globe that is giving out some 3100 MW of electricity and Gambia inclusive as far as that number is concerned,” Mamburay said.

He added: “We came into The Gambia and our powership Karadeniz Koray Bey powership got connected to the Gambian national grid sometime around early 2018 as a result of the power purchase agreement that was signed between Nawec and Karpowership in February 2018.

“We have donated food items to 200 families yesterday. It was a very busy day. And a couple of weeks ago, we donated to some orphanages, some food items too. Some time last year during Ramadan, a similar gesture was made.

“And we were also involved in the rehabilitation of the children’s hospital to ensure that where water supply was not getting into, they got water supply. We spent about 6000 dollars towards that. We have a lot of plans as far as supporting the communities and helping in the development of the country.”

The vice chairperson of Fatoumatta Bah Barrow Foundation Fatou Ceesay on her part said the gesture will go ‘very far’ in complementing the First Lady’s efforts in helping Gambians.

“In the last two years, the foundation and our chief patron we would engage in this month of Ramadan in supporting mainly the most vulnerable of the community which includes some of the quranic recitation centres like Daras around the country. So we thank you very much,” Ceesay said.

By Lamin Njie

The case of two women who were arrested for subjecting a five-month-old girl to female genital mutilation was dropped due to insufficient evidence, it has emerged.

Sunkaru Darboe and Saffiatou Darboe from Kiang Sankandi were arrested in March 2016 after they were accused of carrying out female genital mutilation on Aminata Drammeh. The five-month-old girl died shortly after her mutilation. It was the first ever arrests on female genital mutilation since a ban was placed on the practice in 2015.

The Gambia government in a new report on Thursday said the Women’s Act of 2015 as amended criminalises Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

“Section 32B of the Act prohibits the practice in all its forms and any person found culpable is liable on conviction to a term of three years imprisonment or to a fine of Fifty Thousand Dalasi or both. Where the act results to the death of the victim, the perpetrator is liable to life imprisonment. The Act also imposes a legal duty to report that the act has been done or is being done or about to be done,” the government said in its report on the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa.

According to the report, the only FGM case that has reached the courts in The Gambia so far is the case involving Sunkaru Darboe and Saffiatou Darboe.

“However, the case was subsequently withdrawn by the State largely due to insufficient evidence,” the report said.

By Lamin Njie

Victims of former president Yahya Jammeh bogus HIV/AIDS treatment will form part of hundreds of people lined to testify before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission.

In a new report on Thursday, the government of The Gambia said victims who claim that their rights were violated by the former leader will testify before the TRRC.

“In 2007, the former president Yaya Jammeh conducted a HIV and AIDs treatment program, which ran through to 2016. During the course of treatment, it has been alleged that several affected persons who were enrolled in the program suffered complications and some even lost their lives,” The Gambia’s report on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights said.

Former president Yahya Jammeh declared in 2007 that he’d invented a cure for HIV/AIDS. The former president’s treatment programme entailed using a mixture of herbal medicine and spiritual healing techniques.

But according to the new report, “this program has been identified as a huge set-back for affected persons who enrolled in the treatment program and were required to abandon the use of their Anti- retroviral and intake unconventional medication in order to be treated.”

The report said: “As a result, the survivors have lodged a civil suit at the High Court and are claiming damages in tort for the harm ‘pain and suffering’ and loss they suffered during the treatment programme.

“The Survivors found the claim for damages on the unlawful imprisonment and the inhumane and degrading treatment they allegedly endured during the months of January through July 2007. The survivors also claim that the treatment programme also violated their constitutional right to be free from torture.

“Additionally, as a part of the Transitional Justice process initiated by the Government, a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission Act has been enacted to establish a Commission to address past human rights violations and impunity of the former regime.

“This platform will therefore be another avenue for their stories to be heard and acknowledged by the Government and possibly give them an opportunity to be granted reparations.”

By Lamin Njie

The Gambia government has said in a report that 13 percent of The Gambia’s adult population suffer from mental illness.

The Gambia government on Thursday presented the country’s report on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 64^th session currently holding in Egypt. The report addresses human rights issues in The Gambia spanning over 20 years.

According to the report, Gambians who suffer from mental illness “should enjoy full human rights, including the right to appropriate health care, education, shelter and employment, and the freedom from discrimination and abuse.”

The report said: “Communities in The Gambia are faced with numerous mental, neurological and psychosocial disorders that undermined development. Based on the prevalence rate from the World Mental Health Survey in 2004, it is estimated that approximately 27000 people in The Gambia (3% of the population aged 15 years and more) are suffering from severe mental disorders and a further 9100 (10% of the population aged 15 years and more) are suffering from moderate to mild mental disorders.

“This means that at least 118,000 people in The Gambia (13% of the adult population) are likely to be affected by mental disorders which require varying degrees of treatment and care.

“Mental health treatment and care should promote and protect the autonomy and liberty of people with mental disorders. People with mental disorders have the right to be treated in the most effective least restrictive and least intrusive manner. People with mental disorders, due to their particular vulnerability to human rights violations, may require specific legal and quasi-legal frameworks and safeguards to ensure that their human rights are promoted and protected.”

By Lamin Njie

A new report by the Gambia government has said that The Gambia currently has 23 prisoners on death row.

“Currently, there are twenty-three (23) prisoners sentenced to death, out of which twenty-one (21) were convicted for murder; one (1) for unlawfully causing death and one (1) for manslaughter,” said The Gambia’s report on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights which was presented by the minister of justice Abubacarr Tambadou to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights at its 64^th session in Egypt on Thursday.

The report added: “It is worth noting that despite the fact that the death penalty remains on the statute books since 1995, the only executions took place in 2012 when nine death row prisoners were executed.

“Since then, the moratorium which existed prior to 2012 has been restored. In 2017, the President announced a moratorium and signed the second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights has been signed and ratified.”

By Lamin Njie

The Gambia government on Thursday submitted the country’s on the African Charter on Human and People`s Rights to the African Commission, the first time in 25 years.

Through Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou, the government also submitted the country’s initial report on the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol).

A statement from the ministry of justice on Friday said the reports were presented at the 64^th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ currently holding in Sharm El Shaikh, Egypt.

A six-man delegation made up of Minister of Justice Abubacarr Tambadou, Solicitor General Cherno Marenah, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health Muhammadou Jaiteh, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare Bulli Dibba, the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Jerreh Sanyang and State Counsel Bafou Jeng is currently in Egypt for the event, according to the justice ministry statement.

Also in attendance from The Gambia were the Chairperson and a Commissioner of the newly established National Human Rights Commission of The Gambia, Mr. Emmanuel D Joof and Mr. Njundu Drammeh respectively, it added.

By Omar P Jallow

Lawyer for EJ Investments Thursday slammed the Gambia Tourism Board over a claim that the real estate agency was selling landed properties in the Tourism Development Area.

GTBoard last week claimed that real estate agents such as EJ Investment, S&J Properties and Darboe Jula were selling landed properties in the Tourism Development Area, notably Tanji, Batokunku, Tujereng, Kartong and Sanyang.

“The general public is hereby advised that this contravenes the above-mentioned Act thus making the acquisition of land in the TDA through such means illegal. Please note that any person/institution/public or private who purchase/bought landed properties from Estate Agents/ Alkalos/VDC within the TDA is doing at their own risk,” the board said in a statement.

Reacting to the GTBoard’s claims at a press conference held in Manjai on Thursday, Abdoulie Fatty the lawyer for EJ Investments said: “We want to make it absolutely clear that the Sanyang Seaview Estate is not within the TDA. In fact we’ll make it absolutely clear that the Sanyang Seaview Estate is located some 1400 metres from the High Water Mark.

“So it’s at least 3[00] to 400 metres away from the demarcation line. So the claim by GTBoard that the Sanyang Seaview Estate is within the TDA is completely false and unfounded.”

By Momodou Justice Darboe

The youths of Gunjur in Kombo South will on Saturday stage a solidarity march in the coastal town as part of efforts in seeking justice for the late Buba Jammeh who was killed in a deadly communal land conflict nearly two months ago.

The peaceful march, which is expected to draw multitudes of Gunjur youths in and beyond, is also aimed at galvanising communal efforts in confronting and resolving land-related conflicts and bringing home on the authorities the need for efficient and robust land administration in the country.

It would be recalled that the communities of Gunjur and Berending were recently embroiled in a lethal land dispute in which a native of Gunjur lost his life and scores injured. Land disputes between the two communities could be traced back to two decades or so. A security buffer has already been created between the communities amidst uneasy calm.

Speaking to The Fatu Network in an exclusive interview on Thursday, the chairman of the association, Mr Lamin Jassey, land dispute between Gunjur and Berending is a source of concern to the people of Gunjur and that there is an urgent need for an exhaustive resolution of the problem.

He added: “The basic reason behind the peaceful march past is to find justice for Buba and to also remind government about their responsibilities. Everybody is under Gambia’s constitution. Buba was killed on what belonged to him and we find that he was protecting the territorial integrity of our community when he got killed.

“We find it very necessary to come together as youths of Gunjur to come up with an idea to put every youth in Gunjur under the same umbrella because we felt this problem [Berending-Gunjur land dispute] has been going on for a long time. We want to sensitise each other and come together to maintain peace because everyone should have right to what belongs to him.”

Mr Musa Manjang, public relations officer of Gunjur Youth Association said one of the objectives of the march past is to send a message to the authorities about their responsibilities in relations to the unresolved murder of their brother.

“We want to send a message to the government about our brother; what had already happened as well as what is happening,” he pointed out.

Popular Nigerian actress, Tonto Dikeh, has vowed to continue to fight dirty with her ex-husband and father of her son, Olakunle Churchill, because “she has no shame.”

The mother-of-one said this in an explosive interview with media personality, Daddy Freeze, on Wednesday.

The actress made several allegations against her ex-husband in the interview, recorded at Daddy Freeze’s Lagos home.

She was accompanied by her best friend, popular cross-dresser, Bobrisky.

She accused Churchill of being a “Yahoo boy” adding that she once caught him wearing a ‘red pant with red candles and a laptop in a room at night.’

On why she made all the revelations in the interview, Tonto Dike said she is doing the video for her son, so he can grow up to see the fight she put up for him.

The mother of one said, “ First of all, I’m a mother. Not just a mother, but a mother who is dangerously in love with her son and I want my son to grow up and watch or listen to my own side of the story that I told him through my channel because really, this is for my son, not really for the public.

“Secondly, I’m doing this because my son’s father has constantly been pricking and pushing me to do a lot of irrational things online that is not me, because of the things that he’s doing behind the scenes.

“I’ll like to clear up all the lies, all the allegations, and everything once and for all.

“I feel terrible, I feel used. I am the biggest scam that Churchill Olakunle Oladunni has ever played in his life.”

Tonto also came under fire on social media after she revealed that her estranged husband could not last in bed for more than 40 seconds.

“At the beginning of the relationship, I never suspected him for cheating because he has a sexual problem, a disease, it’s called premature ejaculation. He can’t stay inside a woman for more than 40 seconds,” she said.

Tonto also told media houses to stop calling her for interviews because she had created a new YouTube page. She added that she would publish her ex-husband’s secrets on the platform because she hopes to make money off it. She also promised to break her colleague, Funke Adesiyan’s nose whenever she sees her. This was after the latter criticised her on Instagram. (Premium Times)

Facebook announced Thursday afternoon that it had designated some high-profile people, including Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who’s notorious for using anti-Semitic language, and right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as “dangerous” and said it will be purging them from its platforms.

Jones and his media outlet InfoWars had previously been banned from Facebook (FB) in in August 2018, but had maintained a presence on Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. On Thursday, Jones and InfoWars will be barred from Instagram as well.

Other people banned Thursday include fringe right-wing media personalities Laura Loomer, Milo Yiannopoulos and Paul Joseph Watson. Also included are Paul Nehlen, an anti-Semite who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2016 and 2018.

“We’ve always banned individuals or organizations that promote or engage in violence and hate, regardless of ideology,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement provided to CNN Business. “The process for evaluating potential violators is extensive and it is what led us to our decision to remove these accounts today.”

A Facebook spokesperson told CNN Business the company goes through a lengthy process and takes into consideration a number of factors before determining an individual to be “dangerous.” (CNN)

By Lamin Njie

Karpowership has distributed rice and sugar to at least 200 families in The Gambia.

The largesse worth at least 500,000 dalasis was aimed at helping less-privileged Gambians on the occasion of this year’s Ramadan.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at Karpowership office in Fajara on Thursday, Yankuba Mamburay the program manager of Karpowership said his company has been involved in not just electricity generation but it has also been very active in ‘corporate social responsibility’.

“Today what we are seeing here is a similar thing we did last year. Ramadan is at the corner and we understand the fact that as propagated by the Prophet when we have we have to share,” Mamburay said.

Aside the Ramadan donation, Karpowership has touched the lives of many Gambians through its various initiatives.

Mamburay said: “We are not just giving out electricity, we are also powering the world. We are part of The Gambia and we are grateful for the opportunity to work with Gambians, to work in this country and also grateful to the government for giving us the enabling environment, so not forgetting our partner Nawec.”

Adama Cham a former assembly member who benefitted from the gesture said it was timely.

“It is very timely. The coming of Karpowership into the country has changed lives. We have seen how improved the electricity situation is. So definitely we are very much appreciative of this,” Cham said.

By Lamin Njie

JCB Mendy on Wednesday deleted pictures from the phone of a Gambian Talent Promotion reporter who was reporting on International Workers’ Day.

The Gambia International Airlines chief security officer was at the Independence Stadium in Bakau on Wednesday as GIA staff joined staff of other government and non-government departments for the May Day Sports.

Haddy Sowe and another cub reporter Salimatou Bangura were taking pictures of the various departments taking part in the sport activities when their phone got seized by Mendy.

“We were assigned to take the photos of the different organisations present there. I was going with a colleague of mine. We were using a mobile phone. When we reached at the GIA I was taking photos and they just started shouting, ‘stop taking photos, why are you taking photos without taking permission from us?’ Haddy Sowe told The Fatu Network Wednesday.

Haddy added: “I told them that, ‘we are the press, we are from Gambian Talent.’ They said, ‘what proof do you have? Do you have press cards to show that you are from the press?’ A lady was there saying, ‘no you shouldn’t take pictures because we don’t know if you are press or not.’ JCB said we can go but the other lady said it was not okay because we could publish them, if we haven’t in fact published them.

“I asked my colleague to go and call our overall boss that we went with. While she was gone, the noise was too much. I didn’t even know how he (JCB Mendy) came to have the phone and deleted the photos of GIA – all the photos I took of GIA and returned the phone back.”

The Fatu Network contacted JCB Mendy and he admitted seizing the phone and deleting the pictures.

He said: “Before snapping somebody, can’t you alert the individual? Which they didn’t do (sic). I just wanted to stop the commotion because when I got to their phone, where we were celebrating my birthday which is today, on the whole they took my picture unaware (sic).

“So when they came back the second time, when they were taking our pictures my guys retaliated. In fact they didn’t even come with their identity (sic). The commotion started rosing (sic) and I tell them now let me get your phone… So I had to delete all those pictures and I leave them to go (sic).”