By Mammy Saidykhan

Shop owners at Serrekunda Market on Wednesday called on the Kanifing Municipal Council to perfect efforts aimed at arresting the recent rise in burglary incidents at the market.

Serrekunda Market, one of the largest business centres in The Gambia, is hit by a new rise in burglary cases. Shop-owners blame the situation on lack of proper security.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Fatu Network, Buba Drammeh a vendor at the serrekunda market said thieves had broken into his shop and took some items.

“I was sleeping when I received a call and I was told that some thieves broken in my shop and they took some items, a friend told me that he recongised my bag in which my laptops were in,” Buba said.

“I went to police and it was confirmed that they were my laptop, we have a technician, who was given two phones to repair, an iPhone5S and an iPhone6S, he said he didn’t see those phones.”

According to Drammeh, incidents of burglary is on the rise at the market, a situation that has been made known to the authorities.

He said: “This is too much, we had two break-ins last year in the same market. We made our reports and the police said they will do their investigations. In November, they (thieves) attempted to break three shops but they succeeded in breaking one. In December again, they stole 56 mobile phones and 20 laptops at different shops.”

Abdoulie Nget, another shop-owner, said: “We were told that our shop was broken by thieves but when I came, I realised that they attempted to break in but couldn’t succeed.”

Demba Njie, on his part, said: “The problem is worsening by the day. [In] the past two years, every two [or] three months [there] will be a break-in case, sometimes two to three shops.”

The Gambia Revenue Authority has recognised and awarded top GSM company Africell as the biggest and best tax compliant business in the country for the year 2017.

This prestigious award was conferred on Africell at a ceremony presided over by vice president Ousainu Darbo at the Paradise Suites hotel. It was the 3rd edition staged by GRA to recognise companies who respected their tax obligations to standard. Africell’s award is recognition of the company’s judicious payment and general commitment for tax compliance for the year under review.

Ebrima Barry, head of human resources at Africell, who happily received the award on behalf of the company from the vice president, said the recognition symbolises the general commitment of Africell as the biggest taxpayer in the country promising that the company will not shy away from fulfilling its social corporate responsibilities and at the same time respect its tax obligations.

He said the most difficult thing for a business is to pay correct taxes. “So if we are recognised as the highest taxpayer we cannot ask for more”, Barry said.

Mr Hussein Diab, director of operations at Africell said the award solidifies without doubt Africell’s contribution to the economy of The Gambia as the largest operator with over 1.6 million subscribers.

He further revealed that the company will further endeavour to introduce more exciting and rewarding experiences in boosting the country’s economy.

The Commissioner General of GRA Yankuba Darboe commended Africell and encouraged other organisations to emulate their footsteps in fulfilling tax obligations towards the resuscitation of the Gambian economy.

Africell launched its operation in The Gambia in 2001 with a mission of making telecommunication accessible to every Gambian at the most affordable rates and has since then positioned itself as the largest operator and have been selected as the service provider of the year for the last six years. (Standard newspaper)

By Jaka Ceesay Jaiteh

The chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission Cherno Jallow on Wednesday said that Gambians generally have lost faith in their government.

Mr Jallow speaking at a press conference in Kotu in relation to the commission’s just ended country-wide consultation programme said the process afforded many Gambians with the ‘rare opportunity’ to vent their frustration at how government is administered.

“The sum of the most pertinent issues raised by the Gambian community at large relates to concerns about the governance of the country,” Jallow told journalists.

“It is an understatement to say that Gambians generally have lost faith in government – and that is any government.”

The Constitutional Review Commission chairman also said Gambians do not trust the educated class “that they seem to view as untrustworthy, greedy, unreliable and without conscience.”

He said: “One even indicated that he does not trust his own educated sons because of how he has seen them amass their wealth. Some amongst them have even called for farmers to lead this country.”

Meanwhile the chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission has said his commission recognizes the importance of managing public expectations.

“The new constitution cannot embrace everything. However, the people we have consulted with have spoken and we have listened,” Cherno Jallow added.

The former Minister of Justice of The Gambia Fafa Mba’I met the editor of Foroyaa over a news article published by the respectable daily.

Former agriculture minister Omar Jallow claimed Monday Fafa Mba’I was among a group of people mostly soldiers who threatened to execute him in 1994.

And According to Foroyaa, Mr Fafa Mba’I approached the editor of the paper to claim that what Foroyaa published was not said by Mr Omar Jallow.

“The editor spoke to the reporter who submitted the recording. This is a verbatim report of what was recorded: ‘On the 9, in the morning, we heard a truck and a lot of noise and all former ministers were brought out of their cells. We lined up at the door and we saw Sanna Sablly, Sadibou Hydara and Fafa Mba’I who was the then Minister of Justice coming with a lot of soldiers and then when he arrived, he said he has information that all of you should have been executed, you are corrupt and you have done so much bad deeds to Gambians but the Council, they are humane and it is going to set an example on one person, that is Omar Jallow. He is going to be executed on Friday by a firing squad and then he said all the other ministers should be released and they started calling the names of the ministers and they called and they all left,’” the paper wrote in its Question of the Day.

Halifa Sallah has said that Omar Jallow gave a distorted account of where he (Sallah) was detained when they were arrested as members of a coalition of political parties in 2005.

The national assembly member for Serekunda was among a group of NADD leaders who were arrested after they were accused of engaging in subversive activities. Others arrested were Omar Jallow and Hamat Bah.

Omar Jallow testifying before the TRRC on Monday said he was arrested and taken to Mile Two in 2005 where he met Hamat Bah and Halifa Sallah.

Reacting to OJ’s claims, Sallah said OJ’s account of his detention in 2005 was wrong.

Sallah, who is also the leader of PDOIS, said in a letter written to OJ: “I am still wondering what you were trying to prove by giving a distorted account of where I was detained in 2005 when we were arrested as members of the NADD leadership and arraigned before Justice Paul charged, with Sedition.

“For your information, the use of the carrot and stick tactics by security agents is a byproduct of psychological warfare which regimes use to tame their critics and ensure forced confession. Torture is meted to break the spirit of the victim. Those who wish to win the psychological warfare must display resilience so that the agents would be convinced that they are not susceptible to torture to give false confession.

“When I was arrested on Friday I was not taken to any police station. I was taken to the NIA Headquarters after they announced that I had absconded which led me to call  Alhaji Seringe Faye to tell him that the broadcast was false before leaving with NIA Officers. This is what led my wife to write a letter to Jammeh to confirm that she witnessed my arrest and any claim of absconding was a fabrication.

“The letter I wrote to Jammeh which led to the arrest would be published again as part of my open letter to the TRRC.

“I do not know when you and Mr. Hamat Bah were arrested and where you were taken before you reached Mile Two Central Prisons.

“What is certain is that I stayed in a cell at the NIA where I defied sleep for two nights and was removed on the third day when they knew that they would never succeed in getting me to lie or sit on a floor powdered with ashes. Instead of being struck by despair I nursed my curiosity in doing more findings on what goes on in that building. I guess they did not want me to know more. Hence I was taken to the maximum security wing, at Mile Two where I was detained in the cell block where Ex-Mayor AbdouLie Conteh and Ex-Interior Minister Samba Bah were also detained. When Abdoulie Conteh was arrested from the airport and taken to Mile Two he passed my cell which was the next to Lamin Darboe’s Cell – an executed death row prisoner.

“I know you have always taken me for a political rival but truth and reconciliation is about putting the past behind us after the truth is said.

“History cannot be rewritten. It is incontrovertible that the Government you served did not even have a war Cabinet and the Commander-in-Chief abandoned his troops at the most critical moment, thus depriving them of any command and control structure, resulting in the paralysis of the whole security apparatus leaving those who were more prepared to take over the mantle of leadership to do so.

“After this development the only glorious task worth taking pride in is the rolling back of the change which took place through the bullet in 1994 by effecting change through the ballot box in 2016 which makes the TRRC possible to be constituted.

“I hope you will put the record straight. I do not think that you have any doubt that I carried out my duty without fear or favour, affection or ill will, as coordinator of NADD, as dictated by the times and circumstances. I would be prepared to engage you in any forum if you wish to defend that your narration on my place of detention was correct.

“While hoping that taking oath would be a reminder to everyone who appears to testify that one must speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

The Gambia Refugee Association Europe Branch on Wednesday called on the Gambia government to intervene in the ongoing efforts by European countries to deport thousands of Gambians.

At least 15 undocumented Gambian migrants were on Tuesday deported from Germany, a move that has caused panic within the Gambian refugee community in Europe.

The Gambia Refugee Association Europe Branch in a statement signed by the chairman Buba Barrow said it is “soliciting efforts towards finding a peaceful and positive solution to our problems.”

The statement read: “We are very much concerned about the ongoing trend of deportation that Germany is taking currently against Gambian refugees and migrants. Last Month, the Interior minister for Baden-Württemberg Region Thomas Strobl was quoted as saying in the news media publication on 28 November 2018, that there are 2,500 Gambian refugees whose asylum cases have been rejected and are already identified to be deported.

“He said from last month onwards, 15 Gambians will be deported every month until the total number of 2, 500 identified refugees is completed. Again, he was quoted as saying, besides the said number, there are 5,400 remaining Gambian asylum seekers who are either waiting for an answer from their interviews or have not yet done any interview. There are 14,000 registered Gambia asylum seekers in Baden-Württemberg Region and the remaining are either waiting for an interview or have already got their documents.

“As we speak, many Gambians were deported in December 2018 and there are plans to deport many more Gambians at the end of this month too. This is indeed a great cause for concern for us. Initially, on 3rd January 2019, we took a first step by writing officially to our country’s leader HE President Adama Barrow; the Vice President HE Ousainou Darboe; Cabinet Ministers such as Interior minister Hon. Ebrima Mballow; Justice Minister Abubakarr Baa Tambedou; Youth and Sports Minister Hon. Hadrammeh Sidibeh; Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Momodou Tangara; the Speaker of the National Assembly Hon. Mariam Jack-Denton; the Deputy Speaker Hon. Momodou LK Sanneh; the Majority Leader Hon. Kebba K. Barrow; the Minority Leader Hon. Samba Jallow and all the other National Assembly Members each (Total 58 NAMs); and each of the Political Party leaders (UDP, GDC, GMC, APRC, PDOIS, NRP, PPP and NCP), to inform them of our situation and the earlier mentioned information about the ongoing deportation trend. We have equally sought their quick intervention to resolve the matter but have not yet received any CONCRETE answer.

“However, we would also like to clearly state that we have received a notice via email from Hon. Sanna Jawara, UDP National Assembly Member for Upper Fulladu West; Lawyer Almamy Taal, Spokesperson of UDP, Hon. Halifa Sallah, National Assembly Member for Serrekunda Constituency, and Hon. Hadrammeh Sidibeh, Minister of Youth and Sports, acknowledging receipt of our letters addressed to them. Furthermore, Hon. Hadrammeh Sidibeh, the Youth minister has written a letter to us signed by his Permanent Secretary, stating his concern over the issue and has promised to forward the matter to the concerned authorities in the Gambia government for further action.

“Hon. Halifa Sallah, NAM for Serrekunda has also written to us, promising that the National Assembly Select Committee will discuss the matter in the third week of January and shall get back to us upon completion of their first step. Therefore, we are appealing to Civil Society Groups, Human Rights Organisations, Opinion leaders, Politicians, Activists, Mayors of Banjul and Kanifing, Local Government authorities such as the Governors, Area Council Chairpersons across the country, District Chiefs, Councillors, Alkalolu, Gambian women, the youths, parents and any other concerned individual(s) to kindly convince our Gambia Government (President Barrow and his Cabinet and the National Assembly) to engage the European Union and authorities especially Germany and Italy regarding our plight and welfare in an effort to minimize the deportation trend.

“Despite the international guidelines set aside on the issue of deportation, we thought it imperative for our government to engage the Europeans to re-prioritize deportation. As committed, hard working and dedicated Gambian youths, we want to be given the chance to work and get good integration in Europe and as well learn new skills for the next five years. This will enable us to work and contribute effectively towards the socio-economic development of the country we live in and of our very own nation, The Gambia whenever we return back home in some years to come. Many of us want to learn various skills and professions that will enable us explore our potentials in our motherland. We have a vision and our focus is on capacity building and how to effectively contribute towards our country’s development. However, we cannot take care of our families and cannot make any useful contribution in our homeland if we are deported without getting any proper integration or learning new skills that can benefit us in Gambia. Gambia government should also understand that the remittances from the Diaspora are estimated to represent about 20% of the Gambia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and we (refugees and migrants) form an integral part of this sector.

“Therefore, getting additional number of youths sent back without any skills or knowledge to help them contribute their quota to the country’s development could bring some complications for our government. We again reiterate our appeal to all concerned Gambians to convince our government to engage the EU on the deportation issue. We have seen success stories from countries like Ghana when their president Nana Akufo-Addo recently engaged Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Matteo Salvini to stop the deportation of Ghanaians and Italy had no choice than to let their migrants stay until further notice. We hope that The Gambia will follow suit.”

By Lamin Njie

At least 15 undocumented Gambian migrants were on Tuesday deported from Germany.

The deportees arrived at the Banjul International Airport Tuesday evening, government spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh told The Fatu Network on Tuesday.

The deportees, all male, were brought back in a chartered Germania aircraft with Registration Number ST1090.

Germany is hit by a migrant crisis with hundreds of thousands of people among them Gambians seeking asylum in that country.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier back in 2017 confirmed that there are over 35, 000 Gambians migrants in Germany out of whom 1, 500 are undocumented and awaiting deportation.

“There are over 35,000 Gambian migrants in Germany, out of whom 1,500 are undocumented and awaiting deportation,’’ Steinmeier had said at a joint press conference with President Adama Barrow in Banjul.

Steinmeier had also said the two countries will bring technical experts to work on the problem, including providing skill training to Gambians.

“Europeans do not have answers to Africa’s problems, the problems need African solutions,’’ he had said.

Meanwhile government spokesperson Ebrima Sankareh has told The Fatu Network the flight was also carrying about 45 Nigerians.

“While the 45 Nigerians proceeded to their home country, the 15 Gambians were received by immigration officials and successfully processed. Some were received by their family members while those whose family members couldn’t make it to the airport were escorted by immigration officials to their homes. Escorts from the International Office for Migration (IoM) gave each deportee 60 Euros for Taxi fares. The IOM has also earmarked a reintegration package for the detainees,” Sankareh added.

By State House Media

His Excellency, President Adama Barrow said his government is committed to creating the right environment for the promotion and development of The Gambian music industry.

President Barrow made the remarks on Tuesday during a closed-door audience with ST Brikama Boyo, one of the leading Gambian artists, at the State House.

Stressing that his government would promulgate the right policies to protect the sector and provide the right environment for local artists to excel, the president advised the multiple award winning artist to remain steadfast and focus on his career. “You need to remain focused, responsible and committed to always breaking new grounds in your music. With the right environment, you can take your music to high levels and make it a successful enterprise for yourself and the country,” he advised.

The President congratulated the Brikama-based artist on the successful launch of his album in late 2018, which was described by many observers as the single biggest gathering by a Gambian artist.

Describing the outcome of the meeting as ‘’very positive’’, ST, whose birth name is Sanna Singhateh, told the State House Press Corps that he was at the presidency to bring the attention of the President to some of the challenges Gambian artists grapple with in their profession. While stating that the President was receptive to the issues raised, ST said he was left convinced that the president was willing to take a step further to support Gambian artists.

The rapper concluded that Gambian artists need protection: “We have seen a lot of artists who will rise up but end up with nothing. So I think it is high time we put Gambian artists in the spotlight and devise ways to develop their industry”.

The interim leader of APRC Fabakary Tombong Jatta has accused President Adama Barrow of playing propaganda with regard to projects started and mostly paid for by the APRC government.

President Barrow last week inaugurated the Senegambia Bridge at a historic event in Farafenni, a leap that has drawn him admiration.

Jatta reacting to the inauguration of the structure in an interview with West Coast Radio said the bridge, like many others were conceived, signed, awarded and paid for by former president Yahya Jammeh’s administration.

Jatta said: “Remember as I said government couldn’t even thank former president Yahya Jammeh and the APRC for the trans-Gambia bridge because it started in 2014.The Laminkoto Passamas road was funded by five loan agreements we ratified. The contractors were identified by the APRC works started with the APRC when all the funds were available.

“We would agree that it may complete during their time or during their time work still ongoing but they cannot take the credit. That is what happened with the ferry, Sukuta Jambajelly road. These were road that we funded.”

The Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission on Tuesday gave no reason as to why it did not sit.

The TRRC, an investigation in the human rights violations and abuses of the 22 years rule of former President Yahya Jammeh, was supposed to sit on Tuesday in a truth-seeking process that is getting more and more intriguing. The commission may now not sit until February.

“There will be no TRRC sittings for today Tuesday, January 29 and tomorrow, Wednesday, January 30. We are still not sure there will be any sitting on Thursday, January 31 either for reasons beyond our control. January 31 marks the end of the Commission’s first session on the July 22nd, 1994 coup,” a statement posted on Facebook by Mustapha Kah at commissioner at the TRRC said on Tuesday.

It added: “The second session of hearings focused on the November 11, 1994 incident will begin on Monday, February 11 and end on Thursday, February 28. The interim period between February 1 and February 10 will be devoted to committee meetings, outreach activities, and other important work that cannot be done when the Commission is sitting.

“At this time, all persons who were victims of human rights violations associated with the November 11 incident are encouraged to please come to the TRRC headquarters at Dunes Resort or call any of the following numbers to give their statements: 9348929 / 2949170 / 2590391 / 5086200. Victims and witnesses traveling from the regions to give statements or testify will receive modest reimbursements.

“Relatives of all who lost their lives or disappeared as a result of the November 11 incident are kindly encouraged to come forward and help us get to the truth of what happened when hearings resume on February 11, 2019. A more detailed media advisory will be issued within the next day or two.”

A former brigadier general in the Gambia Armed Forces has commended President Adama Barrow for his commitment to take The Gambia to the next level.

MA Bah, a former interior minster and heavy weight of the APRC who defected to the United Democratic Party, has declared his support to President Adama Barrow’s National Development Plan, the NDP, The Standard newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“I am sincerely committed without any reservation to fully support the NDP, a plan already in full motion and yielding positive results in the country,” he said.

Bah said President Barrow is committed to rapidly transform The Gambia into a model state, admirable and hospitable to all Gambians and non Gambians.

“I believe my career as a statesman and a senior military officer can best serve our Commander-in-Chief by supporting his agenda during this period of transitional governance,” he said.

General MA Bah further commended the president for his demonstrated will to unify and reconcile the people of The Gambia.

“And I intend to be part of the solution towards bringing peace and stability in the country especially after hearing him appeal to all of us to join his dynamic crusade to build the new Gambia,” he concluded.

One of The Gambia’s most reverred religious scholars on Saturday landed safely at the Banjul International Airport, assuring Gambians that by Allah’s will,  the West African nation will never be led by Yahya Jammeh’s type.

Imam Momodou Ceesay had immediately prostrated, praised and thanked Allah after stepping his foot on the soil of a Gambia freed from Jammeh’s dictatorship clutches. “I prostrate, praised and thanked Allah for freeing Gambians,” Imam Ceesay told a large gathering of welcomers at the airport.

The Chief Imam of Detroit’s Muslim Center was very instrumental in awakening the consciousness of Gambians about the need to surrender to Allah, stand their ground and uproot the Jammeh dictatorship. His special sermons and programs on Kairo Radio likening Jammeh to Pharoah of Egypt helped Gambians to dissect and understand the nature and effect of a government that had fed on the blood of its innocent citizens.

“Everyone knows this country had been gripped by decades of brutality. Gambians had a leader who squandered their resources, tortured, exiled and killed citizens at will. As a result, majority of the youths fled the country and endangered their lives at sea. Imagine the countless pain, troubles and unpleasant issues pregnant women go through only for their children to be crushed to death by a government whose leader swore to protect them. Yahya Jammeh was destroying the fingers that fed and provided him fancy lifestyle. He flew with expensive planes as well as bought costly house in America,” Imam Ceesay said, justifying the reasons for unloading attacks on Mr. Jammeh.

“Jammeh was not grateful to Gambians who gave him everything. He treated everyone, including the majority Mandinka people like trash and even had the audacity to threaten them with death. As a religious leader in America I teach, counsel and guide people to lead a better and fulfiling spiritual life. I thought it would be immoral to ignore the government’s orchestrated madness. I live in America where not a single soul is eliminated without qualms. I want Gambians to enjoy the right to live in dignity and I pray to Allah to shower his blessings, peace and unity in The Gambia. By Allah’s willingness, our country will never produce the like of Yahya Jammeh, the man greedy who rebelled against his Creator,” Imam Ceesay said offering prayers to a large community of the welcomers who included Gambians from all walk of life.

Imam Ceesay shook hands with people eager to see him before being escorted to his Kotu residence. Most of the people at the airport fall in love with Imam Ceesay’s teachings.

Among the people who received Imam Ceesay were praise singing men and women who advised Gambians to honour a man who used his “knowledge to turn darkness into light. Gambians owe a lot to Imam Ceesay who has fought for them using Kairo Radio. I remember conducting programs with Musa Saidykhan, Fabou Sanneh and others on Kairo Radio. Imam Ceesay fearlessly used his knowledge to keep our spirits high that change was imminent,” said Pa Suso aka Jali Seattle.

Imam Ceesay’s welcome program was organised by One Gambia Organisation.

Source: Kairo News

By Lamin Njie

Around 150 staff at the Gambia Ferries Service risk losing their jobs if the government proceeds with a plan to hand control of the Senegambia Bridge to the National Roads Authority, sources have told The Fatu Network.

The Gambia Ferries Service and the National Roads Authority are fighting over who should manage revenue at the newly inaugurated Senegambia Bridge.

The Ministry of Works has fashioned out an ‘interim’ arrangement between the two agencies, a senior official at the ministry told The Fatu Network on Tuesday.

“We set up a committee that came up with that interim arrangement and officials of both the ferries and NRA were part of that committee. As far as we are concerned, the operation is going smoothly,” Essa Drammeh, the director of Planning at the Ministry of Works, said.

Meanwhile, the deputy managing director at Gambia Ferries Haly Gai downplaying the row told The Fatu Network on Tuesday “it just an interim arrangement, if you go to the site you have NRA staff, you have ferries staff working in an environment that is very friendly.”

Gai, however, added: “If that [retrenchment] is a concern, is that not a concern to you as a Gambian. Do you know the social ramification of retrenchment? Do you one person, how many families are behind him? If you can avoid it, why not avoid it? 150 staff, if their lives are on the line every Gambian should be concerned but that’s not the point. The point is the government is already aware…

“It’s the country. This is about The Gambia. The government of The Gambia. You have all the relevant ministers [Ministers of Works and Finance] involved in this decision. So, what is important is not an institution, what is important is The Gambia.”

By Lamin Njie

The Gambia Ferries Service and National Roads Authority are rowing over which among the two government agencies should be responsible for ticketing at the Senegambia Bridge, The Fatu Network has learnt.

Investigations by The Fatu Network last week showed replication of functions by two different government agencies, the Gambia Ferries Service, a subsidiary of the Gambia Ports Authority, and the National Roads Authority.

An official who works at the Senegambia Bridge told The Fatu Network the two agencies have been fighting over control of the bridge spanning months. Both agencies are under the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure.

No Row

Meanwhile the director of planning at the Ministry of Works Essa Drammeh has told The Fatu Network there is no row between the two agencies.

“As far as we are concerned at the Ministry here, we are not aware of any pushing and pulling. We set up a committee that came up with that interim arrangement and officials of both the ferries and NRA were part of that committee. As far as we are concerned, the operation is going smoothly.,” Drammeh said.

Drammeh who said he was with the permanent secretary at the ministry at the time of speaking to The Fatu Network dismissed reports that the ministry was being manipulated to have NRA take ultimate charge of the bridge.

“That’s a wrong information. No World Bank or ABD official is influencing [us],” he said.

According to Drammeh, having both the Gambia Ferries Services and National Roads Authority to be handling revenue affairs at the bridge was only an interim arrangement.

“The permanent arrangement, we are working on that. When that time comes, we will let you know about it. As you are aware it’s just an interim arrangement,” he said.

By Mammy Saidykhan

A former leader of the People’s Progessive Party Omar Jallow on Monday said he will never allow anybody to destroy the legacy of PPP.

Mr Jallow made this statement at a press conference held at PPP’s political bureau in Latrikunda German. It comes as the party continues to be bedabbled by crisis which is as a result of a congress held last month.

According to OJ, the congress was the ‘best organised congress, transparent, open and credible congress in the country.’

OJ went on to say it’s unfortunate that few days ago, “we saw on TV a group of people who made serious accusations against the process that was carried out in the recently held PPP congress.”

“It was shameful that I observed that people have dignity and respect not only for themselves but for the party and the decision of majority of Gambians at that congress, to come and give malicious information to the public,” he said.

“We took [it] upon ourselves after consolidations with the leadership to come and respond to those malicious accusations to prove to the world that it was all lies. Unfortunately, I saw on TV Bakary Bunja Darboe claiming that there were so many irregularities at the congress. When were we not consulted, if they want transparency and accountability…”

Speaking further, OJ said he has ‘high’ respect for Mr Darboe “but the truth has to be said.”

“If Bakary can come to [The] Gambia and meet us [at an] advance[d] [stage] in the organization of the congress, he requested to be part of the congress, for him to question the credibility of the congress, shows that Bakary Darboe is not credible,” he said.

OJ also said Mr Darboe and his supporters owe an apology to Gambians and PPP.

“They should come and apologize to The Gambia as a nation and the PPP as a party that made them to be known,” he said

Meanwhile the leader of PPP, Papa Njie, speaking in respect of the crisis has said that what happened in the past should be used “to build the present and the future.”

“Papa Njie represent the future, the young women and men,” Njie said.

A renowned educationist Batch Samba Jallow on Monday told the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission that he was part of 72 people who were detained at the Fajara Barracks in 1995.

Mr. Jallow said he and 71 other people were kept in detention in a garage at the Fajara Barracks where they encountered all sorts of torture and maltreatment from the officials of the National Intelligent Agency, now named the State Intelligence Service.

He described the place as terrible and that they (detainees) felt sad and pained that their rights were violated by the then regime of Yahya Jammeh.

“In the detention [centre] there was no window, no ventilation. We were there for 14 months. We had no bed,” Jallow, based in the United States, told the commission in tears.

Mr Jallow, who fled into exile to the United States of America shortly after his release from jail, recalled that one day vultures invaded their detention place bent on eating them.

“We didn’t take shower for 32 days and eighteen people to a basin and one gallon of water for a day, adding that the place stinks very terribly at the time. One day vultures came to eat us and soldiers fired gun to protect us,” he said.

He further gave an account of his arrest on Oct. 12, 1995 that he was arrested by a group of four officers from the defunct National Intelligent Agency around 7pm and put into a white Volvo wagon minivan.

“I was arrested at Bakoteh estate by a group of NIA soldiers in my house. They broke my compound gate and broke my house door and found me on the bed with my wife. They dragged me naked on the floor to the back door,” he told the commission in tears.

According to him, it was Daba Marena, Baba Saho, Musa Kinteh and Foday Barry, who arrested him while he was in bed with his wife and that they tortured him mercilessly.

By Lamin Njie

Former agriculture minister Omar Jallow has said that it was former vice president Isatou Njie Saidy who was around when at least a dozen people mostly students were killed some 18 years ago.

Police in The Gambia in April 2000 opened fire on a student demonstration killing 14 people.

And Omar Jallow testifying before the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission – an investigation into former President Yahya Jammeh’s sins – said “if we want to go after Yahya Jammeh, Yahya Jammeh alone did not do anything.”

“Excuse me, let me give one example. When Yahya Jammeh’s government killed 14 chidren in one morning, Yahya Jammeh was not here. He was abroad. The Vice President who was here why is it that we haven’t asked her till today and who gave the instructions to shoot the children,” Mr Jallow said.

According to OJ, none of the ministers at the time had also resigned in protest of the sick act.

“The Minister of Justice Secka, when he investigated and found out who killed the children, when he said he wanted to take them to court Yahya Jammeh sacked him, took that to the national assembly which passed a legislation that barred anyone from taking these people to court. And those national assembly members, who resigned? They were all in it,” OJ said.

By Lamin Njie

Omar Jallow has said that a senior Gambian army officer broke his eye while torturing him.

The former agriculture minister told the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission on Monday that Lieutenant Colonel Bubacarr Bah was part of a group of State Guard soldiers who arrested and tortured him in the wake of the 1994 coup.

“They were led by Musa Jammeh. They call him Malian Mungo. And then we saw Almamo Manneh and so many others. But other people joined them like Bubacarr Bah whom I saw on television… I think he’s now promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He was then with the training school. He’s from Buniadou. He was the one who deliberately beat me on my eye and broke my eye,” Mr Jallow told the TRRC.

According to him, the senior army officer would ‘every’ morning come to his cell and told him they (soldiers) are waiting for instructions to kill him and his fellow detainees.

Mr Jallow said: “He comes every morning… Almamo Manneh and Bubacarr Bah come every morning to remind us that, ‘we are waiting for Oga’s command and we’ll kill all of you, cut you into pieces and throw you to the dogs’. And for the first one month. We were sleeping on the ground, on the sand. And they refused for us to take a bath, to wash our face or to change our clothes.”

Pope Francis said Monday celibacy for priests was a “gift to the Church” and not “optional”, nixing the prospect of married men being ordained.

“Personally I think that celibacy is a gift to the Church,” the pope told journalists aboard his plane returning to the Vatican from Panama.

“Secondly, I don’t think optional celibacy should be allowed. No,” he said.

The pope nevertheless conceded “some possibilities for far flung places”, such as Pacific islands or the Amazon where “there is a pastoral necessity”.

“This is something being discussed by theologians, it’s not my decision,” he said.

The Argentine pontiff has repeatedly said there is no doctrinal prohibition on married men becoming priests, and therefore the discipline could be changed.

Saint Peter, the church’s first pope, had a mother-in-law, according to the bible.

Celibacy was imposed in the 11th century, possibly partly to prevent descendants of priests inheriting church property.

Some within the church believe it is time to join many eastern rite Catholic Churches in permitting married men to take the cloth.

Married Anglican priests keen to convert to Catholicism have already been welcomed over.

The Vatican’s number two, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, suggested in an interview last year that the church could “gradually look in depth” at the issue, while ruling out any “drastic change”.

Some 60,000 priests have given up their vocation over the past few decades, often to marry.

Pope Paul VI’s refusal to open the door to the use of the pill in the Swinging Sixties saw many priests abandon their calling.

Pope Francis suggested in 2017 that the church “reflect” on the question of ordaining “viri probati”, married men of proven virtue, particularly in far-flung places where priests are thin on the ground.

The idea is likely to be on the table at a synod this year dedicated to the Amazon, an immense territory where clergy are scarce.

Sensing a possible shift in attitude, some 300 married, former priests in Italy sent a letter to Francis last year offering to take up the cloth once more should he need them.