By State House Media

The government of The Gambia has been favorably rated in almost all aspects of political and economic governance in studies supported by fourteen renowned global political and financial institutions, including the IMF, World Bank, and Freedom House.

The scorecard shows that The Gambia, under the leadership of President Adama Barrow, is deemed to be strongly adhering to the principles of good governance, promotion of democratic rights and economic freedom, and investing in the social welfare and wellbeing of the Gambia people.

The Gambia was rated 65% and above in more than half of the twenty indicators used.

The scorecard, which covers the 2019 fiscal year, revealed that the Barrow government made significant gains in controlling corruption, respecting and guaranteeing democratic rights, and investing in the health and wellbeing of citizens, particularly children.

The most significant score was registered in the areas of Health Expenditures, Government Effectiveness, Rule of Law, and Regulatory efficiency, marking 91%, 78%, 78%, and 80%, respectively.  The Barrow government is ensuring that it is ruling justly to put the country on the right footing in protecting political rights, control of corruption, standing firm for effective governance and respect for the rule of law.

The Government continues to strive to provide for the needs and aspirations of a population of over two million (2,101,000) with a gross national index per capita of $450.  The scorecard shows that the government performed strongly in the area of economic freedom by controlling inflation, providing a quality regulatory environment, mainstreaming gender in the economy and preserving land rights.  The country investing in its people has also been rated high, 91% and 63% for its health and primary school education expenditures, respectively.  The rate of immunization coverage has been pegged at 76%, child health at 69%, and girls’ primary school education completion at 51%.

The gender outlook regarding completion of girls’ education is positive.  This could be further associated with expenditure in primary school education and the advocacy by government and civil society to protect and promote the rights of girl-children.

The advocacy against harmful traditional practices, such as early marriage, female genital mutilation, and sexual abuse, backed by strong government support, is key to providing protective environment for girls in particular; thus creating the environment for girls to complete their primary education.

However, on the economic front, the country would endeavor to improve its fiscal and trade policies as well as provide opportunities for access to credit and business start-ups.  This could be related to the number young people who find it difficult to have collateral to access loan and initiate their own business. The number of returnees from illegal migration and limited number of young Gambians in unskilled areas has impact on access to credit and business start-ups.

This rating on the Gambia was revealed in a multi-sectoral scorecard by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Economic Organisation, Brookings Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), International Fund for Agricultural Development-(IFAD) / IFC, Freedom House/ CLD, WHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, and CIESIN/YCELP.

Statement of the Spokeswoman, Office of the Presidency

The Office of President highly welcomes the progressive facts displayed by the scorecard. It is a big vote of confidence in the Barrow government by world renowned independent financial and political institutions. Most importantly, it highlights the seriousness of the Barrow government to meaningfully transform the lives and livelihood of all Gambians. Although we are highly encouraged by the findings, we are equally humbled and fired up to never relent in delivering beyond the expectations of all and sundry in The Gambia.

Using the National Development Plan, the Barrow government would continue to implement progressive and effective economic and political policies that would bring real changes in the lives of ordinary Gambians.

Regarding the gap in access to information, the Office the President is quite optimistic that the new Information and Communication Act being drafted would address some of the challenges.  It is expected that with more civic education people would understand their rights and responsibilities in a democracy.

In the area of protecting our natural resources, the government has put in place legal mechanisms, among others, to protect our natural resources from corporate overreach. Nevertheless, efforts would be made to improve enforcement.

The Office of the President urges all Gambians to remain determined  and work positively towards achieving good governance and accountability, social cohesion and national reconciliation, and a transformed economy for the wellbeing of all Gambians as stated in the National Development Plan 2018—2021. In the same vein, we encouraged commercial banks to work with young people to support start-up businesses.

Minister of Justice Abubacarr Tambadou has said that the government has concluded its discussion on the Faraba Banta commission report.

“The discussions have gone very well, they were very engaging and cabinet has taken a unanimous position on the recommendations that the report made and those will be reflected in the white paper that is to be published together with the report very very soon,” Mr Tambadou told journalists at State House on Thursday.

Kombo east village Faraba was in June 2018 thrown into a state of pandemonium following violent clashes between protesters and the police.  At least three people died from the clashes.

And Mr Tambadou told reporters on Thursday that “today’s cabinet session was a special one, exclusively devoted to consideration of the Faraba Banta report and the draft white paper that I submitted to cabinet today.”

“We intend to share the report, as I said in the past that this government has every intention of publishing this report. We intend to do so together with the white paper that we are currently finalizing following cabinet discussions,” he said.

By Lamin Njie

Fans of Killa Ace on Thursday gathered around the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court to protest the arraignment of the rapper over alleged assault and breach of peace offences.

The fans who numbered around 50 stood outside the court where they denounced the police over their treatment of civilians. The fans chanted, ’no to police brutality.’

Police prosecutors on Thursday presented an amended indictment before Magistrate Sainey Joof of the Kanifing Magistrates Court. They accuse Killa Ace of assaulting a police officer and conducting himself in a way that could breach peace. The rapper who also is accused of willfully damaging a property pleaded not guilty as soon as the charges were read to him in court.

Killa Ace was arrested by police two weeks ago for assaulting a police officer. According to the police, the rapper also at Serekunda market conducted himself in a manner which could lead to breach of peace. The incident is said to have happened on October 28.

The case will return to court next week.

Swiss authorities have extended the detention of Ousman Sonko amid an investigation into accusations he committed crimes against humanity while serving in former president Yahya Jammeh’s government.

The former interior minister will remain in prison after a Swiss federal judge rejected his provisional release pleads, a Senego report on Thursday says.

The judge ruled that the decision to prolong Mr Sonko’s detention was in relation to new evidence that has emerged.

Swiss investigators are seeking to interview complainants in The Gambia and Germany, as well as Mr Sonko’s wife who lives in United States.

Ousman Sonko is accused of witnessing acts of torture and sexual abuse by police officers while he was Inspector General of Police and then Minister of the Interior in 2006 and 2016.

The former minister has been under detention in Switzerland since January 2017.

A writer has compiled a list of over 600 ‘endangered’ words in a bid to save them before they become extinct from the English language.

Many of the words have their origins in the eras of Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde, while other unflattering Victorian terms would be frowned upon in today’s society.

The extensive list of dying-out words features in Edward Allhusen’s new book Betrumped, which celebrates the evolving English language.

He fears that, unless a concerted effort is made to reintroduce them into daily conversation, some of these words could perish ‘within a generation’.

Mr Allhusen reveals how a hangover was once known as a bout of ‘crapulence’ while an irresistible craving for alcohol was referred to as ‘dipsomania’.

To ‘defenestrate’ was the act of throwing someone out of the window.

A ‘caterwaul’ was a burst of inconsiderate high-pitched screaming, to ‘condiddle’ was to steal and an ‘amanuensis’ was a literary assistant who took dictation.

An awkward youth experiencing a difficult transition from childhood to adulthood was a ‘hobbledehoy’.

Other words identified by Mr Allhusen which are more common but on their way out include a ‘juggins’ to describe a gullible person.

A large nose was a ‘conk’, to depart quickly was ‘to vamoose’ and someone who attached undeserved importance to a matter was ‘pettifogging’.

A grovelling servant was a ‘lickspittle’, a bossy woman was a ‘harridan’ and one prone to flirtation was a ‘fizgig’.

Acts of stupidity saw someone labelled a ‘ignoramus’ and ‘nincompoop’, and things which didn’t make sense were ‘higgledy-piggledy’.

Indecisive people were said to ‘shilly-shally’, while a loud exclamation of surprise was termed a ‘gadzook’.

A working class woman with promiscuous habits was commonly referred to as a ‘trollop’, while causing an uproar was creating a ‘rumpus’.

As well as listing endangered words, Mr Allhusen has also highlighted how the meaning of words has evolved over the past two and a half centuries.

He studied the seminal 1755 book by Samuel Johnson, ‘A Dictionary of the English Language’ to see which words have survived to this day and how their meanings have changed.

In that edition, he was intrigued to find the term ‘betrump’, which was defined as to deceive, to cheat or to evade by guile.

The meaning of other words have changed completely – now associated with cricket, the word ‘innings’ once meant land reclaimed from the sea.

In total, Mr Allhusen has studied over 3,000 words for his book which have their origins in over 100 different languages – charting how they came to be adopted into the English lexicon.

The former publisher, 70, from Devon, said his list is a ‘personal selection’ rather than an ‘academic approach’ and it is conceivable some of these words are still being used, albeit on a limited scale.

Betrumped, The Surprising History of 3,000 Long Lost, Exotic and Endangered Words, by Edward Allhusen, is published by Amberley and costs £14.99. (By DailyMail)

By Lamin Njie

Survivors and victims of an alleged military coup 24 years ago on Wednesday called on government to ensure the perpetrators of the brutal murder of over a dozen people are brought to justice.

On November 11, 1994, 14 people mostly army officers were allegedly executed after they were accused of trying to overthrow former President Yahya Jammeh. The alleged leader of the alleged putsch was army lieutenant Basirou Barrow.

“Today marks 24 years of hardship, sorrow, lost family [members]. Today is the day when Gambians were paraded and soldiers standing behind them, counting from three and started shooting them,” Abdoulie J Darboe a former lance corporal in the army told journalists at a press conference held at Victims Centre on Wednesday.

Darboe said November 11 is “the most serious crime committed in the history of The Gambia.

“We shall never forget and we shall never forgive,” he said.

“On November 11, we were arrested, detained and tortured. Some were killed wrongfully without a proper judicial system.”

According to Darboe, those who “committed the crime are still walking with guns in the streets, in uniform.”

He said: “Those who committed the crimes are still flying over our heads. I was arrested together with the late Lt Basirou Barrow, the late Lt Dot Faal, Bah, Lt Darboe, Seye and others who were brutally killed by the military junta.

“We had a minor dispute among ourselves and they changed that to a military coup and started killing people wrongly, arresting people in their homes. The day we were arrested, we were taken to Mile Two. It was in the night. After some minutes, we were collected from Mile Two to Fajara Barracks where we were paraded and they started killing us. I was asked to dig my own grave to be buried while I’m alive. Our voice needs to be heard. We’re urging this new government to help us.”

Meanwhile ex-spouse of the late Basirou Barrow, Sunkary Yabo, speaking at the press conference said “if it was yesterday, we would not have come out to speak.”

“We couldn’t speak. We were in pain and kept mum. We were afraid. We thank God that today we are speaking up,” she said.

Yabo said she was only 25 years old while her husband was 35. They had three kids at the time.

“I was powerless. I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t say anything. I have been in pain since the day he died. I have cried for 22 years the result of which is that I now have a problem with my sight,” she said.

Another survivor of the event Kairaba Camara is calling on army chief Masanneh Kinteh to do something about the matter.

“He is smart and he has a clue about this [matter]. If he says he doesn’t have a clue, I Kairaba will say ‘no’ to it,” Camara said.

By State House Media

President Adama Barrow on Wednesday received another set of new diplomatic envoys accredited to The Gambia in a busy week of diplomatic activity. The Ambassadors of the State of Israel and the Republic of South Africa met the Head of State to present their Letters of Credence at a colorful ceremony at the State House in Banjul. A red carpet was rolled out and a military Guard of Honor was mounted for inspection in honor of the dignitaries.    

Republic of South Africa

The Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa, His Excellency Lenin Magigwane Shope was the first to call on the President. After the presentation, a closed-door discussion followed where the two leaders talked on the state of bilateral relations between their countries exploring areas of cooperation for development.

“South Africa share a similar history of difficult times that it overcame and transitioned to democracy. The Gambia can learn from South Africa’s democracy and transitional justice examples, especially in the area of truth and reconciliation,” President Barrow told Ambassador Lenin Magigwane Shope in a closed-door engagement.

He further told the envoy that South Africa needs to demonstrate more commitment to African integration for the benefit of all her peoples. He expressed the readiness of his government to work with South Africa and others to make the continent a beacon of hope.

Ambassador Magigwane Shope on his part expressed the commitment of his government to work with The Gambia, especially in the areas of investment and agricultural modernization, agro-processing and exports.

The State of Israel

The President of the Republic, His Excellency Adama Barrow also received the Letter of Credence of the Israel Ambassador to The Gambia, His Excellency Roi Rosenbelt. During the indoor discussions, the Head of State told the Israeli envoy that The Gambia would continue to advocate for peace in the Middle East, using the opportunity to call on Israel and Palestine to come to the negotiation table and dialogue a way out of the long-standing conflict.

“It is only through dialogue that you can bring an end to conflicts of any given situation,” President Barrow said.

He recalled his meeting with President Netanyahu on the sidelines of the ECOWAS summit held in Liberia a few months ago. The two leaders discussed economic progress and agricultural value addition in support of his government’s national development plan.

Ambassador Roi Rosenblit on his part expressed the goodwill of his government in supporting The Gambia in attaining the goals outlined in the national development plan 2018-2021.

This week, several new ambassadors took turns to present their Letters of Credence to the Head of State marking the beginning of the diplomatic duties in The Gambia. These diplomatic activities by President Barrow are central to the foreign policy goal of re-opening The Gambia to the world.