An Egyptian actress who wore a revealing dress to the Cairo Film Festival is to go on trial on charges of “inciting debauchery”, reports say.

Rania Youssef appeared in a lacy, black, see-through outfit that exposed most of her legs, outraging many Egyptians, though some said she should be able to wear what she wanted.

She could be jailed for up to five years if found guilty, a judicial source told AFP.

Ms Youssef has apologised.

The 44-year-old said she would not have worn the dress if she had known it would cause such controversy.

The charges were brought by two lawyers Amro Abdelsalam and Samir Sabri, who are known for taking celebrities to court.

Ms Youssef’s appearance “did not meet societal values, traditions and morals and therefore undermined the reputation of the festival and the reputation of Egyptian women in particular”, Mr Sabri told AFP.

The Egyptian Actors’ Syndicate also criticised the “appearance of some of the guests”, which it said “undermined the festival and the union”.

In a social media post, the actress said she had “probably miscalculated” in choosing to wear the dress.

“It was the first time that I wore it and I did not realise it would spark so much anger,” she said.

“I reaffirm my commitment to the values upon which we were raised in Egyptian society,” she added.

Last year an Egyptian court jailed singer Shaimaa Ahmed for two years – later reduced to a year – for appearing in a music video in her underwear while suggestively eating a banana.

Meanwhile in January prosecutors detained another singer, Laila Amer, after her music video, showing her dancing and making suggestive gestures, sparked controversy.

BBC Africa

I salute you my brother,

I have never met you in person but I have followed your activities through social media and I respect your consistency in your adherence to the original reggae genre and your outspokenness in terms of social justice as well as your condemnation of deviant musical genres that seek to degenerate and demean our youths like the despicable  “passa passa” among other sordid trends of our confused times. For this and your bravery in speaking the truth I salute you General Dimbaa Jarju AKA DJ Fireman.

My purpose of addressing this missive to you is to congratulate you and all lovers of Reggae music on the decision of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to include reggae music in the  “list of international cultural treasures which the United Nations has deemed worthy of protecting and promoting.”

Bless up bro and fire born all destructive music genres and evil forces that seek to corrupt our youths!

On the advent of this momentous occasion for Reggae, I thought I should share with you some reflections I once penned down about the music of the one guy we might as well call the chief priest of Reggae, the legendary Robert Nesta Marley. Below is an excerpt from an essay I did, as published in the May 12, 2014 edition of the Standard Newspaper titled, “Natural mystic: The genius of Bob Marley”

Among the finalists was the legendary Bob Marley, but he had played all of his hit tracks and needed one more song to break the tie to win the royal prize to be presented by Her Majesty the Queen herself. When the gong sounded Bob scratched his head and there was no song popping out. He turned around looking at the “I Threes” but the look in their eyes was not promising. Then he looked at Carlton Barret; the master percussionist nodded and the halls of Buckingham Palace reverberated with the sound of his drums. The sound oozed out of every musical instrument in the band. Bob was mute for an unusually long moment and then the verses flowed:

There’s a natural mystic blowing through the air;

If you listen carefully now you will hear.

This could be the first trumpet, might as well be the last…

If you listen carefully to this song you will see that the instrumentals go on a little bit longer than usual before Bob’s voice comes in. The explanation is in the narration above. There was no song written for it but when Carlton Barret and the band hit the notes and Bob knowing he would lose the majestic prize if he didn’t sing, he got inspired and the lyrics flowed through…

I have been studying the genius that is Bob Marley for a long time trying to establish the secret source of his brilliance. And in this process of studying his music, he has very often given me inspiration when I needed it most. There is this song of his where he chants:

We got something they could never take away:

And it’s the fire (fire), it’s the fire (fire)

That’s burning down everything…

I have played this song hundreds of times just to get that single verse to inundate my mind. For me the fire in that verse represents inspiration and its indispensability to success in any field. And I get inspired further when Bob sings that our enemies can take everything from us but the fire burning within. This is why I have said that even if I am banished to the Kalahari Desert alone I will live a happy and successful life because of that immutable fire I have got burning in my soul.

And speaking of enemies (or should I say frenemies) Bob’s song “Who The Cap Fit” speaks for most people, knowing the amount of backstabbing and insidious scheming we have suffered from people who are supposed to be friends. I am sure you have had your fair share of this so let me reproduce some lyrics of this song and refrain from analysing it because nobody can say this better than the great Robert Nesta Marley himself:

“Man to man is so unjust, children:

Ya don’t know who to trust.

Your worst enemy could be your best friend,

And your best friend your worse enemy.

Some will eat and drink with you,

Then behind them su-su ‘pon you.

Only your friend know your secrets,

So only he could reveal it.

And who the cap fit, let them wear it!

Who the cap fit, let them wear it…”

Bob is right; when you think it’s peace and safety, a sudden destruction. He also hit the nail on the head when he sang, “if your night should turn to day, a lot of people will run away!” All because of the rat race that most of us are engulfed in.

Now turn a page to the greatest panacea for the kind of venom mentioned above that kills more people than guns. In his song One Love, Bob calls for unity and reconciliation, and the message is surely divine. This is the song he performed in a peace concert for the reconciliation of two political archrivals in Jamaica…

Still on the subject of love, my love and admiration of my dear mother Kaddy Jammeh has made Bob’s song “No Woman No Cry” another favourite of mine. And on pages 94-95 my book The Way to Happiness I wrote this about that song:

“It’s a breezy Saturday night in Dakar. As I stroll along the Yoff highway my Sony walkman (old-fashioned me, I am yet to get an iPod or iPhone) blasting the lyrics of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry. The lyrics depressing at first then inspiring as the track crescendos into the refrain: “Everything’s gonna be alright, so no woman no cry!”

“My mind races through all the women I see toil and moil every day to feed their loved ones amid the mountains of obstacles and tears. My mind walks further down memory lane about the struggles of my own mother, widowed some 33 years ago, working around the clock to raise five kids, with one that has a huge stomach like me. From her selling porridge in the streets of Banjul to the cleaning of offices in The Quadrangle she fought against the odds to bring up all her children under one roof, resisting the overtures of relatives who thought the burden to be too heavy on her, offering to adopt some of her kids. And then I imagine the struggles of many more women with similar and sometimes more compelling stories.”

Yes I had a challenging childhood in Banjul and Lamin. And it was during my childhood years in Lamin that I heard the story of Bob Marley in a competition at Buckingham Palace as narrated above. Because of the way the story was narrated to me and the fact that unlike most of his songs Natural Mystic does enjoy a long space of instrumentals before Bob’s voice comes on I believed the legend that he never wrote that song, it just came in the heat of a hot contest. Doing my analysis of Bob’s genius, I later concluded that yes the legend may not be true but that it is indeed possible that Bob Marley could compose such a song without any preparation. I know this because I am now acquainted with the source and nature of his genius and that source, that secret, can be summed up in one phrase that was uttered by no less a mind that Bob himself: Natural mystic. His genius is natural yet mystical. “That’s the natural mystic blowing through the air…”

My good brother Dimbaa, the above is an excerpt from one of the the essays I did on the inspiring reggae lyrics of Bob Marley. As the world celebrates reggae and places it at its rightful pedestal in the global cultural symphony, I salute you and all reggae lovers and promoters.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sounds and lyrics of the Jamaican genre. In my Bunny Wailer voice I urge you bro:

Stay with the reggae rhythm,

‘Cause this a inspiration is sent from the King.

So we’re gonna stay with the reggae rhythm,

‘Cause this a reggae music make you dance and sing.

Ooh-yes…

We’re moving onward, and we ain’t gonna stop,

Rock reggae music till it reach the top.

Yours, in the Service of the People

Momodou Sabally

The Gambia’s Pen

November 29, 2018: Fajara: The Gambia Press Union (GPU) has learnt with deep sadness and great shock the sudden death of Mr Swaebou Conateh, a veteran Gambian Journalist and publisher of the Gambia News and Report weekly magazine.

As was a rock, a pillar on which Gambian journalism today stands. As a journalist, he spoke and wrote the truth, with bravery, vigour and passion. As a publisher, he inspired, groomed and guided so many young journalists and championed press freedom and freedom of expression. As a doyen, he helped strengthen GPU and today we are all proud of the union thanks to the likes of Swaebou.

Throughout his career, he rendered selfless services to the journalism profession and the welfare of journalists. A man of integrity and decency, he dedicated his magazine to giving voice to the voiceless and the marginalized.

As we mourn his death, the GPU also celebrated his legacy as a principled, brave, professional and very progressive journalist who stood and fought for justice for all.

We pray that God bless his soul and give him the highest place in Jannatul Firduas.

His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio has launched phase four of the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programme (IFEP) in Kabala, the district headquarter town of Koinadugu, some 190 miles north of Sierra Leone.

Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary School Education, Lawyer Alpha Osman Timbo, who also doubled as the chairman of the event, told the gathering that access to free quality education was at the centre of President Bio’s administration. He added that it was, therefore, no doubt that they were launching the School Feeding Programme and its associated packages to tremendously add to the success of the Free Quality Education Initiative.

The minister thanked representatives of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the US-based international humanitarian organisation, and the United States of America for their continuous support to the government’s flagship programme.

Speaking on behalf of the people of Koinadugu and Falaba districts, Paramount Chief Member of Parliament, Honourable Alie Balasama Marah of Sengbe Chiefdom, thanked the government of Sierra Leone and its implementing partners for introducing the school feeding programme in the area. He added that the move was a testament to the fact that government had countenanced no bias to region or group when it pursued development across the country.

“This will go down in the history of this country, because contrary to every expectation the School Feeding Program has been launched in the northern part of the country where some people believe it is not the political stronghold of the ruling party. This is a laudable venture,” he confessed.

The country representative of CRS, Paul Emes, described the unveiling of the School Feeding Programme as momentous because the move showed how serious the President Bio administration was about building the human capacity of the country through a universal access to education.

“This day is momentous because it has ushered in an era of a new Sierra Leone where education will flourish. I am happy that the CRS is a part of this history-making trajectory,” Mr Emes assured the people of Koinadugu and Falaba districts.

The CRS chief also noted that with support from the US Department of Agriculture, they were willing to invest $ 25 million, over a period of four years, to the school feeding initiative. He promised that other facilities like capacity building of teachers, rehabilitation of primary schools, construction of water wells and boreholes would also be part of the package.

US Ambassador, Maria Brewer, stated that the launch was an important milestone in strengthening the long-standing relationship between the two countries, adding that the US Department of Agriculture’s food for education programme had helped support education, child development and food security in developing countries since 2003.

“This programme aims at reducing hunger and improving literacy and primary education, especially for girls,” she said.

She commended the Free Quality Education Program, particularly the allocation of 21 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product to achieving education for all Sierra Leoneans. She also commended CRS for their invaluable contribution to promoting education and noted that she looked forward to seeing the successful implementation of the programme.

President Julius Maada Bio thanked the government of the United States of America and CRS for joining him in ensuring that free and quality education reached every corner of the country. He added that he was happy to be in Koinadugu to fulfil his promise of providing free and quality education and to creating an enabling environment that would ensure the survival of the programme.

President Bio also noted that when he proclaimed to offer the free and quality education, he did not do it to gain political favour or to score political points. He said he did so because he knew that investing in the future of children was a right and an entitlement and not a privilege.

“This School Feeding Program will encourage parents to send their children to school and it will also increase attendance of school going pupils,” he said, and called on parents and local authorities to embrace the initiative because it would go a long way in encouraging children to see the need to be always present in school.

By George Sesay

His Excellency Dawda Docka Fadera, High Commissioner of the Republic of The Gambia to Canada, on 13^thNovember 2018 presented the letter of recall of his predecessor and his Letter of Credence to the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada.

High Commissioner Fadera conveyed to Governor General Payette fraternal greetings and best wishes from President Adama Barrow and the people of The Gambia. He observed that The Gambia and Canada have special relations based on our common values of respect for human rights, the dignity of our people, the sanctity of life and the rule of law.

High Commissioner Fadera said a new era has begun in The Gambia, after twenty-two years of misrule during which democratic institutions were destroyed, human capital decimated, the Treasury looted and The Gambia’s socio-economic development retarded. He said out of the ashes of the Jammeh dictatorship, a New Gambia with new crop of leaders have emerged with a vision to build a new country on the foundations of democracy, good governance and peace. He called on Canada to support the New Gambia.

Governor General Payette in her remarks welcomed High Commissioner Fadera to Canada, and commended The Gambia’s impressive progress under President Barrow’s Administration and assured him of the cooperation of the Canadian Government in advancing the common agenda of the two countries.

In other engagements during his sojourn in Canada, High Commissioner Fadera met with senior officials at the Canadian Foreign Ministry and discussed ways and means to expand and deepen the scope of cooperation between Banjul and Ottawa, especially in education, agriculture and tourism.

High Commissioner Fadera also met with members of the Gambian community in Canada and briefed them on the National Development Plan and the Gambian Diaspora Strategy and their role in the socio-economic growth of the country.

Issued by the Communication Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad