By Lamin Njie

Former president Yahya Jammeh has been named chairman and supreme leader of opposition Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction, APRC.

It comes as hundreds of delegates converged on Fatima Senior Secondary School in Bwiam for the 6th national congress of APRC. It’s the first time the party is holding such a high profile event without its founder, Yahya Jammeh.

The event which started on Saturday also churned out a new leadership with delegates agreeing to maintain Fabakary Tombong Jatta as the party’s interim leader. Mr Jatta returns to a position he has been in since former president Jammeh abandoned it.

Delegates have also voted to maintain Ousman Rambo Jatta deputy interim leader.

A special committee has also been set up by the congress to revisit the APRC constitution.

By Lamin Njie, in Bwiam

Fabakary Tombong Jatta has said that the APRC doesn’t want Gambians to be misled with regard to the coalition’s memorandum of understanding.

In 2016, seven political parties came together to form a united front to take on President Yahya Jammeh in the December presidential election. The alliance was brought about after the parties agreed that anyone they choose as their leader would contest as an independent candidate and serve for only three years. The parties are now at loggerheads over the deal.

Speaking at the APRC’s national congress in Bwiam on Saturday, Mr Jatta who is the interim leader of the party said “the coalition team now looks to be in fragments with some of its composing political parties no longer seeing eye to eye.”

He said: “The coalition has now completely disintegrated. Some key figures who were engaged as the voice of the coalition no longer believe or trust in the coalition administration and do not form part of the executive now. The reshuffle of the cabinet is a clear indication to an Adama Barrow-controlled government.

“This was confirmed in a speech where he addressed the press stating that he does not need anyone or any political party in completing his five-year term mandate as stipulated in the constitution. This goes against the Memorandum of Understanding which stipulates a three-year term and we as a party… Yes the constitution talks about five year term, a limit of five years.

“But we don’t want Gambians to be misled. It does not mean that when you are elected you cannot serve less than five years. President Adama Barrow can resign today. It’s not in violation of the constitution. So what we are saying is… Nobody forced them. They said to Gambians, ‘we are coming for three years, at the end of three years we are going to elections.’

“Then we were not in agreement with them. They told Gambians. That’s why you see us taking the back seat a little bit. But what we do know is it’s no escape to say the constitution says five years. The constitution says five years but it does not say you cannot leave before five years. If he says he is going for three years, it’s constitutional. He can go away and we go into elections.”

By Lamin Njie, in Bwiam

The interim leader of the opposition APRC Fabakary Tombong Jatta has called on the government of President Adama Barrow to let former president Yahya Jammeh return to The Gambia.

Mr Jatta made this call on Saturday as hundreds of party delegates gathered at Fatima Senior Secondary School in Bwiam, Foni Kansala for APRC’s sixth national congress. The congress which will hold across three days will churn out a new leadership for the party for the next two years. It’s the first of its kind since ex-president Jammeh left The Gambia for Equatorial Guinea in January 2017 following his shock electoral loss in the December 1, 2016 presidential election.

The party’s interim leader Fabakary Tombong Jatta addressing delegates as he declared open the congress said “the involvement of national and international bodies made the peaceful departure of our party leader through self-exile to Equatorial Guinea.”

“A joint declaration was negotiated with the government, Ecowas, AU, United Nations and representatives of President Jammeh and agreed upon. Therefore, we call on all parties to honour and respect the MOU. And we call on the government of President Adama Barrow for the unconditional return of the former president and to unfreeze and return to him all his assets,” Mr Jatta said.

Mr Jatta also said the Barrow government has not stopped at freezing the ex-president’s assets, it has also frozen assets that belong to the APRC.

He said: “We also call upon the coalition to return and unfreeze all APRC assets and bank accounts. And our APRC accounts don’t belong to president Jammeh. They are accounts that I contribute to, all national assembly members contribute to, all the executive contribute, all party supporters contribute. We do our fundraising. It has nothing to do with President Jammeh.”

By Lamin Njie

Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Mamburay Njie on Friday said the Gambia government remains committed to prudent macro-economic policy management.

Mr Njie stated this as he tabled the national budget for the 2018/2019 financial year before the National Assembly. The 2018/2019 budget amounts to 25 billion dalasis.

“The Gambia has registered some positive economic gains during the period under review. However, our fiscal position remains critical. Maintaining macro-economic stability continues to be our main objective going forward which will require aligning our expenditure strictly with the budget and the financial regulations,” Njie said in his budget speech.

According to him, “as we recover from a difficult transition, macro-economic stability becomes a pre-requisite anchored towards national development objectives as enshrined in our national development plan.”

“Currently, our public debt to GDP is about 88 percent highlighting an unsustainable trajectory. This requires close attention to bring it down to a level that meets the potential limit of 40 percent which is the desirable position for a developing country. It is therefore important for all the relevant stakeholders associated with revenue collection to be more efficient in the tax collection,” he said.

President Adama Barrow has departed departed Banjul for Basse to lay the foundation stone for a 50KM road and four bridges in the Upper River Region.

The road and bridge projects for Basse-Koina road, Basse – Wuli and Fatoto–Passamas crossings, Chamoi bridge, and Suduwol,  respectively, constitute the first major infrastructural development project of the Barrow administration, following months of institutional reforms and empowerment of the transitional justice mechanisms of the country.

This landmark development project, which would enhanced easy and fast communications between URR North and South as well as the rest of the country, forms part of the government’s policy of rebooting regional economies and fostering an all-inclusive development for all and sundry. The project, once completed, would have a positive ripple effect on the socioeconomic welfare and wellbeing of the people of the region, by boosting trade and facilitating easy access to social and economic services.

The URR Road and Bridge project is a grant from the friendly government of the People’s Republic of China in the tune of USD50 Million.

While in URR, President Barrow is expected to hold a gathering in Foday Kunda to galvanize support for his development agenda, as well as preside over the opening of a teacher training college in Basse.

Press Release

The Gambia Press Union and the family of Deyda Hydara are pleased to announce that all is set for the commemoration of the 14th anniversary of the murder of Deyda Hydara, a former president and one of the founders of the Gambia Press Union.

Mr Hydara, also a co-founder of The Point Newspaper, was assassinated on December 16, 2004. Fourteen years on, the killers of the prominent journalist have not yet accounted for their crimes.

Every year, the GPU marks December 16th in various forms, including procession and public lectures; to take a solemn look at the Life and Times of Deyda in order to keep alive his memory. The event also provides a platform to discuss issues affecting the journalism industry and to promote greater sense of responsibility and solidary among media professionals.

This year’s event will feature a series of activities, including a joint press conference on Sunday by the GPU President, Minister of Justice and Minister of Information. It will also feature the official launch of the Media Council of The Gambia and Professional Journalism Card Scheme.

The GPU President, Mr Sheriff Bojang Jnr., said: “Nothing is more fitting than launching the Council in honour of Deyda, knowing how hard he fought against the then National Media Commission and the fact that he paid the highest price.”

The main event will be held on Sunday December 23rd at the Djembe Beach Hotel, starting 4:00pm. It will feature the Memorial Lecture Series, which will be delivered by Dr Baba Galleh Jallow, the Executive Secretary of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. The theme is: ‘Safety of Journalists: National Response to End Crimes against Journalists.

Another important highlight of the commemoration will be the launch of the Media Council of The Gambia by the Minister for Justice, Honourable Ba Tambadou and the launch of the Professional Journalism Card Scheme by Minister for Information, Honourable Ebrima Sillah.

Both created by the GPU, the Media Council is a self-regulatory body for the media industry, charged to handle complaints against media while the card system introduces proper identification framework meant to facilitate the work of journalists.

The commemoration will bring together more than 200 media professionals and those concerned with press freedom and safety of journalists, including the government, civil society, students and members of the public. The events are being held in partnership with the Hydara Family, United Nations Democracy Fund and Westminster Foundation for Democracy.

By Lamin Njie

First Lady Fatoumatta Bah Barrow has called on Gambians living in Sierra Leone to continue exhibiting the exemplary behavior that Gambians are known for wherever they are.

“I have no doubt that wherever a Gambian goes to, a Gambian will be embraced because of the way we are back home,” Mrs Bah Barrow told the Gambian community at a meeting in Freetown on Thursday.

First Lady Fatoumatta Bah Barrow is currently in Sierra Leone at the invitation of her counterpart Madam Fatima Jabbi-Bio for the launch of the latter’s 2019 – 2022 strategic plan.

The plan themed, ‘Hands Off Our Girls’ is aimed at addressing issues like child marriage, teenage pregnancy, sexual and gender-based violence, child trafficking, cancer, and women empowerment, among others.

And Mrs Bah Barrow taking time to meet with Gambians living in Sierra Leone said “I have always said that Gambians are moderate people.”

“You don’t hear about Gambians creating trouble outside. It shows we are raised well,” she said.

According to the President’s wife, it’s fate that make people migrate from one country to another and “as far as we’re from Africa, we belong everywhere.”

“You people were born in Gambia and came to Sierra Leone. It’s because this is where you luck is and you have come to get it. That same way, we have Sierra Leoneans who have left this country for The Gambia,” she said.

Ealier, the Gambian High Commissioner to Sierra Leone Ebraima Manneh said “Gambians are Gambians no matter where they are.”

“Gambians in Angola, Gambians in Nigeria, Gambians in Senegal, Gambians in Gambia, all are Gambians. We have the same right. We have the same privilege,” he said.

Alhaji Abubacarr a representative of the Gambian community in Sierra Leone said Gambians have no problem in Sierra Leone because they have been fully embraced by that country.

“I can assure you Madam First Lady that Gambians have no problem here because we are all one people,” he said.

Police in The Gambia on Thursday blocked a group calling themselves #OccupyNA from entering the National Assembly to demand for the rejection of the government’s controversial supplementary appropriation estimates.

#OccupyNa stormed the National Assembly Thursday morning to put pressure on Gambian lawmakers to reject over one billion dalasis in estimates the government said is to cater for shortcomings made in the already approved 2018 budget.

The National Assembly Member for Serrekunda, Halifa Sallah, attempted to grant the protestors who were mainly youth access to the National Assembly but the PIU in full riot gears insisted and denied the youth entry.

Speaking to journalists, Raffiel RD Diab a member of #GambiaHasdecided said: “I feel very angry and disappointed because I feel this people parliament. It belongs to all of us.”

He added: “We didn’t come here with guns, we are well dress and we the right to come here and watch. So why should they bar us from entry? This parliament is paid by taxpayers’ money.”

But Tony F Mendy, a protestor and student of University of the Gambia, said neither the government nor an individual can stop him from exercising his citizenry rights.

The National Assembly has since rejected the supplementary appropriation estimates.

By Lamin Njie

Members of the National Assembly on Thursday overwhelming rejected the government’s controversial supplementary appropriation estimates.

The Gambia government through Finance Minister on Tuesday asked the country’s lawmakers to approve over one billion dalasis in estimates to cater for the shortcomings of the already approved 2018 budget.

Members of the national assembly on Thursday threw out the estimates because they did not come to the house four months prior to the end of the fiscal year and that they have exceeded 1% of the budget.

Halifa Sallah-National Assembly Member for Serrekunda speaking at the plenary said that the law says the SA should come to the parliament next year.

“We cannot continue to encourage financial indiscipline…we serve the National interest…,” he said.

“If you look at the reasons advanced by the minister that is contained in the submission of FPAC (Finance and Public Accounts Committee), if one has to relate that to the parent submission by the minister, the aspect that has been added has no point to be justified even whereas it has been observed by the FPAC. But the minister’s reasons are not holding water on the basis of submitting these supplementary estimates,” national assembly member for Brikama North Alhagie Darboe said.

The national assembly member for Upper Fulladu West Sanna Jawara urging his colleagues to join him in rejecting the bill said the law was not followed.

He said: “Estimates are made and approved and once approved that is the ceiling as to hw far you can go. But in the same estimates as alluded to by my friend from Upper Saloum. We have put in centralized service with 1,060, 000, 000 just in case of emergencies. So therefore there are funds for emergencies but what is emergency in this case? Twenty-nine million dalasis on a private jet to New York is not an emergency to me. So that money spent there shouldn’t be spent.

“I have looked at all the breakdowns, there is no CRC here and we are told when we were approving the CRC and TRRC [bills] that these are going to be funded by our development partners. That we would approve these commissions but the government would go out to seek for funding. Contingency funds is allow if we have given the president the approval but only up to one percent of the budget but this 1.2 billion dalasis do represents six percent which is way beyond what is acceptable.

“We are a broke nation, we cannot go on spending the way we are spending. So if we are in line with those reform programs we should keep in that reform programs because this is a transitional government, not to a government that is here to pursue infrastructural developments that we cannot afford. That’s political.”

Meanwhile the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs calling on the lawmakers to reconsider their decision said “either we solve the problem today or we solve it tomorrow.”

“If anybody is to be blamed it’s me because I have taken the decision to come to the national assembly for transparency, to reveal to you exactly this is the reality on the ground. Whether we solve it today or whether we solve it tomorrow or whether we solve it day after tomorrow it will always come back to hunt us,” Mamburay Njie told the lawmakers.

He added: “Yes the law allows us to roll over and when I took over I found that some of these things have been rolling over and over and over. And in our mindset I decided that why don’t we arrest the situation, why don’t we just come up with the reality. You go to a doctor and the doctor tells, ‘you have malaria or you have cancer’, gives you paracetamol just to reduce the pain but the disease is there. We have a problem, unless and until we solve it, in reality whether we do it today or next year, we haven’t strayed economically. But what we are trying to put in place is fiscal discipline.”

By Lamin Njie

President Adama Barrow on Wednesday said he doesn’t belong to any political party, as he dismissed claims of mistrust between him and his vice president Ousainou Darboe.

“My relationship [with Darboe] is very very normal. I think the question is about politics. As far as I’m concerned I’m an independent candidate. I didn’t belong to any political party and so I will not talk about politics,” Mr Barrow told journalists at the Banjul International Airport moments after arriving in the country from Egypt.

President Adama Barrow was away in Egypt attending the 2018 Africa Business Forum when his vice president Ousainou Darboe issued a threat to fight anyone who wants to divide his party. Political analysts say the comments are directed at President Barrow who has been making moves on the United Democratic Party using his youth movement as a cover.

But President Barrow speaking to journalists on Wednesday made light of the comments saying, “the most important thing is I’m elected by the Gambian people to move this country forward.”

“That’s why my focus is to go to Basse and launch the road and bridges in Basse, on the first I open the bridge in Farafenni and we are also working on launching Banjul. I think these are the things I’m employed for. But the most important thing is to be united. We have to be united together. To me I think the Gambia is bigger than anybody,” he said.

On the Africa Business Forum, Mr Barrow said “I think this meeting was very very important and the meeting was well-attended.”

“This is about doing business among Africans but there are a lot of challenges. If you want do business we have to industrialise. Finish products should be done in Africa. I think this is very important part of it and we have to open up to connect Africa to ourselves. The infrastructure has to be there. These are the challenges,” he said.

Press Release

On Wednesday, December 5th, Peace Corps – The Gambia swore in 39 new Agriculture and Health Volunteers.  The ceremony, which was attended by Minister of Environment Lamin B. Dibba and Minister of Health and Social Welfare Dr. IsatouTouray, was dedicated to the memory of President George H.W. Bush, who was a strong supporter of The Peace Corps.   NuruSey, Peace Corps Program Manager for Health opened the ceremony by saying “President Bush led a great American life, one that combined and personified one of our Nation’s greatest virtues, a commitment to public service.  The United States will greatly miss his inspiring example.  It is fitting that we honor President Bush’s legacy of service today by swearing-in 39 New Peace Corps Volunteers.”

In her key note address Dr. Touray commented “Over the five decades that the Peace Corps has been in this country, our partnership has steadily grown stronger and has been flexible enough to accommodate The Gambia’s ever-changing developmental needs and challenges.”

The new volunteers come from all corners of the United States. Prior to their swear-in, the Volunteers attended a two-month long, intensive pre-service training program.  The volunteers lived with host families to gain insight into Gambian culture.  They also learned to speak the language of their future work site.  The Volunteers demonstrated their mastery of the language during the swearing-in ceremony by addressing the audience in Wolof, Mandinka, Pulaar, Jolla, and English.

The volunteers will spend two years working in rural communities throughout the Gambia where they will work with extension staff and community members.  They will act as educators, catalysts, and change agents.  Volunteers working in the Health section will address multiple public health needs including awareness of communicable diseases and water sanitation and hygiene.  Agriculture sector Volunteers will address food security and production as well asenvironmental protection.  Peace Corps’ operational model is unique.  Volunteers live and work in communities, and help build capacity while promoting better mutual understanding. More than 1,800 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in The Gambia since the program was established in 1967.

By Lamin Njie

A foremost Mandinka historian-musician Jali Alagie Mbye has died, family sources have told The Fatu Network. He was 53.

The Tallinding based legendary Jali (Griot) died on Wednesday after a brief illness.

Who is Jali Alagi Mbye?

According a Swedish website Proline Sweden, Alagi Mbye (also spelled M’Bye) was probably born in Jan 1965, but you can never be sure. (He says his mother didn’t have a calendar.) He comes from a griot (jali) family and his father, grandfather and uncles were well known praise singers, history reciters and kora players, many generations back.

Alagi was sent to study kora with great Gambian masters at very early age, including the legendary Jali Nyama Suso.

In the late 1980s some Norwegian musicians came to Gambia and asked Jali Nyama which kora player he would recommend to come and play in Norway, and he named Alagi Mbye as one of the most talented young players. Alagi made his first of many trips to Scandinavia.

On his return, he started working as a kora teacher in The Eo’len Centre of West African Arts in The Gambia, which had many Scandinavian music students. (Unfortunately this centre is not active any more.)

At Eo’len, Alagi met many Scandinavian enthusiasts who invited him to return to Norway and Sweden, where he has performed once or twice a year since 1990.

He played with Knut Reiersrud and was a guest on Reiersrud’s CD’s Tramp. In Sweden Mats Edén and Groupa were his first contacts and he played and performed concerts with the group in the early 90’s. Swedish musician Ale Möller was fascinated by Alagi’s abilities and his ‘totalness’ in music and invited him to be a member of the Stockholm Folk Big Band project 1998-99.

The Big Band was composed of 14 musicians representing 11 countries all over the world. Alagi was the only one not resident in Sweden.

Alagi’s greatest concern is the future of Gambian traditional music. Many places now have no griot heritage to care for the continuity of the tradition. The radio and TV don’t expose the traditional music in Gambia, and the newspapers only report on pop, rap, reggae and hip hop stars.

1999-2000 he got the opportunity to make a solo album in Sweden, a recording of pure kora and songs in the tradition. Yiribameans The Big Tree, and symbolizes the roots, stem, branches and leaves of the West African griot heritage. All songs are in the Mandinka language.

His Swedish friends have helped him to realize his longtime dream of a music school for Gambian children, part of Alagi’s efforts to preserve the tradition of his homeland. Even non-griot children are welcomed to study there. Alagi is a member of the International Society of Music Education (ISME) and has taken part in their conferences in Pretoria and Amsterdam.

The Gambia government on Tuesday said it learnt with appreciation the news from the State Department of the United states that the former President Yahya Jammeh and his family have been banned from entering the United States as a result of his involvement in ‘significant corruption and gross violation of human rights.’

“This decision is in line with the commitment of the Gambia Government to combat corruption and ensure accountability for gross human rights abuses,” a statement by the Ministry of Justice Tuesday said.

“Accordingly, we are grateful for the solidarity of the Government of the United States in our transition towards good governance and respect for human rights.The Ministry of Justice will continue to collaborate with the United States Government on all matters of mutual interest.”

By Lamin Njie

The co-chair of Coalition 2016 Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang has vowed to ‘clear her integrity’ over millions of dalasis remitted by the Gambian diaspora during the coalition’s 2016 campaign activities.

In 2016, Gambians in the diaspora made contributions totaling 4.2 million dalasis to support the coalition in its campaign activities under the Gambia Democracy Fund. The greatest chunk of the sum was dispatched through Mrs Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang.

And speaking to The Fatu Network on Tuesday, Mrs Jallow Tambajang said that the chairman of the finance committee of the coalition Alhagie S Darboe has still not turned over the accounts for auditing despite her efforts.

She said: “Every dime that came from the diaspora, I have them in my personal records here came through my name. I received the money and I signed for the monies and I delivered the monies to the finance committee which was chaired by Alhagie S Darboe who is the administrative secretary of the United Democratic Party.

“The other member is Idrissa Jallow of PDOIS. And we also had another member Kebba Singhateh who is now working with the embassy in Russia. Everything that was given to me, I gave it to them. And I monitored, supervised the management of those resources. But the direct responsibility was Alhagie S Darboe.

“Since 2016, I have reminded Alhagie S Darboe, I have been behind him to produce the accounts so that they can be audited but I’m yet to be able to obtain them from him. I have reported the matter to His Excellency the President Adama Barrow. I have reported the matter to His Excellency the Vice President Ousainou Darboe. I have reported the matter to Honourable James Gomez who is the Minister of Water Resources.

“I have explored all avenues to do that and now what I am left with to clear my conscience and to clear my integrity is to write to him formally, and through the formal channel through his party and through the executive to ask him to submit the accounts so that they can be audited and they can be disseminated.”

By Lamin Njie

Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang has said that President Adama Barrow insisted that she become vice president of The Gambia even when her age did not allow her.

“I have many times gone to consult the president His Excellency Adama Barrow to tell him that because of the pressure and because of my ambition to support him in any other situation, in any position other than vice president… I even suggested some names to His Excellency the President,” the former vice president told The Fatu Network’s Omar Wally in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

Mrs Jallow Tambajang served as The Gambia vice President between February 2017 and June 2018. Her appointment to the post initially drew public scrutiny after a section of the constitution barred her because of her age. She oversaw the post for almost ten months before she could be legitimately hold the post.

The ex-vice president was then removed from the post in June 2018 said it was never her intention to be in the position in such controversial circumstances.

She said: “He (President Barrow) is there and he is a living witness. This is what people don’t know, people don’t know me. He told me that as far as he’s concerned and the country is concerned, I have worked hard for this country. [That] I deserve to be vice president not because of as a person but because of my background, my experience.

“And this is the statement he made when he was swearing me in. That he did not take me because I helped, I was the chair of the coalition. He said he selected me because; number one, of the trust, number two, of my expertise, and number three, because of my contribution to the coalition. He insisted… [It] was his conviction that I was the right candidate to support him at the time.”