By Sana Sarr

Dear Baa Tambedou,

Why You?

There are many screw-ups in this government. There is Hamat Bah, there’s the National Assembly members who sold their souls for cars, or D10,000, and there’s even President Barrow. Why do I single you out to write this open letter to? Why do I bother to write to you when it’s much easier to just write you off into the hopelessness bin like the rest of them? Full disclosure, I really don’t know enough about you to care about you personally. I care about what you represent to many Gambians, including myself, in this administration.

See, when the new government was being formed, many Gambians cried that they wanted certain qualities in the ministers that would be entrusted with the responsibility of rebuilding the nation. You, Baa, checked most of the boxes.

i. Technocrat – Being a trained attorney, you have the required knowledge and experience to make informed decisions based on what would work best in the national interest.

1. Not a Politician – As a non-politician, you would be free from the usual selfish/sentimental motivations that plagues the decision making of politicians. You would be more concerned about the welfare of all Gambians rather than what will win you the favor of certain voting groups or political parties.

iii. Youth – As a relatively young person, you would be more open-minded and not set in the old ways of doing things. You would also be more concerned, knowing that every decision you make affects the next generation of Gambians, which may be, not just your children, but you will probably be around in the next 25 years.

1. International experience – Having been educated and worked abroad, you are experienced in the modern ways of the world – worth ethics, attitudes, processes and procedures – best practices that can be the differences between success and failure.

1. Justice Matters – after emerging from a chaotic system where there was no justice, and the only laws were the whims and caprices of an unstable president, I do not need to remind you of how crucial this period of our history is. We’re not repairing, we’re basically rebuilding a whole system and trying make citizens believe in the effectiveness of institutions rather than individuals. We can make the best economic development plans and be blessed with all the natural resources in the world, but all of that is meaningless if there is no confidence in the systems to maintain law and order. “No Justice, No Peace” they say.

1. Not needy – Coming from your previous job, I doubt you really needed this job for money or prestige. You were doing quite well in a high profile job that paid very well. One could therefore be reassured that you’re not desperate for this job to be willing to risk your integrity to keep it. It’s reasonable to believe that your reason for accepting this appointment was purely out of a desire to contribute to national development.

For the above reasons, your presence in the government was the one cause of hope and confidence in not just this administration, but in the future it could lead us to.

On a personal note,  I can’t say I know you. I know some people who have known you since your schoolboy days at Kanifing South and Real De Banjul. They all tell me that Baa is an honest individual who can be trusted. I know those people won’t lie to me so I trusted them, and my faith was reaffirmed when you publicly spoke out when the government screwed up by failing to follow proper procedure when they tried to change the age limit for the presidency.

The Turnaround

You can therefore imagine my shock and disappointment with your recent utterances and attitude – the pardoned pedophile, the interview with Esau Williams, the threats to prosecute those who write false information, and now this latest press conference where you attempted to defend the indefensible, all bordering on the type of ego/arrogance that many who know you say is uncharacteristic of you.

When it was announced that President Barrow had pardoned a convicted Norwegian pedophile who was defended at trial by your brother, and the Justice Ministry’s official Twitter account came out to lie about it, some of our faith was again restored when you came out to strongly deny that you had any knowledge of it. We believed you when you promised to fully investigate the matter once you returned to the country. Imagine our disappointment when you would return only to simply dismiss the issue as “water under the bridge”. It’s obvious now that your impassioned defense was more about protecting your personal image than it was about seeking justice for Gambian children who were raped by this monster. Little did you care about setting standards of integrity and upholding the law, including holding those who use an official government account at the Ministry of JUSTICE to lie to Gambians.

When questioned about why the government, against conventional wisdom and general public outcry, pushed ahead to sign a shady deal entrusting our bio-data to a dubious Belgian company currently facing charges of corruption in their country, you again attempted to defend the decision, sounding like a political hack playing pundit on television, with those half-baked and unconvincing arguments that are well below your morals and intellect.

As we were trying to digest this new “Baa”, you released a new single with this interviewissuing some not-so-veiled threats reminding us that you have the powers to use the dictator’s laws to prosecute people for “false news” and “hate speech.” Yes, Mr. Tambedou, we all know those laws still exist. How can we ever forget that your government has so far failed to deliver on the expectations Gambians had when they voted you into office? We expected the bad laws to be changed, and you all are taking your merry time with them not because you’re unable to, but because you wish to use them when convenient. Since we’re doing reminders, may we also remind you that there are laws for you to investigate and prosecute appearances of corruption in government. You know, like national assembly members alleging publicly that the president is bribing them with cash, or the First Lady’s foundation having millions mysteriously deposited into their bank accounts. Those, Sir, would be of greater interest to Gambians than stifling free speech under the guise of prosecuting the publication of “false news.”

The Takeaway

Baa, despite all the disappointments, I still don’t think you have been corrupted for either financial reasons or for the prestige of the position. Heck, I don’t even think you’re drunk on power. I think you’re a punk! Yes, a coward! Your “new” attitude suggests very much like there’s someone, or some people, who you can’t say no to because you respect them too much. It seems like you don’t want to be seen as the disagreeable one who won’t go along with the popular decision on the team. You want to be liked by your colleagues/bosses.

“Olof Njie neh, su sa gamenj heseweh, sa dormi ndey morla kore warh.”I hope you have enough dormi ndeysto tell you that like someone who ate mbahal bufanaan, “Bro, here’s some chewing gum, soaked in listerine.”You are not the minister of Maslaha. You are the Minister of JUSTICE. This is a crucial time in Gambia’s history, a country that has been through hell and back, and now on at the crossroads of either realizing its potential or regressing another 2 decades. Your appointment represents hope for an entire generation of young Gambians and you owe it to all of us to maintain confidence in the potential of our country. Failure is not an option. You can shove this piece under the rug like you’ve apparently done with Barrow’s many “missteps”, but I sincerely hope that in the quiet of night, when you’re with no one but your conscience, you pause for a minute of introspection…and consult the Baa Tambedou that your childhood friends and family say you are.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Gambian who BelieveD in You

Alagi Yorro Jallow

The Gambia is blessed with a multitude of men and women with lofty mental faculties such as pundits and activists employed in government agencies, private entities or the world of politics where they are given a seat of esteem and power.

Ergo, it is only right to conclude that our country is equipped with trusted sages whose economic ingenuities, leadership dexterities and spiritual differences​ could gladly put our country at the peak of moral and socio-economic progress in a way where equity and equality transcends according to the “rule of law,” which is the very foundation of democracy.

But, sad to say, those so-called pundits and activists-turned-politicians become political gamblers and power freaks after winning the election; they commit themselves to accruing their campaign loses through the clever use of illegal resources. They take advantage by persecuting their inimical political foes, which is the by-product of sham empathy and fraudulent performances​ in public service. In time, their credibility and integrity will be placed under deplorable criticism because of their grotesque acts of authoritarian control, that is, a despotic shift leading to the “rule of men.” And when we say the rule of men, we mean “tyranny, or despotism, or oligarchy, that is a government of the few.” Any means they use, however unlawful, may be justifiably employed to maintain a strong government, which is characterized by political cunning or bad faith.

Now, by carefully observing how the new government works today, the question is as follows: Are we under the reign of the “rule of law” or under the “rule of men?” And which of the two is the most reliable system for delivering a safe, secure and progressive Gambia?

Remember, “prudence lies in knowing how to distinguish the best between the degrees of justifiability in judging things and in choosing the least justified!”

Human Rights activists and groups to advance human rights have long been hijacked by self-appointed guardians of the “truth” whose definition of free speech is censoring, shouting down or even physically assaulting those who might disagree.
Hardly surprising that there is a growing backlash. The tragedy though is that the values of true human rights activism have been terribly degraded by these, some malicious, some misguided pretenders. Human rights are not left-wing or right-wing, they are universal. Everyone is entitled to freedom from torture, slavery and has the right not to be imprisoned without a fair trial. I’m glad there are organizations and brave individuals who challenge human rights violations wherever they occur irrespective of political tribalism.

Dr. Omar Janneh

In the piece published on August 24, 2018, I made the point that Mr Abdoulie (Morikebba) Janneh seemed a very, very busy man to take up the post of Chairperson of The Gambia’s TRRC, but that he may have given this challenging task much thought. Interestingly, it seems that someone has not done their homework because on October 4, 2018 the Ministry of Justice told us that due to scheduling conflict, Dr. Lamin J. Sise was identified and that he would be replacing Mr Abdoulie (Morikebba) Janneh as the Chairperson of the TRRC. Dr. Lamin J. Sise has a very attractive track record and he is diligent and I wish him very well. But for the sake of consistency, why didn’t the Justice Ministry give the public the chance to also object to Dr. Sise’s appointment?

Anyhow, the reason for this piece is that on October 9, 2018, the Justice Ministry reported that The Gambia’s TRRC Commissioners would be sworn in on October 15, 2018. They went on to claim that they received no objectionsto the fitness or suitability of the intended Commissioners. I suppose I may be a lone voice and therefore, would not expect that the Justice Ministry would act upon one of my objections which may well have been neutralised by the post by Mr Matarr S. Baldeh (lone voice/lone voice– it’s for the readers to decide), but the post on my objections was viewed, by more than 1000 individuals, on a number of platforms. Interestingly, because the Justice Minister (an avid reader), Mr. Matarr S. Baldeh and I belong to the same Listserv (Community of Gambianist Scholars), I believe he would have either seen/read my objections there (as well as the subsequent piece from Mr. Matarr S. Baldeh that sought to neutralise it), here,here,here,hereor here. Overall, most will also recall that some of my posts on the TRRC generated some debate (e.g., click hereand here). I said at the time that I was making my objections in the manner that I did, and on time, because the Justice Ministry gave the public – in The Gambia and the Diaspora- little option; they neither facilitated nor were they flexible (as if by design so that they can get what they want, they gave us 10 daysover the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha) in the manner in which the public could send in their objections. In this digital age, asking the public to submit their objections to the appointment of the intended Commissions of the TRRC by either surface mail or in person, as if all Gambians live on Marina Parade in Banjul, was a joke. Given the way they have gone about asking the public to submit their objections and the many different options the Justice Minister could have received my objection, I think to say that they received no objections may be massaging the truth somewhat. Thus it seems to me that these guys are not serious at all and that they may also have a hint of arrogance about them.

Based on some of the write-ups I read and the TV/YouTube clips I have so far watched, I think the mistake that is being made, especially by the TRRC Secretariat, time and again is to assume that when we, from what seems like, solicit the support of victims to massage our characters – using beautiful adjectives, the perpetrators and the rest of society should/must have no cause to object or complain. Well, justice is blind; and so it is my view that the Commission must not ignore the concerns of those who served in the previous administration and the perpetrators, because doing so would make it probably very difficult for them to establish the truth. It requires intuition, and impartiality– the other side must trust the process, not arrogance to get it right.

We must recognise that inserting the second “R” (reparations) in The Gambia’s Truth Commission, for a country that is a basket case, was a mistake. We know that they have to beg (and let’s stop kidding ourselves, there is no such thing as free lunch; we may have to reciprocate favours in ways not quite beneficial to us) others to pay for the reparations, as if the rights abuses were committed by those hands giving us their taxpayers’ money. When will our Executive restore our dignity? We cannot dig ourselves out of our mess through begging, which we seem to have no qualms about. In my view, the promise of reparations creates an expectation on the part of the victims, who have suffered much too much, that the size of the reparations received may be dependent on the severity of what they suffered. And therein is a potential problem, because the Commission has no capacity whatsoever to forensically scrutinise the veracity of what they hear. We have to accept that some people are untrainable!

I believe it is also fair to question the sensibility, honesty, morality and justification for allowing some conflicted individuals to (excessively and continuously, over the duration of the Commission) benefit from the Commission by virtue of being employed on it while others (– far and wide; and some may never be questioned by the Commission and may well have suffered far deeper) have to wait for the promised compensation to arrive. Indeed, one might also ask whether it is likely that if/when that (begged) money comes, some of the conflicted individuals employed by the Commission, hence already benefitting from it, may receive more compensation than those who might have suffered far worse rights abuses. This is because of the seemingly deliberate cronyism and partiality in the setting of The Gambia’s TRRC.

It appears to me that they have deliberately staged much of The Gambia’s TRRC process, from the Act to some of the appointments, so that they can get what they want. Justice is objective and impartial, but The Gambia’s TRRC is none of those. Doing the right thing at the wrong time, especially very poorly is tantamount to poor leadership and only unsecure leaders do that.

Press Release

During its 10th Meeting, Cabinet considered a number of papers laid before it for consideration and adoption.
1. Cabinet adopted a paper presented by the Hon. Minister of Information and Communications Infrastructure to reduce international incoming termination rate from US$0.45 to $0.25 and $0.30 in The Gambia. The essence of this move is to make the Gambian destination more competitive (cheap), enable the country to comply with the required harmonization within ECOWAS; combat specific network-related fraud in communications services and increase the volume of direct incoming tele-traffic and improve on the current revenue stream of incoming international voice traffic.

2. Cabinet also adopted a paper presented by the Minister of Information and Communications Infrastructure for the establishment of an ICT agency in The Gambia. The Agency will be mandated to carry out several issues including, but not limited to:

• Provision of centralized platform for the government’s e-governance adoption and application.
• Facilitate the use of ICT for the improvement of the efficiency, effectiveness and operations of government and cost effective delivery of government services.
• Facilitate the development of systems and applications (e-agriculture, e-tourism, e-health) for improved public service delivery.
• Facilitate the creation of Made-in-Gambia ICT services to boost local content generation to drive self-employment.

3. Cabinet also adopted a paper laid before it by the Hon. Minister of Interior for the ratification of the ECOWAS convention on Small Arms and Light Weapons, their ammunitions and related matters. The former government refused to ratify this ECOWAS-wide convention when it was first brought before it in 2011. The new government has taken the bold step to join the league of nations in the ECOWAS sub region to adopt this important document for its subsequent ratification in the National Assembly.

Done on this 11th day of October, 2018, State House in Banjul, on behalf of Government Spokesperson,

………………………………………………………
Mr. Ebrima SIllah
Hon. Minister of Information and Communications Infrastructure.

Press Release

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad wishes to inform the general public that the Republic of The Gambia on Tuesday, October 9, 2018 established diplomatic relations with Armenia.

The relations were established during a meeting between Honorable Mamadou Tangara, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad and H.E Mr Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia on the sidelines of the 35^thMinisterial conference of Francophonie.

The two Ministers of Foreign Affairs expressed confidence that the new relations will foster bilateral cooperation.

Alieu Darboe, the UDP Brikama Kembujeh Ward councilor, has confirmed to The Standard that he received a call from Bolong Sanneh, the regional secretary of UDP in West Coast to go to one Lamin Cham at State House to be given money.
“I told him I don’t need that salary, because I have no clue where it comes from or for what work,” the former newspaper reporter said.

Asked if he knew any other councillor who may have been called to receive money given by the president, Darboe replied, “I can only talk about myself. I just want to clarify to all UDP members that whether personally, or in my capacity as the deputy campaign manager of the UDP in the West Coast Region, I did not receive any money from Lamin Cham.”

According to Darboe, “it is disappointing that bribery and corruption which Gambians fought against and condemned under Jammeh is rearing its ugly head under the Barrow administration too”.

By standard Newspaper

The Minister of Justice is hereby reminded that even though Gambia’s Supreme Court had ruled that the law on false news is constitutional the ECOWAS Community Court to which the Gambia is a party had however ruled that those laws in the Gambia violate citizens right to freedom of expression. Furthermore, I totally disagree with the Supreme Court that false news is constitutional. It is not!

The Gambia Constitution under Section 25 does not in any way anticipate any restriction to freedom of expression as it relates to false news. While the Constitution provides for limitation to this right it is clear in the Constitution that such restriction has to be backed by a just law, and to serve a legitimate purpose and to be necessary in a democratic society.

Hence the false news provision in the Criminal Code is utterly undemocratic and does not serve any legitimate purpose. This is because this law itself was created in 1939 by the colonialists purposely to deny Gambians to freely express themselves especially against colonialism. This is why the law describes false news as any information published that is ‘likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace’.

This provision is, first of all vague and misleading, because it makes no distinction between opinion and fact. For example, I can say that the Barrow Government is useless or that the Barrow Government is efficient. This simple statement, looked at either way, may cause discomfort to someone who supports or dislikes the government respectively. But this state is my opinion and does not in anyway lead to fear or alarm or undermine peace.

But what makes this law dangerous is that it gives power to Government to determine if my opinion indeed causes fear or alarm or disturbs the peace. In that case if the Government does not like my opinion they can claim it to be false news. Hence this law is unfair and unjust because it places a citizen and her opinion at the mercy of a public officer to decide. What this means is that Government has now become the determinant of what opinion can be expressed and what opinion cannot be expressed. This means criminalizing opinion.

From the perspective of democracy this law is therefore the foundation of dictatorship. In democracy, especially in a republic, the Government is the product of the opinion of citizens. This is why we vote. Everyone votes based on your opinion that Party A or B or Candidate A or B appeals to you. Hence when we criminalize opinion then it means we will have a Government that is not based on our opinion. Then the question is, where is that Government from?

The colonialists never wanted Gambians to create their own government because that would mean independence where the sovereignty of our citizens lies in our people. Consequently, the colonialists created the ‘offense of false news’ in 1939 so that they can impose their government on us. They never cared what opinion Gambians had and certainly they never tolerated any opinion that opposed colonialism.

When we gained Independence, we had a constitution that recognises that the sovereignty of the Gambia resides in the people of the Gambia and that the Government derives its authority and legitimacy from the people. It went further to state that the Government functions in our name and for our welfare. This means therefore that the Gambia Government is the opinion of Gambian citizens. How therefore can the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice, both of who derive their authority from the people, now claim that the opinion of those people is unlawful and criminal?

What is more disappointing about the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice is that both of them very well know that this was the very law that the Despot Yaya Jammeh and his regime had used to deny Gambians to express themselves. It was precisely because of the criminalization of opinion that Gambians were not able to scrutinize Yaya Jammeh and hold his regime to account. This was because if a citizen had said that Yaya Jammeh was corrupt publicly immediately that citizen would be arrested and subjected to torture or enforced disappearance or execution.

How therefore can Minister Tambadou have the temerity to face Gambians to proudly declare that this Government, which is the product of our opinion, will enforce false news provisions in the Criminal Code? Who determines what opinion causes fear or alarm or disturb the peace? If citizens cannot speak their opinion, true or false, how can we hold the Government to account? Have we not seen uncountable incidents of corruption, patronage, inefficiency and indiscipline permeating the length and breadth of the Government of Adama Barrow? Has the Minister of Justice sought any ways to address these direct threats to peace and stability of the Gambia?

False news is unconstitutional, undemocratic and tyrannical. It is a shame that any government, more so a government that is coming after a dictatorship such as the Barrow Government would contemplate even in the slightest way of enforcing this obnoxious law. Our expectation was that this law should have been removed out of books since one year ago. This is because it was Barrow himself who said in his Manifesto that within his first six months in office, he would remove all laws that infringe on democracy, human rights and popular participation. It is now 18 months, and nothing has happened only for that Government to now threaten citizens with those very draconian laws it promised to abolish!

Gambians have a right to express their opinion about the Barrow Government and this opinion can be true or false. If the Government feels an opinion expressed by a citizen is wrong let the Government issue a counter statement and set the records straight. If two citizens defame each other let them go to court which is not government’s business. But citizens have right to express their opinion about the government as they see fit.

Let me remind the Minster of Justice that if there is anyone perpetuating false news in the country it is the Barrow Government itself. Consistently the Barrow Government has been lying and misleading Gambians on fundamental issues without shame. Therefore, let the Minster of Justice address the false news coming out of the Barrow Government than to seek to silence citizens. This is my opinion and it cannot cause fear or alarm or damage the peace.

Enough of Dictatorship!

For the Gambia Our Homeland!

Alagi Yorro Jallow

Mamudu:  One of the tragedies of life is that men seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and saying. A persistent schizophrenia leaves so many of us tragically divided against ourselves. On the one hand, we proudly profess certain sublime and noble principles, but on the other hand, we sadly practice the very antithesis of these principles. How often are our lives characterized by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds! We talk eloquently about our commitment to the principles of patriotism, and yet our lives are saturated with the practices of treasonable acts. We proclaim our devotion to democracy, but we sadly practice the very opposite of the democratic creed. We talk passionately about peace, and at the same time we assiduously prepare for war. We make our fervent pleas for the high road of justice, and then we tread unflinchingly the low road of injustice. This strange dichotomy, this agonizing gulf between the ought and the is, represents the tragic theme of man’s earthly pilgrimage.

Mamudu: President Barrow and his political operatives in government and alike have managed to break down the people’s individuality. An individual can’t think for himself or herself. The only thing that is possible is “group think”. If our leader says run, you run. If he takes cover, we take cover. If he says about turn, we turn. We can’t say the word “dictator”. We are afraid. ‘You need to be ignorant to accept lies the State offers.

Mamudu: In one of my class lectures to my students, entitled “Our dignity is priceless,” I told those young undergraduate students this: your innocence, integrity, dreams, potential and dignity are things that what older political folks admire, because the older people lost them a long time ago. When our older people (politicians) buy your vote, or do worse to you, it’s because they realize you have character, which the power and money they the older politicians’ ones cannot buy. Mamudu: Our National Assembly members have stolen this precious commodity – reputation, and the possibility of legacy – from political prostitution. Our National Assembly members accepted gift of cash and cars from corrupt political operatives. Now their reputation has taken a hit by accepting a gift.  But in politics, sincerity isn’t enough. In politics, the road to hell is even more paved with good intentions.

And this is a life and death issue. It is truly tragic when young Gambian men who make a mark by being selfless, serving justice, and working hard against the odds, go on to receive handouts from, corrupt political hacks of the political class. And these older politicians are nothing compared to the young men; the older men have been selfish, they have wallowed in impunity, and stolen public resources, rather than sweated and toiled like real men. And when these great young men hang around these old dogs, they surely get fleas. Their innocence is selfishly absorbed by the old guard, and their potential to be even greater men than they already are is stunted before it completely matures. It is truly, truly sad. It is a great tragedy.

Mamudu: We want a Gambia of upright men in all ways, as Thomas Sankara wanted for his country when he renamed his country, Burkina Faso. We want a different breed of Gambian men, but every time they start to rise, they get burdened with the sins of the elders. For now, until our hearts get broken again by the next young Gambian man who gives away so much of what he accomplished for so hopelessly little, I will remember the words of Ossie Davis about the great Malcolm X: “Malcolm X, even when he was wrong, was the rarest thing in the world among us Negroes: a true man.” The Gambia needs true men in leadership, and this goal is proving harder to   reach than we thought.

Just few days ago, I had a roundtable discussion with some of my colleagues from our political economy class. They all came from different backgrounds — representing different countries which encompasses of: Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. The nascent question that was been raised, but worthwhile to explore was the failure of African leadership. And what is the way forward for the continent? How a continent so vast with resources, yet, the most under-developed. Why our leaders in Africa are not rational, or perhaps, value instrumental to deliver the public goods?

To conceptualize this as in the context of Gambian experience — under the leadership of president Barrow. Quite dissapointenly, the standard of our expectation since Barrow’s reign is subpar. To learned that he inherited a fragile system, to learned that the state of our economy was deplorable according to his numerous revealations, to learned that it will take a fiscal discipline to revatalize the structural imabalancies of the country’s lingering debt, were all, indeed, insightful details to learn. But it is a promise that never was, however.

Given the historical narrative, Gambia is suppose to be that poster Child, as a relevant case study. In context where Gambia will be seen as a success story from authoritarian medieval to a self-imposing democracy. Insofar, almost 2 years in office, the president of The Gambia has thus far betrayed that Promise. In my capacity as a public citizen, the president is inept to lead, for, he doesn’t have the tenacity and the political curiosity to enhance change.

A vivid illustration of this can be seen when the president launched his own foundation for what is portrayed to be an inclusive development for change. The public outcry calls for its abeyance — understanding that it is not the direction the country needs to go. Barrow is doing exactly what his predecessor has done against the will of the country. We all became victims of Jammeh’s financial mismanagement. With grave dismay to some extent, we learned how funds from a dollar bank account in the name of Jammeh’s foundation for peace, flowned to Jammeh himself. Coinciding what transpired, it has been revealed just recently,  a transfer of almost 33 million Dalasis been funnelled to the president wife’s account from one Chinese firm. Very alarming, daunting, and shameful, indeed.

Essentially, the most recent revealation of the president giving handouts, for what is alleged to be 10 thousand dalasis to lawmakers, — a term widely referred to “Clientelism” in political domain. Given money to lawmakers is a voter influence. Not only Barrow is corrupt, but all indications attest to self-empowerment, and cementing himself to power.

For all the subsequent decades under the totalitarian rule, it occurs to me Barrow doesn’t have the leadership aspiration to correct all the wrong doings for the betterment of the country. While I might not go as far as expressing that the president is no different from his predecessor; but in the words of Halifa Sallah, ” there is no system change.” There is a tendency in African leadership to view corruption as a normal phenomena.

After all, the power belongs to us. Our fighting spirit that uprooted Jammeh’s authoritarian rule, hopefully, will not be nullify by president Barrow. For what I learned, president Barrow doesn’t have the political tenacity to carry on reforms, that will cement and restore our hopes, toward — the more progressive society.

– Ebrima/Sailou

Ohio University

Gambia’s Electoral Commission has ordered all registered political parties in the country to hold a biannual congress before December 31.

The country’s electoral body has compulsory laws for political parties to hold congress every two years, to determine which of them is active.

“We have given deadlines to all political parties to hold biannual congress before 31 December 2018,” IEC chairman, Alieu Momarr Njai said.

Chairman Njai told The Fatu Network that the electoral laws have it that all political parties must hold biannual Congress.

“We want to know who the executives are, whether they are active. We want to know when and where they are holding the Congress so that we can observe it,” he said.

He added, “We want to observe because we don’t want it to be a handful of people just for the sake of having Congress.”

There are measures to be taken against those who fail to comply as stipulated in the country’s electoral laws.

The Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Alieu Momarr Njai has said that the country would move from marbles to paper ballots by next elections.

Chairman Njai who was speaking to The Fatu Network at the Elections House, said the cost of one ballot drum is far more expensive than the nomination fees for ward councillors.

“Can you imagine, the amount of money spent on ballot drums, paints, seals and counting trays every elections”? IEC Chairman Njai asked

He added, “It is very expensive and it’s a nightmare.”

When asked about the readiness to move to paper ballots considering the country’s illiteracy rate, he said the literacy rate was far lower in the 1950s than now.

“We are not developed or underdeveloped to use the paper system,” he said.

The IEC Chairman further stated that the countries using paper ballots sometimes conduct five elections in the same day, which he said should be emulated in the Gambia by combining Mayoral, Chairpersons and Councillors elections all on the same day.

“The paper ballot is more transparent than the ballot drum”

As part of the electoral reforms, plans are underway to reconcile the Electoral Act, Local Government Act and the Constitutional Provisions.

“We disenfranchised the diaspora even though they have the constitutional rights but could not exercise because the former president knew most of them would not vote for him,” he added.

Chairman Njai also spoke about the challenges of voter apathy which they would need resources for to embark on sensitization campaigns.

“We want to make sure there is supplementary registration as well as transfers and deletions every year”

Njai called on the IPC to convince female candidates to contest on winnable positions because they formed the majority but very few of them are placed at decision making positions.

Meanwhile, he reiterated the mantra of free, fair and transparent elections. He called for peace to prevail in the country.

Justice Minister, Abubacarr Tambadou has told journalists on Tuesday at his office that the publication of false news is still a criminal offence in The Gambia. Tambadou was speaking at a press conference where he shared with the media developments taking palce at his ministry..Here is the full statement on the publication of false news..

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Finally, allow me to say a few words in closing. Recently, we have noticed a worrisome trend in the country and this must be addressed. While we want to encourage a culture of tolerance and the freedom of expression like in any democracy, this must not be equated with chaos or be used as an opportunity to tarnish the reputation of or smear innocent people.

The tendency is that once an allegation is made against someone, many people rush to judgment and condemn them even when there is no evidence to support the allegation. We cannot accuse, try, and condemn people all in one scoop. It amounts to mob justice. Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence until they are found otherwise by law.

Let me also take this opportunity to remind everyone that the publication of false news is still a criminal offence in this country as upheld recently by the Supreme Court and we will not hesitate to apply the law. I therefore encourage everyone to exercise and enjoy their right to freedom of expression without committing a crime because if they do, they will be held accountable. We must not push the boundaries of our new found freedoms to irresponsible or unacceptable limits, because when we do, we hurt others and their families in the process. The law is here to protect everyone including the accuser and the accused.

Now I know that when I make this comment, your minds are running at a thousand miles an hour towards the most recent events so allow me to also clarify that my comments are not intended to address any specific events as there has been too many such events in the country recently.