Professor Paulo Andrade, a Brazilian Scientist has said that the Gambia should adopt agricultural biotechnology to ensure food security in the country.

Professor Andrade was speaking at the Biotech Conference funded by the United States Office of Agricultural Policy. The Conference was held at the University Auditorium Brikama Campus.

“The Agricultural Biotechnology ensures food security in the world,” Professor Andrade told participants.

The Brazilian Agricultural Scientist said biotechnology is a contributing factor to food security, sustainability and climate change amongst others.

“It helps small farmers that makes food affordable to everyone,” he said.

He named the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Canada and India as the biggest Biotech crop growing countries in the world. He added that 67 countries have adopted Biotech crops since 1996.

“Agriculture is a good way of developing a country”

Professor Andrade has downplayed critics of biotechnology as fear mongers, saying possible risks could be manage through assessment mechanisms.

Bakary Trawally, former Permanent Secretary of Agriculture has a different thought saying that the Gambia is not fully prepare for the biotechnology which is beyond the local standard. He recommends tissue culture.

“There is great potential of tissue culture in The Gambia,” Mr Tarawally said.

Bubacarr Jallow, Head of Education The Gambia College also added his voice to encourage indigenousness of Agriculture. He commended the expert analysis of Professor Andrade.

Meanwhile, he called on the US Embassy to continue the support.

I have read with some disappointment the press release from the government spokesperson Mr. Ebrima Sankareh responding to the leaked audios between Yahya Jammeh and his lieutenants in the country. In that statement, he attacked the APRC in the strongest terms and hinted that your government will not allow such to continue.

If this was on your behalf (which it should be for otherwise wouldn’t he be operating outside the parameters of his mandate?). If that is the case, then I have to say that it is a waste of time and that you should look at the bigger picture and focus on (re)building our country. There are a lot of things that need your attention and thus, you should not belabor the point of the natural demise of the APRC party. It is like beating a dead horse.

I mean, it seems that Yahya Jammeh and his people have managed to control the narrative for far too long in the Gambia. When he was here as president, we talked about him constantly; we defenestrated him, and he still manages to control what we say daily. No conversation is complete without mentioning Yahya Jammeh. Why is it so important for us to constantly keep talking about a former president?

As president, you cannot respond to each and everything said in (and about) the Gambia. Certain comments are not worth responding to. If I were to advise you, I would say that those leaked audios should be ignored; for, nothing said there threatens the current status quo and as such, it should have been given the deaf ear,so the citizens will not focus on it but will rather keep working for the betterment of the nation.

As is observable, the bee is high in the hills or the trees, minding not what is happening on the ground and that is why it produces one of the most useful liquids known to man – honey. It is high up there so that no one can touch it and it only focuses on its work of preparing honey which benefits humankind. This does not mean that you should be aloof and oblivious of people’s opinions but responding to everything will seem petty.

Besides, your recent reported meetings with the APRC leadership and your interaction with some of their ‘fallen heroes’does not send a good signal to the masses who fought so hard to effect the change that benefitted you and all Gambians. No one is saying that they should not be allowed to participate in the development of the nation; but, it certainly should not be in our government which they did everything to prevent from coming to power even after it became clear that the Gambian people had given you the mandate to rule.

One can understand if you want to be inclusive, but it does not have to be in key areas which we should use to rebuild the country and reform institutions necessary for the nurturing of our nascent democracy. How can there be reform when the ones who corrupted the institutions are still running them? It is high time you made your position on this issue clear. At present, you are sending conflicting signals.

We are watching!

Have a Good Day Mr President…

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

Alagi Yorro Jallow

They say that it takes a village to raise a child. But to raise a dictator and groom him for more than two decades in national leadership? That takes a whole nation. It takes a whole nation to remember, but also a whole nation to forget. The struggle over memory is far from over. We continue to decide what to remember and what to forget. But we must remember that what constitutes our national collective responsibility reveals who and what we are as a nation. Let the dead bury the dead, and the living move on with life. As Dwight D. Eisenhower said: “The history of free men is never written by chance, but by choice – their choice.” Those meant to uphold the values of life and liberty cannot remain silent over atrocity and injustice. We have become a nation of lambs led to the slaughter but must utter no word, silence, under Yahya Jammeh for 22 years. We were cowards, hypocrites and wronged because our ability to tolerate barbarity and tyranny was stretched to its limits.

“He who doesn’t know where he came from doesn’t know where is going,” says an African proverb. The Gambian intellectual community are lost; they don’t know where they are going. I shook my head when I read “It’s a patriotic duty to serve your country.” Serving a tyrant. It seems they are way behind the curve, late to the struggle for democracy and good governance in the Gambia and are only playing “catch-up” with proposed conferences, “belly politics” and the lure for ministerial and diplomatic positions. What is strange in the Gambia is those who have usurped the role of identifying themselves as intellectuals negotiating for dominance in the public space. The nature and role of intellectuals include searching for the truth, interrogating the meaning and knowing the implications of both public conduct and policy decisions.

Afflicted with “intellectual astigmatism,” our intellectuals cannot see with eagle-eyed clarity the injustices perpetrated against the oppressed by the dictator. But they are hopelessly blind to the equally heinous injustices committed by the dictator against their own people. Too many of them sold off their integrity, principles and conscience to serve the dictates of barbarous Yahya Jammeh. He seemed to always find intellectuals and sycophants to serve at his beck and call.

Some of them even preferred military to civilian rule.
When Yahya shamelessly pretended to return the country to civilian rule, religious leaders,Yai Compins, Youth leaders, community leaders and intellectuals began to point to the fact that military rule was the preferred option since civilians had not learned enough lessons to be entrusted with the governance of the country. Those people are called pseudo- intellectuals, individuals who take on the guise of the intellectual to promote embedded political tribalism.
Our faith in our nation is badly shaken.

Our faith in the sincerity of the Gambian people to protect our diversity in a secular nation has been called to question over and over. Our optimism in our constitutional republic is like the proverbial frog boiled gradually to death in a pot of warm water. The willingness of the people to obey unjust laws exposes them. Their ability to perpetuate the mass murder of the Gambian people, burying them in unmarked graves or feeding their carcasses to the crocodiles, speaks volumes of reckless brutality.

Every citizen at every level should have spoken and denounced the illegality of a coup and the continued suppression of our human dignity and humanity to reassure the Gambia that is worthy of our sweat, blood and sacrifice. Every Gambian should have broken the long silence and prolonged spilling of innocent blood under Yahya Jammeh in the name of “solders with a difference” that came with a heavy price to our country. Our country is no more sacred that the blood of our children.

The systematic humiliation, enslavement, subjugation and complete annihilation of a “lesser people” to allow for the forced acquisition of our land for whatever purposes – religious and tribal dominance and conquest – should be halted. Most Gambians remain silenced and continue to enable Yahya Jammeh in his thievery of our resources and killing of the people with impunity. Most Gambians, especially the police, the military and educated civilians who covertly sold their souls to the dictator, justified serving the tyrant in exchange of economic development toward civil liberty. Civilian intellectuals who commissioned, armed and appointed state ministers are just like the so-called Green Boys by doing these dirty jobs for the dictator; they must be brought to justice.

Those silenced when Koro Ceesay and journalist Deyad Hydara were killed as well as during the arson attack on the Independent newspaper, the torching of Radio One FM and the closure of Citizen FM radio are today the very social media fame whores who seek attention just for attention’s sake. They are those who flood our Facebook feeds just to feed their ego. They post, repost, share, reshare and comment because there is a need to, now more than ever. How can we – you – be silent when the voices of malicious misinformation and populist historical revisionism have grown louder each passing day over 22 years.

“Silence is golden” is a proverbial saying, often used in circumstances where it is thought that saying nothing is preferable to speaking. Who is fooling who? I am usually defiantly optimistic when I think of the Gambia, but even that has not been spared “change.” When Yahya Jammeh detained the opposition leaders and held them incommunicado at the notorious Mile Two Central Prisons, seizing their liberty, we all remained silenced. Yahya continued to kill politicians and, despite several court orders, expose our collective weakness of silence and complicity.

The progressive extrajudicial extermination of the Gambia exposes our silence and complicity. The willingness of our people to accept and condone injustice is not the attribute of a great nation and cannot be expected to last forever. Self-defense and self-determination are fundamental and inalienable human rights and legitimate options which the Gambian people and indeed all citizens should have pushed to consider.

Counsel and bitter truth are worth their weight in gold. So, those who love this country, like the Gambian people, should not have remained silent for 22 years. When those sworn to defend us are perceived to be complicit with murderers, they keep silent or rein in our rage forever, especially those in the police, in the military, the youth and our intellectuals, who are prostitutes of the highest order.

Many “untainted” political leaders and other journalists who were outspoken and challenged the dictator are detribalized, personable and humane. They have never remained silent; they broke their silence and joined great Gambians such as Halipha Sallah and his party, Ousainou Darboe and his party, Hamat Bah and Omar Amadou Jallow – those military people who resisted on November 11, 1994 – and some members of the private press to speak for restraint and challenge the dictator. They paid a heavy price but were never silent to the horror show of dictatorship.

The assumption that all military coups fit within this traditional, antidemocratic model pervades the legal literature of illegal and treasonable. According to the prevailing view, a democratic military coup is an oxymoron. For example, Richard Albert’s recent work on democratic revolutions states that “by definition, a coup cannot be democratic.” Military coups, according to Professor Albert, constitute “an affront to the democratic ideals of stability, consent, and legitimacy.” Andrew Janos likewise, has argued that a coup d’état “is the reversal hood’s or anybody else of the process of revolution.”

Other examples of this academic view abound. Federal law in the United States reflects the same disdain for military coups by prohibiting, with certain exceptions, any financial assistance “to the government of any country whose duly elected head of government is deposed by military coup or decree.” The European Union made a similar commitment in 1991. Opposition political parties and some independent journalists never recognized the July 22 Revolution, but a section of civil society associations and groups all joined with their families and supported the bandwagon of the July 22 Revolution. Those supporters are the very people now distancing themselves from the dictator’s movement.

According to the proverbial saying, “you cannot divorce your husband and reclaim your virginity.” The July 22 Revolution has been illegal since day one. Why has it taken that long for the journalist, the police officer, the military officer and the fly-by-night activists who enabled the dictator and worked with the dictator to not question the illegality of the July 22 Revolution. Yet, our drama kings and queens of social media – those who lose their manhood and fertility for two decades – now become an apostle of democracy and constitutional governance. Therefore, it’s collectively profitable to stand up and speak out for a good cause.

Silence may be golden, but not in the face of oppression and tyranny. According to Professor Wole Soyinka, “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” Bishop Desmond Tutu also accents that, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

The last time I checked, the Barrow led administration is a transitional government which main preoccupation is to make sure good institutions; that will address the rules and norms that will shape the public sector for a better Gambia, are created. It is on record that citizens were given bogus promises, including but not limited to, the reduction of rice from the current price to an affordable D500, increase of salaries, procession of jobs for young people, better health care among many others. Surprisingly enough, implementing these ambitious promises appears too farfetched.

The Gambia’s Public institutions such as the Police, Military and the Judiciary, that all served as stooges under Jammeh’s 22 years brutal rule, by oppressing their own people, should be rigorously reformed by the Barrow led administration, in order to rid the ‘bad cows’ off the system and bring about democracy and good governance, as we transit to democracy. Institutional reform as component of transitional justice is vigorous, it aims at acknowledging victims as citizens and holders of rights and to build trust between all citizens and their public institutions.

Institutional reform again, is not only a process of reviewing and restructuring state institutions so they respect human rights, it also preserve the rule of law and ensure, politicians especially, are accountable to their constituents. By incorporating a transitional justice element in our democratic transition, reform efforts can both provide accountability for individual perpetrators and disable the structures that allowed usurpation of power. (Phochan, 2015)

Furthermore, the University of The Gambia and the Gambia College, are in urgent need of learning materials. The lecture rooms in which lecturers and the students use, are not very conducive, they find it difficult to cope with the situation. However, if we want to have better educational system where students learn to develop themselves and strive hard to learn the values of life, we must focus our energy and resources on the university where it all began.

It is evident that; events of theft are on the rise in the new Gambia. Thieves get chances of stealing in the darkness and on a broad daylight, in one word, indiscriminately, because of the power shortage by NAWEC well as the fragile security situation. So brought about that kind of fear among people in The Gambia. I remember the president promised us of tightened security. Barely a month on, all I hear is one kind of killing, robbery and rape or the other.

The Gambia Health Sector is in serious crisis as a result of inadequate medical facilities and human resources. The mere fact that; the health care system is based on donor funds, has made people dying unnecessarily, whenever donor funds are unavailable when they are needed the most.

Of recent, President Barrow announced in his meet the People tour, that his administration will build a bridge across the mouth of the River Gambia between Banjul and Barra. Bridges, have no doubt proven themselves to be very useful to mankind.

However, there are many disadvantages to bridges, especially on our environment. Besides, the pollution of our waters by chemical waste from vehicles can contaminate the water via precipitation.  The construction of bridges alone, can drastically change the environment and impose serious health issues.

Furthermore, it is unrealistic and a misplaced priority to come up with the idea of constructing a bridge in the face of mounting challenges that continue to stall our growth and national development. The President is fully aware of these and knows that, they actually require swift attention than bridge he is talking about.

Saidina Alieu Jarjou

Blogger/Political Activist

Speaking at at Ngain Sanjal on Day Three of his nationwide tour, President Barrow called on Gambians to be law abiding and have respect for the law enforcement agencies.

The police, he says, play an important role in maintaining peace and order. He therefore advocates for people to respect the police.

He cites instances where people would attempt to obstruct the police while doing their work.

This, according to him, is not what democracy calls for.
People, he said, were arrested and prisoned [such as Lawyer Darboe and Hamat Bah] and in some instances some disappeared in the past government but people never protested.

But in this new dispensation, Barrow says, people are now in the habit of protesting without even following the due process of securing a permit.

The same power the past government had under Jammeh is the same powers his government has, he told Gambians. But his government, he told the meeting, will not abuse that powers by acting in manners outside the law as it used to be.
To journalists, Barrow advise them to be objective in their reporting.

He accused some journalists of being induced by some individuals to report negative news about other people.
He claims that some journalists have even asked him to pay them to be reporting only positive stories about him.
He vows not to give money to any journalist (s) to report good things about him.

On agriculture, he said, the sector is very important for the self independence of any country.

The Gambia, he told the Ngain Sanjal Meeting, is blessed with the land to produce rice more than any other country, but the country continues to depend highly on imported rice.
He calls for attitudinal change for the development of the country.

Here, locals lamented water, electricity, roads, farming equipment and fertilizer as the key things affecting them. They also appealed for  Skills Training Centres in the area to reduct the number of young people leaving for the Greater Banjul Area.

In respond, he promised that the government will address the concerns raised with the implementation of the 2018-2021 National Development Plan.

Momodou Badjie, President Barrow’s National Security Adviser has said that plans are underway to draft the national security policy to serve as a guideline for the sector.

Badjie, a former Deputy Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) told journalists that the basis of the Security Sector Reform is to transform the security sector into an effective, transparent, accountable and a civil authority institute. He adduced that the security sector in the past regime suffered due to an authoritarian rule.

“The security sector was not adhering to the core principles of the profession,” Security Adviser Badjie said.

The retired military chief made these statements at the mainstream gender training of the security sector at the Joint Officers Mess in Kotu.

“Gender equity is a target in the security reform agenda,” he added.

Badjie highlighted the nationwide assessments that revealed malfunctions, inadequate trainings, lack of transparency and gender bias amongst others in the country’s security sector. He added that the recommendations would stand as guidelines for the security sector reform.

“We are training the security on gender responsiveness”

PRESS RELEASE

Following his recent appointment and after taking the prescribed oath of office as the Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, on behalf of the Central Committee and the entire membership, and sympathisers of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and on my own behalf as the Party National President, I feel highly honoured to most humbly and sincerely congratulate H.E A.N.M Ousainou Darboe the Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia and the Leader and Secretary General of UDP for the new post and to profusely thank  H.E Adama Barrow President of The Republic of The Gambia for the trust and confidence he has bestowed on our party leader.

United Democratic Party since 1996 under his wise and able leadership, remains a vibrant and dedicated political party committed to the principles of democracy and rule of law in the strive to attain the new Gambia that we all cherish. UDP played an important role in the struggle to end the tyranny and dictatorship that characterised the former regime. The Fass standoff in 2015 and the 16th April 2016 peaceful demonstration by the UDP leaderships, clearly signalled the party’s total determination to end the two decades of oppression and suppression in the country come December 2016 Presidential Elections.

For the purpose of clarity, prior to his arrest and imprisonment, the Secretary General and Leader of UDP took a leading role in reactivating the Gambia Oppositions for Electoral Reforms (GOFER) and served as chairman. The group that later formed a coalition of seven opposition parties plus an Independent Presidential Aspirant and defeated the former ruling party in the 1st December 2016 poll whilst he Darboe was in prison. The rest of the UDP Executive members who stayed behind on April 16, acted as instructed by the leader to continue the struggle in the event anything happened to them. UDP as a party stood firm in solidarity with Darboe and co during the trial until their conviction and sentence before taking the political front to ensure the change of government and their release.

After consultation with my humble self, Hon. Halifa Sallah the Secretary General and Leader of PDOIS, convened a Conference of Presidential Candidates at Kairaba Beach Hotel to map out the strategies to select a single opposition candidate which involved only presidential candidates or their representatives. At its second meeting, a conference of GOFER was proposed and agreed to and also for the opposition parties that were non-GOFER members to be included as well. Two civil society organisations and two Independent National Assembly Members who were also in the struggle to unite the opposition parties were also invited to be part of the conference upon their requests. Henceforth, the third meeting comprised GOFER and the team of the Independent Aspirant Dr. Isatou Touray plus two civil society groups (The Concerned Citizens led by Madame Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang and the Inter-Party Committee for Opposition Unification led by Kebba Singhateh) and Hon. Buba Aye Sanneh and Hon. Muhammed Magassey. I was unanimously chosen as the Chairman in the absence of Ousainou Darboe. At our subsequent meeting I proposed that Madame Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang assist me as Co-Chair which was accepted. As the parties could not come to terms on a single candidate but decided to go for convention, I proposed that Madame Tambajang preside over the convention and the meetings there after as Chairperson. However, I remain as Co-Chair.

To conclude, I thank each and every political party, group or individuals for their efforts in effecting the change and the services they have rendered to the government of President Adama Barrow in one way or the other. I wish H.E Vice President Darboe good health, long life and success in his new office. I pray for H.E President Barrow long life, good health and for Almighty Allah to grant him wisdom and guidance to govern this country.

……………………………………………………

Hon. Dembo Bojang

National President UDP

President Barrow says politics is over until 2021, as he addresses a meeting in Farafenni on Tuesday night.

Barrow has kept repeating this statement in all his meetings.
Many say Barrow is using the tour to respond to those wondering whether he will step down or not at the end of Coalition-agreed three years.

Barrow also uses his meeting to commend members of media for the good work. He recalled in the past when journalists were merely arrested for covering such meetings.
This, he says, was as result of the lack of transparency of the former government.

“We are open to the media because we have nothing to hide from the Gambians.”

The media, he says, is catered for in the National Development Plan.

“All the laws that were put in place to restrict the journalists will be remove,” Barrow said.

Barrow, who claimed not to be on a political tour promises more development projects to advance the development of the provincial town.

Farafenni hosts many Senegalese. He therefore thanked President Macky Sall and Government for the support to providing uninterrupted power supply in Farafenni. This, he says, shows the unity between the two country. “Macky Sall was there for the country when it was tough. He contributed in having the Ecomig forces here.”

President Barrow also thanked all the ECOWAS Heads of States for joining efforts to have the ECOMIG Force.
He used the meeting to share with people the National Development Plan.

“It was was this Plan that we took to Brussels where we received a pledge of US$1.7B. Once the money comes into the country, even the cats will know about it.”

Barrow hit at the former President, Yahya Jammeh who had promised to transform the country into Dubai and Saudi Arabia. “I am not here to give you deceiving statements.”

“Whoever comes here, tell him or her that President Barrow says “Politics is over, you can join him at State House and work together for the development of the country””

Speaking earlier on, Alhaji Mustapha Dibba of Farafenni thanked the President for the uninterrupted power supply. However, he appeals for water and electricity for the communities that are without, especially border settlement of Kerr Ali and surrounding settlements.

He informs the President that the Farafenni Police is without mobility. Dibba also appeals for a milling machine and a tractor for the Nerica Rice Growers Association in Farafenni.
Staff quarters for custom officers at the border, Dibba says, is a need for officers.

On behalf of the women of Farafenni, Fatou Ceesay appeals for a market. The existing Farafenni Market is very small and cannot accommodate all the women. “We want the government to empower us.”

Malick Samba says rice is the staple food in the country. He urges President Barrow to reduce the price of rice to the affordability of everyone.

Sheikh Tijan Camara, a key witness in the Solo Sandeng murder trial said the late opposition youth leader was buried with a mattress at the NIA Training Camp at Tanji.

Camara, an NIA Agent identified the grave to the court where Sandeng’s body was allegedly buried after he was tortured to death in custody. He adduced that the body was buried in his presence.

“Solo Sandeng was
buried with a mattress,” Sheikh Tijan said.

“The body was lowered by Lamin Darboe, Babucarr Sallah and Lamin Lang Sanyang,” he added.

The NIA witness said the former Director of Operations, Sheikh Omar Jeng was present when the body of Solo Sandeng was buried. He identified the grave at the far right corner of the camp beside a cashew tree.

“I’m under oath as nothing is between the heavens and earth to lie against my former authorities or conceal the death of Solo Sandeng,” Camara said.

The witness further revealed that Lamin Lang Sanyang, the NIA Medic was the one who allegedly distributed white hand gloves to the officials that buried the body of Solo Sandeng.

Meanwhile, Dawda Ndure also gave evidence on the secret burial at the NIA Training Camp at Tanji.

President Barrow continues his tour with meetings in Baddibu Kerewan, Noo Kunda, Njaba Kunda and Farafenni on Day Two of his ongoing tour. President Barrow informs the locals that the dark days of The Gambia where everything was around one person is over.

Speaking at his first meeting In Kerewan on Day Two of his nationwide tour, Barrow thanked the people of Kerewan for standing by him from pre-election to now. The people of Kerewan, he says, stood by him to effect the change people are enjoying now.

He reminded the crowd at a late night meeting he had in Kerewan during his campaign which was equally well attended by the residents. Things, he says, look promising for the country in terms of development projects that will significantly transforms the lives of Gambians.

Barrow used his meeting to hit back at his critics, who describe him as unfit to rule the country due to his silence on certain issues. He says he is not a leader who beliefs in lot of talks, but action, he said, is what Gambians need from a leader. He described those people as narrow-minded people. Gambia after 22 years of what he calls living under a dictator, needs a focused leader who has direction and plans.

Regarding the concerns raised by the locals, Barrow says the 2018-2021 National Development Plan covers all the key sectors for a prosperous country. “My government will not forget the people of Kerewa in our development agenda,” President Barrow pledges. Kerewan is the administrative headquarters of NBR, but not much is happening there, as even the President sleeps in Farafenni when on tour.

Barrow says he was embarrassed by this and promised to spend the night in Kerewan in his next tour. Also speaking at Medina Serign Mass on his first day of the tour on Monday, President Barrow reassures his commitment to the development of the country. The days of unlawful arrest and detention are over, saying The Gambia will be a country where human rights are respected. Here, the people also appealed for electricity, water and the need for the construction of the road linking the village to Bangali on the main highway linking Barra and Kerewan.

Bai Lamin Jobe, Minister of Works informed the people of Kerewan that the road between Kerewan and Njawara will be constructed.

Dr. Isatou Touray says the problems raised regarding the Kerewan Health Centre are going to be given due consideration. The health sector, according to the new health minister, is high on the government’s agenda. She admitted that there are lack of enough well-trained medical personnel, drugs and enough facilities.

Agriculture Minister Lamin Dibba said the government will ensure timely supply of fertilizer at an affordable price to farmers. However, he warned against reselling the fertilizer at an unaffordable price.

Speaker after speaker including Hon Alhagie Jawara of Lower Baddibu, Chief Fabala Kinteh, Women Representative Fatou Jammeh and Samboujang Conteh, all used the meeting to bring to the President’s attention to some of the problems confronting the people. Among them were poor road networks, poor state of the Kerewan Health centre and the needs to refurbish the Governor’s office and resident.

The man behind Julakay Company, Ansumana Marenah known as “Julakay” has appeared before the Commission of Inquiry probing into Faraba Bantan incident at The Atlantic Hotel in Banjul.

The Faraba incident has caused the death of three youths leaving several others injured.

Julakay who testified in Mandinka said he first acquired a Mining License in 2007 from the Geology Department with approval from the National Environmental Agency. He added that her later renewed the license in 2017, following the advise of the former Secretary General, Dawda Federa.

“I was advised by the Geology Director to seek the consent of the villagers before any mining activities,” Julakay said.

“I met the Village Head (Alkali) of Faraba who summoned a meeting in the presence of Lamin Star Bojang, former Works Minister, Council of Elders and some VDC members,” he added.

The former Jammeh associate and financier of APRC Party said he made agreements with the villagers to rehabilitate their road, build a market for women, buy cash cash power for the village borehole as well as relocate and fence the football field.

“I gave D35, 000 Dalasi to the village head for the development of the village mosque”

Abdoulie M Cham, Director of Geologyl Department also testified before the commission. He was asked to provide the initial License documentation of Julakay Company after saying that the company was issued License in 2007. He could not provide the documents.

The Kombo East Chief, Babucarr Sanyang was next to testify he said he knows nothing about how Julakay acquired his mining documents. Julakay was first introduced to him by Jung Conteh, former Chief and MP of Kombo East. He confirmed attending a meeting at the Ministry of Local Government with the former IGP, Geology officials and Faraba elders to resolve the crisis.

Chief Sanyang said the village youths attacked his house and destroyed his properties equivalent to D375, 000 Dalasi.

Nuha Kujabi, Alkalo of Faraba Bantang said Julakay informed him about the license, saying he wanted to have a meeting with the villagers. The meeting was attended by the Chief, VDC Chairman and Council of Elders.

“Julakay brought D15, 000 Dalasi with Kola nuts to the meeting,” Alkalo Kujabi said.

He added that the village has signed an MoU with Julakay to deposit D100, 000 Dalasi, a quota of the mining income but failed to turned up to a meeting called by the VDC regarding the environmental damages caused by the mining.

“This angered the youths and they condemned the mining of the quarry”

Alhagie Sanyang, VDC Chairman refuted the D100, 000 Dalasi Agreement with Julakay, complaining that further mining of the quarry would suffocate the rice cultivation and cause erosion. He explained the visit of the National Assembly Select Committee on Environment to the quarry. The Committee promised to communicate to Julakay and Geology Department.

“Three days later Honourable Suwaibou Touray, head of the Committee informed us that they met Julakay who responded that only Geology could stop him because they issued him a license,” Chairman Sanyang said.

“Julakay continued on his mining operations”

The VDC Chairman said he was called on June 18 while at work about the riot between the PIU officers and the village youths.

Alagi Yorro Jallow

President Adama Barrow’s political ambition is so reckless, it borders on being poisonous. His latest predicament teaches us that however badly you want something, never, ever, show people that you are desperate to get it; even if you are desperate. The reason the anti- Barrow Youth Movement for Development brigade is gathering a massive storm is because everyone is beginning to sit up and ask themselves why this guy is so madly in love with drunken power he wants it so badly and through whatever means necessary. And if you consider the damage he has done with the little power he has been given in the past two years, people are beginning to wonder how much more pillage he will do if he got the full serving in 2021 and beyond.

The red flags are beginning to be flown, and whenever that happens to a politician you know he is about to get into dangerous uncharted waters. And if he is not careful, he will burn his fingers bad.

Gambians must forget the pedestrian nonsense about “hustlers” propelling President Adama Barrow to state house in 2021-2026. Adama Barrow’s candidature is framed on a pre-existing alliance between section of the United Democratic Party militants, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) supporters and the middle-class elites in the Gambia and those in the Diaspora. It is foolhardy to imagine that Adama Barrow can win the United Democratic Party votes if Ousainou Darboe and the UDP supporters decide to go against him.

More so if Adama Barrow is seen to be vexing the rural elites with his “Youth Movement” directly attacking the UPD militants: For that reason, Adama Barrow has never directly attacked UDP. Most often with his “Youth Movement” and the political patronage Adama engages appears to be engaging his political father, vice president Ousainou Darboe in shadow boxing through his “unofficial” and sometimes poorly gifted political strategies.

To become President, you need the State working for you, not against you. I heard people saying that President Adama Barrow and his political God- father Ousainou Darboe are building a “war chest.” People also say President Barrow is determined to form his own political party and contest elections after his current mandate. Adama Barrow and Ousainou Darboe have two problems, the factory of their war chest is within the realm of the republic and that no “war chest” equals the State’s carte blanche to collect taxes. There has been, in the past, equally determined, hardworking candidates, with great reach across the Gambia and who spent millions on their presidential aspirations, but such ambition did not see the light of day.

Adama Barrow is the only candidate that has managed to break the State “ceiling” because of the 2016 grand coalition that brought most of Gambian opposition and civil society activists together, in unity, to end 22 years of entrenched dictatorship. Ousainou Darboe could have easily won against Yahya Jammeh in previous elections, but Yahya used the State resources, deployed the divide and rule charm (read money) within the ranks of Gambians especially certain politicians, religious groups and civil society groups, leading to the fielding of divided presidential candidates to the advantage of Yahya Jammeh.

Adama Barrow is the kind of candidate that is solely focused the 50+1 threshold and nothing more. Pulling “this tribe” together with “that tribe” to achieve that threshold. His presidential ticket will not be “revolutionary” like that 2016 grand coalition but President Adama Barrow is equally loved and loathed in many places, just like Ousainou Darboe and any other politician.

Being predictable is a bad thing in politics. The main reason Ousainou Darboe has long survived in Gambian politics is his rare ability to be enigmatic. No one can read Ousainou Darboe’s next political move, there is no school such political artistry that taught you must be Ousainou to study Ousainou Darboe. That’s what Adama Barrow lacks; the patience of a hungry lion watching a herd of buffaloes from his vantage position in the savanna, picking the weakest link in the herd and pouncing when least expected.

When you are hungry for prey and you run all over the grassland chasing after anything that walks, you give your prey easy time to take advantage of your desperation to gang up and take you out of the ecosystem once and for all. In politics, as in the jungle, the predator that does not have the patience to time its prey always ends up starving to death. Adama Barrow should start watching his weight, because very soon there will be no prey to catch.

Science says that it takes a lot of energy, skill and tact for a marathoner to sustain a race from the front of the pack. The reason the IAAF introduced pace-setters in the marathon race is because they wanted elite athletes to be assisted to lower world records. The reasoning is that you cannot lower the world marathon record by beginning from the front, and so the World Athletics body started paying a bunch of road-runners to set the pace in front for the guys following them to keep up, after which the pacesetters would fall off and leave the elite runners to dogfight to the finish line.

That’s precisely the point Adama Barrow should learn here. When you are the guy everyone is struggling to chase, you must have a set of three lungs and the poise to keep your head even when everyone around you is losing theirs trying to catch you up. But Adama Barrow being Adama, he will damage his lungs struggling from oxygen debt and run out of steam from the beatings he shall be receiving all over the place. I am not saying Adama Barrow will be damaged goods before 2021, but when you are running a full marathon like a sprinter, you know your lungs are about to collapse, and you will have yourself to blame.

President Barrow needs to watch how Cheetahs hunt their prey in the jungle. Wildlife researchers put the cheetah top of the list of the jungle master schemers. The cheetah is the fastest animal on land. On its day, a cheetah can run faster than a speeding bullet, science built its body for speed. But this superior ability comes with a major drawback. A cheetah can only sustain that speed for short times meaning that before he begins to hunt he has to be ready to get his prey before he starts to run.

To do this, a cheetah stalks his prey until they are as close as they can get, then they kick it into high gear. A gazelle knows that if he outruns a cheetah in the first 100 meters of the chase, he has won the competition and saved his life. Because a cheetah’s brain is smaller than a pea-pod and if they keep running at 100 meters per second for long distances, they risk suffering brain damage and dying during full flight chasing a meal that has already beaten it for pace.

The Barrow Youth Movement politburo, especially the young, restless greenhorns like Dou Sanno and the Diaspora wing of the movement should be more tactical in their politicking in support of President Barrow’s 2021 campaign bid. If they insist on taking the current path, Adama Barrow’s presidential ambitions may evaporate before 2021.

 Unlike his predecessors Yahya Jammeh was known to constantly pursue his detractors using ALL available levers of the State power. Yahya cracks the whip, and it pours. He has occasionally and ruthlessly so, exploited the coercive power of the State to banish his political “enemies” in times when he felt his leadership was acutely being undermined.

Yahya Jammeh exploits the “unhindered” power of the State, using a ruthless carrot and stick approach, with constant harassment, intimidation, arrest and persecution thereafter, has succeeded in placing on a permanent “inactive” mode of activist, politicians and Diaspora clicktivist who tweets short sentences with “big” English words, far from home, somewhere on the Streets of chilly Seattle and London. If push comes to shove, Adama Barrow has no qualms in flexing his muscles and removing any stubborn surrogate or member of his Youth Movement. In his final term Adama has no obligation to be nice. Not even to his cat. He may or not be seeking re-election any time soon.

In so doing, the President Barrow is attempting preempt early political campaigns as he embarks on solidifying his legacy in his first term. Many supporters of the President have the view that pre-mature 2021 elections jostling may undermine his authority as President, as politicians his supporters will be trying to “replace” him even before a significant part of his first term expires.

The President of the Republic Mr. Adama Barrow has told the people of Niumi that his government has developed specific projects that will deliver to the Gambian people from now against 2021 when his five year mandate would have ended.

Responding to concerns raised by representatives of Lower Niumi, who lamented severe delays and frequent break downs of the Banjul-Barra ferry service, the President revealed that his government has a permanent plan for the crossing point: “Discussions have reached advanced stage to construct a bridge over Banjul-Barra crossing that would last fifty years. The foundation stone will be laid in 2019 and works will take four years to complete’’.

The bridge, once complete, would enable the capital city of Banjul to connect with Barra and the rest of Niumi to Amdalaye into one big city, he added.

The President and delegation on Monday began a 10-day tour of the country that will witness him holding over 44 meetings across the length and breadth of the country. He was seen off at the country’s naval base near the sea port in Banjul by cabinet ministers and the Mayor of Banjul, Rohey Lowe. On the North Bank, the delegation was received by Governor of the region, Ebrima Dampha, traditional leaders and community representatives.

The President used the opportunity to outline his vision for a new Gambia and the position of the region of North Bank in the same.

“My government will implement over 40 development projects under the NDP financing. I ask you to have a check list to assess my government based on these projects when we come here in 2021,” he told a meeting in Essau, North bank region, where hundred turned out to discuss development matters with his delegation.

The graveled, crater filled, winding, Bunyadu-Kuntair road that span from Barra-Kerewan Highway was also among the President’s plans for the Niumis, and a part of a 1000 kilometers road network planned to be implemented within the four years span.

Funds have been secured for the construction of 25 boreholes that would provide water supply to 85,000 people across the country. The Africa Development Bank also approved funding for the provision of 60 other boreholes per year in The Gambia. “In four years, we would deliver 140 boreholes across the country,” he told them.

The President also explained that through a youth-initiative that seeks to enhance youth participation in national development, he was able to secure financing for 60 mosques and 48 horticultural gardens across the country.

The fisheries sector, through government’s licensing programme also provided 626 jobs for the Gambian youths as inspectors, the president said, adding that plans are advanced to build 18 hotels within the four years that would also provide 6,000 jobs to the youths.

He therefore called on the Gambian youths to actively participate in national development.