By Standard Newspaper

Tension is heating up ahead of the looming National Assembly election and so is the drama.
Habsana S Jallow, the sitting national assembly member for Nianija Constituency in the Central River Region, has vowed to maintain her seat even after her former party put up Seedy Njie against her.

In a phone chat with The Standard yesterday, Habsana, who resigned from APRC after she claimed the party has been conspiring to replace her with Seedy Njie for the past three years, said she chose PDOIS to run because APRC didn’t inform her of anything and she won’t let Seedy have a ride.

“I am a strong woman and I have a strong parent from a strong family. They are behind me and they will support me. People of Nianija are behind. And let me tell you this, if it is not going to be me, it will not be Seedy SK Njie in this constituency.

“He will fail. I will make sure Seedy never win this constituency. I was in ECOWAS parliament when I heard that Seedy has been going round giving kola nut to people that he is going to run for the seat under the APRC without informing me. He was undermining me as the sitting MP,” she said.
According to her, considering the countless development projects she brought to her constituency, Seedy doesn’t stand a chance against her.

“Seedy cannot win here. My brother, I brought two boreholes for my people; three mosques each costing over 1 million Dalasi; a hospital and an ambulance; a minimarket for the women; and I am also supporting the youths. My people told me that they don’t need Seedy SK Njie; they said they want me back. Seedy has never brought even a piece of paper for the people of Nianija,” she claimed.

Habsana said she deserves respect from APRC or any other party because she is the sitting MP.
“APRC claimed I wanted to join the coalition. If I wanted that, I would have written to them. APRC has been planning to replace me since and when I realized that they won’t give me chance to contest under the APRC ticket this year, I quit and joined PDOIS and Halifa Sallah is supporting me 100 per cent,” she added.

By Baba Sillah, Standard Newspaper

Ebrima LS Marenah, the Gambia Moral Congress candidate in Niamina East has filed an objection to the candidature of his opponent Sanna B Ceesay of the United Democratic Party, UDP, claiming that Mr Ceesay is not constitutionally eligible to contest the seat.

Mr Marenah in his petition alleged that Mr Sana B Ceesay was not resident in the Gambia during the past twelve months as he had been living in Kenya for the last four years.
Mr Marena urged the IEC to revoke the candidature of Mr. Ceesay based on that rule.

According to Marenah, his objection was done in line with the constitution and electoral laws of the Gambia which give citizens right to file objection to a candidate.

The petition which was obtained by The Standard was also addressed to the Speaker of the House and Chief Justice.
The Standard contacted Mr Ceesay for his reaction to the petition but his phone was unreachable.

By Standard Newspaper

The Gambia government has rebuffed as unfounded allegations that it has entered and agreement with European Union to send back Gambian hustlers into the country in exchange of money.

 
Saikou Ceesay, the press officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Gambians Abroad said the repatriated Gambians selected to come back home on their own accord from Libya where they have been living in horrendous conditions. “The Gambia government as a responsible authority has to act to protect Gambians wherever they are and so through collaboration with International Organisation for Migration, some 140 migrants including three Senegalese arrived back in the Gambia,” he said.

Mr Ceesay said Government is obliged to answer the call of its citizens at any time and it will continue to do so whenever the need arises.

 
Meanwhile speaking to journalists on arrival at the airport, Bakary, a native of Tallingding said he has been in detention in Libya for months and in very poor condition, including lack of food and other essentials. “I have come back and I think Gambians should have faith and stay and work here. I thought the back-way was going to be good but it was terrible and very risky,” he said.

Another, who would not give his name, narrated similar ordeal on the back-way.’ ‘I suffered so much on this back-way and I was imprisoned in Libya,” he said.

 
According to Mr Ceesay, the IOM facilitated the repatriation and also provided each returnee with some D2500 pocket money to help them settle down back in their community. He said the returnees have all been cleared by the Immigration and have since re-joined the families. He said the Senegalese nationals among them are being helped by their Embassy in Banjul.

By Sainey Darboe, Standard Newspaper

Former Vice President and Finance Minister, Bakary B Dabo, has dismissed as “mischaracterization” allegations that he betrayed Jawara by serving as Finance Minister under Jammeh.
In an interview with former Standard editor from his base in London, Mr Dabo elucidated:

“Well, ‘betraying Jawara’ is a mischaracterisation, likely arising out of a misunderstanding of the relevant issues and the circumstances that prevailed at the time. We must remember that at the material time, our country and helpless people stood on the precipice of what those with the right level of awareness saw as potential disaster. At the time I saw the prospect of military rule as a recipe for catastrophe for our fragile country and poorly mobilised society. My personal experience of military rule in several parts of West Africa, with associated pervasive mistreatment of defenceless citizenry was fresh in my mind.

“Of course, events were to show that even that experience could not have prepared me for what our people were to encounter under our own ‘soldiers with a difference’, I knew Sir Dawda too at the time harboured similarly grave misgivings over the turn of events. Like me, and like some other Gambians too, he felt at the time that the greatest danger our country courted was for military rule to take root. For both of us, anything that could be done to undo the coup, or to at least make military rule last the shortest possible life span, was viewed as worthwhile”.
He added: “My acceptance of the invitation to take up office under the junta was no more than a desperate attempt to spare our country from such a fate, when all other attempts at the time had proved fruitless.

Furthermore, I set out and proceeded on the basis of a clear agenda to devote what influence I could muster from within to work for the earliest possible exit of the military from our public life in order to limit or contain potential, indeed likely, damage in order to spare our country from precisely became our plight. Prospects for our country looked gloomy; I saw our situation as desperate and did not hesitate to try what I saw as possible option thrown up, however slight the chances, after securing pertinent assurances from the junta. The issue was never perceived in terms of whether the move represented loyalty to, or betrayal of, the person of Jawara or any other individual, for that matter”.

Mr Dabo added that the actions he took were not fundamentally different from the approach of then deposed president Jawara, saying: “Sir Dawda did not at the time advocate or pursue any other option incompatible with the approach I tried. In the event, the junta lost little time in displaying insincerity and bad faith over the assurances given and, once I sensed there was no chance of success for my agenda, I saw no point in continuing my association with the junta, hence my resignation two months after accepting their offer.

“That I failed to achieve the objective I pursued is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret, [you just have to cast your mind back to all the mismanagement and mistreatment suffered under Yahya Jammeh and his militaristic system during these long twenty-three years, and how good it would have been to have spared such horrendous experience!]. But I have no regrets to have stepped into the ring, at the cost of considerable personal risk, to see if the military could be convinced to restore genuine and early constitutional rule. To reduce my action at the time to betrayal is to miss the point altogether; the suggestion can only arise from ignorance, at the least, or cynicism”.

By Rohey Jadama, Foroyaa Newspaper

The Secretary General of People’s Democratic for independence and Socialism (PDOIS) has said that deception will no longer be possible, that they have been patient for too long and they will no longer be patient with the truth.

“All presidential candidates for 2016 went on tour to sell their candidates. Were they able to sell their candidates? They were unable to sell their presidential candidates, that is the fact. Now if you can write fiction after success has been made, it is now time for fiction writing. People can now write their own history. Unless Gambians start to write their own history, they are doomed; doomed to tyranny, doomed to poverty because no single party or political party aspirant could sell to the people their candidate, that’s why all of them came to the negotiation table”, he said.

The PDOIS Secretary General made those remarks during a press conference at the PDOIS Office in Churchill’s Town.

“The people told the parties, ‘unless they go and form a coalition don’t come to us’, that’s what they were told. Some of these people should tell their leaders what people told them when they were in prison, when they went to sell their candidate and party. Let them tell them the truth, PDOIS will no longer compromise the truth. We have been patient for too long and we will no longer be patient with the truth. Deception is no longer possible”, said the PDOIS Secretary General.

According to Mr. Sallah, they sat down on the negotiation table sometimes with representatives and they had an impasse at a given stage. He said some felt that the other parties were isolated and were protesting and some felt that stakeholders in civil society like Fatoumatta Tambajang were isolated but that was a tactic of their own.

According to him, they felt to settle with a presidential candidate, they should have an idea of what is possible before they invite other stakeholders and that was done under the umbrella of Gambia Opposition for Electoral Reforms. According to PDOIS’s Secretary General, to enlarge the representation they invited Fatoumatta Tambajang, and all other groups to enlarge the group and made it more holistic and everybody became a participant and continued the dialogue.

He continued, “Eventually we began the process of convergence , compromising until ultimately we all agreed that we will hold a convention and all parties and stakeholders will have ten representatives per region, seventy for all the regions and we will assemble at Kairaba Beach Hotel and decide; whoever is selected will be accepted as a presidential candidate. He noted, “If some were so mighty, why did they accept? They could have left and gone their way and showed their might in politics but because the people humbled the mighty they had to humble themselves and accept the dictates of the regions and consequently we succeeded in coming up with one candidate.

“We agreed that the candidate will be an independent candidate so that we can take ownership of that candidate and the process and that was done. We eventually had a presidential candidate who was independent and we went to campaign, everybody campaigned for that presidential candidate”, he said.

PDOIS SG added that he will not disclose “the figures that PDOIS deposited for the deposit of the presidential candidate, what PDOIS contributed in the campaign, the funds that PDOIS mobilized for the campaign, if any leader ever said that PDOIS is the enemy of the coalition we will reveal what those figures are compared to what they have done. Then you will know clearly who the real enemies of the coalition are and who are the real opportunists and I am not calling anybody an opportunist at this moment but then when they again attack the integrity of PDOIS or me, I will also be stating facts and the facts will accuse them. I will not accuse people with insults; I will accuse them with facts.”

He said they “strengthened the campaign and got the ideas that inspired the population so that they can come together as one Gambia, one Nation and one people, where does that slogan come from? So that the sovereignty of our people will be affirmed and we will unite in sovereignty, communities of sovereign Gambian citizens, irrespective of our ethno-linguistic distinction, gender, religion. We implanted that in our campaigns to combat the dire tribalism that had emerged, provoked by Jammeh and responded to by those he insulted to a point that the society was moving more into civil war rather than National Unity.

“We used national unity as an instrument to unite the people so that we can effect the change that we have advocated. If it was left to some other people that unity would have never come about and that change would have never happened. We succeeded and consequently the incumbent initially by virtue of the composition and quality of the coalition, was overwhelmed and the world was overwhelmed. In the past, during the campaign of the opposition parties they were beaten, incarcerated to weaken them but in this instance nothing of that sort happened. Young people were properly guided, where they made mistakes they were corrected until we delivered Gambia on the 1st of December, 2016”.

He said eventually the incumbent refused to accept the results and took the country on a war footing. “In his latter statement he said he had annulled the results and said ‘I will not allow any demonstration.’ His anticipation was demonstration; [with] soldiers in the street, sand bags in the street waiting for the demonstrators, insults between ethno-linguistic groups had reached a [high] level; they saw that any case could lead to threat [of conflict]. Knives, cutlasses were bought in preparation for self defence. Some even had identification tags so that you can identify who is who. This could have been put in the media it was the truth.

TO BE CONTINUED

By Bruce Asemota, Point Newspaper

The Swiss authorities have indicated that the former Gambian minister of the Interior, Ousman Sonko, who was arrested in Switzerland recently, would be released if no one proffers any evidence and cases against him.

In one of the Swiss Daily Newspaper reports on 10 February 2017, it was reported that the Swiss authorities are asking for names and cases on the alleged crimes committed by the former Interior minister in ex-president Yahya Jammeh-led government, since 1994 to 2016.

The paper reportedly disclosed that if no accuser comes forward, the Swiss authorities would have no grounds to hold Sonko, but to release him.

Meanwhile, the Gambia Government is seeking the repatriation of Ousman Sonko for his alleged crimes committed during the Jammeh regime. This was revealed by new Interior Minister Mai Ahmed Fatty in his Facebook.

By Njie Baldeh, Point Newspaper

Mamma Kandeh, leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), has urged the coalition government to stick to the constitution.

He argued that the appointment of some of the cabinet ministers and the vice president contradicted the constitution of The Gambia.

“The vice president was not eligible at the time of her appointment, and some ministers were convicts,” Mr Kandeh said while addressing his party supporters at a rally recently held at Tallinding Buffer Zone.

He stressed that Fatoumatta Jallow-Tambajang should not have been allowed to represent The Gambia at the African Union summit in Ethiopia, without being sworn in as vice president.

“This was unconstitutional as it is contrary to Section 62 of the Constitution,” he said.

The GDC leader further blamed the government for amending Section 63 of the Constitution, saying it was amended to suit one person, the vice president, Fatoumatta Jallow-Tambajang.

Also, Mr Kandeh called on the government to explain how the bridge that is being built in Farafenni is going to be built.

“The bridge should not be built in a way that would discourage river transportation,” he said. “We also demand explanation in terms of who is going to fund the bridge and what are the terms and conditions of the project.”

Meanwhile, Kandeh commended the Ecowas security force in the country for maintaining peace and stability during the political impasse.

However, he warned them not to arrest timber dealers in the country, saying the timber business is a source of income for many Gambians.

Yusupha Jaiteh, GDC deputy party leader, said GDC would launch water projects to build boreholes at Kerr Pateh and Kerr Malick to help the communities to have access to clean drinking water.

“The water project will be extended to West Coast Region very soon,” he said as he called on the people to put aside political differences and work together for the development of the nation.

By Mahamadou Camara, Point Newspaper

The use of government vehicles and other state resources for purely partisan politics will not be condoned, stated a press release from the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure.

This stance follows an “inadvertent request recently made for government vehicles to partake in the ongoing campaign for the National Assembly elections without any authority or clearance from the office of the President”, the release stated.

According to the release, this act “will no longer be condoned” by the new government, as it “is quite at variance with the policy and comportment of this government and, therefore, as soon as it came to the notice of the competent authorities, the two vehicles in question were immediately withdrawn and returned to their respective units of assignment”.

The release quoted the Information Minister Hon. Demba A. Jawo, saying: “On behalf of the government, I wish to make it categorically clear to all concerned that there should be a clear distinction between State matters and partisan politics and, henceforth, the two should be treated as separate entities.”

The release stated further that the use of government vehicles and other State resources for “purely partisan politics is a thing of the past, which shall no longer be condoned”.

By Lamin Sanyang

The government of President Adama Barrow has still remained silent on former President Jammeh’s alleged properties after taking office for almost two months now.

The new government has so far not issued any statements to shed light on the state or former President Jammeh’s “private” owned properties feeding into rumors circulating about what became of them. Former President, Jammeh was a serial land grabber, which was so pervasive, Gambians could at some point not distinguish what belonged to him and what belonged to the state – a distinction he was never willing to make.

So when he (Jammeh) was forced out by ECOWAS and hurriedly flown to Equatorial Guinea after losing the elections to current president, Adama Barrow, speculations and rumors started to spread even alluding to people laying claim to those lands without any proof of ownership.

The alleged properties of The Gambia’s exiled former dictator in Farato Farm are secured by soldiers of The Gambia Armed Forces who are acting as guards. The soldiers are guarding the place around the clock with guns. It is not clear whether the properties belong to the state as the soldiers are paid by the taxpayers or belong to former exiled president.

Jammeh built a multimillion dollar animal farm at Farato Village. Sources say he reared crossbreed animals from different countries over there. The property is situated on the Highway closed to Nyambai Forest.

Lieutenant Colonel Lamin B Bojang, Spokesperson of The Gambia Armed Forces, when contacted, said he could not ascertain whether the properties belong to the state or dictator Jammeh. He could not explained the reason why soldiers are guarding the places. He promised to find out but until going to press, he didn’t get back us.

Jammeh has another property close to The Gambia Groundnut Cooperation (GGC) also known as ‘Saroo’ in Banjul. There too, paramilitary officers were securing the place as guards but have reportedly been removed from the place.

In fact, the former president allegedly ‘owned’ several properties throughout the country including the central Abattoir in Abuko, Sifoe Farm and Kanilai Farm amongst others. It is alleged that some of these properties were forcefully taken from people.

The properties in his native village of Kanilai were abandoned without security guards except for a handful of youths who are guarding the place. The state has withdrawn its security forces without actually stating the ownership of the properties. It has left the place exposed to all kind of threats.

The Sifoe Farm is situated between the villages of Kitty and Sifoe in the Kombo Central District. The two villages have disputed over the ownership of the land before it was illegally taken by the former dictator. It is one of the biggest lands seized from the villagers.

Security sources inside The Gambia Armed Forces have revealed that the former exiled president’s properties are under the watched of two senior military officers. They are Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert Jatta and Major Gibril Jammeh. It is not clear whether the two officers were assigned by the state or by former dictator, Yahya Jammeh.

There are reports of several state vehicles going missing during the political impasse. The police have issued a press release asking the public to returned the said vehicles, urging compliance of the law.

Meanwhile, ASP Foday Conta, Police Spokesperson confirmed the return of some vehicles but said there are still others out there.

By Lamin Sanyang

The Criminal case involving 24 APRC supporters who attacked the coalition convoy at Kafenda was struck out based on humanitarian grounds at Brikama Magistrates Court. . The APRC supporters were accused of using abusive words against one Lulu Sanyang and some others when they were going back to their respective destinations from the Independence Celebrations and the inauguration of President, Adama Barrow.

 
When the case was called, Inspectors S. Sanyang and Gibba along with Sergeant Jaiteh announced their appearance for the Inspector General of Police while Ibrahim Jallow represented all the accused persons. The criminal proceeding was well attended by APRC party supporters as well as relatives and sympathizers of the accused persons. The accused persons are Banna Kujabi, Sunkau Bojang, Aminata Bojang, Amie Saidy, Hawa Manga, Sohna Bojang, Hawa Badjie, Mai Dampha, Yamundow Manga, Nyara Yanga, Rabiatu Bojang, Mai Daffeh, Mai Gibba, Sunkau Wodeh, Wudeh Bojang, Fatoumatta Sidibeh, Sarjor Daffeh, Lamin Manga, Lala Saidy, Sireh Jatta, Sainey Camara, Mai Manneh Sulayman Manga, Madiba Manga and Sira Bojang.

 
The 24 supporters of Gambia’s former governing Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction (APRC) party who were accused of using abusive or vulgar words against Lulu Sanyang and some others with intent to provoke a breach of peace on February 19 at Kanfenda checkpoint in Foni Kansala District have been acquitted by Magistrate Cham at the Brikama Magistrates’ Court following prosecution’s application for the matter to be withdrawn from court.

 
Inspector S Sanyang said in court on Wednesday that he was applying under Section 68 of the Criminal Procedure Code for the case to be withdrawn before the court base on humanitarian grounds.
Magistrate Cham granted prosecutor Sanyang’s application and acquitted all the accused persons. He also advised the accused persons to maintain the peace, saying, “‘we are all related and peace is always number one.”