By Lamin Sanyang

Alieu Momar Njai, Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission IEC has said that the President of the Republic Adama Barrow is totally independent from all the various political parties who are contesting in the upcoming national assembly election.

Talking to this medium at his office at the Election House on Bertil Harding Highway, Njai talked about the president’s nationwide tour, election budget and party affiliation of aspirant candidates contesting in the upcoming national assembly elections amongst other things.

“The president should be totally independent, ” IEC Chairman, Alieu Momar Njai said.

Mr. Njai who has presided over the last presidential elections ending 22 years of dictatorship said the coalition agreement involved seven political parties that worked as one unit resulting in the defeat of the incumbent but are now split into hundreds of candidates vying for 53 national assembly seats.

“There is no candidate representing the coalition. Each of them are representing their respective party lines,” IEC Chairman pointed out.

He added: “It will be difficult for the president to address the electorates on this issue.”

Njai was questioned about the president’s tour whether it would not affect the ongoing national assembly campaign since this is the first time that a president of The Republic is embarking on a nationwide tour during the national assembly campaign period. He answered in the negative, saying the president’s countrywide tour is in accordance with the Constitution. He added that the president is also mindful about the concerns raised. Many registered concern that the cabinet ministers in the president’s entourage are party leaders whose candidates are contesting in the national assembly elections. Observers questioned whether they may try to politicize the tour.

“It will be difficult for him to say vote any candidate,” he said.

The IEC Chairman also said they have already notified their regional offices all over the country about the president’s nationwide tour itenary.

The former President Yahya Jammeh used to collect millions of money from the government departments, agencies and organs to finance his tours, festivals and other related activities. That was the order of the day during Jammeh’s era. The new government that took office in less than 3 months is embarking on a nationwide tour and nothing is said about the finances of the tour or the amount allocated. It is not clear whether the new government is following the same trend of the previous government.

Chairman Njai when answering questions about the funds for the upcoming national assembly election said the past government has budgeted what he called elections cycle that includes presidential, parliamentary and local government elections. He also talked about the interventions of donor agencies like the EU and UNDP to ensure there is free, fair and transparent election. He said the reduction of deposits to contest national assembly profile from fifty thousands to five thousands dalasi has resulted in the huge influx of candidates.

Meanwhile, Chairman Njai said following the defeat of the incumbent a new era has come into being which is now described as a New Gambia with freedom, security, peace and tranquility.

Madi Jobarteh

It has been announced that our Chief Servant Adama Barrow is going on a countrywide tour from today March 23. The government press release said the purpose of the tour is to thank Gambian people for voting for him and to campaign for the Coalition candidates in the April 6 National Assembly election. For that matter, it is important to highlight issues with this tour to ensure transparency and accountability.

 
In the first place, Section 225 subsection 15 said the president should make at least two country tours “in order to familiarize himself or herself with current conditions and the effect of government policies”. From this constitutional provision it is clear that this particular tour is not in fulfillment of that provision. This is because Barrow has not formulated and implemented any policy yet. Secondly he has spent only 65 days in office, which is not adequate to assess the impact of his government. Hence this is not an official presidential countrywide tour and the press release did not make any reference to this provision.

 
This makes this tour a partisan political tour which, of course the president as a politician can make especially in times of election to campaign for himself or his party. This is allowed in a democracy. But because this is not an official activity therefore the government cannot carry the funding of this activity. This is where we now need to see the kind of leadership that Barrow will provide.

 
It is clear that the Coalition parties, individually and collectively had lamented severely about the electoral malpractices of Yaya Jammeh, which led them to engage in boycotts and petitions and court cases. Now they are in power and therefore the ball is now in their court. This is when the Coalition Government will show us whether they are genuine and honest leaders or they are no different from Yaya Jammeh.

 
Thus this is what I want to tell Pres. Barrow and his Coalition Government. In the first place, this tour should be funded by their Coalition and not by the Gambia Government.

 
The only expenses that the State can incur would be the personal security, accommodation, feeding and perdiem of the president. For that matter, he should go with only a small number of staffs such as his security detail, communications and some policy officers. This number must be small because they also have phone and Internet facilities such that he can still maintain communications with State House. The Gambia is a small country which means an officer who needs to consult with the president can drive back and forth from Banjul within one day just to make sure state functions continue to be executed. Thus the expenses of the president and his personal staffs must be funded by the state.

 
I do not expect any service chiefs, permanent secretaries, lawmakers, policy officials and a host of other government functionaries to be in this tour. This means the Coalition ministers who are on this tour must pay for their own expenses. They must not carry any ministerial staffs with them during this tour.

 
There should no government vehicles carrying supporters of their parties in the Coalition. No police or army trucks or government vehicles should be used. The ministers who are politicians must use their own personal or party vehicles and their own drivers. State drivers must not be in this tour. No per diems must be paid to the ministers.

School children must not be asked to line-up the streets to welcome the president. Schools must not be interrupted as Yaya Jammeh used to do. Local government offices must not close their offices. Their office premises must not be venues for partisan political meetings or the mobilization of supporters as Yankuba Colley and governors used to do at KMC and Area Councils. No Area Council or mayor or governor should hire bunch of Gelegele vehicles for the tour. They should also not buy and share ashobi for party supporters. Local government officers have no business in the rallies of the president with communities. Local government officials are public officers and they must not engage in partisan politics. If the president wants, he can meet them in their offices for official talk.

The Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly should pay attention in reviewing the next government accounts to ensure that there are no expenses related to this tour paid by the government except for the president and his tiny staffs. If such payments are made, the PAC must ask for refunds from the affected persons. Heads of public institutions and public officers who are asked to provided public resources for this activity must refuse to do so and be prepared to go to court for any reprisal.

 
To ensure greater transparency I call on citizens to get their phones, cameras and videos ready to take pictures of where they see public resources being used for partisan activities to share with the country. We have to start to defend the supreme interests of the Gambia. We must insist on true democracy and good governance. The president and his government must be severely scrutinized and held to account to ensure they provide the right leadership at all times. This is for our security and survival in freedom and dignity.

God Bless The Gambia.

Sulayman Jeng, Birmingham, UK

Your leadership partiality has lately become a much discussed subject. As such many conclude given the current NAM electioneering, it is appropriate if you can postpone your scheduled nationwide visit until after the campaign to avoid further denting of your reputation. The reason being however much you try to remain aloof, you will eventually get entangled in the politicking. Since the coalition has not presented candidates for the NAM election, it will further compromise your leadership impartiality and as independent supervisor of the team to throw your weight for any particular political party. You can brush the caution off as insignificant but I can assure you that it will haunt you. I hurts to see you under such stifling pressure to either please your party or lean towards popular demand. Perhaps it will help if you reconcile with another Wolof truism: “If you are eliminating your enemies, it is your relatives who would be extinct first”.

 
Mr President, it is often said like minds think alike. Laye Jallow (Na mo), has mirrored my thoughts for our chat this morning. When I learned of PMO’s nationwide personnel review to ascertain the integrity of government’s payroll. He argued and I concurred:

 
“Governments throughout the world are prone to extensive embezzlement by politicians and those entrusted with the public’s resources. These acts induce the misallocation of resources, foster distrust in leaders, and threaten the very pillars of democracy. And while the adverse consequences of corruption have been long recognized, spot checks like the one being embarked on, and regular comprehensive audits will help to curb the occurrences and effects of these malfeasance.

 
The urgent need to curb the misuses and abuse of public resources has led governments to establish National Audit Offices and adopt audit programs aimed at uncovering the misuse of public resources, which not only increase the probability of detecting wrongdoing, but also provide the requisite information to both voters, as well as prosecutors, to hold public officials accountable for malfeasance. Here’s a look at the role these governmental audits play in reducing political corruption through the promotion of electoral and judicial accountability.

 
In budding and manageable democracies like The Gambia, these governmental audits can be an effective instrument for not only promoting accountability, but also enhancing judicial punishment in response to well evidenced findings that can be tied to specific actions of the responsible individuals. These audits become one of the most effective policies in the fight against corruption as they help to increase the legal actions taken against custodians of public resources found to be embezzling by increasing the chances of a police crackdown or a conviction in court.

 
The information obtained through these audits can help promote public sector accountability. However, audits alone might not be sufficient to reduce corruption in the long run, especially if in response, public officials are able to adjust their strategies or find alternative forms of circumventing the existing controls. Therefore, a strategy for sustainable reduction in corruption may instead require policies aimed at improving the government’s capacity – through the Auditor General’s Office – to detect and prosecute public officials found to be wanting and by channelling adequate resources to other anti-corruption agencies who can implement well-executed random audits”.

 
Mr President, after the PMO’s payroll audit, salaries and allowances review of civil servants must equally be undertaken to equate earning with living standards of employees. For instance a police officer who earns D2, 500. 00 net pay, spends D600 on transport, D1500 on rent, his feeding for the month isn’t even budgeted couple with other expenses such as medication, children’s needs etc., how do you expect such an officer not to fall for bribery? Salaries and allowances increment for the lower income earners is long overdue.

 
What about NAWEC, Mr President? It has been reported that some of their staff are enjoying free electricity and water supply constantly at the expense of tax payers. The department needs a thorough review and audit to ascertain its needs, shortfalls, capacity, and why it has been poorly managed over the years. I will look at NAWEC in detail in our tomorrow’s chat, Mr President. Until then, have a lovely day.

By Yankuba Jallow, Foroya Newspaper

A man El Hadrami Mohameden Zayid passed away soon after he was dragged outside his home in the early hours of Tuesday morning by uniformed men purporting to be police officers,

The distraught wife Isatou Jallow told Foroyaa that around 2 am, on Tuesday 21 March, 2017, “I was called to rush to my husband’s residence. “When I enquired, I was told he was been dragged by three police men outside the compound” she explained. She added that her husband has no criminal record and has been a self-employee earning his living from his personal work.

According to one Pa Ousman Jatta, an eye witness of the incident, seven uniformed men claiming to be police officers came and asked for the deceased and he told them he was sleeping. He said at the initial stage they had no knowledge of the deceased or where he lived. “They came and asked for the deceased whilst I was sitting outside but I told them that he was sleeping,” he explained. He added that they proceeded on their mission to pursue to see the deceased and entered the compound where the deceased resides. “They knocked on the door of one Jarra Jallow, a tenant who opened the door of her house because they disclosed to her that they are policemen. He further said the uniformed men told her they were not looking for her and thereafter one of the uniformed men left the other six policemen where they were standing and went to the door of the decease and knocked. “The decease replied and they asked for his name and he responded as asked” he said.

Continuing he said the late Zayid was asked to open his door because he is the one they came for. “He complied and he was told on the spot that he bought a goat and a sheep that were stolen” he said. Furthermore, “He was then dragged outside the compound by three of the uniformed men who came to arrest the decease. All I could hear was them asking for money and promising that they would then go back to their respective authorities to tell them they have not seen the deceased.”

The witness went on to say that he heard Mr. Zayid promising to give them the said amount of money in the morning around 8am to 9am but the police were reluctant and requested for a witness whose number was taken. “The witness was a lady who lives with Mr. Zayid in the same compound” he said.

“When the uniformed men departed, Mr. Zayid could not get back into the compound by his own strength and we helped him to go inside his room” he attested. He said few minutes later, Mr. Zayid an asthmatic patient was rushed to the Serrekunda General hospital in Kanifing where he was confirmed dead.

By Rohey Jadama, Foroya Newspaper

Mr. Halifa Sallah, the Secretary General of People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) and candidate for Serrekunda Constituency has said that Section 41 of the constitution guarantees equal access to public facilities and the media by candidates at public elections.

He said people are aware that there is no Television or Radio coverage of the whole process of the election as far as the state media is concern. Sallah noted, “Section 41 of the Constitution guarantees equal access to public facilities and the media by candidates at public elections. It emphasises that an Act of the National Assembly should be enacted to provide equal access to public facilities and the media. That Act is the Elections Act and section 93 of the Elections Act makes it mandatory for the Commission during an election campaign period to ensure equal access, as far as time also is concerned, to each candidate and political party, on the public radio and television. This is mandatory”.

The PDOIS Secretary General made these remarks yesterday 21 March, 2017 at a press conference convened at the Party’s office in Churchill’s town.

According to Sallah, the objective of the press conference is to fill the information gap which currently exists. He said he is wearing many caps and it is his humble duty to fill that vacuum to the best of his ability.

Currently, he added, that is not happening and tomorrow, if it does not happen today they will officially write to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) complaining of the violation of their rights as candidates to be heard over public radio and television.

He continued: “It is also important to emphasise that under section 89 of the Elections Act the candidates are given rights for protection by the IEC during political campaigns, they are entitled to lodge complaints to the IEC for any violation of rights but IEC is duty bound to enforce the election campaign ethics”.

He said it is important to point out that candidates are protected from any derogatory remarks, any slander, any insults during political campaigns. It is important to bear in mind that the IEC is required under section 92 of the Elections Act to prepare a code of ethics which all candidates received 15 days before the campaign period indicating the moral and ethical conducts they should adhere to in carrying out their campaign, he added. According to him, it is therefore important that the public is informed by the candidates and the IEC of the essence of such a code of ethics so that the public is provided with quality campaign messages, on the basis of which they will be able to make informed choices. Sallah added that it is also important for the public to realise what elections are all about.

The renowned Sociologist proceeded to say that Political parties under section 60 of the Constitution are required not to be based on ethnic, sectional, religious or regional characteristics.

He went on, “You will hear during the campaign accusations of people of not being born in a particular constituency and some even telling people to go back home where they were born essentially nullifying the national character of elections and the national basis of contesting elections”.

The former Minority leader added that under section 60 of the constitution no party in fact should be registered or stayed registered if it is formed on sectional, religious, ethnic and regional lines. He remarked, “This, according to him, is further stressed under section 105 of the elections Act so it is important to educate those who are participating in elections to fully understand the message that they put across throughout the campaign of the coalition that it is one Gambia, one Nation , one people”.

He said Institutions are established in order to provide services to the Gambian people. Sallah indicated that the executive is established to provide services and that is why the president has power to create ministries or inherit ministries, appoint ministers and charge them with the responsibility of exercising direction and control over ministries for the purpose of meeting what is emphasized under section 26 of the Constitution as the right of every Gambian to public services in equal measure.

He continued “Good governance requires that governments are transparent and accountable; this is why an institution known as the national assembly is established so as to make the laws that the executive must abide by in executing its duty in providing services to the Gambian people.

“The first duty of a National Assembly Member is to make laws for the good governance of a country and no National Assembly Member is fit to remain a National Assembly Member who made bad laws for the country. The only National Assembly Member who is fit to be a National Assembly Member is one who makes good laws for Gambians. It is also important that the minds of the people are not directed to issues that are not the business of a National Assembly Member”, said the PDOIS SG.

He added that the National Assembly Members are not members of the executive, there is separation of powers and a president is a president and one does not become a National Assembly Member to serve the president, one becomes a National Assembly Member to serve the people and the role of the National Assembly Member is to provide the laws on the basis of which the executive will execute its duties at the same time to carry out oversight so that the executive would fulfill its mandate. It means that if laws are violated by the members of the executives, the National Assembly Members must always make sure that they are brought inline to abide by the dictates of the law.

“They must also ensure that the quality of public services and their relevance would be always maintained. They have a duty to question what government is doing by inviting the ministers to the National Assembly to answer questions of concern to the public and in that respect they carry out oversight to ensure that the public is served in it proper manner”, said the aspiring NAM for Serrekunda Constituency.

He went on, “I must emphasise that the campaign should have been centered on measuring the quality that each candidate is able to bring into the national assembly so that we would be assured that the second leg of the state which is the legislature would be properly constituted to be able to serve the needs and aspirations of the Gambian people. I am sure all of you are aware that the coalition came into being as a matter of necessity, in a genuine multiparty system there is absolutely no need for political parties to converge without sharing the same policies, programmes, and ways and means of addressing the challenges facing the nation . The coalition came into being because of the absence of a level ground for multiparty contest in the country thus, disadvantaging individual opposition parties from being able to put up a very strong challenge to the incumbent at the time.”

Consequently, he added a compact was prepared aiming to bring an executive into being that would put a manifesto into operation that would ensure constitutional reform, legal reform, civil service reform, reform of institutions in general to put in place good practices to provide the architecture of a democratic state that would abide by the rule of law, respect fundamental rights and freedoms and ensure that justice is available to all. It is that architecture of good governance that the Coalition aimed to put in place and thereafter open up for parties to emerge and contest on the basis of their policies to seek the mandate of the people.

The second phase of coalition building should have been the contest for the national assembly . in the national assembly this is where laws are made, constitutions are reformed requiring National Assembly Members who would agree on constitutional reforms key among those constitutional reforms is the establishment of a term limit which currently does not exist and part of the manifesto of the Coalition is to put a term limit in place and those who are contesting as National Assembly Members should be questioned by journalists on what their stance is on that irrespective of whether they are members of the coalition or not because the nation is interested. Parties simply serve to provide the candidates but ultimately”, he added those who win are designed to serve the nation, so the nation must have an agenda and one of those agendas is to put an end to self-perpetuating rule by ensuring that the legislature, the law provides for a non-continuation of self-perpetuating rule.”

According to the PDOIS SG, it is also important to bear in mind that National Assembly Members have been removed from the National Assembly in the past by the former regime by interpreting constitutional provisions. in short, he went on Section 91(1)(d) of the constitution was meant to remedy what we used to call ‘cross carpeting’ of candidates from an opposition party to a ruling party when we had a constitutional framework where we had no separation of powers so (1) (d) asserts that one ceases to be a member of the National Assembly if one ceases to be the member of the party to which you were a member of when one was elected. That helped to prevent one person moving from one party to another and gives a seat to a party that it has not earned but ultimately party leaders exercise dictatorial powers by removing members of their parties who are members of the National Assembly from their parties and automatically they will also lose their seats. So there is need for a constitutional reforms and one thing that we have emphasized is if we want the security of tenure for National Assembly Members and freedom from tyranny of party leaders, it is important to indicate that if they are terminated by their parties then they will sit as Independent National Assembly Members unless recalled by their constituents which are all reforms, constitutional reforms that are absolutely essential”.

“We all know that members of the Independent Electoral Commission are currently appointed by the executive and removed without cognizant of even what is established by the Constitution, so we need constitutional reforms so that the appointments of members of the IEC will not be entirely the responsibility of an executive that has a stake in the political process. In the same vein no executive should be able to remove a National Assembly Member, they should have the status of judges so that only a tribunal will look at any matter that is raised in terms of improprieties and then act based on the findings; the same thing with judges the security of tenure should be well entrenched so that the executive cannot remove them, these are all constitutional reforms that we require.

“We have emphasized the need for the decentralization of power to the localities. Obviously you will come to a point where you have a chief who can be removed at will by the president and a chief is a member of a district tribunal, obviously you are interfering with a judicial process; an executive interfering with a judicial process is clearly not in line with democratic principles, so one needs to look into all that. The same thing with the Alkalos subjected to removal by a minister and appointed by a minister when clearly there too interference can come in and the political interest and introducing hostility to the process.

“So these are all reforms that will be necessary and debated on at the National Assembly and hopefully constitutional and law reform to ensure there is enlarged freedom and rights of Gambian people, responsibility and accountability in terms of judgment.

“Where does the coalition stand at the moment, essentially the objective was to contest as a Coalition meaning that you will not find any two members of the Coalition contesting elections in any constituency. This according to Sallah, could have been achieved in two ways, one way was for all the coalition partners to contest under an independent coalition ticket, the other way was for them to be able to agree on putting candidates in each constituency without repeating each other. The fact remains, regardless of where the blame lies, we were unable to achieve that.

“So at this very moment you will find Coalition partners contesting elections in many constituencies, that is the reality that the Gambian people must face. All of us acknowledge the fact that those partners are still full partners of the Coalition 2016 even though divergent in their views on the National Assembly elections, this is why PDOIS as a party has received two Mitsubishi pick ups from the Coalition not the government, that should be clear. The Coalition is not a government, it is a partnership of eight stakeholders plus two independent national assembly members and two representatives from the civil society organisations. This constitutes the composition of the coalition.

Out of the coalition the government has picked up ministers who in becoming ministers must serve a government and must endeavour to separate their party loyalty from state responsibility, which is the only way you can have a separation of a party from a state. It was this endeavour that led the Coalition to insist that the presidential candidate will be an Independent Candidate so that all the parties will claim ownership of that presidential candidate if he attains victory which has been achieved.

“We must distinguish the executive from the Coalition, that the executive is elected by the Gambian people to serve as an executive president who would appoint ministers to constitute a cabinet that would formulate policy and implement policy to provide the public services that the Gambian people need. So nobody should exploit the image of that presidency to promote an object of attaining a seat in the National Assembly because under the Gambian Constitution there is separation of powers you cannot be a National Assembly Member and be a minister at the same time.

“It is important therefore, in the campaign of the National Assembly Members not to use what has been provided by the Coalition to all the stakeholders on equal measure. As far as we know if other things have happened we don’t know. What we know is these two transports are for each of the stakeholders participating in the elections and there is a coalition logo that is meaningless as far as the campaign is concerned, it does not entitle one to claim that one is a coalition candidate in any particular constituency.”

He said all those who are contesting are contesting on their party tickets even though their parties are still coalition members, which should be very clear. He noted, “In addition to that we have been given for the six candidates to be supported by the Coalition a sum of money of Nine-hundred thousand dalasis which if distributed among our 22 candidates should entitle each candidate forty thousand nine hundred and nine dalasis and some bututs”.

“This according to Sallah is what has been made available to PDOIS, we don’t know what has been available to anybody but for the sake of accountability and transparency they are duty bound to tell the Gambian people and the nation at large, especially their candidates on the ground. But prior to this PDOIS has entirely financed its own candidates through the support of all those Gambians who strongly believe that this party can serve the purpose of ensuring accountability, transparency and good governance in The Gambia and this is why our candidates are now on the ground, they are given the mandate to campaign fairly, to abide by the code of ethics provided by the IEC and the code of ethics we have signed to ensure that we put our differences behind and put the national interest before individual interest. I am sure that we will come back to you with the memorandum of understanding that we have signed which talks about principles that we should abide by. That irrespective of party affiliation we should put the nation first and we should all see ourselves as a united people divided only by our aspirations to serve the country and provided different answers to the challenges of the people. We have accepted to comply with the laws of the country. We have accepted that in the conduct of our political campaigns we will respect each other, that in terms of language we will not use derogatory remarks against each other but respect each other’s integrity, we will not use violence or intimation.

“We will ensure the principles of separation of powers are respected because under the Elections Act no party is required to use government facilities for partisan political interest. We also agreed to form an interparty committee so that we will be able to deal with any problem that may emerge.”

He added that the document is waiting for one signature that had not been done because of the absence of one of the stakeholders at the signing ceremony that they had. He said for their part once that signing takes place all the parties will come together on national radio and television to read what is there in the memorandum of understanding and the code of ethics that they have accepted to place so that in their respective languages everybody will understand the content and they believe that if they abide by that content Gambians will be ever more united as one Gambia, one nation and people. He said they will ever be “united into a community of sovereign citizens equal in sovereignty irrespective of our ethno linguistic origins, our religion, our origins, our gender and any other characteristics.

By Point Newspaper

The president of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, has indicated his commitment to promote and protect press freedom as well as dealing with past issues of impunity for crimes against journalists in the country.

“A country cannot develop without strong media and that is why my government is committed to taking steps such as reforming media laws and working with partners to ensure a freer environment for the operations of the media,” President Barrow said during a meeting with a delegation from the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in his office at the capital Banjul.

The President expressed gratitude to the MFWA saying “I thank you for all the great support to The Gambian people over the years and I assure you that I will be media-friendly.”

The MFWA as part of its effort to strengthen the media to support the transition and democratic consolidation processes in The Gambia has deployed a four-member media-assessment mission to The Gambia.

The delegation which shall be in The Gambia for one-week is holding discussions with government officials, media community and other key actors on the ground. The mission will produce a report that will highlight the media context in The Gambia, the challenges facing the industry and make recommendations on processes to strengthen the media.

High on the agenda of the MFWA mission will also be discussions on outstanding issues of impunity for crimes perpetrated against journalists by the Yahya Jammeh regime. The discussions on the issue of impunity will be mainly focused on the non-compliance by the Jammeh regime of three judgements of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice delivered in favour of three journalists, Chief Ebrima Manneh (in 2008); Musa Saidykhan (in 2010); and Deyda Hydara (in 2014).

To this end the MFWA delegation met the family of Chief Ebrima Manneh, a victim of enforced disappearance in 2006.

“I want to know who murdered my son,” said 94 year old Mr Sarjo Manneh, father of the disappeared journalist as he sobbed while talking to the delegation.

Mr Manneh said all he wanted was justice and has been having sleepless nights since his son disappeared.

The MFWA delegation assured Manneh’s family of the commitment of the organisation and its partners such as IFEX to ensure that justice is done and impunity for crimes against journalists brought to an end in The Gambia.

The MFWA and its national partner the Gambia Press Union have been working collaboratively over the years to promote press freedom under the repressive Jammeh regime. The two organisations are therefore committed to working together to strengthen the Gambian media sector

By Point Newspaper

ECOWAS is ready to further support The Gambia in the efforts to pursue reforms in the areas of security and defence with focus on the police and the army, a press release from the State House has said.

According to the release, signed by Amie Bojang-Sissoho, director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the President, the West African regional bloc is committed to promoting economic growth and establishing a National Peace Council involving different sectors of the society.

The commitment of ECOWAS was revealed by Marcel De Souza, president of the ECOWAS Commission, during a courtesy call on President Adama Barrow.

The ECOWAS president said the regional bloc, along with other partners such as AU, EU, Islamic Development Bank, and African Development Bank, would continue to take leadership role in promoting economic growth to support The Gambia sustain its new found democracy.

He took the opportunity to invite President Barrow to the Summit of Heads of States scheduled to take place in Liberia in the near future.

Mr Souza was accompanied by the vice chairman of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr Edward Singhateh, the new Permanent Representative of ECOWAS to The Gambia, Ms Vabah Gayflor, and other senior officials of ECOWAS.

Also present at the meeting was the minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Honourable Ousianou Darbo and other senior government officials.

Media freedom

In another engagement, President Barrow met with a doyen media practitioner and press freedom activist, Professor Kwami Kari Kari, members of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and their longterm partner, International Media Support (IMS).

According to the press release, during the meeting, President Barrow appreciated the important role of the media, especially the social media, during the struggle for change by informing and enlightening the people.

The Gambian leader asserted that the country cannot develop without partnering with the media. He acknowledged that the media sells government policies and programmes and its role in the transition to democracy is recognised.

President Barrow assured them that the media will operate within the parameters of democracy. He observed that the former regime suppressed the media because of fear of having an informed population who would demand for a level playing field for democracy to grow.

President Barrow said: “We will be media-friendly; the media has the opportunity to inform the general public. That will help us to grow and partner with other nations. We cannot afford to be isolated.”

He concluded that the appointment of a media doyen like Honourble Demba A. Jawo as Minister of Information, Communication, Information Technology is an indication of how serious his government takes the media.

Professor Kari Kari pledged that his organisation will continue to support the media in The Gambia.

He welcomed the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission which he believed will bring out the truth about many atrocities, including the case of Chief Manneh, a missing journalist.

Professor Kari Kari paid homage to President Barrow and the coalition leaders for bringing The Gambia back as a proud star of West Africa in rebuilding democracy.

UN stands by Gambia

In a separate engagement, President Barrow received a high-powered delegation from the United Nations, comprising the Assistant Secretary General for Peace Building Support, Oscar Fernanadez- Taranco, and the Permanent Representative of South Korea to the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. Taie-yul Cho, UNDP Resident representative in The Gambia, Madam Ade Mamonyane Lekeotje and other senior officials.

They were accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad, Honourable Ousainou Darboe, and the Gambia’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Mr. Momodou Tangara.

The purpose of their visit was to demonstrate solidarity with The Gambia’s achievement of a peaceful transition to democracy.

The discussions centered on the major peace-building challenges facing The Gambia, including macroeconomic stability, dealing with past human rights violations through transitional justice, restoring confidence in the judiciary, reforming the security sector, improving access to basic services, reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development.

Other issues discussed included the upcoming National Assembly elections scheduled for 6th April 2017, security and the role of ECOMIG, a national development plan, a donors roundtable and how to sustain international support for the country.

It would be recalled that the UN had initially committed US$3million from the Peacebuilding Fund to address urgent peace-building priorities and the related challenges.

By Point Newspaper

President Adama Barrow starts his maiden nationwide tour today, Thursday, to “thank the Gambian people for voting him” and to campaign for the Coalition candidates in the April 6 National Assembly election.

According to a press release from State House in Banjul, the purpose of the tour, scheduled for 23 March – 2 April, is for Barrow to thank the Gambian people for voting for him as president in the 1st December 2016 election.

“The tour will also enable President Barrow, as Coalition leader, to familiarise himself with the political situation in the run-up to the National Assembly election in April this year,” the release issued yesterday stated.

During the nationwide tour, President Barrow will hold 36 general meetings in the seven regions of The Gambia.

“He will call on the electorate to vote for Coalition candidates for change so as to have a majority in the National Assembly. This will enable his government to implement its transition policies and programmes to effect the change Gambians have voted for during the December 2016 presidential election.”

The Office of the President called on all supporters to join President Barrow at the general meetings in their areas.

By Baba Sillah, Standard Newspaper

The case of Baboucar Jarju and Swandi Camara, who have been accused of kidnapping former Kiang East MP Mahawa Cham, has reached the court.

The state counsel in the case, Lamin Jarju, yesterday appealed to the High Court in Banjul to grant him an adjournment so as to enable him to make legal opinion in order to determine the criminal liability of the accused persons as spelt out in the bill of indictment.

Presenting his submission before Justice Oduma, the state counsel said he has received the case file of the two accused persons from the police prosecutors but he needs time to write legal opinion in order to determine the veracity of the criminal liability as alleged in the charge sheet.

Baboucar Jarju and Swandi Camara are being tried on charges of kidnapping for the purpose of murder, conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretense.

Mahawa Cham, a former APRC MP was reported to have been kidnapped from Senegal and brought to The Gambia where he and one Saul Ndow are believed to have been murdered.

By Standard Newspaper

Omar Suso, who said he is a taxi driver, yesterday walked into the offices of The Standard with a hand written note on his opinion on the current rift seemingly ripping the coalition government apart.
In the note, Mr Suso took issues with one of the Coalition leaders and spokesman Halifa Sallah. Below is the full write-up:

“Honourable Halifa Sallah is well respected and educated as regarded by many Gambians including myself. Nonetheless I have a problem with his actions prompting one to question his position with the present government.

Firstly, if one would recall that when our dear President Adama Barrow was in Senegal shortly before the inauguration, honourable Minister of Interior Mai Ahmed Fatty issued a statement indicating that former President Yahya Jammeh had embezzled Eleven (11) Million dollars and that the coffers of the government are virtually empty. To my surprise, Halifa being a member of the same Coalition, without talking with or verifying things with Fatty in close doors, instead chose to defend Yahya Jammeh by saying that there was no evidence of that.

That turned out to be the case because recently the finance minister disclosed to the entire nation that millions of dollars have been embezzled by the Jammeh government. I believe he should be among the people who should facilitate to recover those missing monies, but not to make it look like it is a mere allegation.

 
Moreover everyone knows that Yahya Jammeh will not leave this country without taking our money. Besides there are many places where Jammeh can take money from; namely: SSHFC, GTSC, GAMTEL, GPA, GCCA, GIA, GRA and many more. Everyone including Halifa knows that Jammeh took three (3) luxurious cars with him and also intended to take ten (10) more which were seized by the government. Again, Halifa never commented or wrote about that, even though he is a frequent writer.

My second point is, recently Halifa challenged the government that the way they conducted the issue of the age limit to the parliament is unconstitutional and wrongly done. Well he is the presidential adviser on governance and also the spokesperson for the coalition, one would assume that he should know about serious issues of this nature and guide his colleagues, not to make a mistake, rather he waited until the error is done and then he went on to challenge it.

Fellow Gambians, Halifa knew that the constitution requires a five (5) year mandate to an elected president but the agreement made by the coalition is three (3) years. So why did he never mention or challenge that also, since it is equally unconstitutional.

Recently he said that it was not necessary for our honourable minister of foreign affairs Lawyer Ousainou Darboe to publicly go to the media that it is unconstitutional for the president to serve for only three (3) years. It is quite obvious that a lot of people do not know about the constitution. Therefore that action made by our foreign minister is genuine, patriotic and necessary. I felt that honorable Halifa should have done that earlier since he is the spokesperson and also the pen and paper of this country as many viewed.

Despite mentioning earlier that Halifa is well educated, it should also be known that there are lots of Gambians who are more educated and also know our constitution far more than he does.
Finally, I believe that it is fair for him to clarify to the general public whether he is working for or against this government.
God bless the Gambia.”

By Lamin Sanyang

Roots of The Gambia, a film about the people and culture that Kunta Kinteh left behind, has narrowly missed the Best Documentary Award at an international film awards held in Lagos, Nigeria.

The film, written and produced by Ebou Waggeh, founder and CEO of WAX Media, had been nominated out of at least 60 films for the best documentary film category of the keenly contested 2017 Africa Magic Film and Television Awards.

Mr Waggeh, who was a producer at the GRTS television, one of the pioneer producers, recently returned to The Gambia from Lagos, Nigeria, for the awards night held earlier this month.

He was glad that the film that he initiated out of passion and love of culture and The Gambia has gone far in raising the flag of the country to higher heights.

“Though I missed out the award but I feel like I have won because the nomination alone is a big achievement,” said Waggeh, also a founding member of the jury of M-Net Africa Magic Film and Television Awards, the most prestigious film awards in Africa – the equivalent of the Oscars in America.

When the nominations were open for the award, at least 60 entries were submitted for the Best Documentary Award category alone.

Following series of screening processes, just 6 were nominated for the award and Roots of The Gambia was one of the films.

“So for me, for my film to be nominated out of 60 films from all over Africa means it has definitely stood out and that recognition alone, the nomination alone, is a big achievement for me and The Gambia as a whole because the film is a purely Gambian film, selling the culture and tradition of the country to Africa and the world,” the producer said.

The film, completed in 2016 after more than 10 years in production, is about the people and culture that Kunta Kinteh left behind in The Gambia when he was kidnapped in 1765 from his hometown of Jufureh in Upper Nuimi District. He was then transported across the Atlantic and later sold into slavery in America.

According to Mr Waggeh, the film shows the life and culture that Kunta would have followed as a young man newly initiated into manhood, if he was not ambushed on his way to find wood to carve a drum.

In ‘Roots of The Gambia’, 15 different cultural practices across the ethnic divide dating back to Kunta’s generation have been dramatised and their cultural and historical significance explained.

It is also one of the documentaries being screened at IREP, an international documentary film festival currently going on in Lagos.

It has also received high ratings at Freedom Park in Lagos where it was shown to Nollywood producers and actors at a club screening.

Something to be proud of

Following his review of the documentary, the director general of the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Baba Ceesay, said he found it to be a very rich documentation of Gambia’s cultural heritage, both material and intangible.

“It covers a very wide spectrum of Gambian cultural heritage and traditions including, life cycle ceremonies, masquerade traditions, food culture, dress culture, traditional sports and heritage site typologies,” he said.

“There is no doubt that the film’s nomination for what is considered a very prestigious award is commendable and is something Gambia can be proud of.”

For Mr Ceesay, Roots of The Gambia is not only factual and educative, it can be also used for promotional purposes for the country.

By Point Newspaper

From now on, the Gambia Immigration Department will not be issuing any ID card or passport until further notice as the government embarks on “a comprehensive review” of the process of issuance of such documents.

“The Ministry of the Interior hereby informs the general public that it has decided to temporarily suspend the printing of national ID cards and machine readable passports,” a press release from the ministry said.

The release, issued yesterday, said the suspension takes effect immediately and “it seeks to protect and promote the integrity of our national documents”.

According to the statement, the interior ministry will be embarking on a comprehensive review of the entire process of issuance of national documents.