The Municipal and Area Councils in The Gambia on Tuesday June 9, 2015 celebrated the news that the erratic President has given directives for the immediate stop of collection and management of council’s revenue by the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) and the return of such to the council administrations. The decision to revise an earlier miscalculated action on the side of Jammeh’s government to take over the collection and management of council’s revenue was transmitted to them through the Ministry of Lands and Regional Administration.

The letter also warned the leadership at the councils to be more judicious in the spending of tax payer’s monies. The councils have been accused of mismanagement of funds, suppression of revenue and corrupt practices over the years, thus rendering them inefficient in delivering services to the local tax payers.

It could be recalled that last March, the fickle and self-centered President Jammeh ordered for the Municipal and Area Councils across the country to hand over its revenue collection and management of finances to the GRA without prior consultation. In that arrangement, GRA was tasked with the role of collecting all payments of rates and taxes such as trade license, market fees and compound rates among others. This ill-fated decision was against the dictates of the Local Government Act, which empowers local councils to be autonomous in their finances.

Since March, when GRA took over from the councils, the staffs in the revenue units were uselessly coming in and out of the councils as GRA brought in their own collectors and monies were deposited in a special account at the Central Bank. For several months, staff and Ward Councilors were not paid their salaries on time and work wasn’t effective due to lack of fuel, stationeries and other needs for the effective functioning of the administration. Sources in KMC confirmed that at a point senior staff of the most populated council were not regular in their offices because NAWEC disconnected the electricity supply due to lack of payment of bills. The Serrekunda market was without refuse collectors for weeks posing health risk to the vendors and visitors of the market. Mayors, Governors and Chairmen across the regions have made several attempts over the past two months through the Ministry of Lands and Regional Administrations and authorities at GRA to convince their boss to change the decision but Yaya Jammeh refused their request.

It is gathered that dictator Jammeh’s sudden change and directing the GRA to return the collection and management of revenue to the councils was due to complains by the political bigwigs of the APRC on how this decision has affected their politicking. His recently concluded tour was not well attended compared to past years and mobilizers didn’t attribute it to his dwindling popularity but to the fact that councils could not provide money for the hiring of vehicles to transport people from different villages to the meeting venues, a burden they shouldered over the years. A source informed us that some National Assembly Members and Chiefs have advised Jammeh while on tour to revised the decision as councils not having access to funds will pose a risk to their mobilization and build up to the 2016 election

Sources have confirmed that The Gambia Government has written to Hussein Tajudeen’s lawyers reminding them that they have to wrap up their businesses before the thirty day ultimatum they were given elapses. The same sources have also confirmed the arrival of a prominent American Lawyer in The Gambia to join Tajudeen’s legal team on the ground to preside over the closing of his businesses in the country.

It would be recalled that The Office of The President had issued a press statement informing the general public that Mr. Tajudeen Hussein has been declared persona-non grata and was given 72 hours to leave The Gambia, failure of which he will be deported forthwith. According to the statement, Mr. Hussein, his family and all his business associates are banned from doing business in The Gambia due to what the statement referred to as “unacceptable business practices that are detrimental to the Gambian economy.”  Mr. Tajudeen Hussein was also given thirty days (30 days) to close all his businesses within the Gambia. Shortly after this statement came out, Tajudeen’s lawyers wrote to the Presidency for an extension as thirty days according to them was not enough to wrap up a multi Million Dollar business, but their request was not approved.  Hussein Tajudeen is the owner of TAJCO which is the biggest importer of rice and flour, and also has subsidiaries that include the Kairaba Supermarket chain.  Tajco is based in Banjul, the capital city.

Adding to the confusion is the revelation made by sources close to the family that the Tajudeen family never received a letter from The Government regarding this drastic decision.  According to them, they only got the news through an announcement on The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) during a 10pm news broadcast.  Tajudeen, a Gambian resident for sixteen years, is also said to have gained his Gambian citizenship eight years ago when The President granted him honorary citizenship. This left many wondering why he was declared Persona non grata and asked to leave the country within 72 hours. He was not in The Country when his expulsion was announced.

As to the actual reason why this one time close ally, business partner, and confident of Jammeh is suddenly being treated in such a harsh fashion, an employee privy to inside information explained that Tajudeen’s fall from grace started when “he (Yaya Jammeh) asked for 4,000 cartons of chicken, 5000 cartons of tomatoes, 5000 twenty-liter drums of cooking oil and an additional eight million dalasis ($200,000) for his 50^th birthday anniversary celebration that we (Tajudeen co.) could not do at that time.  Tajudeen was not in town and his children could not approve the request, this was what angered the President and resulted in the expulsion and closure of Kairaba Shopping Centre and Tajco.”   The distressed employee continued “Tajudeen has over a thousand staff in The Gambia, what will be their fate?”  He asked angrily.

Meanwhile, 120 containers of Tajco shipments of foodstuffs for shoppers of the busy Holy month of Ramadan are currently sitting at the Gambia Ports Authority for two weeks now.  This will lead to shortages, which will evidently lead to higher prices that the poverty stricken population cannot afford.  Prices of basic commodities like rice, sugar, onions, flour, and cooking oil will be highly affected.  Tajudeen is also the biggest tax payer in The Gambia, and in fact is said to have on occasions paid tax obligations to The Gambia Revenue Authority in advance, especially in times when the GRA needed finances urgently.  The business community in The Gambia is also said to be troubled by this new development since most of their goods are supplied by Tajco.

Hussein Tajudeen is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the United States government and his business is alleged by the U.S to be part of a multinational network that has generated millions of dollars for Hezbollah, described by the White House as being “among the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world.”  Reports have indicated that The United States sanctions imposed in December, 2010 targeted a network of businesses owned or controlled by Tajudeen and his brothers in the Gambia, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the British Virgin Islands.

Muhammed Bazzi, a close associate and business partner of The Gambian President is said to be excited about the expulsion of Tajudeen because it eliminates a competitor of the flour business that he jointly owns with President Jammeh.

It is important to note that The Gambia has expelled Hussein Tajudeen before, but he was later given a presidential pardon and permitted to return.  So who knows – Yaya may yet again change his mind just when it suits his needs and desires.

Momodou Sabally, former Minister for Presidential Affairs and Secretary General and Head of the Civil Service was earlier today, Monday 8^th June ordered to be remanded in prison by Banjul High Court. Sabally faces new charges of abuse of office. He pleaded not guilty and was sent to the badly maintained and congested remand wing of the Mile 2 Prison even though he is on bail for the past few months. The former Secretary General was reportedly arrested last Friday in his family compound in Lamin, Kombo North while he and family were observing the 40 days charity of his mother who passed away recently.

He has since been in detention at the Serious Crimes Unit in Banjul and was brought to court today, which was originally the adjourned date on his ongoing economic crimes trial, abuse of office and giving false information to a public officer. However, instead of the continuation of the testimony of Alasane Ndoye, a State witness in that case, Sabally was slapped with new charges.

Momodou Sabally, who rose to exceptional fame during his one year occupation of the top post at the presidency also served as Secretary General of the ruling APRC party. He was a trusted confidant of Gambian despotic President, Yaya Jammeh. His miseries started in June, 2014 when he was dismissed from his positions, detained for 5 months and later charged with several counts before Justice Emmanuel Amadi of the special Criminal Court.

Analysts are of the view that the new charges brought against Sabally are meant to see him remain in detention and possible jailing because the prospects of his ongoing trial are not favorable to the state. “The testimonies so far from the Alkalo of Bijilo, protocol officer at President Office, Managing Director of Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation have not incriminated Sabally in anyway” said a renowned human rights activist who preferred not to be named. Another analyst cited Sabally’s activeness on facebook and engagement in social events including his newly release documentary-like video on the illegal migration commonly referred to in The Gambia as “Backway” as some of the reason that gave birth to this latest troubles with his former boss. Sabally remained placid and refused to break down like many officials who served and later shown the exit door from the mostly opportunist cabinet of Yaya Jammeh. This is contrary to the wishes of dictator Jammeh who always want to cow his dismissed employees into total submission and isolation.

The erstwhile Secretary General who is on record for having read a statement on national television insulting the mandinka tribe on the directive of the delusional President Jammeh is expected to return to court on Wednesday, June 10. Alasana Ndoye, the Senegalese – American who jetted into the country from Washington DC after weeks of waiting will continue his testimony in relation to one of the counts of ‘giving false information to a civil servant’. Ndoye, the owner of the two American made vehicles is helping the State convince the court that Momodou Sabally indeed lied to the President, when he, then as Secretary General informed him (president) that Ndoye wanted to donate to the President the two vehicles while they are meant for sale.

A government press release aired by state TV on Friday night has condemned USA’s comments on human rights in The Gambia as “a shameless attempt to divert attention from the abysmal human rights record in the US”. The release further stated that the Gambia Government would like to inform the general public that no amount of pressure could force it to reconsider its rejection of homosexuality. The release, which came from the Office of the President, according to state TV, “strongly rebuts a recent statement made by the National Security Advisor of the USA, Susan Rice, describing the rejection of gay and lesbian activities in The Gambia as a violation of human rights.”

The release said Susan Rice’s statement released on the International Day against homophobia by the White House Press Office, also made “unsubstantiated accusations of arbitrary arrests, detention and torture in The Gambia”.

“These accusations,” the release stated, “are the latest in a systematic campaign to dent the good image of the country and demonize its leadership because of its stance against homosexuality.

“The Government reminds all that homosexuality is totally against the religious, cultural and traditional values of The Gambia and would thus not be tolerated.”

The release added: “The US comments on human rights in The Gambia is a shameless attempt to divert attention from the abysmal human rights record in the US.

“The National Security Advisor should instead address racism, abuses and impunity in America where lately innocent and unarmed African- Americans, for example, are being regularly shot by white police officers with impunity rather than prescribe human rights to Gambians who have a long history of civilization,” the statement said.

“The Office of the President states that the Government of The Gambia will always adhere to our sacred religious values and will not be dictated by ungodly societies, nations or institutions.

“As Muslims and Christians, Gambians worship only Allah and we will preserve the human race by going by Allah’s dictate that only Male and Female can marry.”

Lamin Cham, CEO of Champion Sounds Production, music promoter and host of Saff Connect on The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) has not been seen or heard from by family members and friends since Monday June 1, 2015. With the unpleasant memories of the mysterious disappearances of people like Kanyiba Kanyi, Massey Jammeh, Harona Jammeh, Alhaji Mamud Cessay and Ebou Jobe (the two US Citizens still missing in The Gambia) still fresh in the minds of Gambians, this news could not have come at a worse time. As days go by, anxiety is understandably growing.

Lamin Cham who also manages Titi, a famous Senegalese musician, was planning to go on a European tour with the singer and her entire band. According to sources, the tour party has all had all visas processed and expected to leave Dakar Thursday night, June 4 for Germany where the tour is expected to start. Members of Titi’s Band got suspicious after calling both of Lamin Cham’s cell phones without success. Both phones are switched off, his viber and Whatsapp show his status as June 1 being the last date he was online. As manager of the team, the contracts and every detail of the tour is said to have been with Lamin Cham.

Sources in Banjul have disclosed that he was picked up by seven members of President Yahya Jammeh’s assassin team, ‘The Junglers’ at his residence in Sukuta, near the coastal road. Sources added that all seven men wore black during the arrest and drove in a numberless pick up truck. Since his pick up, no word has been issued by the government about him.

The Champion DJ, as he is fondly called, is a close friend of the embattled Ram Daan lead singer, Thione Seck. He makes no secret of his loyalty to the singer and often posts photos of the two of them on his personal facebook page. Thione is currently in the Senegalese prison, Reubuss, charged with economic crimes in connection with fake bank notes found at his residence in Dakar. Mr Seck’s wife and entire family have been asked to leave his house whilst investigations are going on. Many Gambians are suspicious that President Jammeh might have a hand in the Thione Seck saga, but there is no evidence of his involvement as at now. Observers have noted that if Champion’s illegal arrest is in connection to that ongoing case, the government should first acknowledge his arrest, then proceed to respect his constitutional rights by allowing him access to legal counsel and charging him within 72 hours of his detention if he is found to be involved in any crime rather than maintaining the status quo. One of them quips “but knowing the state of affairs in The Gambia, no one should hold his/her nose on that prospect. Senegal meanwhile is according Thione with all his legal rights – what a sharp contrast”.

Champion DJ won many awards both in and outside The Gambia for his invaluable contribution to the promotion of The Gambian music industry. In 2009, he won the music promoter of the year award at a gala dinner at The Kairaba Hotel in Kololi. We will be keeping an eye on this matter as human rights groups are also being notified.

MINNEAPOLIS — Every other Saturday evening, the coup-plotters excused themselves from their wives and kids to join a conference call. The half-dozen dissidents — all middle-aged men, most with military experience — dialed in from their suburban homes scattered across the South and Midwest.

There were operational details to discuss, logistical hurdles to overcome. How would they smuggle rifles and night-vision goggles to Gambia, the tiny West African country from which they were exiled? Was their $221,000 budget enough to topple the brutal strongman who had ruled Gambia for two decades?

In the predawn hours of Dec. 30, according to court documents and interviews with people involved in the operation, the U.S.-based conspirators teamed with other dissidents to assault the Gambian presidential palace. They expected to find it lightly guarded. Instead, they ran into an ambush. Four people were killed. Those who survived fled the country.

Afterward, the Justice Department charged four U.S. residents with taking part in or supporting the failed coup, saying they had violated the Neutrality Act of 1794, an obscure law that prohibits Americans from taking up arms against countries that enjoy peaceful relations with the United States.

What the U.S. government did not disclose, however, was that it had been monitoring the plotters and had secretly tipped off West African authorities to the travel of at least one of them. In doing so, U.S. officials may have at least indirectly helped to protect the president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, who has drawn international condemnation for his dismal human rights record, his violent rhetoric against gay people and bizarre beliefs such as his claim to have concocted an herbal cure for AIDS.

According to three U.S. law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because details of the case remain secret, the FBI interviewed the plotters’ lead military planner, Lamin Sanneh, an exiled Gambian army officer, in early December at his home in Maryland. The FBI had been monitoring Sanneh, and agents wanted to know why he had purchased a plane ticket to West Africa, the officials said.

Around the same time, a second plotter who had arrived in Gambia to prepare for the coup confided to co-conspirators that he also had been contacted by a federal agent, according to a person involved in the operation. Soon after, other hints surfaced that Gambian officials had received a tip that a plot was afoot.

The exiles decided to proceed anyway after a Gambian informant assured them they had not been exposed. It was a fatal miscalculation.

According to two U.S. law enforcement officials, the FBI notified the State Department that agents had concerns about Sanneh and that he had left the United States. In turn, one of the U.S. officials said, the State Department alerted authorities in a West African country near Gambia that Sanneh was returning to the region — in hopes that local officials could intercept him and prevent any possible bloodshed. The official said Gambia was not alerted for fear that the country might round up innocent Americans.

Sanneh managed to slip through the net. Like the other conspirators, he flew into Senegal and traveled overland into neighboring Gambia. Although it remains unclear how Gambian authorities learned of the scheme in advance, they laid a trap.

When the plotters tried to seize the presidential palace, “the Gambians are waiting for them,” a U.S. law enforcement official said. Sanneh was among those killed in the ensuing gunfight.

Rodney Ford, a spokesman for the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, declined to comment. FBI spokesman Kyle Loven also declined to comment.

West Africa has long been riddled by coups and countercoups. But the Gambian putsch was perhaps the first to be hatched on U.S. soil by immigrants who had carved out comfortable lives in their new land.

Most had arrived in the United States decades earlier and worked hard to become citizens and build successful careers. Three had served in the U.S. military; two were veterans of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The investigation into the botched coup has been centered on Minnesota, home of a thriving community of Gambian immigrants as well as the base for federal prosecutors and agents overseeing the case.

Three plotters have pleaded guilty to firearms charges and violating the Neutrality Act. A fourth defendant has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

The prosecutions have stirred anger among many Gambian Americans who fled their country to escape repression under Jammeh. Some praised the coup organizers for risking their lives to bring freedom and democracy to Gambia, while sharply criticizing U.S. officials for siding with a ruler they described as a tyrant.

“Why in the world would they act on his behalf?” asked Pa Modou Ann, a former Gambian army officer who ran afoul of Jammeh in the 1990s and now lives in a Minneapolis suburb. “We have talked about it incessantly because it doesn’t make any sense.”

One plotter who has pleaded guilty likewise expressed astonishment. Papa Faal, a U.S. military veteran who served in Afghanistan, noted that the State Department has blasted the Gambian president’s human rights record for years.

“People need to know: Is this the kind of person who needs to be protected by the country that claims to be a beacon of hope?” said Faal from his home in Brooklyn Park, Minn. He declined further comment because his sentencing is pending.

Smiles with Obama

Dressed in white tribal robes, Jammeh was ushered into the White House on Aug. 5 for a handshake with a smiling President Obama. It was a diplomatic home run for Jammeh, whose government widely circulated a photograph of the encounter.

Jeffrey Smith, an advocacy officer for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, said that, from Jammeh’s perspective, the photograph’s underlying message back home was invaluable: “He was saying, ‘There’s nothing you can do to oppose my rule. The strongest nation in the world and the strongest man in the world stand behind me.’ ”

Jammeh was invited to Washington to attend a U.S. summit with African leaders. But the special White House welcome puzzled Africa policy experts.

Over the years, Jammeh had irritated the U.S. government by cozying up to Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. He had no tolerance for dissent, at home or abroad. During his August visit to Washington, his bodyguards attacked a group of Gambian dissidents holding a protest outside the Hay-Adams hotel, sending some to the hospital.

Jammeh has earned special notoriety for his persecution of gays. Homosexuality is illegal in Gambia. In August, the government went a step further and declared that the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” would carry a life sentence.

Gambians living in the United States said they’ve long been perplexed at the U.S. government’s unwillingness to take a harder line with Jammeh, whose impoverished country has just 1.9 million people and few natural resources.

“People are surprised and they’re angry, because they find it to be hypocritical,” said Pasamba Jow, a Gambian political activist from Maryland.

Around the time that Jammeh visited Washington, the coup-plotters intensified their planning, according to court records filed by prosecutors and the FBI. They purchased about 30 firearms, body armor, ammunition, night-vision goggles and military-style garb, stuffing the gear in 50-gallon drums and shipping it to Gambia, the records show.

In other ways, the plot came off as amateurish. The players referred to each other with code names such as “X,” “Fox” and “Dave.” One of them kept plans in a folder labeled “Top Secret” but left it at home, where it was later seized by the FBI.

At another defendant’s house, agents found a book titled, “How to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to Execution.”

‘Gambia Reborn’

According to the FBI, the group was led by Cherno Njie, 57, a real estate developer from Lakeway, Tex.. Njie, who holds dual U.S.-Gambian citizenship, financed the coup attempt and would have replaced Jammeh as president had the plot succeeded, according to the FBI affidavits.

The FBI said it found a document at Njie’s home titled, “Gambia Reborn: a Charter for Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy and Development,” as well as a spreadsheet breaking down the coup’s $221,000 budget.

Njie is the only one of the four defendants to have pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Andrew Birrell, declined to comment fully on the allegations, saying: “It’s a legally and factually complex case.”

According to participants in the plot, the military mind behind the operation was Sanneh, the exiled Gambian officer who was killed while storming the presidential palace. Once a rising star in the Gambian military, Sanneh was awarded a coveted scholarship in 2012 at the National Defense University in Washington, which caters to U.S. military officers and diplomats, as well as foreign students in military exchange programs.

Shortly afterward, he was named head of Gambia’s presidential guard. Within a year, however, he was forced to flee the country after being targeted in one of Jammeh’s frequent political purges. He sought asylum in the United States and lived with his family near Baltimore.

While at National Defense University, Sanneh wrote his thesis on drug trafficking in West Africa and frequently discussed the challenges of fighting corruption with his faculty adviser, Jeffrey Meiser. Although the university emphasizes the importance of civilian rule and working within a democratic system, Meiser said the political situation in Gambia was so hopeless that he could understand why Sanneh felt compelled to lead an armed uprising.

Sanneh, he said, was confronted with a hard choice: “Either I’m going to be corrupt and part of the system, or I’m going to do something about it.”

Recruiting U.S. veterans

Similar motivations prompted three U.S. military veterans to join the plot.

Njaga Jagne, a captain with the Kentucky Army National Guard, moved to the United States two decades ago from Gambia. He was deployed twice to Iraq and received his U.S. citizenship in 2006 — on Veterans Day — in a ceremony in Baghdad.

“He believed in the whole idea of going over there to bring the Iraqi people freedom,” said his sister, Sigga Jagne. “That’s who he was; he really believed in those ideas and tenets.”

Another member of the conspiracy was Alagie Barrow, a former officer with the Tennessee Army National Guard. Barrow, 41, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. His attorney, Robert Richman, said his client had no reason to believe that fighting for freedom in his homeland was against U.S. law.

“One can certainly sympathize with the decisions of the Gambian expatriate community to do something that would have helped their relatives and friends still in the Gambia, who are living under an abusive regime,” Richman said.

The last to join the group was Faal, who served for a decade with the U.S. military.

Even more than the other plotters, Faal had long seethed at Jammeh’s autocratic rule.

Faal’s great uncle, Dawda Jawara, is considered to be the founding father of Gambia. He served as Gambia’s first prime minister in 1962 and then president after the country won independence from Britain in 1965. He led the country until 1994, when he was ousted in a coup — by Jammeh, then a young army lieutenant.

In 2013, Faal self-published a book about a previous, failed attempt to oust his great uncle. In the book, titled “A Week of Hell,” Faal lamented the chronic coups d’etat that have destabilized West African countries for generations, but he gave no hint that he would soon help plan one.

“When a country’s democratic process fails or is usurped, in my view, it may be necessary for the citizenry to force change through civil disobedience and peaceful demonstration rather than . . . through the barrel of guns,” he wrote. Coups, he added, only plant “the seeds of a future conflict.”

Shifting plans

The exiles returned to Gambia separately and set up a safe house in Banjul, the capital. For weeks, they discreetly monitored the comings and goings at the presidential palace, known locally as the State House.

Early on there were hints something was amiss. Barrow, the National Guardsman from Tennessee, told others in early December that he had received a call from a U.S. federal agent, asking where he was.

Later, Sanneh and another plotter met with a soldier in the presidential guard whom they hoped would support the coup. The informant reported that Gambian security forces had received a tip that a plot was in the works but weren’t taking it seriously.

The rebels’ original plan was to intercept Jammeh’s convoy on a highway as he traveled from Banjul to his native village for an annual holiday visit. But Jammeh suddenly left the country instead.

Despite the unexpected developments, the conspirators decided to try to seize the State House anyway and oust Jammeh while he was abroad, according to FBI affidavits.

At 2 a.m. on Dec. 30, the plotters split into two groups – Alpha Team and Bravo Team – and attacked the State House from the front and rear, hoping that a few gunshots would scare off the guards.

But the State House had been fortified with extra soldiers loyal to Jammeh. Sanneh, Jagne and two other rebels were killed.

“The leak happened somewhere,” said one of the participants, speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid self-incrimination. “Who did it, we don’t know.”

‘Unconscionable’ threats

Three of the accused plotters — Faal, Njie and Barrow — escaped and made their way back to the United States.

The FBI arrested Faal and Njie within days of their return. Barrow was charged in late January. A fourth defendant, Banka Manneh, a Gambian dissident from Jonesboro, Ga., never left the United States but was charged in March with supporting the conspiracy.

Omar Faye, the deputy Gambian ambassador to Washington, said his government was keeping close tabs on the U.S. prosecutions. He declined to comment on particulars of the plot, saying he did not want to interfere with the criminal proceedings.

“This is a very serious situation,” he said. “It is about trying to destabilize or remove a constitutional government that was elected overwhelmingly by the Gambian people.”

Meanwhile, Jammeh has kept up his controversial pronouncements. At a political rally in early May, he warned gays in Gambia that he would personally “slit your throat.”

“If you are a man and want to marry another man in this country and we catch you, no one will ever set eyes on you again, and no white person can do anything about it,” he said.

That prompted a stern response from the White House. In a May 16 statement, Susan E. Rice, the national security adviser, condemned Jammeh’s comments as“unconscionable.” She noted that his threats were part of “an alarming deterioration of the broader human rights situation” in Gambia, including reports of torture.

“We are reviewing what additional actions are appropriate to respond to this worsening situation,” Rice added.

At the thank-you Party commemorating his victory to the Alder in Madison’s common Council District 17, Alder-Elect Samba Baldeh on Saturday May 30^th2015 acknowledged the great work done by his Campaign Manager Fatou Ceesay, Treasurer Sue, long time business partner Jerreh Kujabi, a long list of door-to-door knockers during his campaign and the residents of Madison at large.

Baldeh, a Community Activist and Software Engineer with American Family, is a first-time contestant to the Alder position of Madison’s District 17, where he succeeded in defeating the incumbent Alder Joe Clausius with a small margin of 32 votes in early April of 2015.

Like many other Politicians, Baldeh’s desire to join Madison’s Common Council is not far-fetched. As a Community Activist, peoples’ concerns become the order of the day. Baldeh tells this reporter that he is interested in making a difference in the lives of the people of Madison –good transportation systems, alleviating poverty, infrastructural developments, good education and making the City a strong economic hold with good standards of living.

An Alder in a City’s Common Council engages in a lot of functions, mainly running the affairs of the city of Madison. Baldeh as mandated by residents of the city of Madison District 17 now gets to represent in City Council Meetings at that capacity.

Baldeh’s triumph to Office in Madison represents an Immigrant’s hope and fulfillment of dreams in a promising country like America with its uplifting spirit. Immigrants in America continue to contribute their quotas in development.

Many attendees of the August gathering expressed their congratulations and well wishes for Baldeh, for a successful tenure in Office.

Following Dictator Yaya Jammeh’s arrest and detention of 16 year old minor Yusupha Lowe, 19 year old Alieu Lowe and countless other mothers, fathers and relatives of those Jammeh accused of being part of the 30th December 2014 insurgency, Gambian activist have issued countless warnings to Dictator Jammeh asking him to release those innocent family members as they have nothing to do with the allege crimes of their relatives. Many observers said that Dictator Jammeh made his family a target by arresting relatives of his allege enemies, since activists have always critiqued Jammeh but left his family out of the attacks but when on January 1st, following the failed coup on 30th December Jammeh arrested a child and parents of the alleged insurgents, he made his family a target. This lead to DUGA DC in collaboration with other activists locating Jammeh’s daughter’s posh boarding school in New York and organizing a protest at the school to deliver a petition to the school authorities Friday May 29 2015.

The Leman Manhattan International Boarding School cost $72,000 per academic year, excluding expenses such as field trips, uniforms, laptops, health insurance etc which add to another $6000 (D3,120,000 – $1=40).

According to the NYpost, the Leman Manhattan International Boarding School is “Manhattan’s first and only residential school offers well-heeled 15- to 18-year-olds perks their public- and even private-school peers can only dream of: a 25-yard indoor pool and fully equipped gym, trips to Broadway shows like “Wicked,” the US Tennis Open and Disney World; a rock-climbing wall and professionally designed theater; and, from its perch on the top four floors of the Cunard Building in lower Manhattan, classrooms overlooking the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor”. This when Dictator Jammeh’s monthly salary is $1250 (D50000) per month, 60% of Gambians live under $1.25 per day (UNDP report) and the Gambia Government recently had an emergency loan approval of $10.8 million from IMF in April 2015. Gambian hospitals lack medicines and equipment as revealed by the Chief Medical Officer, who was sacked two weeks ago for revealing the dire situation at the hospital. This follows the resignation of the Chief Justice Chohan whose left following dictator Jammeh’s interference in the Judiciary.

A week ago, Amnesty International in collaboration with Human Rights Watch launched an emergency campaign and call for action demanding the release of 16year old Yusupha Lowe and other family members of the alleged insurgents. The link to the campaign is http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/05/27/gambia-dozens-held-incommunicado-disappeared.

Gambian activists are also calling on the immediate release of Yusupha and others in collaboration with Amnesty.

Activist say that the protest today was to deliver a protest letter to the school for accepting the child of a brutal dictator, who is known worldwide for gross human rights violations and who publicly declared that he will “slit the throats of Gays caught in the Gambia”. Activist are organizing another more public protest outside Dictator Jammeh’s daughter’s posh boarding school before term ends to send a clear message to him that he will not get away with detaining innocent family members in Gambia and have his family spared.

In another twist in the sacking of the former Chief Justice Ali Nawaz Chohan, who was fired from his position as Chief Justice of the Gambia, declared persona non grata and given 72hrs to leave The Gambia. Justice Chohan spoke to dawn news and said he “relinquished” charge of his post, implying that he resigned and was not fired as implied by the Jammeh regime. According to dawn news, “Justice Chohan stepped down from this highest judicial slot after he developed differences with Gambian President Yahya Jammeh for acquitting former Gambian naval chief Sarjo Fofana in a treason case. Mr Fofana was a co-accused in planning a coup against the Jammeh regime over a decade ago, and had been under arrest since 2006.

In the same case, Mr Chohan — hearing an appeal against the conviction of former Gambian army chief Lang Tombong Tamba — upheld the latter’s conviction, which had been announced by the high court in 2013”. Justice Chohan is quoted as saying that “Since the Gambian government was not happy with the decision, I therefore decided to step down because I could not work in such an environment,” Mr Chohan told Dawn.

This worrying revelation vindicates Gambian activists who have been raising the alarm regarding Jammeh’s control of the Gambian judiciary and its lack of autonomy. Speaking to Jeffery Smith Advocacy Officer at the Robert F Kennedy center for Human Rights, on the revelations of the former Gambian Chief Justice he said: “The controversy surrounding  Justice Chohan is not all surprising given President Jammeh’s deplorable track record in The Gambia. The Jammeh regime has proven, time and time again, that the rule of law and the concept of justice mean little in his country. President Jammeh is among a dying breed of retrograde African dictators, one who shows complete disregard for basic human rights and human dignity. Luckily, the world has taken stock of this fact and has begun to take measures in response”.

Sadly this incident is neither isolated nor new in Gambia, especially with Jammeh ordering civil servants and officials to execute illegal executive orders including torture, arbitrary arrest, convicting people based on flimsy and unproved charges, denying the opposition access to state media etc. What is unique is that a few professionals like Justice Chohan, Solomon Owens the former Agriculture Minister have decided to resign rather than execute Jammeh’s illegal orders and risk being held accountable for their actions in the not too distant future. An observer said that, what is really tragic about this is that officials executing Jammeh’s illegal orders have no paperwork linking their actions to Jammeh, which means that if Jammeh decides to deny giving them any order like he did in the case of the former Secretary General Njogou Bah, his confidant the late Baba Jobe, Lang Conteh of central Bank etc, then it is they the civil servants and those executing his orders that have to face the face and account for their actions. “Am sure former Justice Chohan realizes that it is better to resign honorably than execute Jammeh’s illegal orders to jail an innocent man when there is no evidence to back such conviction, because he knows that he could be held accountable for his actions as it goes against ethics and everything his profession stands for” said an insider.

Many are also calling on the international community to strongly back their condemnation of the Human rights abuses in the Gambia with tougher sanctions against Yaya Jammeh and his government to send a clear message to him that he will be held accountable. An observer lamented the International community to stop negotiating with Jammeh’s ministers and envoys as anything they agree and sign is not respected by Jammeh and he does not bind himself to the agreements. Cases include the UN rapporteurs who had an unhindered access agreement signed by the then Justice Minister Mahoney, they came to the Gambia and were denied access by Jammeh, who then promptly fired the Justice Minister in question and then goes on to forge ignorance of the terms of the agreement with the UN Rapporteurs.

Another case is the IMF loan agreement and conditions agreed with the IMF as part of the approval process, Jammeh again violated the agreement with the IMF by issuing an executive directive fixing the foreign exchange rates in the Gambia against major currencies, in this instance, he also remove the Finance Minister who signed the agreement with the IMF. “The world has to now realize that any agreement not signed by Jammeh himself is null and void and thus to hold him accountable, governments, donors and international bodies must insist on Jammeh himself signing agreements to be able to hold him accountable, otherwise he simply forges ignorance and sacks the Minister or envoy concerned”.

The thousands of migrants fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh could find an unlikely safe haven in the Gambia, after the small West African nation announced it would welcome all the Rohingya and so-called “boat people” interested in resettling there.

In a statement posted online on Monday, the government professed that as a Muslim nation it was willing “to accept and will resettle all ‘boat people’ who wish to reside in The Gambia.” The country included an appeal for all countries to assist with bringing the Rohingya — a Muslim ethnic minority group which accounts for a majority of the thousands of migrants fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh — to the Gambia and help provide the nation with the necessary materials.

“As human beings, more so fellow Muslims, it is a sacred duty to help alleviate the untold hardships and sufferings these fellow human beings are confronted with,” the government said in the statement.

The Gambia’s unexpected offer comes after a recent surge in the number of Rohingya migrants taking to the ocean in rickety and overcrowded boats predominantly fleeing from Myanmar and Bangladesh by boat, seeking to escape government persecution and poverty.

Related: Gambian President Says He Will Slit Gay Men’s Throats in Public Speech

More than 3,000 Rohingya have reached the shores of several South Asian nations in just the last week alone, with aid agencies concerned that thousands remain stranded at sea. While Malaysia is the most common intended destination, many of the 130,000 Rohingya who have fled their home countries in recent years have landed across the region.

Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia have come under international criticism for turning away ill-equipped ships full of desperate refugees and even pointing them in the direction of neighboring nations, an act described by many as “human ping-pong.” Meanwhile countries like Australia have refused to accept the migrants amid the ongoing crisis.

The US has offered to house the refugees in light of the crisis and to take a lead role in multi-country coalition —led by the United Nations — in an effort to resettle the displaced. The Myanmar government has agreed to attend a regional conference on the crisis on May 29, with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia in attendance.

Out of all the countries that have been involved in the Rohingya refugee crisis, the Gambia is an unexpected addition. The tiny West African nation, surrounded by Senegal on three out of four sides, has had a less than enviable human rights record under the tenure of President Yahya Jammeh, who rose to power in 1994 through a military coup.

The 49-year-old leader, who personally claims to hold the cure for AIDS, rules Gambia with an iron fist. He is known for silencing dissent, jailing opponents, and cracking down on the press. Jammeh has made a habit of spewing anti-gay rhetoric, most recently threatening to slit gay mens’ throats just months after making homosexuality a crime punishable by life in prison. During his tenure, the Gambia’s economy has also tanked, with a third of Gambians living on less than $1.25 a day.

Oppression and economic problems have helped spark a mass exodus of the Gambia’s own people. According to the International Organization for Migration, out of the nearly 43,000 maritime arrivals to Italy in 2014, more than 8,000 were Gambian, making it the third highest country of origin behind Mali and Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous nation. In the first two months of 2015 alone, the number of Gambians entering Italy hit 2,099.

Related: Migrants Face Kidnappings, Torture, and Forced Labor on Hellish Journey to Southeast Asia

Beyond the number of people fleeing the Gambia — a popular tourist destination that lies along the Atlantic coast — the country is already home to nearly 10,000 refugees living in poor conditions. Coming mostly from the lengthy low-level conflict in the Casamance region of neighboring Senegal, they often face issues like food insecurity, poor health, and insufficient housing, according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Considering all of these factors, the motives and sincerity behind the Gambian government’s offer to help the Rohingya has come into question. Jeffrey Smith, an advocacy officer with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, told VICE News that there may be many reasons for the offer, but it likely has nothing to do with Jammeh’s concern for the Rohingya refugees.

“Let’s be clear, Jammeh did not make this announcement because he genuinely cares about the plight of the Rohingyan people,” Smith said. “It’s a clever tactic, but transparently self-serving.”

According to Smith, Jammeh is looking to secure positive media attention to offset the windfall of negative stories that have come out in recent months regarding his “increasingly deplorable” human rights record at home. Smith said the leader is also looking to burnish his Islamic credentials in the pursuit of financial aid.

“Funding from the West for his his abusive regime has dried up,” Smith explained. “By seeming to publicly side with the Rohingyas, Jammeh is attempting to garner goodwill with potential new allies who can fill that funding void.”

Last year the European Union withdrew millions of euros of funding in response to the poor human rights record in the country. Similarly, in December the US cut the Gambia out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a long-standing regional trade agreement. Largely dependent on international aid for development, the country has had to look elsewhere for funding, with Middle Eastern and Muslim nations stepping in to fill the gap. Turkey, Kuwait, and Qatar have all recently pledged funding to the autocracy.

Sabrina Mahtani, a West Africa researcher for Amnesty International, told VICE News it may be as simple as Jammeh “deflecting attention away from the high levels of Gambians leaving his own country and his terrible human rights record.” Mahtani said it was interesting that Jammeh has been so “magnanimous toward the Rohingya,” and yet “totally unsympathetic” towards the plight of his own people.

Either way, it’s highly unlikely the offer will ever come to fruition. When asked about Gambia’s suitability as a resettlement location for Rohingya refugees, the deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, Phil Robertson, told VICE News the country was not a likely candidate.

“As a poor country ruled by a repressive government with human rights policies that sends its own people fleeing, the Gambia is hardly a likely candidate to resettle Rohingya refugees,” Robertson said.

Despite his constant rhetoric claiming to have “Allah’s Bank” at his disposal and blaming “400 years of colonialism being responsible for the impoverished state of the country”, Dictator Jammeh who has also been conveniently ignoring the fact that The Gambia has now been independent for 50 years and considering that her counterparts like Singapore, Malaysia, etc, which have equally been former colonies, have managed to be developed due to their embracing of democratic principles that he (Jammeh) has denied Gambians, has decided to quietly swallow his words and bow to EU demands in order to receive much needed aid from that body – aid that he claimed The Gambia didn’t need.  According to ARTICLE 8 of the Lome and Cotonou Protocols, good governance, respect for Human Rights and the rule of law have to be satisfied for EU funding to be provided.

Today, the country is at a crossroad, at the brink of explosion because of Jammeh’s nearly 21 years of tyranny and misrule, and perhaps the worst dictatorship Africa has ever seen. He has systematically dismantled the democratic process, muzzled opposition parties, suppressed civil liberties and press freedom, detained innocent citizens without trial and disappeared others without trace, killed many, cracked down on innocent LGBTs – essentially terrorized the whole country with total impunity. Of recent, Jammeh has openly been ranting hate speeches deliberately geared toward instigating religious and ethnic divide in the country.

No doubt, as a backlash to bad governance, the economy has suffered a meltdown in recent times. Latest figures according to a government communication to the World Bank on 4^th March 2015 couldn’t be more telling – “at nearly 7 per cent, GDP declined by 1quater per cent in 2014, and the level of public debt had risen to 100 per cent of GDP by end of 2014” the report noted.  Investment in the country has gone exceedingly low since investors face constant risk of sudden arrests in addition to other discouraging issues like high taxation.  It is therefore no accident that the unemployment rate is above 20 per cent and higher particularly among the youths. The situation is so dire that the youths are forced to take the perilous journey called the “back way to Europe” at alarming rates.  The Gambia now tops the list when it comes to the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean seas to seek opportunities in Europe. Foreign Exchange earnings have dropped by 50 percent and the exchange rate by 7.8 per cent against the US Dollar from previous years. This is leading to a collapse of the banking system.  In response, and true to form, the Dictator by yet another “Executive Directive”, erratically intervened to fix the monetary exchange rate much to the amazement of the banks and the international world by setting his own rate that he might as well have picked out of a hat. However, as crazy as all these moves sound, observers have noted that none should be surprised for this after all is a country in which the President owns most of the businesses, at the centre of all the corruption, and the whole entire economy therefore revolving around him alone.

It is against this backdrop that the Dictator is being forced to succumb to the EU 17 Point Demands.  Reached for comment, political activist Banka Manneh notes that meeting these demands as basic as they are, will be a tall order for Jammeh.  “Lamin, I think Jammeh may be trying to play his chess games again and we hope the EU will not accord him the luxury.  He is cornered and the best approach will be to tighten the noose rather than giving him breathing space since that’s essentially what he is asking for here.  He knows he is presiding over a dying system and only re-engaging the EU as a survival tactic” He cautioned.  Many observers agree.  They added that Jammeh and good governance just don’t mesh and any effort to reform the man will only prolong the misery of innocent Gambian people because it will ultimately fail.

So when word came that a Gambian Minister has told a friend that the Foreign Minister has informed Cabinet that they are going to re-engage the EU as they have no choice given the state of the economy – in effect, Jammeh has decided to capitulate, it was just a confirmation of what we knew was going to happen eventually.  According to the same source, these Ministers are now very worried, jittery, and want to jump ship.  The chicken it seems is finally coming home to roost.