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Thirteen Peaceful Protesters released on bail

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By Alhagie Jobe

 

A total of 13 detainees of the April 14 peaceful protesters have been released on bail late Thursday, family sources have confirmed.

 

Those released are Baboucar Gitteh, Sadar Secka, Baba Ceesay, Ebrima Janko Ceesay, Lamin Camara, Alhagie Jammeh, Alhagie Jatta, Ebrima Jadama, Pa Ousman Njie, Kekuta Yabou, Baboucar Jah, Muhamed Jawneh and Baboucar Touray respectively.

 

The only condition attached to their bail is that they should not take part in any form of protest for the next six months.

 

Family members have confirmed that they only bailed out their love ones with a single Gambian Identity Card and have completed the paper works late Thursday evening at the Police Headquarters in Banjul. All the 13 detainees have all been released and have reunited with their families.

 

Twenty five people were arrested on April 14, 2016, alongside the late Solo Sandeng who died in state custody after staging a peaceful demonstration at Westfield Junction demanding electoral reform. Prominent among them are Fatoumatta Jawara and Nogoi Njie, the chairperson and deputy chairperson respectively of the women’s wing of United Democratic Party (UDP). They have since been denied bail on several occasion by the High Court in Banjul and kept under custody at the Mile Two Central Prison.

 

The case of some of the April 14 peaceful protesters which was recently transferred from the High Court in Banjul to the High Court in Mansakonko, Lower River Region witnessed its first hearing on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, but could not proceed.

 

When the case was called, A.M Yusuf and Sheriff Kumba Jobe who represented the State said they wished to proceed with the matter but lawyers for the accused persons were not in court.

 

“Have the lawyers been put on notice?” asked the presiding judge and in response, State counsel Yusuf said he is not sure whether they were put on notice. He therefore urged the court to direct an order to that effect.

 

The judge then adjourned the case to Wednesday 15 June 2016 for mentioning of the case and ordered that the accused persons and their attorneys be put on notice before the said date to enable them to appear in court.

 

Meanwhile, all 11 peaceful protesters transported to Mansakonko have been moved back to Mile Two Central Prison this afternoon, June 16, 2016, no information was given as to what the next step will be.

Gambia’s Court of Appeal president Edrissa Fafa M’bai Removed, General Legal Council Secretary resigns

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By Alhagie Jobe

 

Justice Edrissa Fafa M’bai, the president of the Gambia Court of Appeal has been removed, reports indicate.

 

Mr M’bai who served in various capacities in the judiciary, the latter of which was a High Court judge was in May 2015 appointed as acting president of the Gambia Court of Appeal and later confirmed as President of The Gambia Court of Appeal.

 

No official reasons was advanced for the removal of Mr M’bai but judicial sources has hinted that it’s in relations to opposition UDP leader Ousainou Dabor and Co case. It’s reported that the defense counsels for Mr Darboe and Co seek Justice M’bai’s intervention for the accused persons be granted bail by the machinery judges as their charges are bailable.

 

The opposition UDP members who were arrested since April 14 & 16 respectively and slapped with politically motivated charges has since been denied bail on several occasions and detained at the dirty state Central Prison of Mile II.

 

Other resignations

Meanwhile, there are reports that the Secretary to the general legal council  Barrister Yassin Senghore has tendered her resignation today following a similar move by Bar Association President, Loubna Farage earlier.

 

No reason(s) has been advanced for both resignation but judicial source said is in relations to the opposition UDP leader and Co trial which has not only sparked outrage in the country but in the international community as its described as a political case.

 

Mr Darboe and 19 others were back in court today, Thursday amid unprecedented number of supporters’ presence in court. The opposition supporters, family members and sympathizers went wild and screamed their names as gallants, prompting the security to warn that they would not allow people in court in the next adjourned date.

 

Meanwhile, Mai Ndure, the wife of Mr Darboe spoke outside the court today and said: “My husband is a good man. He is not a tribalist and his life has always been punctuated with sacrificing for the people. I am not Mandinka but I am honoured to marry a man like him and a Mandinaka” she said.

The Gambia Gov’t finally confirm that opposition UDP member Solo Sandeng died in state custody

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By Alhagie Jobe

The Gambia government has finally admitted in court today, Thursday, June 16, 2016 that Ebrima Solo Sandeg, the opposition United Democratic Party youth leader has ‘indeed’ died in state custody.

 

The confirmation was contained in a reply by the state to a Habeas Corpus filed on behalf of the late Sandeng at the High Court for the Gambia government to produce him dead or alive.

 

The Director of Public Prosecution SH Barkun who is representing the state in the trial of the opposition members ended the endless speculations and stories about faith and whereabouts of Mr Sandeng in his reply today saying ‘Mr Sandeng indeed died in state custody and cannot be produce in court”.

 

Many believe that Mr Sandeng died during interrogation at the hands of the President Yahya Jammeh’s ‘notorious’ National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the body was disposed of at a Tanji NIA office complex.

 

The late Mr Sandeng was arrested on April 14 at the strategic Westfield Junction for merely calling for justice and electoral reforms. He and dozen others were rounded up by police and detained. He was alleged to have died during torture under state custody and the others were also detained incommunicado for weeks before been produced before the courts, for they were equally tortured and suffering pains and under critical condition.

 

Mr Sandeng’s death prompted another peaceful demonstration on April 16 led by the party’s leader Ousainou Darboe and top executive members, demanding his release, dead or alive. They were also arrested at the spot, detained at the state central prison of Mile II and currently undergoing trial.

 

Meanwhile, the state is still confused over the case of the opposition leaders especially those arrested on April 14. Reports are emerging that the Inspector General of Police negotiating with them to promise not to make any further protest so as to drop the case.

 

Though the confirmation by the DPP of Mr Sandeng story in court is the first time since the case started despite same rumor ongoing, but earlier President Jammeh himself told the French magazine Jeune Afrique that Solo Sandeng died in state custody and rubbished the call by UN Chief Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty international for investigations.

 

The ongoing political crisis sparked global condemnation. The United Nations, EU, African Union, ECOWAS among others has since deplored the attacks of 14 and 16 April 2016 against the peaceful demonstrators and called for swift and independent investigations into these events, and into the reported death in custody of opposition activist Solo Sandeng.

 

Electoral reform

Among the new electoral law is anyone who wants to register a political party or run as presidential candidate has to pay GMD500, 000, amounting to US$11,870 or £8,240, which the opposition and critics says is simply aimed at undermining pluralism in the economically-stagnant country and way of weakening the effectiveness of the opposition. The government, however, said the law was necessary to ensure parties are well organized.

Gambians head to the polls in December 2016 in which current president Yahya Jammeh is seeking for a fifth term.

 

Advanced Plans In Place To Harm UDP Leader Lawyer Ousainou Darboe In Prison

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UDP Press Statement

 

The United Democratic Party (UDP) is alerting Gambians and indeed the international community about advanced plans to physically harm the leader Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, currently in remand with scores of his executive and other supporters.

 
The UDP Diaspora has confirmed from different credible security sources that specified plans were discussed on two different occasions in the last seven days on what to do with the UDP Leader, Lawyer Ousainou Darboe.

 
At least so far we have been able to establish from our credible security contacts that one of the plans agreed upon by the regime is to use imbedded hoodlums from President Jammeh’s Hit Squad (The Jungluers) who will be planted as inmates at Mile II Prisons to stage an attack on Mr Darboe. Another method which was discussed to harm Mr Darboe is to administer poison possibly on his food or water.

 
Using rudimentary poisoning from sources like acids from lead batteries to eliminate prisoners who are perceived enemies of the Gambian regime is not new. Several inmates who served their prison term in Mile II have confirmed this to be a routine measure used to eliminate people at the State Central Prison.

 
It could be recalled that some two months ago The Gambia government through the interior minister Ousman Sonko embarked on quest to acquire poison through illicit sources in Eastern Europe. The attempt to acquire the lethal poison was detected by some Western Intelligence which raised the alarm.

 
Lawyer Darboe and many other detainees are also denied food from family making the state the sole provider of everything they consume. On rare occasions when family members are allowed to bring in food from home, prison authorities acting on orders from President Yahya Jammeh, put in place every obstacle possible to prevent the detainees from eating the home made food.

 
We are serving notice that the government of The Gambia will bear full responsibility for Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and indeed all detainees under its custody. Lawyer Darboe was arrested healthy and sound. Should anything happen to him or any other person arrested in relation to the events of April and May 20165, The Gambia government will have to bear full responsibility of the consequences.

 
The UDP wants to make it categorically clear that it and the Gambian people will not tolerate any attempt to bring harm to the heroes illegally held in prison. We demand their full and unconditional release, a full accounting of all arrested personnel, and comprehensive reform.

 
To our compatriots in the fight for freedom, we urge you to redouble your efforts to see this seminal battle through. Let us remain united in purpose, focused on our common objectives and get the job done together.

President Jammeh’s Threats against Mandinka’s in Gambia are Irresponsible and Repugnant of a National Leader.

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By Professor Binneh s Minteh

 

Controversy is not new about The Gambia’s irrational and psychopathic leader. He takes pride in killing and burying citizens 6-9 feet deep and his distaste or dislike for the ethnic Mandinka group in the Gambia has never been a hidden agenda.

 

While serving in The Gambia National Gendarmerie, Yaya Jammeh had always singled out Mandinka’s as bad people. As an acting sgt at the time, he had either directly or indirectly attacked Mandinka’s in comments and remarks. As a former officer of the Gambia National Gendarmerie, I can fully recall Jammeh’s ruthless and disrespectful encounter with a Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) Kebba Dibba, largely on the bases of his ethnicity as Mandinka. Similarly, Yaya Jammeh’s encounter with Captain Ebrima Camara remains fresh in our memories. As a Second Lieutenant Jammeh brandished a pistol and threatened to shoot Captain Camara in front of the Commander’s office at Fajara Barracks during the tenure of Lt.Colonel Pa Jagne (AKA, Press Jagne). Both these encounters were entrenched in Jammeh’s deeply rooted hatred for the Mandinka.

 

Upon coming to power in 1994, Yaya Jammeh briefly but in a brilliant fashion shoveled aside all anti-mandinka sentiments in the early years of the coup for two main reasons: first to consolidate his power across government and security landscape, second to win the hearts and minds of ethnic Mandinka’s across the country to support his dubious political intentions of transitioning to a legitimately elected leader. This was evident in Jammeh’s administrative tactical deception that ensued promotion and designation of command and responsiblity within the armed and security and other government institutions. It was similarly evident in the Gambian leader’s use of former foes, Retired Captain Yankuba Touray, Retired Captain Edward Singhateh, and Retired Captain Kaaba Bayo as mouth pieces during political campaigns, largely to bring Mandinka’s onboard his grand scheme of hanging on to power.

 

Old habits dont die or fade away quickly, and this is true with the human nature of the Gambian leader. No sooner than President Jammeh consolidated and entrenched his power base, the anti-Mandinka rhetoric and hatred in him came to the forefront of his political leadership. Throughout his two decades rule in The Gambia, President Yaya Jammeh’s divisive politics has repeatedly singled out Mandinka’s with hateful remarks such as ” Mandinka’s are foreigners, Mandinka’s think they own Gambia, Mandinka’s are evil, And Mandinka’s will never assume political leadership of The Gambia”.

 

The most recent irresponsible and inflammatory threats against Mandinka’s did not come as a surprise either. President Yaya only truly confirmed his decades long hatred of Gambia’s largest ethnic group; hatred that is driven by ego and low self-esteem on the part of the deranged Head of State. The Gambian leader’s historic argument about the non-existence of Mandingo’s in The Gambia before the 1860’s is both unfounded and a travesty to Africa’s rich history. The distinguished Ghanaian historian, Professor, Adu Boahen (1964) opined that influence of the Manding people in West Africa dates back to the 12th and 13th centuries. Adu Boahen’s historical account noted that, what started as a petty kingdom of Kangaba in the 12th century gained influence in West Africa to include in the north, Ghana and southern regions of the Sahara, Senegambia in the West and the gold producing regions of Wangara, Bambuk and Bundu in the east (Boahen, 1964). Evidently, historical accounts of Professor Adu Boahen, and the famous Arabic historian, Ibn Khaldun, showed the Gambian leader’s historical deposition about Mandingo’s as both misconstrued and unfounded. Thanks to the efforts of the broader Gambian civil society at home and abroad, and Gambian citizens across all sectors, that Jammeh’s divisive ethnic politics is increasingly challenged in all domains.

 

Perhaps the Gambian leader failed to realize that such inflammatory remarks inciting tribal and ethnic tension only put him on an international spot light as a predator of peace and stability. As a global community we have moved from emphasis on state centricity that killed millions of world citizens to new norms of collective responsibility, emphasizing the protection of all citizens irrespective of race, religion, ethnicity, gender or political affiliation. Under such norms, states have a responsibility to protect all citizens from Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing, Crimes against Humanity, and War Crimes. When states are reluctant, unwilling or fail to protect its citizens from such grave crimes, it is the responsibility of the International community to provide protection.

 

In sum, threats and inflammatory remarks against any ethnic group are irresponsible and repugnant of a national leader. President Jammerh must resign in the interest of peace and stability in the Gambia and across the sub-region.

“The Gambia under President Jammeh has developed a plaid history of disappearing detainees to their eventual death only to shamelessly turn around to say that they have escaped lawful custody.” UDP Press Statement

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The United Democratic Party (UDP) has confirmed from multiple sources that an unspecified number of remand political prisoners who were arrested on April 14 2016 with Solo Sandeng have been removed from their prison cells and being transported to an unknown destination.

 
While it is still not clear why the abductees were removed from their cells, the UDP holds the government of the Gambia wholly responsible for their personal security and wellbeing.

 
The Gambia under President Jammeh has developed a plaid history of disappearing detainees to their eventual death only to shamelessly turn around to say that they have escaped lawful custody.

 
We can confirm that by around 1:30 GMT, state security personnel from the Police, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Army, drove into the Mile II Central Prisons and removed an unspecified group of remand political prisoners in handcuffs. Neither their lawyers nor the prison officials were told where they were being taken to.

 
The UDP is deeply concerned about this latest case of lawlessness by a government that is aided and abated by a corrupt and unjust judicial system gone haywire with state prosecutors acting entirely on directives from the office of the president to deliberately and persistently pervert justice.

 
Although some unconfirmed reports say the abductees are being transported to the Regional Capital of Mansakonko in the Lower River Region of The Gambia, the UDP would like to make it clear that we will not take part in these state orchestrated violations and criminality which is part of a ploy to effectively imprison innocent people by cynically holding them up in endless and unlawful procedural schemes.

 
The alleged crimes that the April 14th group have been charged with were committed in the Greater Banjul Area therefore the courts in Mansakonko, 200km away cannot exercise jurisdiction over this case.

 

We reject affirmatively the judicial deception The Gambia government is attempting to use for its wholesale repression of the Gambian people.

 
Through its conduct, it has contaminated the judiciary and morphed it into an instrument of terror aided and abetted by hooded thugs embedded into the security services that violently abuse unarmed men and women in their custody.

 
We therefor restate our grave concern that The Gambia government in its persistent pattern of abuse and violence poses an existential threat to The Gambia and its people. We reject and will not submit to procedural tricks designed to hold our innocent compatriots indefinitely under the guise of judicial proceedings that are neither free nor fair.

 
If the regime continues to not honor our demands as well as those of the broader international community for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, it alone will bear full responsibility for whatever eventualities may ensue.

 
The Gambian people are not cowered by the old vile threats of additional death and violence by a morally bankrupt regime.

 
Freedom and democracy are the only thing we will settle for and we will not rest until they are achieved whatever the price.

African Union to launch continental E-Passport in July

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By Alhagie Jobe

The African Union has announced it will launch the continental electronic passport (e-Passport) during the forthcoming 27th AU Summit scheduled to take place in Kigali, Rwanda in July 2016.

 

This flagship project, first agreed upon in 2014, falls squarely within the framework of Africa’s Agenda 2063 and has the specific aim of facilitating free movement of persons, goods and services around the continent – in order to foster intra-Africa trade, integration and socio-economic development. The concept of unrestricted movement of persons, goods and services across regions and the continent is not new; it has been outlined in documents like the Lagos Plan of Action and the Abuja Treaty – an indication that the unhampered movement of citizens is critical for Africa’s development.

 

According to a media dispatch from the African Union Commission, the first group of beneficiaries will include AU Heads of State and Government; Ministers of Foreign Affairs; and the Permanent Representatives of AU Member States based at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

 

African Union Commission chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma described the initiative as both symbolic and significant, calling it a “steady step toward the objective of creating a strong, prosperous and integrated Africa, driven by its own citizens and capable of taking its rightful place on the world stage.”

 

In her statement during the commemoration of Africa Day on May 25, Chairperson Zuma said by issuing an African passport to the leaders at the July Kigali Summit, they hope to accelerate the free movement of people, goods and services. “I see an Africa with a changed paradox, from rich continent, poor people to rich continent, prosperous people. The Africa we want is one with a vibrant Economic Community, with nothing less than 70 per cent intra-African trade” she said.

Aspirations 2 and 7 of Agenda 2063, respectively, envision an Africa that is ‘integrated’ and ‘united’, and the introduction of the Common African Passport as an effort towards realizing integration and unity on the continent.

 

Accordingly, the AU also announced that countries such as Seychelles, Mauritius, Rwanda, and Ghana have taken the lead in ensuring easier intra-Africa travel by relaxing visa restrictions and in some cases lifting visa requirements altogether. “The scene seems to be set to realize the dream of visa-free travel for African citizens within their own continent by 2020.

 

Issuance of the AU e-Passport, is expected to pave the way for the Member States to adopt and ratify the necessary Protocols and Legislation with the view to begin issuing the much expected African passport” it concluded.

 

BREAKING: Fatoumata Jawara and Co Removed From Mile 2, Taken To An Unknown Destination

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Family sources have confirmed to The Fatu Network that Nogoi Njie, Fatoumata Jawara, Lamin Sonko, Modou Ngum and Co are right now being transported to an unknown destination after they were removed from Mile two prisons.

 

Sources say they got information that the group is being taken to Mansakonko in the Lower River Divison to continue their court proceedings. The problem with that according to the source is that there is no prison in Mansakonko and also the case has no jurisdiction over there. Could it be that they are being taken to Kanilai to confess to protesting against the regime? These are all speculations people are making right now.

 

We hope this will not be another Daba Marena and Co scenario where they all disappeared after The government announced that they absconded while being moved from Mile two to Jangjanbureh prisons.

 

We are monitoring the situation for you and will keep you posted.

Political Prisoner Released from Hospital and Currently in court with Co Accused

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Few hours after he was rushed to The Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, Lalo Jawla was released this morning and later taken to court with the rest of his co accused. He was said to have suffered from dehydration and general body pain prompting him being rushed to the hospital.

 

We are monitoring the situation and will keep you all posted

 

 

Political Prisoner In Remand With Gambia’s Biggest Opposition Leader Is Rushed To Hospital With Serious Health Complications

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The Fatu Network has received credible reports that Masanneh Jawla, known as Lalo Jawla currently remanded with Gambia’s biggest opposition leader, Ousainou Darboe and his executives, has been rushed to the Edward Francis Small in Banjul late Sunday evening, June 12, 2016. He is said to be seriously ill, but sources could not say exactly what has happened to him or how critical his condition is.
Our sources however confirmed to The Fatu Network he was rushed to the hospital in the emergency ambulance of the Mile II Central Prisons. He spent the night in the hospital with a serious health condition.

 
Lalo who is originally from Dobo village, also the birthplace of Lawyer Ousainou Darboe in the Central River Region was said to be in good health prior to his arrest on April 16, 2016. Eye witnesses have confirmed to The Fatu Network that he was never even part of the protest when Darboe and Co went out to demand for the state to produce Solo Sandeng dead or alive. He was said to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

 

Gambia’s detention and prison facilities are known for their deplorable condition aptly described often by human rights organizations as potential death traps. A human rights activist, Dr Amadou Janneh who was on death and only released after the intervention by US civil rights activist J C Jackson, once wrote how sometimes inmates are fed with carcass of dead animals and where torture and other forms of inhumane treatments are common.

 

 

Disease outbreak and even death are common in the prisons. Few months ago, a senior member of the transport association died under mysterious circumstances while under state custody.
The Fatu Network is closely following the case of Lalo Jawla and we want to make it abundantly clear to Dictator Yahya Jammeh that the life of this man is in his hands. The world firmly holds him responsible for anything that might happen to him.

Gambia’s UN diplomat rubbishes UN Genocide advisor’s comments against Yahya Jammeh’s threats to the Mandinka ethnic group

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By Alhagie Jobe

 

Samsudeen Sarr, the Gambia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations has rubbished the recent statement by Adama Dieng, UN Secretary General’s Special advisor on Prevention of Genocide, against President Yahya Jammeh’s threats to the Madinka ethnic group in The Gambia.

 

President Yahya Jammeh at a political rally in the town of Tallinding on June 3, threatened to eliminate the Mandinka ethnic group and referred to them as “enemies, foreigners” and threatened to kill them one by one and place them “where even a fly cannot see them”.

 

The comments gathered global condemnation including Adama Dieng, who is the UN Secretary General’s Special advisor on Prevention of Genocide who is particularly appalled by Jammeh’s vitriolic rhetoric as history has shown that hate speech that constitutes incitement to violence can be both a warning sign and a powerful trigger for atrocity crimes as seen in Rwanda. He described it as ‘inflammatory rhetoric’ targeting the largest ethnic group in the country. He said public statements of this nature by a national leader are irresponsible, extremely dangerous and a public stigmatisation, dehumanisation and threats’.

 

In a lengthy counter-message posted on his Facebook entitled ‘Mr. Adama Dieng, a UN advisor or another puppet on the service of Gambia’s enemies’, Samsudeen Sarr described Mr Dieng’s action as a shame and unfairly meddling in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of The Gambia.

Earlier in May, Sarr endorsed the killing of peaceful protesters in The Gambia saying they are backed by western powers to destabilize the country.

 

Below is the full message of Mr. Sarr as posted on his Facebook page;

 

Mr. ADAMA DIENG A UN ADVISER OR ANOTHER PUPPET ON THE SERVICE OF GAMBIA’S ENEMIES?

 

Dear readers, It’s been a while since I wrote anything about the current political developments in our dear country, the Islamic Republic of The Gambia. Domestic and work related matters have been keeping me rather busy these days; nonetheless I am fairly abreast with the dynamics unfolding in and out of the country that I intend to briefly discuss in this paper.

 

Whereas my main theme is to scrutinize and condemn the remarks made against our president His Excellency President Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh by another hypocrite or unconscionable “puppet” in the name of Mr. Adama Dieng identified by certain online newspapers as being “The UN Special Adviser of the Secretary General on the prevention of Genocide”, I will but first take a moment to thank the Almighty Allah for the life and wellbeing he provides all of us observing another sacred Ramadan month with the prayers for him to bless us all throughout the period. May the Almighty Allah accept our prayers for peace in our country, success in our endeavors and humbleness in our accomplishments.

 

It is also important to fleetingly convey on behalf of the thousands of Gambians and non-Gambians in the diaspora who have reached us in our New York City office extending their delightful birthday wishes to the His Excellency President Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh on his 51st birthday ceremony, celebrated on May 25th 2016. They have all expressed a common sentiment by wishing you Your Excellency a very happy birthday celebration, everlasting good health, prosperous and joyous life together with your entire family members, personal and statewide.

 

Furthermore Your Excellency, The Gambians here take great pride and satisfaction in your wise decision to send a high-ranking government delegation on your behalf and on behalf of the Gambian people in the persons of Gambia’s foreign minister Honorable Neneh Mcdoll Gaye, the Gambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations His Excellency Dr. Mamadou Tangara and the Gambia’s Ambassador to the United States His Excellency Sheikh Omar Faye to on Friday June 10, 2016 represent you and all your people at the globally celebrated funeral of the Great Muhammad Ali. The Gambia’s presence there was without doubt venerated and well acknowledged by his family members, friends and well-wishers. It was an admirable gesture for the Gambia to witness the burial ceremony of one of the greatest people and Muslims to ever have lived on this earth of ours.

 

In the various eulogies delivered, Ali was rightly presented as a unique individual who upon realizing his special gift of talent and power from infancy put his faith in the hands of the Almighty Allah and eventually prevailed as one of the greatest regardless of the monumental challenges on his path throughout his life. He was born black in America at a time when nothing was glamourous about being a black man here. He started boxing at a time in America when black people were still constitutionally considered less of human beings and categorized as totally inferior to whites who dominated the sports then; when every professional thought his different style of fighting that brought him the huge success he had must be changed if he expected to last or be successful in the game. He stood against the Vietnam War and any kind of war, which at the time, was unthinkable and punishable by imprisonment. He converted to Islam where he found the peace of a religion that didn’t preach the equality of all beings on one hand but on the other subject its members into state-endorsed discrimination, segregation because of the color of people’s skin. Muhammed Ali in short was a true believer who lived by his convictions, altered the rules of conventional wisdom and consolidated a legacy that will ever remain cherished by mankind. May his soul rest in perfect peace.

That said, I will now return to my main theme concerning Mr. Adama Dieng and his outrageous remarks against the Gambia’s president His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor Alhagie Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, Babili Mansa.

 

Since there was no disclaimer to his online-published remarks, I concluded that the harangue actually originated from Mr. Adama Dieng “The UN Special Adviser of the Secretary General on the prevention of Genocide” or whoever he is.

 

It is my stern belief that given the dizzying dishonesty in his statement Mr. Adama Dieng must have, if he is not already one of them, been coerced by enemies of the Gambia government to say what he said; otherwise it will be fair to view his disposition as that of simply a contemptuous bully.

 

By the way since the president’s speech was delivered in the two main local languages of the community he was addressing, Wolof and Mandingo, I would honestly expect Mr. Dieng to have a good command of one or both to better understand what the Gambian leader was talking about. Depending on other people’s interpretation of President Jammeh’s statement into an English version, the language in which Mr. Dieng conveyed his stern response would look to me like a careless decision to throw a brutal low punch.

 

The Gambia evidently has a permanent representative at the UN where I cannot fathom why Mr. Dieng couldn’t have first tried to get his facts straight before going on his rash condemnation of the Gambia government and its leadership.

I seriously don’t think Mr. Dieng listened or understood the whole statements made by President Jammeh at the political rally in question of June 3, 2016 where he raised his concerns about the Extremist-Mandingos, yes he was referring to the Extremist- Mandingos, hell-bent to permanently destabilize the country under the guise of political change. The president made it clear in his statement that he was not referring to the law-abiding and peace loving Mandingos a majority of whom constitute a large proportion of his supporters, party militants, advisers and government officials. But of course, there are those extremists Mandingos who always when it comes to politics tend to claim a special birthright to rule the country based on their historic merits of being the first settlers in the Gambia.

In the past two decades since President Jammeh became the country’s head of state, these politically polarizing elements have been relentless in their demands for President Jammeh to step down accusing him of not even being born in the Gambia and not being a Gambian at all.

 

During the past PPP government, we were witnesses to these extremists being quick to admonish Wolof-speaking Gambians in their own communities to stop speaking their dialect and start learning how to speak the Mandingo language in what they used to claim as being a “Mandingo Country”.

 

These were also the very folks who before the April 14, 2016 so-called peaceful political demonstration in the Gambia conducted an open fundraising from the US-based-internet radio stations for the sole purpose of paying for and inciting that attempted mass uprising in the Gambia that thank God was stopped without any major incidents. That’s right, all those who had taken part in the demonstration were Mandingo-speaking thugs of very low IQs paid from the funds raised from the USA and Europe and ordered to initiate the tearing of the country apart with the hope that the APRC government will succumb to the pressure. That is the reality President Jammeh highlighted in his speech emphasizing the end of his tolerance to the whole nonsense of tribal politics pestering the majority of the peace loving Gambia population.

 

I think the problem people have with President Jammeh is his frankness when it comes to address major issues. Certainly the president always tells it as it is in the same manner he would stand before the UN General Assembly in New York and condemn like no Muslim leader in the world will do the terrible mindset behind Islamic extremism and terrorism perpetuated by a tiny fraction of Muslims that continues to undermine the integrity and trustworthiness of over a billion peace-loving Muslims worldwide. Do we hear anyone condemning him for inciting genocide against Muslims by identity? No Mr. Dieng! Instead they always clap for him with standing ovation for saying what many are afraid to say for political correction. A few of his kind in the world would have helped solve many problems caused by the deadbeats entrusted with key responsibilities.

 

However, from the footage of the video in that meeting Mr. Dieng, still viewable online, the thousands in attendance loudly applauded him for his frank observations and uncompromising warnings.

 

For your information Mr. Dieng’s the bulk of the masterminds of these Mandingo extremists are in exile living in the USA and Europe with some of them naturalized in their host countries. They indeed control an elaborate association of loyalists and campaigners, devoting all their time and energy to their objective of changing the regime in the Gambia by force. Go to their websites and listen to their messages of doom, hate and gloom against President Jammeh and his government.

 

This is not the first time such dangerous attempts were made by these extremists to destabilize the country and as at this very moment they are on their radio stations, mostly speaking in the local dialects, inciting the Gambian people to overthrow the government of President Jammeh, calling on his enemies in the country to assassinate him and threatening to lynch him because of his tribal origin as a Jola. Their slogan is Jammeh must step down or the country starts a civil war. If that is not incitement for political or ethnic conflict that could degenerate to genocide, I don’t know what is Mr. Dieng.

 

Is Mr. Dieng actually aware of these numerous internet radio outlets and newspapers operating from the USA in the past five to ten years with their hosts constantly inciting Gambians to revolt against their government even if it means destabilizing the nation’s peace and security and rendering the country ungovernable? He probably doesn’t, and may never care.

 

I think the appropriate role for Mr. Adama Dieng on Gambia’s problems as “The UN Adviser of the Secretary General on the prevention of Genocide”, a role devoid of any hypocrisy or puppeteering, would be to direct his concerns to the US government to find ways or means of shutting down these dangerous Gambian internet radios in this county that potentially pose serious threat of causing political genocide in the Gambia.

 

By the way did anyone hear Mr. Dieng in his capacity as “Genocide preventer” say a word about the genocidal idea of American citizens living here, purchasing large quantity of deadly weapons from the USA, hired low-IQ mercenaries and sent them on December 30, 2014 to the Gambia to overthrow the government by force? He couldn’t tell us that he was not aware of that terrorist attack whose participants were either killed in action or chased away from the Gambia. In fact, the American government arrested the ringleaders, prosecuted and convicted them for their crimes. And did Mr. Dieng know that few months before that terrorist attack, these radio outlets were warning the Gambians to expect the downfall of the Jammeh government before the beginning of the year 2016?

 

However, for Mr. Dieng to give examples of Rwanda, Bosnia and the Middle East as what could happen in the Gambia from his memory of how incitement of violence has led to mass killings along identity lines, is tantamount to comparing what a sincere leader is indeed doing to keep his country safe and peaceful with the incomparable failure of a major organization that neglected its duties to act when it could until close to a million helpless people were massacred before their eyes.

We all know what happened in Rwanda in where an independent report commissioned by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, showed a UN peacekeeping mission in the country doomed from the start by an insufficient mandate and later destroyed by the Security Council’s refusal to strengthen it, once the genocide started. The report also underscored how UN Officials-Kofi Annan and then- the late Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali among them-were unable or unwilling to act on information from the field that a massive slaughter was happening and that they needed to do something to stop it. The whole macabre incident was compounded by Hutu extremists using local radio stations to call for more killings of Tutsis.

 

The conclusive findings on what happened in Rwanda Mr. Dieng summarized in a report shared below was nothing resembling what President Jammeh is doing to protect the majority of Gambians from enemies of his country, external and internal: In summary, the author wrote:

“I believe the UN can be blamed for letting 800,000 people die, they knew what was happening in Rwanda and had the capacity to stop it but didn’t. Each person killed was someone’s family member and someone’s friend but the UN ignored their cry for help to maintain some political propaganda. The international community had the responsibility to help.”

 

Furthermore, the last thing anyone in his right mind will attempt to do is to attribute what is happening in tiny Gambia to the disaster in the Middle East created by untouchable mighty nations licensed to ride roughshod against the weak and helpless. So bringing that tragedy into the equation leaves me questioning your sincerity Mr. Dieng as a UN Adviser.

 

Last but not the least Mr. Dieng, President Jammeh is fully aware of the 2005 UN agreement of all heads of state and their governments’ acknowledgement of their responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity as well as incitement. That is in fact the exact responsibility he is fulfilling to ensure that the majority of Gambians who voted him into power are well protected, live in peace and don’t depend on any international organization or body to provide it for them. He is not in that mood for playing Russian Roulette.

 

Prevention is better than cure Mr. Dieng, and you need to know that instead of helping by demanding for the shutdown of these vitriolic internet radios mounted by the enemies of the Gambia in the USA that are day in day out inciting for violence and tribal war in that peaceful nation you are hurting by directing your frustrations to the wrong target. Take reality check of yourself and stop the hypocrisy.

 

I have indeed written in the past that the US government would have authorized the use of predatory drones to take out the stations and hosts of all these inciting-radio stations in this country if they were faced with the same level of threat from another country as the Gambia does. That’s another hard fact I want the whole world to acknowledge and get the US to take action about it.

 

On a final note Mr. Dieng, I am curious to know when “The UN Special Adviser of the Secretary General on the prevention of Genocide” would start cautioning Donald Trump the Republican Party standard bearer on his campaign for the US presidency that everyone now sees as being rooted on xenophobia, racism and all kinds of hate ideals? Or can I assume that the rules don’t apply to America’s internal political affairs?  Oh yes, Mr. Adama Dieng, what you are doing is unfairly meddling in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of the Gambia.

What a shame!

 

Samsudeen Sarr

New York City

 

Gambia: Neneh Macdouall-Gaye led Jammeh’s delegation to Mohammed Ali’s funeral

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By Alhagie Jobe

Gambia’s dictator, Yahya Jammeh unlike other world leaders did not attend the funeral of late former world heavyweight champion Mohammad Ali, he instead dispatched a delegation to represent him.

 

Since December 30, 2014, Mr Jammeh only travelled outside The Gambia on few occasions for fear of a possible takeover of his government. He has survived several coup attempts in the past, most of which did not find him in the country.

 

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali – one of the world’s greatest sporting figures died on Friday, June 3 at the age of 74 at a hospital in the US city of Phoenix, Arizona, after having been admitted. He had been suffering from a respiratory illness, a condition that was complicated by Parkinson’s disease.

 

The Gambia’s delegation to the funeral was headed by Foreign Affairs minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye and included The Gambia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Mamadou Tangara, and the Gambia’s Ambassador to the United States Sheikh Omar Faye.

 

Ali’s funeral took place in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky with a procession carrying the body passing through thousands who lined up the streets until it arrived at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, where he was laid to rest in a private ceremony on Friday, June 10, 2016.

 

According to reports monitored from the website of The Gambia’s embassy in Washington, Neneh Macdouall-Gaye hand-delivered a letter of condolences to the wife of the late great African American icon on behalf of President Jammeh, the government, and the people of the Gambia.

 

Neneh Macdouall-Gaye thanked Ali’s family, Louisville’s authorities, and the funerals’ organizers for accommodating the Gambian delegation within a very short time frame. She stressed President Jammeh’s ‘deep care for the American people, his Muslim brothers and sisters and for humanity in general’.

After the funeral, Mrs. Macdouall-Gaye and her delegation paid a visit to the human rights activist Reverand Jesse Jackson.

 

Tributes

In earlier tributes, US President Barack Obama said ‘Muhammad Ali shook up the world. And the world is better for it’.

 

Former President Bill Clinton – husband of Democratic frontrunner Hillary – said the boxer had been “courageous in the ring, inspiring to the young, compassionate to those in need, and strong and good-humored in bearing the burden of his own health challenges”.

 

Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, tweeted that Ali was “truly great champion and a wonderful guy. He will be missed by all!”

 

American civil rights campaigner Jesse Jackson said Ali had been willing to sacrifice the crown and money for his principles when he refused to serve in the Vietnam war.

Veteran radio journalist George Christensen laid to rest

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By Alhagie Jobe

Veteran Gambian radio journalist George Christensen who died on June 3rd has finally been laid to rest today, Friday, June 10, at the Banjul cemetery.

 

Mr Christensen who was proprietor of former Radio 1 FM, the first independent FM station in The Gambia, died in Dakar after he collapsed at the Leopold Sedar Senghore International Airport in where he was waiting to board his flight to Banjul.

 

Hundreds of mourners – from family members, colleague journalists, friends and love ones paid their last respect to a doyen in Gambian journalism. The funeral was a somber moment as many believed the late Mr Christensen left a void in the media that can never be filled.

 

Commonly known as Uncle George, Mr Christensen who died at the age of 64 was an experienced and seasoned broadcaster since 1974, he trained some of the finest journalists in and outside the country. A doyen of Gambian journalism, George is described by many as not only a mentor but teacher and critique who gives candid opinions on the profession.

 

People who knew the late Mr George described him as a ‘peoples’ man’, always jovial and willing to crack jokes’.

 

Tributes from senior journalists both home and abroad described him as a gentleman and a professional who has polished their journalistic skills and placed them on the right track. Family members also described him as not only a father but mentor, partner and an open minded person who is frank but also very caring.

 

The sudden death of Mr Christensen shattered the entire Gambia media fraternity.

 

 

“Yahya Jammeh’s comments targeting Mandinkas is stigmatization & dehumanization” -says UN advisor on the prevention of genocide

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By Alhagie Jobe

The Special Adviser of the United Nations Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide has described the ‘inflammatory rhetoric’ by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh targeting the largest ethnic group in the country, the Mandinka ethnic group as ‘public stigmatization, dehumanization and threats against the Mandinka ethnic group’.

 

President Yahya Jammeh at a political rally in the town of Tallinding on June 3, threatened to eliminate the Mandinka ethnic group and allegedly referred to them as “enemies, foreigners” and threatened to kill them one by one and place them “where even  flies cannot see them”.

 

In a statement condemning what he called ‘inflammatory rhetoric’, Adama Dieng said public statements of this nature by a national leader are irresponsible and extremely dangerous.

 

“Public statements of this nature by a national leader are irresponsible and extremely dangerous. They can contribute to dividing populations, feed suspicion and serve to incite violence against communities, based solely on their identity” Dieng noted in the statement.

 

The statement added: “The Special Adviser was particularly appalled by President Jammeh’s vitriolic rhetoric as history has shown that hate speech that constitutes incitement to violence can be both a warning sign and a powerful trigger for atrocity crimes.  “We have seen, in Rwanda, Bosnia – and more recently in the Middle East – how incitement to violence has led to mass killings along identity lines,” the Special Adviser stated.

 

Dieng reminded President Jammeh that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence is prohibited under international human rights law as well as under national legislation.

 

States have the primary responsibility to protect their populations. In 2005, all Heads of State and Government acknowledged the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, as well as their incitement.

 

In this respect, Dieng urged the President of the Gambia to fulfill the above responsibility and ensure that the rights of all populations of the Gambia are respected, irrespective of ethnicity or political affiliation.

 

Yaya Jammeh’s dictatorship – ‘the greatest trial for Gambia’

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Fellow Gambians,

To add my voice to the current terse debate and discussions about our beloved country’s predicament and recent events. Indeed much have been said and continue to be but I would rather approach it from a sanguine perspective and where possible underpin my arguments with divine texts and prophetic traditions.

 

 

Most forums are inundated with finger pointing games on certain groups of the struggle notably the minority opposition for their so called lack of action against the injustice being meted against the the main opposition UDP. Sad to say that majority have almost lost hope in the future as well as when and how we will get out of this 22 years of dictatorship, tyranny and injustice.

 

 

I will attempt to answer the following burning questions and concerns in this treatise;

  1. Why are we as a nation going through this trial and when is Allah going to listen to our cries?
  2. Why is the country at large nonchalant about the current crisis and its effect on the outcome?
  3. Is the future rosy amidst all the negative odds against us as a people?

 

Folks Gambia has indeed enjoyed a 30 year stint of exceptional governance and leadership. Perhaps the first republic’s only crime was overstaying (which I believe was very much the norm in the region at the time) and the propagation of the slogan (GAMBIA JAWARA NTAN’O) meaning Gambia without JAWARA. Nonetheless for every cause there is an effect and this is the mundane nature of this ephemeral world.

 

 

My theory on the possible cause of our current unfortunate state of affairs stems from two school of thoughts; either we as a nation or people have committed a grave sin(s) that earned us the wrath of our Lord or it’s just a trial meant to purify us and elevate our ranks with HIM. If the former holds true then our redemption lies in our collective repentance. However, I want to focus on the latter because am bias to believe that this is our case. In which the ultimate objective of the whole trial is for us achieve the greatest success i.e. paradise by being patient and seeking help and reward from Allah. Baqarah 2: “Or think you that you will enter paradise without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They were afflicted with severe poverty and ailments and were so shaken that even the Messenger and those who believed along with him said, ‘When (will come) the help of Allah?’ Yes! Certainly, the help of Allah is near”.

 

 

Therefore I will endeavor to contextualize the Quran in light of the latter school of thought above to our Gambian situation and I seek wisdom and insight from Allah to be able to do justice in this regard. Allah calls the evil of Pharaoh over the Israelites as “BALA UN AZEEM” the great trial and at this point I would like to make a swift contrast between the salient characteristics of that great trial and ours. In Qasas 28:4 Allah explains why this trial is called the great trial; “Verily, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people sects, weakening (oppressing) a group (i.e. Children of Israel) among them, killing their sons, and letting their females live. Verily he was of the mufsidun (i.e. those who commit great sins and crimes, oppressors, tyrants, etc.)”. Allahu Akbar (Allah is great); how well this noble book fits well with every situation, condition and era albeit it was revealed 1400 years plus ago. See analysis of the contrast one by one below;

 

 

  1. Pharaoh exalted himself on the land – Jammeh ‘s arrogance and pomposity on the land is too apparent for me to recount in this treatise but suffice to say that his constant berating of burying dissenting voices 9 feet deep, kill like ants, etc are conspicuous evidences of his self-exaltation and aggrandizement. He brags that he would deal with his opponents in the most gruesome ways and the world would not be able to do anything, but wallahi Allah can and will do something about it.

 

 

  1. Pharaoh made its people sects – Jammeh has divided us into tribes, sects and groups with his most recent diabolical racist and ethnic rhetoric against the MANDINKA. I am usually flabbergasted whenever I hear him rant against tribalism when in both his actions and words, he has in no uncertain terms demonstrated beyond reason doubt that he is the first Gambian that is openly guilty of this great evil that goes against the very fabric of human existence. In Hujuraat 49:13 Allah says; “O mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At – Taqwa [i.e. one of the muttaqun (pious). Verily, Allah is all knowing, All aware”. Food for thought!!!

 

 

 

 

  1. Pharaoh – weakening (oppressing) a group (i.e. the children of Israel) – Jammeh has been oppressing Gambians be they Mandinkas, fulas, Jolas, Wolofs, Sarahules, Manjagos, Akus et al. What is currently happening to Lawyer Darboe and his comrades is sheer oppression and the height of injustice.

 

 

  1. Pharaoh – Killing their sons, and letting their females live – In fact in my humble view, Jammeh is even worse than Pharaoh in this regards as he kills both sons and daughters (either male or female without distinction, young and old). How pathetic that the most evil Kafir (disbeliever) i.e. pharaoh had at least courtesy to let females (weak and feeble) to live and a dictator who calls himself an arch Muslim disregards this weakness and vulnerability. For those who want to disagree, the records are there so am not going to waste time in going into that argument.

 

 

  1. Finally Allah concludes by declaring Pharaoh as a MUFSID – see meaning above but in short an oppressor. Indeed all these qualities are vividly represented in Jammeh and without doubt his doom is eminent and he is bound to face the same fate as Pharaoh unless he repents quickly and reconcile with the weak and the oppressed by extension the Gambian people.

 

I belief these answer the question why this trial for us but when will all this end is still a mystery that I intend to demystify in the succeeding verses of the one mentioned above.

 

 

Again in Qasas 28:5 – 6; Allah says: “And We wished to do a favour to those who were weak (and oppressed in the land, and to make them rulers and to make them inheritors”, “And to establish them in the land, and We let Pharaoh and Haman and their hosts receive from them that which they feared”. A word is enough for the wise but those with wisdom and insight will derive a lot of inference and hope from these verses in the context of the Gambian crisis. Again I buttress what Allah says in the Quran that “We did not leave anything out of this book”. An’aam 6:38. In these two verses is hope, consolation and comfort for all those who have been oppressed since Jammeh came to power in 1994 illegally and most importantly for those that are currently being subjugated to gross prejudice. For those who say well how long would this so called help or prophesy come to pass, let me remind you that it took Pharaoh 400 years as an oppressor with might that was phenomenal. The average life of this ummah (generation) is 63 years as reported in some traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) so if you do the math our victory and dominion over Jammeh and his enablers is eminent and very near God willing.

 

 

Now the question of why the country at large is nonchalant to the current gross violations of the rights of its citizens…….Allah did not make it a precondition of his help to the Israelites against Pharaoh that all of them should partake in the fight against tyranny. It took a small group with Prophet Musa to destroy, debase and wipe out Pharaoh from the surface of the earth by God’s permission. Whether the majority of Gambians take up this fight or not, Allah will certainly help the weak and oppressed against the tyrants and oppressors. In Shu’araa 26:61-62 Allah says “And when the two hosts (i.e. Musa and Pharaoh’s group) saw each other, the companions of Musa said: ‘We are sure to be overtaken’”. “Musa said: “Nay verily! With me is my Lord, He will guide me””. Pharaoh was most afraid of Musa (in their hosts receive from them that which they feared 28.6 above) and as such he killed all the boys born amongst the Israelites at the time. However, because Allah’s help is with the weak and oppressed, Musa was born and bred under the very nose and care of Pharaoh. Why wasn’t he able to kill him knowing very well this child was going to destroy him and for whose sake thousands if not more boys were serially killed in order to stop his coming. Do the math yourselves!!!

 

 

In conclusion, I am very much sanguine about the rosiness of the future of dear motherland and without doubt the truth shall eventually prevail over falsehood vis-a-vis tyranny. Make no mistake though, this is a great trial for us and hopefully the worst we will ever get God willing but behind every difficulty there is ease. For those still sunk in the drunken stoop of power and greed (including Jammeh and all his helpers) I remind you of the following verses of surah Qasas about Qarun and his people. 28:76; “Verily, Qarun was of Musa’s people, but he behaved arrogantly towards them. And we gave him of the treasures, that of which the keys would have been a burden to a body of strong men. When his people said to him: ‘Do not be glad. Verily! Allah likes not those who are glad (with ungratefulness to Allah’s Favours)” 28:81 “So we caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling place. Then he had no group or party to help him against Allah, nor was he one of those who could save themselves.

 

 

A final message to all Gambians; governments and leaders come and go but the Gambia and its people will remain until the day Allah will seize the world. For those with Aqeedah problems (belief/fate/conviction) be reminded that “there is no obedience to the created at the expense of the disobedience to the Creator” hadith. Be you religious leader, government official including cabinet ministers et al, we have no justification for condoning and obeying Jammeh at the expense of disobedience to Allah. Our allegiance is first to Allah and His messenger. Otherwise when Jammeh is going down, he will go down with his enablers because when Pharaoh was been wiped out, he went down with HAMAN (his chief minister in crime) and all his helpers or soldiers. To my very venerable teachers and learned men of our dear land without naming names, please fear Allah and do not support and help in crime (5:2 “but do not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment”.)

 

 

I pray that these subtle treatise serves as a genuine reminder for myself and most especially Jammeh and his cohorts in crime. Wallahi you will be defeated disgracefully soon Insha Allah if you don’t change and amend ways.

 

 

 

I close by saying these are tough times requiring tough measures; this is time for mending breaches with Allah and sincere duas. Indeed we will win and soon God willing.

BB

A wonderful opportunity for Regime to correct it’s wrongs this month

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As Ramadan commences, Gambians are restless on reflecting the events of the past months and asking themselves, will the APRC government reflect on everything that happened with the intention of correcting its wrongs to move the country in the right direction? As Gambians, It’s ingrained in our national character and part of our self-identity is to be very humble and ask forgiveness or forgive people who — wrong us in the beginning of Ramadan. Nowadays, not everyone has this innate optimism because of disappointments upon disappointments of our current administration. So far, the current Administration are moving steadfastly slow or don’t show sign of backing down, working back their rhetoric’s, and releasing all the detainees.

 

 

The current administrations press releases or speeches are marked by stony or awkward silence, and for good reason. Gambians are puzzled, too, because their religious beliefs are not accorded respect and obeisance enforced by the regime’s law enforcement. Apparently, the controlling of people’s lives and dishing out treats aren’t radical enough, but now a press release from the police is going as far as banning certain things during the month of Ramadan. We all agree that people should be very considerate about others and stay away from issues— that disturbs the peace of others. The reason why such press releases are no mystery to anyone is the regime is increasingly getting bold in controlling people’s lives. Gambians are frustrated, angry and many feel desperate of mixed messages of tribal slurs from the regime, cultural assaults on their values, declining ordinary Gambian influence in their own lives, and they’re fed up with the regimes promises of goodwill they never intend to keep. Majority of Gambians believe for good reason that they’ve been conned.

 

 

Gambians want leaders who share their values and will fight for them. That proposition is rooted in our Gambian exceptionalism. The regime wants to serves as a model but end up sending the wrong message or don’t hold themselves to the same standards. Unfortunately, constant acts of regime that meddled with the lives of all Gambians, have left many worried about — the threats of social engineering and the use of religion for their own perspectives, threaten the future prosperity and security of our children. if indeed— the APRC government are trying to communicate peoples concerns of such activities in their press release, they could have communicated the message differently without threats. So it seems, they want to be guidance of the deen of Islam in the country. In Chapter 15 verse 9 AL-HIJR (THE ROCKY TRACT). “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian”. This is a stack reminder to the regime that, they could only be a passenger not a driver of the deen.

 

 

Similarly, for so long — the regime continued existence are manifested in threats to instill fear in the Gambian population. This is outright immoral. As a result, most Gambians irrespective of their political views, have come to doubt that our current leadership is guiding the nation in the right direction. In surat AL-AN’AM (THE CATTLE)- Chapter 6 verse 38 “And there is no creature on [or within] the earth or bird that flies with its wings except [that they are] communities like you. We have not neglected in the Register a thing. Then unto their Lord they will be gathered.” That verse mentioned was revealed — because GOD already predestined people whom shall challenge certain tribe’s existence.

 

 

We Gambians are not asking for too much. We want the Government to closely listen to our concerns, pay attention and make an effort to deliver what they promised they would do. Let them release all the political detainees and those wrongly held as a good gesture for Ramadan. This is the reason why many Gambians now have transformed this historic dissatisfaction into activism everywhere in the work now. Rightly so, we refused to settle for the inevitability of a diminished future because— our Gambian ways of live which we cherished so much is challenged but our spirit of defiance remains high.

 

Ramadan Mubarak to all

 

By habib ( A Concerned Gambian)

“The defendants, their gallant lawyers and the Gambian people have put their foot down and will no longer per take in the farce of a trial that the tyrannical regime of Yahya JAMMEH is pursuing.” UDP Press Statement

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On Wednesday June 8 2016 the entire defense team comprising of the most senior members of the Gambian Bar Association representing lawyer Ousainou Darboe and his co-defendants angrily walked out of the courtroom in Banjul. The dramatic action was the culmination of a deliberate and persistent effort by the regime of  Yahya Jammeh to railroad innocent citizens through a corrupt and subverted judicial process. Using mercenary judges, unethical prosecutors, lying and conniving security personnel, the government has effectively conspired to engage in a criminal persecution enterprise using the court proceedings as a foil. Week after week, the presiding judges, prosecutors, prison officers and the other myriad of security services have engaged in overt schemes to violate the constitution, trial procedures and even the enforcement of its own orders regarding the rights of the innocents they have been illegally detaining since mid-April. They have demonstrated utter contempt for the law and procedure and insisted on continuing in their immoral and unlawful conduct in the guise of a trial.

 

 

Clear trial procedures requested by the defense such as staying proceedings until constitutional matters before the Supreme Court are settled are routinely denied by the presiding judge obviating the cardinal legal principle that obliges lower courts to defer to the superior court on matters pending before them. Additionally, the presiding judge has consistently refused to enforce her own orders in matters relating to the welfare of the detainees, in effect allowing prison officers to continue violating the rights of the prisoners. All of which point to a judge and judicial system determined to not deliver justice or even the pretense of fairness

 

 

The defendants, their gallant lawyers and the Gambian people have put their foot down and will no longer per take in the farce of a trial that the tyrannical regime of Yahya JAMMEH is pursuing. The detainees will not put up of a defense and will consider the entire charade the judiciary is engaged in as equivalent to the worst Appathied South Africa directed at the ANC. The dictatorship will have to take full ownership of its immoral judicial chicanery and deliver its precooked verdicts on its own. Lawyer Ousainou Darboe in his only statement today (Thursday June 9 2016) after being insolently told by the corrupt presiding judge to proceed in his own defense made it clear that he and the rest of the defendants will have absolutely nothing to do with her bias proceedings. As we enter this phase of our struggle to end tyranny and regain our country and freedom, we urge all patriots to remain steadfast in our determination to reclaim our Gambia. Do not despair, do not be fearful and remain focused on the objective.

 

Below we produce the records of proceedings from the court

 

THE STATE V OUSAINOU DARBOE AND 19 ORS

 

Transcript of proceedings of 9th June 2016.

 

Before Justice Dada     Case called

 

APPEARANCE

 

THE STATE

SH BARKUM    – Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP)

MB M. B. ABUBAKAR –           Deputy Director of Public Prosecution

B DRAMMEH – Bubacarr Drammeh

 

DPP: My Lord, this matter is for hearing. Subject to your convenience, we are ready to proceed.

 

Court – Ruling

 

Since the Defence Counsels for the accused persons walked out of the court in yesterday’s proceedings. The accused persons are charged with offences to which the accused persons can defend themselves in the absence of their counsel. Therefore the case shall proceed.

 

WITNESS SWORN ON THE QURAN IN ENGLISH

DPP What is your name?
WITNESS My names are Deputy Superintendent Musa Sanyang
DPP Where do you live?
WITNESS I live in Farato
DPP What is your occupation?
WITNESS I am a Police Officer.
DPP What is your rank in the Police?
WITNESS Deputy Superintendent of Police
DPP Which unit of the Police are you attached to?
WITNESS The Police Intervention Unit.
DPP: Do you have any particular or special designation in that unit?
WITNESS I am the Officer Commanding Operations.
DPP Can you tell the Court the nature of Police Intervention Unit? What do you do as officers of the PIU?
WITNESS: Our roles are many. One, we are responsible for public disrupt when it happens.
DPP Are you responsible for public order?
WITNESS Yes sir.
DPP What other things form part of your duties?
WITNESS Patrol duties and guarding the VIP and other security duties.
DPP Is there any other thing apart from what your mentioned?
WITNESS Sometimes we guard high-profiled cases to prevent violence.
DPP Do you know or recognise the accused persons?
WITNESS I know some of them.
DPP Who is the person you recognise?
WITNESS I recognise Ousainou Darboe.
DPP What do you say about the faces apart from Ousainou Darboe?
WITNESS Some others.
DPP Do you know the reason why they are in court?
WITNESS Yes I know the reason why they are in court.
DPP Cast your mind back to the 16th day of April 2016 and tell the Court what you can remember pertaining to this case?
WITNESS On the 16th April 2016, whilst at our base PIU Kanifing, we got an intelligence report that there were people violent at Kairaba Avenue and are planning to make a protest march. Therefore, a riot team of police officers were deployed along the Kairaba Avenue.
DPP Where were you when the team was sent to Kairaba Avenue?
WITNESS I was part of the team. We were to monitor the situation. We are on patrol and proceeded to Kairaba Avenue Police station and we were on stand-by there. Whilst on stand-by with my men, I received information that the people at Kairaba Avenue had moved on foot to a larger number protesting towards Westfield. There, I and my team quickly got on board our truck at Kairaba station and immediately followed the protesters along Kairaba Avenue up to somewhere around Comium Headquarters. We saw that the traffic was completely at halt- blocked and cannot pass through. And then we managed to take another route and overtook them up to a distance of 200 meters. We were in front of them and alighted from the truck and were formed up with our riot gears.
DPP What is a riot gear?
WITNESS That is our batons, assault gears, assault rifle. As they are coming about to reach to us. I first of all ask them if they have the permit.
DPP How did you do that?
WITNESS I did that by using a PA system.
DPP: What is a PA system?
WITNESS A big Mic. A public Addressing System. They failed to produce a permit and I quickly used the public proclamation words to them.
DPP What are the Public Proclamation words?
WITNESS In the name of the Islamic Republic of the Gambia, all persons assembled here are ordered to disperse peacefully and to go to their lawful business. Persons who did not disperse will be liable to disperse by force.
DPP So after the public proclamation words, what happened?
WITNESS After the public proclamation words were read to them, the protesters insist and still go ahead with the march of which the riot police did not give them the chance to go on with the march.
DPP So what happened?
WITNESS In that situation, the protesters started throwing big stones on us the riot police. There the riot police also responded and used minimum force on them by using our tear gases on the protesters. That was the time some of them started dispersing and running. But with all that we were able to arrest a number of them at the scene.
DPP Who were the protesters you arrested at the scene?
WITNESS I said earlier Ousainou Darboe was there.
DPP Why did you arrest them?
WITNESS Because as the unit responsible for maintaining public order at that point in time, the security and peace of the country was at stake. People were running. Businesses were closing their shops and the traffic was obstructed. And even the shops around that end or areas, most of the glasses were broken by the stones from the protesters. Also during the process of that protest, some of my officers sustained injuries. Some of them have seals. As a result of the stoning from the protesters. Because of our swift intervention, after arresting a good number of them, then they were calm down with the intervention of the police.
DPP Can you tell the Court the way and manner the accused were conducting themselves? How were they marching?
WITNESS They were in lining-up formula and holding each other’s hands.
DPP: What is lining-up formula?
WITNESS Meaning they were in lining-up formula holding each other’s hands tightly and matching.
DPP What other things happened or you can remember?
WITNESS Apart from what I said, I can’t remember anything.
DPP Who were the members of your team when all this happened?
WITNESS Some of them- Chief Inspector Sarjo Camara, Sub-Inspector Colley, Sub-Inspector Mustapha Sowe, Corporal Ousman Jammeh and others.
DPP That’s all for the witness, my Lord.
JUSTICE DADA Yes, cross- examination by the accused persons.
OUSAINOU DARBOE From the first day of my appearance with my colleagues in court, every human right, procedural right protection provided by the Constitution and other laws has been ignored. I appealed to the court to use your discretion judiciously and judicially. I have been a legal practitioner for 43 years and I should know when discretion is exercised judiciously and judicially.

 

When the case was called this morning and you ruled that since the defence counsels walked out of the court in the previous sitting, the accused person should represent themselves. The proper thing was for the court to have asked if the accused persons wish to hire the services of another counsel of their choice. The court should not have imposed on us to defend ourselves. That is a denial of our rights.

 

In view of this, my Lady, we will not take participate in this trial to legitimise our pre-arranged conviction.

 
JUSTICE DADA I want to ask you this question: Are you speaking the minds of the 19 accused persons?
OUSAINOU DARBOE This is political trial involving me and my people. Thus, we are not taking part in the case to legitimise our pre-arranged conviction.

 
JUSTICE DADA In light of the accused persons not cross-examining the witness, the witness is discharged.
DPP Since the 1st accused is not counsel, the court should ask each accused person about his position.
OUSAINOU DARBOE I am not counsel but I speak for my people.
CLERK ReadS the names of each accused persons and asked if they have anything to say.

 

All the accused persons remained silent after each accused person’s name was called by the Clerk of the Court.
DPP My lord, we apply for an adjournment for continuation of hearing.
COURT Case adjourned to 13th June 2016 for continuation.

 

Possible Reasons for Gambia’s Unilateral Decision to Withdraw Security Support to the US Embassy in Banjul

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Reports are now emerging over the possible reason why the Gambia government unexpectedly withdrew security protection to the US Embassy in Banjul.

 
According to The Fatou Network’s impeccable sources, for almost a year now, The Gambia government deployed only unarmed security men to the US Embassy complex and its other diplomatic facilities. This came about following a complaint from The Gambia to the US Government over lack of security at its Embassy complex in Washington DC.

 
The Gambia government was particularly angry at what it calls “the persistent break-in and intrusion in its Embassy premises by protestors from the Democratic Union of Gambian Activists (DUGA) in the US.” It is understood that The Gambia had sent repeated complaints to the US government over the frequent protests inside its embassy complex by Gambian nationals who are naturalized in the US. Most of the embassy protest were organized and led by DUGA, a pro-democracy group based in the Washington DC area of the US.

 
According to our sources, the US government through its Embassy in Banjul had told the Gambia government that since their Embassy in DC is a private property, it was important for the staff inside to close their doors while at work. The US government however assured the Gambia that its secret service in the DC area were always present within minutes anytime an incident is reported.

 
Unhappy with the response from the US government, The Gambia government also angrily unarmed all the police guards at the US Embassy Banjul for almost a year. When this happened, our sources said the US Embassy brought up the issue about arming the guards, but the police ignored it.

 
A personal intervention from the US Ambassador through a direct discussion with dictator Jammeh who according to our sources agreed to restore armed police back to the Embassy but as everything Jammeh, he kept negating on his promise. In fact the Fatu Network has got reliable information that the US Embassy in Banjul was paying the police for the service of providing security to its facilities.

 
This latest erratic action by Gambia’s dictator came at a time when there are mounting concern over the safety of Western Diplomats and diplomatic missions in West Africa following an increase in the activities of Islamists groups and their affiliates in the region. No wonder the US Embassy has had to cancel all non-essential services at the embassy possibly for security concerns.

All Municipal Police Dismissed As Gambia’s Dictator Goes Berserk, Unconfirmed Reports Say

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Unconfirmed reports reaching The Fatu Network has it that dictator Yahya Jammeh has dissolved all municipal police in the country with immediate effect. This move according to sources came after the dictator during his dialogue with the people tour accused members of the municipal police of corruption.

 

Dictator Jammeh has asked that the sacked municipal police officers be paid a six months’ salary with gratuity and be stopped from reporting to work immediately. Meanwhile, twenty police officers led by a senior police officer are currently manning the KMC and other municipalities. The Municipal police are not as many as the police. Sources say they are only a little over a hundred officers.

 
Municipal Police are law enforcement officers under the control of The Ministry of Local Government and Lands. They are tasked with collecting rates from vendors at markets and making sure that vendors stay away from pavements. It was first introduced in The Gambia between 1999 and 2000 when Lie Conteh was the mayor of The Kanifing Municipal Council. This came after the work load was too much on the police that they could not handle the municipalities especially the KMC which is the biggest.

 
Ex-servicemen were the first to join the force who also brought a wealth of experience with them. This is not the first time Jammeh is clashing with the municipalities. The first one was last year when he asked that rates and taxes be paid directly to The Gambia Revenue Authority, GRA.
The move did not only make municipalities redundant, it also kept the staff without salary for a few months and kept their offices without basic needs like electricity etc. That decision was later reversed by the dictator through a press statement from his office.

Dictator Jammeh at his gimmicks again as he withdraws security protection at The US Embassy in Banjul

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The Fatu Network has got information that The Gambia’s deranged dictator, Yahya Jammeh has  withdrawn security protection to The US Embassy in Banjul. The news of the withdrawal came as a shock to The Embassy that under The Geneva Convention has to rely on host Governments to a greater extend to provide security to diplomatic missions and facilities.

 

According to a press release from The US Embassy in Banjul, The Gambia’s decision came as unexpected. Currently The US Embassy in Banjul has temporarily scaled down operations as it critically examines the security implications of this latest move by Jammeh.

 

Although it is still not cleared what might have triggered the withdrawal of security from The Embassy, it is however interesting to note that dictator Jammeh has always acted with contempt and disdain when dealing with partners especially those he sees to be siding with his perceived enemies.

 

Just two weeks ago during his dialogue with the people tour, the dictator expressed anger at The US Government for what he called the light sentencing of those US nationals of Gambian origin who conducted a pre dawn attack on The State House in december 2014 as part of a broader plan to remove him from office. Although dictator Jammeh’s government survived that attack, he has since been fuming at western governments for allegedly supporting the attackers.

 

The dictator has always been taking about unspecified actions against those western governments including the US. It is not surprising though that the government has now withdrawn security protection to The US Embassy which some analyst are linking to the broader threats of Jammeh’s unspecified actions against the West.

 

Meanwhile, The US is closed for all non essential services on Thursday, June, 9, 2016. Below we produce the full press statement from The Embassy:

 

United States Embassy Banjul, The Gambia
Security Message for U.S. Citizens:
“Embassy Closure”
The U.S. Embassy in Banjul is closed for all non-essential services on Thursday, June 9,
because The Gambian government has unexpectedly withdrawn police protection.
U.S. Embassy Banjul will continue to closely monitor the situation, and will keep you informed as events unfold.
For further information:
See the State Department’s travel website for the Worldwide Caution, Travel Warnings, Travel Alerts, and Country Specific Information for The Gambia.
Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive security messages and make it easier to locate you in an emergency.
Contact the U.S. Embassy in Bajul, located at 92 Kairaba Avenue, Fajara, Banjul, at +(220) 439-2856 is open Monday through Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. After hours emergency number for U.S. citizen
Call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in tFac States 1-202-501-4444 from other countries from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

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