Tuesday, March 19, 2024

New charges for NIA 9

0
    By Baba Sillah, Standard Newspaper   After several adjournments, state prosecutors have finally filed fresh bill of indictment against the former head of state intelligence, Yankuba Badgie and eight...

Speaker Mariam Denton, Pull Down the President’s Picture from the National Assembly Building!

0
  By Madi Jobarteh   I hereby to call on the Speaker Mariam Denton and her deputy Momodou K Sanneh together with the Majority Leader Kebba K Barrow and the...

NRP challenges Kandeh on election rigging claims

0
  Pa Malick Ceesay, the propaganda secretary of the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), has rebutted allegations by Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) leader that there was widespread fraud in...

A TRIBUTE: DR RALPHINA D’ALMEIDA, NEE PHILOTT

0
  It is announced the passing away at the Medical Research Council, on Tuesday, 4th July 2017, of Mrs D’Almeida. The great Lady was popularly known as Ma D’ Almeida...

SEDIA BAYO SUED FOR OVER D1M UNSETTLED HOTEL BILL

0
  Coco Ocean and Spa, a Five-Star hotel in The Gambia, has filed a civil suit against Sedia Bayo, a Gambian-French after the hotel alleged that he and...

Special Prosecutor Announces Lawyer Tambadou’s Withdrawal From Former NIA Director General & Co Case

0
  Lawyer Antouman Gaye, the Special Prosecutor in the trial of the former NIA Director General and others has informed the court about the withdrawal of Sheriff Tambadou...

President Barrow signs five UN Treaties during UNGA

0
New York, 21 September 2017  His Excellency, Adama Barrow made history by being the first Gambian President to sign five United Nations Treaties at once, while attending the 72nd United Nations General Assembly yesterday.       The signed treaties are the, Abolition of the Death Penalty as part of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; International Convention on The Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; the United Nations Convention on Transparency in Treaty-Based Investor-State Arbitration and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.    By signing of the Treaties, the New Gambia continues to promote democracy and show the commitment of the state to protect lives of political activists.   This will remove fear and promote rule of law for citizens to express their civil and political rights.  The signing is a commitment of member states of the United Nations to prohibit execution and totally abolish the Death Penalty.     The Gambia is one of the countries with high migration rate but also receives immigrants from other African countries, thus the importance of protecting the dignity of all migrants. It agrees to protect  the human rights of migrant workers and families.      Citizens have been subjected to forced disappearance. It is commendable for The Gambia to agree to prevent forced disappearance defined in international law not only at home but throughout the UN  member states.    Setting international rules for investor-state arbitration is strategic as the world is increasingly dependent on investment for development of communities. Consent to apply the sets of Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration will be is provide mechanism for recording such agreement and shall come into force as of 18th October this year. It intends to minimize criminal acts and economic exploitation.      The Gambia intends to prevent mass destruction of human life and property to promote peaceful co-existence in the world. The signing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, or the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty will strengthen that commitment.       The Gambia will now work to move from signing, to ratification and domestication of the signed treaties, to make them effectively in the country.    Meanwhile, in separate engagements, President Barrow continued to hold meetings and network with his colleagues and the businesses. Wednesday morning along with other invited Heads of States attended a business meeting with Bloomberg at the Plaza Hotel in New York.     President Barrow held a private meeting with the Prime Minister of Belgium, and shook hands with many of his fellow Heads of States attending the UNGA.    In the afternoon, President. Barrow met International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda and team for a briefing on the organization’s work.  She called for support from African countries to understand the Rome Statues as their as member. Madam Bensouda welcomed The Gambia’s withdrawal of its withdrawal from the ICC, which she said was not effective due to the time required for it to come into effect.    On the side lines of the UNGA, the Gambian leader attended the African Union meeting held at the Economic and Social Council hall at the UN.   The theme: Global partnership towards Harnessing the Demographic Dividend in Africa, focus on education and skills development, employment and empowerment of the youth.  He was accompanied by the Ministers of Foreign     The President met several delegates, potential investors and philanthropists who expressed interest to explore the potentials The Gambia offers.      Ms Isatou Jallow, a Gambian lawyer fighting for the rights of disabled people also presented her work to President Barrow. She volunteered to contribute to the review of the bill on people with disabilities and expressed her interest to support the education of children with disabilities.   Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou informed Ms Mallow that proposed bill would be tabled at the National Assembly for enactment. The Minister Ousainou Darboe and Ambassador Momodou Tangara attended the meeting.           In her separate engagement, the First Lady, Fatou Bah-Barrow attended a luncheon and reception held in honour of First Ladies attending the UNGA hosted by America’s First Lady, Mrs Melania Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Ms Sophie Gregory Trudeau respectively.   

Jammeh’s Rampant Corruption – Recovering the Stolen Millions

0
Like most Gambians, I am following the proceedings at the commission of inquiry looking into, inter alia, the business activities and assets of former president Jammeh.   Although I cannot claim to have watched all the testimonies, I have seen enough to discern the level of incompetence and corruption that existed during the Jammeh regime. I do not think that most of us who have been following the workings of the Jammeh regime during the past 22 years are surprised by the magnitude and extent of the corruption.  We have been lamenting about it for the past two decades.  What is surprising and disappointing to me is the level of ineptitude exhibited by experienced and educated civil servants, who should have known better.  Almost all the witnesses who have appeared before the commission thus far have confessed to disobeying civil service rules and partaking in crimes, including theft. In other words, we are dealing with a bunch of criminals who conspired with, and aided and abetted Jammeh to steal money belonging to the Gambian people.  Thanks to Jammeh's impudence and the hubris of his mandarins, it should not be difficult for the current government to make a case against these criminals, hold them accountable, and recover the money they looted from public coffers.     It is sad and nauseating to watch these people admit that while the average Gambian was suffering from poor healthcare, lack of opportunity for the youth, lack of adequate food, water and electricity, they were busy stealing money from the Gambian people, and using the purloined assets to build houses, drive fancy cars, and finance the lavish vacations and education for their children.  If I were any of these people, I will be ashamed to show my face in society today. On the contrary, they shamelessly appear before the Commission and try to lecture us on the workings of government or how terrifying it was to receive directives from Jammeh. Give us a break!  This was garden-variety stealing:  taking something that does not belong to you.  Period.  As mentioned above, the criminal prosecution of these people should be low-hanging fruit for this government.  These people testifying before the Commission clearly broke the laws, and the defenses they are presenting are not credible.  Many have appeared before the Commission and woefully failed to articulate the legal basis for their actions.  They apparently do not understand the probing questioning from the Commission’s counsel. To break things down, there are laws governing how money gets into government coffers and how that money is spent.  Anybody, including the president, who deviates from those laws is acting unlawfully, and potentially committing a crime.  Some are claiming that they were coerced into this criminal behavior.  But none of them has given us an example of a situation where Jammeh jailed, tortured or killed someone who refused to help him steal money.  He has humiliated and jailed those he thought were stealing from him.  That is different from saying that Jammeh harassed civil servants who resigned.  So, no one is buying this notion that civil servants or soldiers participated in these crimes under duress.   Matter of fact, they lobbied hard for their positions and in certain situations even counseled Jammeh to violate the law.  Granted, some of the advice was given out of ignorance because they do not understand how government should work.  But I do not need to tell anyone that “ignorance of the law is no excuse." They need to come up with more creative and credible defenses.  Since the Commission's terms of reference allow it to look into the assets of government servants and whether those assets were lawfully acquired, I respectfully urge the Commission to start focusing these mandarins on that issue as well, in order to build a complete record that will aid the Attorney General in his quest to recover the stolen millions.  We cannot just trust that these people simply withdrew millions of dollars in hard currency and obediently handed the money to Jammeh.   Besides, that is not the threshold for legal culpability in these matters. By aiding and abetting Jammeh in his criminal enterprise, they are as blameworthy as he is; and unless they can prove that they delivered the money to Jammeh, they are responsible for the entire stolen amounts.  If they acted solely on the directives of the President, then they themselves should not have benefited from any of the loot.  And this is why the Commission should look into their own assets and make sure it is all properly accounted for.   The Commission should rely on its Asset Evaluation mandate to develop a record that will ensure that none of these criminals get to enjoy their ill-gotten gains.  If they cannot account for their physical assets in the country, expensive vacations and tuition fees, their assets have to be confiscated and returned to the rightful owners, and people have to spend some time in jail.  It is only in Africa that people will commit the most blatant crimes and then go scot-free in the name of reconciliation.  But this government has to realize that one of the yardsticks with which it will be judged is how it handled the dispensation of justice for the crimes committed during the Jammeh regime.  While I am not trying to preempt the Commission's report, I must point out that Gambians expect a firm response from this government once the Commission's work is completed.  Remember, some Gambians died untimely deaths, because of lack of hospitals and medicine.  Some of our youths died in the desert or in the Mediterranean, on the treacherous journey to Europe to seek greener pastures, out of sheer desperation for the lack of opportunities in The Gambia.  The list of miseries goes on and doesn't even get into the sorry state of the educational system in the country, the bankrupt economy, and the decimated civil service.  These tragedies and more can be traced directly to the criminal behavior being revealed at the Commission.  It is incumbent on the Barrow government to hold these criminals accountable and at the very least make a concerted effort to recover the stolen money for the Gambian people.  In order to serve the Gambian people in this regard, it should be a no-brainer that the Barrow government ensures that the people who participated in these corrupt activities are removed from sensitive positions in this current government while these matters are being investigated.  It also goes without saying that the current government should cease and desist from the culture of spending without legal basis, i.e. spending outside the mandates of the Constitution and the Budget and laws passed through the parliament.  But as I alluded to above, we cannot expect a different outcome if we have the same clueless and lazy mandarins holding sensitive positions in the government.  Muhamad Sosseh, Esq.  Washington, DC  October 9, 2017 

This Commission Is Not A Ping Pong Game Chairman Janneh Tells Bazzi

0
By Fatou Sowe Sourahata Janneh, the chairman of the ongoing commission of inquiry probing into the financial activities of former President Jammeh, on Wednesday told Muhammad Bazzi...

Barrow off to Bamako to meet ECOWAS leaders at France-Africa Summit

0
The ECOWAS mediation team has decided to fly out with Gambia’s President-elect Barrow to talk to all ECOWAS Heads of States at an ongoing Summit in Bamako,...

Barrow held talks with West African leaders at France-Africa Summit in Bamako

0
Gambia’s President-elect Adama Barrow today held talks with West African leaders at the ongoing 27th France-Africa Summit in Mali. The ongoing 27th Africa-France Partnership, Peace and Emergence Summit...

Lees And Co To Be Remanded At Mile 2 Prison

0
  Lees Gomez, former NIA deputy director, Sheikh Omar Jeng, Haruna Susso, Dawada Ndure, Lamin Sanyang and Co have all appeared at the magistrate court in Banjul today,...

GOALKEEPER EYES AFCON QUALIFICATION

0
    By Lamin Drammeh   Asc de Linguere international goalkeeper Alagie Jobe, is confident that the Scorpions of the Gambia will qualify for the finals of the 32nd edition of...

AMRC Instructed To Recover Unpaid Accrued Rent By APRC From 2012 To Date

0
  The former ruling Alliance for Patriotic, Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party has not been paying any rent for occupying the complex that it used as a bureau...

ELECTRICAL INSTABILITY

0
  The persisting electrical and water shortage problem in the country worries and bewilders the masses who felt they have been betrayed by the APRC government who sow...

Polls open in Gambia’s first post-Jammeh Parliamentary elections

0
Voting is underway in Gambia’s Parliamentary elections, the first polls since long time ruler Yahya Jammeh was defeated in December 2016. Polls opened as early as 07:00AM GMT...

APRC MAN DENIES SEALING UDP BALLOT WITH CHEWING GUM

0
  Momodou Dodou Sey of Bakau who claimed to be an APRC supporter since 1994 has denied sealing a UDP ballot box at the Katchically polling station during...

Gambia gets first female visually challenged parliamentarian

0
  Hon. Ndey Yassin Secka is the first female visually challenged National Assembly Member. She is among the five members nominated by President Adama Barrow at a ceremony held...

Measuring President Barrow’s first 100 days

0
Today marks one 100 days since the coalition government took over the reign of power in Banjul. In assessing the significance of that, we take a critical...

Ex-NIA chief & Co deny killing Solo Sandeng; finally took pleas in court

0
The former head of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Yankuba Badjie and eight others, standing trial for the murder of late Solo Sandeng, on Tuesday, finally took...