PRESS RELEASE

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and
Gambians Abroad of the Republic of The Gambia wishes to inform the general public that the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Mamadou Tangara, on Tuesday July 24th met the President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, His Excellency Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, at the Presidential Palace in Nouakchott.

Dr. Tangara was in Nouakchott as a Special Envoy of His Excellency President Adama Barrow. The visit was geared toward further building the bridge of friendship, mutual understanding and cooperation between The Gambia and Mauritania.

Issue by: Communication Unit
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
International Cooperation and
Gambians Abroad

Alagi Yorro Jallow

A favorite dictum of African politics is that a week is a long time in politics. It follows, then, that three decades is virtually an eternity. This is how long these notable political philosophers, Sidia Jatta, Halifa Sallah and Sam Sarr including some who may be better known for their work in other areas of politics has been at the forefront of the Gambian political scene, mucking in the scrimmages, throwing and taking punches, getting smeared in political mud, and doing some smearing of their own and generally making the whole political scene worth watching and listening to them.

 These political scientists have managed to establish themselves as one of the most promising leaders in this country, a mantle they carry to be political champions of their generation. They have risen to become very vibrant, competent and famous political figures in this country, outweighing the known political heavyweights in their own game, something that propelled them to become the architects of People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) and the founding editors of the powerful FOROYAA newspaper. They are a force to reckon with. Those who have tried battling them politically have been met with full force of wits, intellect and political correctness from men who understands politics well.

 We cheered them on when they agreed with them, even going so far as to brand them cross-tribal and socialist. This was so, considering in the Gambia, a politician has not arrived until he is baptized with a name from a tribe not his own. In this sense, Sidia, Halifa and Sam as they were known in the Gambia, arrived a long time ago. The People’s Progressive Party government also lambasted them when they thought they were going astray, though typically this was whenever they defied ethnic stereotypes, corruption and human rights violation to reach across this or that tribal divide. But that means nothing in the Gambia, where a person can be a darling one minute — because he backs your tribesman for high office — and an enemy the next, because he has the temerity to run against another of your tribesmen. That’s just who Gambians are. These political thinkers — People universally refer to them using their first names — has lasted a lifetime at the business end of their political spectrum. But it is now time for them to go.

In recent times, young politicians and some Gambians crawling on social media barely out of their napkins have taken these eminent politicians recently as an opportunity to hurl insults at them. They conveniently forget that the very structures over which they lord, the very country that they now bestride with noisy tweets and Facebook posts and many of the freedoms they enjoy, would never have been possible without the sacrifice of these gentlemen and their contemporaries.

  These men endured years of persecution from the PPP government and under the dictatorship of the Alliance for Patriotism, Re-orientation and Construction (APRC), banged up in detention without trial, to birth the openness and the democracy that we now take for granted, and in whose free air the new political class now hold forth with their salt-in-the-wound rubbing.

In so doing, they come to resemble Chinua Achebe’s unwise little bird eneke-nti-oba, who so far forgot himself after a heavy meal that he challenged his personal god to a fight. Sidia, Halifa and Sam are a yardstick against which to measure the performances of our old and new crop of politicians. They made mistakes — like everyone else — but their virtues far outweighed these. It is this very standard against which we will now judge the fortitude, the fitness-for-purpose, of our new leaders.  They have not begun on a good footing, letting their followers humiliate these men in ways that are decidedly un-African. Like Achebe said, those who mock Sidia, Halifa and Sam should remember that he whose palm nuts have been cracked for them by benevolent spirits, should not forget to be humble. Thank the men and their colleagues for their selflessness and service and let them be.

 And to the doubting Thomases, they have prepared the way for sons and daughters born, sons and daughters who will change the political thinking this country.

It has come to the notice of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad of the Republic of The Gambia that The Standard newspaper had published in its issue of Monday, 30th July 2018, an opinion piece in its Viewpoint column titled: “Our Gambian embassy in Dakar should be…” Categorically stating in the first paragraph of the piece that the Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia in Senegal should be shut down. A similar story
was carried by Fatu Network in its publication of 29th July 2018, under the headline “Our Gambian embassy in Dakar should be…”

The Ministry is also informed that the same news is making circles in various social media platforms. In light of the above, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform the general public that on 8th June 2018, the Embassy of the Republic of The Gambia in Dakar received an email from one Ebrima L. Dampha, who claims to be the President of the School of Business and Public Administration of the University of The
Gambia, requesting the Embassy to provide accommodation for 60 Gambian students in Dakar.

On 9th June 2018, the Ambassador of The Gambia to the Republic of Senegambia, His Excellency Ousmane Ndure, convened a meeting with staff of the Embassy to discuss the email and agreed that the Embassy should look for some hotels in Dakar as requested by Mr. Dampha. On 10th June 2018, the Embassy replied to Mr Dampha’s email conveying that the Piscine Olympique de Dakar was identified for possible accommodation of the 60 students but unfortunately they wanted free accommodation which the Embassy cannot afford due to the limited resources.

It is public knowledge that all exams in Senegal, including Entree en Sixieme(Common Entrance), BFEM (Secondary School Leaving Certificate),BAC (A’ Level)  and even Universities are scheduled to hold at the end of July every year. Therefore, requesting for free accommodation on
campus or at any school during this period is not possible.

The Embassy received both the President and the Secretary General of the said Student Association and were informed that the Embassy does not have the means to provide free accommodation for 60 students. The Embassy advised them to engage institutions for sponsor before venturing into such trip and that hosting 60 students  should be properly planned as it entails so many logistics.

The Embassy further urges the students to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a twinning with their  Senegalese colleagues in order to formalise the annual study trip and possible exchange visits between the University  of The Gambia and Senegalese Universities. They promised to heed to the advice but unfortunately they went on to circulate unfounded article.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform the general public that Embassies do not have enough resources and are not mandated to provide direct accommodation for individuals on private businesses. Gambians travelling abroad are urged to make their own arrangements prior to leaving the country.

Issued by: Communication Unit
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
International Cooperation and Gambians Abroad

I said I was not gonna say anything…. but who cares…

I joined UTG in 2008 to study a BSC degree in Political Science. The only course in my entire program that focused on Gambian politics (Contemporary Gambian Politics) was never taught in UTG until Dr. Ismaila Ceesay arrived in 2010. This was after many years of trying to convince some of the lecturers to teach that course. No one did. Why? Just like any sector in this country under the past regime, the university was never exempted from the dictator’s grip. Academic freedom was under attack daily. The late Dr. Susso lost his job, not for his teachings or anything else, but because he was a member of a political party.

BANJUL—Justice Aminata Saho Ceesay of the Banjul High Court has dismissed the application of the State to unfreeze some properties belonging to the former President Jammeh at the Tourism Development Areas (TDA) to construct hotels for the upcoming Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Summit in 2019.

The dismissal of the application was a blow to the State after the AG Chambers failed to win a court decision to unfreeze the former President’s properties at the Tourism Development Area (TDA) for investors to construct hotels for the upcoming OIC Summit in The Gambia.

According to the application of the state, there is an urgent need to construct 10, 000 hotel rooms to host the summit. The application further stated that the alleged properties were illegally obtained by the former President.

The OIC Summit is one of the highly publicised events of the Barrow Administration and is expected to attract infrastructural development and foreign investments amongst others.

The judge said that the court has initially granted the State to freeze Jammeh’s assets for a period of 180 days since in May, 2018 pending on the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry probing into the financial dealings of the former President.

“If the application is granted it will deny the former president the right to his properties which is like shooting one’s own foot,” the judge said.

The judge further stated that the court at this stage is not empowered to discharge or extend its restraint order on Jammeh’s assets because the Commission of Inquiry has not completed its task. She said there is nothing before this court that shows that the former president acquired the properties illegally.

The Gambia’s political party architecture? Top-heavy bureaucracies navigated by strongmen – its “owners”. Weak by design and deliberately set up to dysfunction. The party officials – its apparatchiks, will be expected to play subservient roles to secure party “crumbs” and state appointments. Overlapping mandates: a cacophony. Fundamental structural flaws that cannot simply be cured by “change of guard”. Let’s empathize (not sympathize!) with our political parties. Our political outfits are a mess.

We have not developed serious political parties; what we have are vehicles for contesting political seats and which are trashed immediately the objective is achieved. They do not have branches and offices other than ad hoc groups. None of the parties have validly elected officials. When parties fail the democratic test, as they have done so far, they lose the legitimacy to govern a nation.

A party with “democracy” in its name should ensure that democracy is in its DNA. It must always, project fidelity to its constitution, the Political Parties’ Act and, good manners. After all, the least we expect are ego massaging, fisticuff internal party elections, hand-picking of officials, ejections, dissonance, disarray and, the total absence of concise, coherent and distinguishing party platforms:

The leader of a political party is fashioned in the image of a dreaded demigod, directing the tribe howsoever he wills. The political class lives under pathological fear of the tribal leader. The members follow and support the leaders not because they love him or believe in him, but because they are afraid of him. Where the leader moves become a party, so to speak. The space he vacates ceases being a party. The country is a graveyard of erstwhile popular political parties.

The problem at hand is not party hopping, but the practice of party politics. Political parties in the Gambia are purely vehicles for ascending to power. None subscribes to any ideology or ism. Secondly, party nominations are always a terrible mess. It is worrying when the leaders of major political parties. Push for such an amendment and whip their party MPs to vote for it. Not only are they being insincere, but they are trying to perpetuate dictatorship of party leaders, which is an affront to democracy.

Our political parties are a haven of personality cults, a temporary arrangement of convenience. Hope we learn something from the US election contest. Our politics has regressed to depend more and more on identity rather than policy or ideology.

A heated debate is raging in the country these days on whether we should introduce a certain level of education as a requirement for the presidency. There is a faction of our people who believe that for someone to be eligible to contest for president, s/he must hold at least a degree as opposed to the current minimum of a senior secondary school leaving certificate. In the camp of those who wish to see a minimum of a university degree are prominent Gambians like Almamy Fanding Taal, Lecturer at the University of the Gambia, Mr Madi Jobarteh, Human Rights Defender and leading activist, and Dr. Ismailia Ceesay of the University of the Gambia.

To some, the debate has become acrimonious as some people have resorted to personal attacks and character assassinations instead of talking to the issue at hand. To begin with, let it be clear that opinions are not the same as facts and everyone has a right to his/her opinion. All the folks who have given their views on this issue have presented their views as opinions and not facts. They are entitled to their opinion. We have a right to ours as well. We may agree or disagree, but we must maintain decorum when we do it.

I happen to believe that we should stick to the current requirement of at least a senior secondary school leaving certificate. This is important on many fronts. The first is that it will give the majority of Gambians a chance and the ability – if they so desire – to run for president. Every Gambian should have the right to vote or be voted for in the presidential election as guaranteed by the Constitution. Having a minimum of a degree will disenfranchise those who do not.

However, this minimum of senior secondary school leaving certificate will then place another burden on our shoulders, that is strengthening the democratic institutions in the country. If we agree that the president needs not be highly educated, we must ensure that the institutions are there to help him, guide him, keep him in check so that we will realize the development aspirations we aspire for.

In a democracy, we value the concept of the separation of powers for there to be proper and effective checks and balances. The judiciary should be there to check the executive and the national assembly do the same. With these institutions in place and functioning effectively, it will not matter much if the president is highly educated or not.

In my opinion, it would have been more beneficial if the debate was on how to strengthen the democratic institutions instead of how educated our president should be. We have seen highly educated presidents perform woefully in office and we have seen some who are not so educated perform very well. Just take the United States of America as an example. It is very clear that had they not had strong democratic institutions, Donald Trump would have destroyed that country even in his first one hundred days in office.

Having now aired my view on this debate about the degree or senior school leaving certificate for president, I want to say a word or two in defense of Dr Ismaila Ceesay. The attacks on Dr Ceesay are totally unwarranted and unacceptable. The man has a right like any other Gambian to air his views on any, and all things in the country and no one should seek to stop him from doing that. It is wrong to try to silence someone in a democracy. Even if you find his ideas absurd, you should never resort to personal attacks.  We can disagree without being disagreeable.

The other point I want to address on this issue is the repugnant question of ‘Where were you during the past twenty-two years’ that many people keep raising especially towards Dr Ceesay and others who hold dissenting views. This is absurd because that is what we all fought for; to be able to air our views and opinions without let or hinderance. So, if I was not talking during the past regime because I did not have the opportunity to do that, should it mean that I should remain quiet now even if I see an injustice or something going wrong? If I remain quiet, then our purpose would have been defeated. So, give Dr Ceesay a break, he has every right to his opinion. And I daresay that when Almamy Taal profeferred the same opinion, no one attacked him like Dr Ceesay is currently being attacked. I am in no way saying that Mr Taal should be attacked; but it shows that there are double standards being displayed here.

To Dr Ceesay, Madi Jobarteh and Almamy Fanding Taal I say, I disapprove of what you say (on the university degree being a requirement to run for president) but I will defend to the death your right to say it. (Voltaire)

Alagi Yorro Jallow

 Sheikh Tijan Bah 58, a practicing Muslim, he was excited to attend the Hajj this year after learning about the initiatives taken by the Saudi government to make the it accessible to Persons with Disabilities. These arrangements include allocating special blocks for tawaf establishments and domestic pilgrim companies to serve the disabled. The Saudi government has also decided to allocate special restrooms and signs to guide the disabled to the special utilities.

 However, Sheikh Tijan’s excitement would not last long because to perform Hajj from the Gambia “persons whose legs are amputated, who are crippled, handicapped, lunatic or otherwise physically / mentally incapacitated and those afflicted with polio, tuberculosis, congestive cardiac and respiratory ailment, acute coronary insufficiency, coronary thrombosis, mental disorder, infectious leprosy, AIDS or any other communicable disease / disability may not allow to travel to perform the Hajj”. These guidelines are grossly violating the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, which seeks to promote equality and non–discrimination for Gambia’s disabled community.

 In addition, it is extremely offensive to refer to a Person with Disability as ‘crippled’ or ‘lunatic’. Incidentally, other Muslim countries allows Persons with Disabilities to attend and perform the Hajj. Sheikh Tijan was shocked and saddened on reading these guidelines. “Since childhood it’s my dream to kiss the Kaaba and to feel its natural energy that empower so many.

I hope one day I will able to do so without these policy barriers as a Muslim with disability, with dignity and equality.” Sheikh is not the first disabled Gambian who has struggled to practice his faith. There has been at least half a dozen reported cases on mosques denying entry to wheelchair users recently.

Holy places do not judge whether a person is criminal or innocent, an infidel or loyal, a fraudster or a nation builder. It is sad to see such barriers being built only based on a person’s disability – which is outside their control. Especially in a country like Gambia where Islamic faith are based on tolerance without discrimination of any person. Religion for many is the only hope.

 More so for Persons with Disabilities and their families who feel they are equals at least in front of faith. “I remember the role faith played in my mother’s life. When I was a child, doctors had written me off, schools weren’t ready to accept me and many in my own family felt I didn’t deserve a normal life.

 It was from her visits to Tivavone and Media Bai Niasse that my mother drew the strength to give me a normal life”, Sheikh opined. I remember a quote from the blockbuster movie Shawshank Redemption where Andy Dufresne (Tony Robbins) tells Ellis Redding (Morgan Freeman) “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies”. I do ‘hope’ policy makers take remedial actions to ensure the doors of faith do not close for Gambia’s disabled.

Sunday August 05: Fajara

The Gambia Press Union (GPU) hereby condemns, in the strongest terms, the attack on Saturday on GRTS News Crew during funeral proceedings of late Asombi Bojang, the mother of exiled ex-president, Yaya Jammeh.

Asombi Bojang passed on last week in Equatorial Guinea where she followed her son into exile in January 2017. Her body was brought back on Saturday evening for burial.

Journalists Louis Mendy and Modou Ceesay, who were assigned to provide news coverage for the public broadcaster, came under a string of intense verbal assault, allegedly, by former ruling APRC security and supporters. Ceesay was violently attacked, forcing the crew to run for their lives.

Mr Louis Mendy explained: “The hostility began at the airport. Upon our arrival, some personnel, clad in black-and-white uniform with ‘APRC Security’ badge, prevented us from getting near the arriving aircraft to take footages. They told us they were acting on directives from their boss that no one should film the coffin of the ex-president’s late mother.”

Mendy explained that he had at that point informed the leadership of the party, including Musa Amul Nyassi the spokesman and Yankuba Colley, the national mobiliser. Both failed to intervene.

He added: “When we wanted to place ourselves in the convoy, the same security personnel stopped us.”

Mendy at this point informed his superiors, including the editor-in-chief Abdoulie Sey and Director General, Abdou Touray. Following a telephone conversation between his superiors and APRC Spokesman, the crew was allowed to tag along.

He explained further: “We followed the convoy and upon arrival at the Bujinga village, I asked my cameraman to take ariel shots of the crowd while I was busy arranging interviews. Moments later, I saw my cameraman running towards him, empty-handed. An angry mob was chasing him. The driver, fortunately, was near-by and we drove off before they could reach us.”

Modou Ceesay, the cameraman, also explained: “I climbed on top of a van to take ariel shots. When I came down, a group of men were waiting. One of them was holding a scarf labeled ‘APRC Security’. He asked why I took the footages and I explained to him that I am from GRTS and his party’s leadership was aware of our presence.

“He ordered me to lead him to those leaders. More people joined as we moved. One of them slapped me in the face. Then all of them began hitting and kicking me like a thief in the street. They seized my camera and I ran away.”

Ceesay has already undergone a medical check-up. He sustained no external injury, though he is feeling internal pain.

Journalists Mendy and Ceesay have lodged a complaint, first at the Kanifing Police Station and later, Abuko Police Station.

Mr Abdoulie Sey, editor-in-chief of GRTS, said: “This was an unfortunate incident that should never have happened. The GRTS team was on national duty and should have been welcomed rather than assaulted. We call on the APRC leadership and police to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice.”

Saikou Jammeh, the Secretary General of the GPU, said: “The leadership of the Union has engaged the Public Relations Office of the Gambia Police Force to verify the details and know the status of investigations, if any.

“We have been informed by the Police Spokesman, David Kujabi, that so far, no arrest has been. This is a grave concern to the GPU and the leadership has expressed the need to meet with the Inspector General of Police this week. We have also told the police that the GPU expects nothing short of full investigation into the matter and to bring perpetrators to book.

Mr Jammeh added: “We have had engagements with the APRC leadership and they, besides expressing regret over the incident, denied that their security officials or supporters were behind the attack. Our position, which we have made known to them, is that the APRC cannot be absolved and should take responsibility until they prove otherwise. We have also asked, and have been guaranteed that the party will cooperate with the police in investigating the matter.”

The GPU notes that the police and party supporters have posed the greatest threat to press freedom in the post-Jammeh Gambia. Party supporters of APRC, UDP, NRP and GMC have attacked journalists in recent past. The police on their part have failed to provide protection to journalists in hostile situations nor have they investigated attacks on journalists, including by police.

Mr Bai Emil Touray, the president of the GPU, said: “Impunity is rearing its ugly head and it is becoming a culture even when past violations are not yet adequately addressed. I am once again, calling on the President Adama Barrow and his government to provide safe environment for journalists to operate. I also call on party leaders to educate and sensitise their supporters to understand that journalists are not their enemy.”

It is true that each and every Gambian has a right to vote and stand for election into any public office provided one meets certain requirements. Among these requirements are age, sound body and mind and academic qualification among others. This means that in practice not each and every Gambian can automatically stand for election as a councillor, National Assembly member or President without those requirements.

The academic qualification currently required for a presidential candidate is a WASSCE certificate. I agree with Almami Taal that Garde 12 is too low a qualification and I fully concur with Dr. Ismaila Ceesay that for the position of president a candidate must have at least a bachelor’s degree.

The argument that this is discriminatory is unfounded because already the current requirement for president in themselves are discriminatory. The fact is in life nothing is achieved without the process of elimination otherwise we cannot separate success from failure, right from wrong or day from night. Grade 12 is basic education that only equips a person to know how to read and write. It is too low and inadequate to equip a person to understand the complexities of policy, development and the general issues of society.

With a Grade 12 requirement there is possibility to produce more unprepared candidates than with a BA degree. Hence it is better to use BA as a yardstick for president so that in the final analysis we will be able to produce a few more prepared candidates hence create the opportunity to better serve the best interest of society.

It must be understood that the Gambia’s republican and democratic dispensation is less than 50 years. Our political parties are still largely weak, closed, undemocratic and not driven by knowledge and good governance practices. Hence unlike in advanced and mature democracies where leaders naturally are already well educated, in our case the tendency to produce untested, unprepared and lowly educated leaders has always been prevalent.

The Republican Party in the US or the Labour Party in the UK cannot ever produce a leader who has no such high academic qualification because the nature of those parties is such that no such individual could emerge and assume top leadership. In the Gambia such a possibility is always high as one can see in the qualifications of most of our political party leaders. On the other hand, advanced democratic societies and their political parties have had a longstanding tradition of democratic governance to the point that some things are second nature to them.

To be a president is not just having leadership qualities such as ability to influence or inspire and to demonstrate humility and having integrity. But in addition to those moral qualities, the deciding factor in a president is having the technical competence to conceive and understand issues and be able to articulate and implement those issues. Such technical competence is acquired through a formal dedicated training for which a university degree in any field will suffice. Grade 12 is not a level that subjects an individual to any rigors of discipline and high-level training of the mind.

Not that when someone is educated to the level of a bachelor’s degree he or she is therefore an all-rounder, impeccable, perfect and efficient and free from being corrupt and all other vices. No. Rather the demand for such level of academic qualification is only in terms of acquiring technical capacity. A president with a university degree provides minimum safeguards or assurances that such a person is capable of processing technical information and apply such understanding to better function.

Going through a university is expected to make an individual acquire the skills and tools for observation and analysis in order to independently arrive at an objective understanding of phenomenon. University is structured in such a way that it should elevate a person above superstition, mysticism and intuition in seeking to understand phenomenon and oneself. Part of that education also gives person moral qualities hence the importance of university education.

The office of a president is a position that places before a person a wide array of information from diverse sources about diverse set of issues. It helps such a person to have therefore experienced and be trained in the searching, acquisition, management and analysis of information in order to enable that president meander through a wide set of ideas, policy options, advisors and other competing and conflicting stakeholders and interests and yet be able to identify the nation’s best interest.

A person who was not involved in the business of receiving, producing and management technical ideas based on research, facts and evidence may be too naïve in understanding policy and development issues in their proper context. Thus, it is better to have a president with a university degree than one without. As I said it does not necessarily follow that the person with a university education could not be corrupt or will perform better. At least a university degree certifies that such a person indeed knows as opposed to Grade 12 qualification.

I therefore join Dr. Ceesay and Mr. Taal that in our new constitution there is need to set as a requirement the acquisition of a bachelor’s degree to serve as president. The benefits of such requirement are immense for our society as a whole as well as for political parties. It means that political parties will have to seek candidates that met such requirement. This will only serve to therefore bring in our intellectuals into the political space directly.

Furthermore, such a requirement will seek to transform our political discourse and culture from being based on non-issues and personalities or based on tribal, religious, family and other sectarian considerations to become knowledge-based and issue-oriented politics. This will serve to therefore reduce or eliminate political patronage and outright chicanery in our politics. For that matter it will serve to bring about an enlightened leadership that is more likely to serve our society better.

We must bear in mind that the values of honesty, justice, commitment and readiness to serve one’s people can be found in any individual, educated or not educate; literate or illiterate. These values can be considered as moral capacity that a leader needs to have. But these values must not be confused or substituted with leadership in terms of technical capacity. While one does not necessarily go to school to acquire moral capacity, but certainly technical capacity is acquired through formal training and it is technical capacity that makes a president effective and deliver.

Leadership is not by chance. God does not identify or choose leaders for any people. People are not born leaders. Rather leadership is about capacity to be acquired and delivered. Individuals who became great leaders in the world either trained themselves or were trained to be so. Such leaders did not live by superstitions and patronage and mysticism. Rather they lived by the principle and practice of knowledge and objectivity and analysis.

For the Gambia Our Homeland

Alagi Yorro Jallow

Nine U.S. presidents without college degrees:

Captain Thomas Sankara & President Paul Kagame without College Degree:

Education is essential: Leaders make people to be believe. It is down to biology. We do not identify with the frontal cortex of our brain, we identify with the limbic part of the brain, where “gut” decisions come from. You will often hear people say that they can feel a person. Not necessarily from the logical force of their argument but from a deeper instinctive place that just resonates with them. (Excerpts from Simon Sinek on inspiration and leadership).

 Nine American presidents and State governors who didn’t go to college are: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, and Harry Truman. I tried to reason the constitutional provision on the qualification for president of the Republic of the Gambia in the new constitution. I would propose that no person may be elected President unless he is a natural-born citizen of the Gambia, a registered voter, able to read and write, at least forty years of age on the day of the election, and a resident of the Gambia for at least ten years immediately preceding such election.

 I noticed that the qualification for President is not the same as the qualification for Supreme Court Judge or President of a University. For example, a Supreme Court Judge or a University President must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence. It seems that anybody can be President, but not anybody can be a Supreme Court Judge or President of a University. A senior secondary school graduate can be President, but to be or Supreme Court Judge, a person or President of a University, one must have high moral and academic qualifications.

 I realize that we do not need a highly educated person to provide us with roads, bridges, school buildings, health care, affordable rice and nice resorts, but we need a person with a high level of education, with cognitive skills, moral standards to decide who goes to jail or not. Indeed, different jobs need different kinds of qualifications, but to sit beside the Kings of kings and the Lord of lords in his glory requires faith not work

 Two of Africa’s two great statemen did not have college degree only secondary school certificate and military trainings. Captain Thomas Sankara and President Paul Kagame have showed the world that leadership is a choice. It is independent of position; it is an inside job. It is earned by action. It is transferable, it is scalable. As Amilcar Cabral said – to put the interests of the masses first.

 I discovered there have been nine United States presidents without college degrees, who never attended college or completed a degree. So how did they make it to the White House? Two things—literacy and a healthy dose of curiosity.

Each one of these presidents knew their education had been limited—some of them with as little of one year of formal schooling! Each of them made the decision to own their education and take it beyond the classroom. They filled their libraries with great books. When they wanted to know something, they would go to an expert source. They knew an education could be gained without years in school. They studied law without going to law school. They had tutors and mentors—men that they trusted for information. In time, they became the experts.

 Our modern, information-saturated society unfortunately believes education must take place in the traditional classroom setting. Having a college degree makes presidential candidates attractive. It makes anyone attractive. It’s essential.

But here’s the rub. You don’t ever have to step inside a lecture hall to be educated, no matter what the college admissions officer tells you. It isn’t daily attendance to lectures that make someone great. It’s the desire to learn. The curiosity that propels you to study, to know a subject deeply.

When you combine that curiosity with practical life experience, you have raw potential for greatness on your hands. You can study like the presidents and still get your degree.

That’s one of the main appeals of Unbound. Unbound students are gaining real life experience while earning college degrees outside of the traditional classroom. For them, it isn’t an either-or situation. They do both and so can you.

Nine of U.S. presidents have proven that it takes more than just a college degree to achieve greatness. What can you be doing in addition to earning your degree that will set you apart.

How extraordinary that we live in a time when education, critical thinking skills, knowledge of history, and intelligence are not virtues but the mark of the elite. I reject the idea that ” good old common sense” with a dollop of superstition makes one suitable for leadership.
Perhaps if we had a more educated electorate have better leadership in the country.Education,by whatever means is not a negative.But just because a leader doesn’t have a college degree doesn’t mean that leader is a bumpkin only fit for a minimum wage job.
Unfortunately, getting a college degree does not mean that someone is smarter or more qualified to be a leader. You can be a book smart and life or street stupid. No number of degrees will make someone who isn’t ready for the real world when they enter politics. The nine presidents who didn’t go to college are: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland, and Harry Truman, and they were effective leaders unlike president Woodrow Wilson, the only US president with a doctoral degree who is described as one the worst president in US history.

 In Africa, Presidents Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe are  bulimic educated elites with the highest level of education, hoard their countries little national wealth that is still available to shamelessly enrich themselves, accumulate stolen capital in tax havens, sending their children to get university education in Western countries before they return to perpetuate the system that oppresses the people, in complete collaboration with the Western powers which continue to pillage the continent in complete impunity. They example of bad leadership on record as the worst educated leaders in Africa with extraordinary academic accomplishments.

 Captain Thomas Sankara and Paul Kagame who does not have college education but have projects that reshaped the living conditions of their people in a meaningful way. They impacted on people’s consciousness, contributing to changing people’s attitudes which until were formed by a set of beliefs dating from feudal and archaic times.

Sankara and Kagame without college degrees achieved what no African head of states has managed to be accomplished: To give back to their people the dignity they had lost through centuries of humiliation and exploitation by colonialism and the elites of the post-independence era.

The improvements in the living conditions of the people of Burkina Faso and Rwanda is the result of the good leadership from the Sankara and Kagame, from the construction across of many mega infrastructures to allow rural populations to cultivate many crops during the year, increasing their sources of income, to the complete transformation and the accomplishment of ambitious programs to clean up ghettos

I read somewhere that leadership is the ability to motivate and inspire others to take positive and sustainable action. This principle is not pegged to the number of followers. It can just as easily apply to a household or a relationship.

 The underlying objective is not merely to lead but how well we lead that counts. At the most basic level, a true leader must live by example. All talk and no action won’t cut it. I will not emphasize this enough, we are ALL capable of being great leaders. We are already leaders in some way, shape or form and within certain circles. From the level of close relationships to groups to community to country, continent and the planet, we are all capable of providing leadership.

Reports reaching The Fatu Network has it that television crew from the national broadcaster, GRTS that travelled to Foni Bujinga to cover the burial of the mother of former president Jammeh, Fatou Asombi Bojang, was attacked.

Their camera, according to information gathered was also seized by angry youth of the village.

The crew was however saved and are currently on their way back to the Kombos.

A source told The Fatu Network earlier that the Bojang family demanded for privacy to bury their death upon arrival at The Banjul International Airport.

According to the manifest of the special flight that flew in the body of Fatou Asombie Bojang into Banjul, a few family members escorted her body. This includes one Kaddy Colley and Landing Jarju.

The flight landed into Banjul at 16:50pm local time shortly after which her coffin was transported directly to Bujinga in the West Coast Region on board an ambulance provided by Mbowen Clinic.

Sources say some members of the delagation upon arrival proceeded to The State House to meet with President Adama Barrow. The reason for the meeting was not disclosed to us.

“Also two flights were seen heading to Banjul but the second one never landed, it was in the air space until Brussels Airlines flight 203 was about to land before it gave way”. A source told The Fatu Network.

The source added that the said flight could be air support to escort the one carrying the body of the former President, Yahya Jammeh.

‘The escort is still in Gambia air space, it may be a military flight as it does not have a call sign and by international law they don’t have to have on”. The source concluded.

At the request of family members, people around the airport were not allowed to take photos. There was also a card attached to the coffin with the APRC logo on it with ‘Rest in Peace’ message. Some say that is most likely from Jammeh.

Meanwhile, the late Fatou Asombie Bojang is expected to be laid to rest today, Saturday, August 4 at her home village of Bujinga.

The Body of the late Fatou Aja Asombie Bojang, mother of former President, Yahya Jammeh is expected to arrive at the Banjul International Airport at 4:50pm local time.

The body is on board a special flight, CS-FAF Ceiba intercontinental Boeing 737 operated by White Airways.

According to internet search, White Airways is a Portuguese charter airline headquartered in Porto Salvo. It is said to mainly operate charter flights from Lisbon on behalf of tour opeartors as well as on lease on behalf of other airlines.

Once the body of the late Fatou Asombie Bojang arrives in Banjul, it will be escorted to her home village of Foni Bujinga in the West Coast Region where she will be laid to rest.

Information reaching The Fatu Network has it that the government’s policy on the tourism sector known as “The all inclusive” is seriously affecting businesses at the industry.

According to sources, due to the said policy, tourists pay everything to hotels before their arrival including transport, craft materials, food and drinks amongst others.

It is said that 20% of The Gambia’s GDP comes from the tourism sector making it second to the agricultural sector which is said to be the economic backbone of the country.

“There is lot of redundancy in the tourism sector,” Baba Singhateh said.

Singhateh, a local hotel employee told The Fatu Network that majority of them are working on a six months contract basis after which they are asked to stay home untill the next season. He added that they stay home for six months without salary.

“The salary is very low. Many of us rely on tips from the tourists,” he added.

The young hotel employee complained bitterly about the behavior of some tour operators whom he accused of telling negative things to tourists about the country.

“The ‘all inclusive’ is killing the industry,” he told The Fatu Network.

He ridiculed the tourism minister’s claims of the all year round tourist season which he said was a failure, saying the industry has experienced the worst ever off season.

Over 90% of the hotels, restaurants and supermarkets at the tourism industry are at least owned and operated by foreign nationals which make them the biggest beneficiaries of the sector.

Sarja Krubally, President of the Brikama Craft Market also lamented that the ‘all inclusive’ is threatening their businesses.

“All inclusive is the biggest problem affecting our businesses. We want the government to help us,” Sarja said.

The President of the Brikama Craft Market told The Fatu Network that they are good citizens who want to contribute to the development plans of the country. He added that they want to have a dialogue with the government about their concerns.

According to him, there are seven craft markets in the country with hundreds of employees who are earning livelihoods to support their families. He said there are over sixty stores at Brikama Craft Market.

“The all inclusive only favours hotel owners because everything is included in the tickets of the tourists,” he lamented.

Ansumana Colley, a tourist taxi driver also explained the same challenges with the ‘all inclusive’ affecting their businesses. He said the hotels are offering everything to the tourists.

“We cannot even have trips anymore,” Colley told The Fatu Network.

The tourist driver said the hotels are arranging their own transports for trips within the country and outside the borders.

Meanwhile, the tourism minister could not be reached for comments but efforts are underway to meet him.

Alagi Yorro Jallow

Mamudu: This country has lost so much to corruption and indiscipline that huge sums of money meant for infrastructural projects have lined up private pockets as well as in private bank accounts.  If we keep living like this, a developed Gambia will remain a mirage! Our core problem is not just corruption, it is indiscipline! There appear to be no big solution to this country’s problems. But there are little solutions that, when combined, will ultimately create the big solution. Let us tackle corruption, incompetence, indiscipline in our private lives, while a committed leadership tackles them at the national level.

Mamudu: If only we could do something about these two cancers that are blighting our country, the Gambia would once again have the opportunity of holding its head high among the comity of nations. Otherwise, no matter how hard we worked, it would only be like fetching water with basket.

 Just like indiscipline, corruption is now found in every facet of our life. This canker has serious ramifications for our country’s survival.

Rome, it is said, was not built in one day. We must commit to the input-process-output model if we are truly sincere about growth and progress. I do not think fasting and praying are as effective as upright living. I have said that before and I am saying it again. Religious rituals, with corruption, without righteousness, are mere exercise in futility.

Indiscipline and corruption account for almost all the problems that we are facing as a nation and affect almost every facet of our lives. These breed selfishness and not caring for what happens to the person next to you, stealing, robbery and all manner of related crimes.

Mamudu: Consider this; Littering and disposing garbage in residential areas. Haphazard construction in total disregard to physical planning rules. Dirty and disorganized public markets where traders take no responsibility to clean after themselves. Unregulated hawking supported by populist politics. Senior public officials driving on the wrong side of the road. Rowdy student’s incapable of dialogue. Absentee teachers in public learning institutions.

For if a politician put in charge of the country’s purse is corrupt and the police, who must arrest the politician, are corrupt, and the nurse, who must look after the patient, is corrupt and the judge, who must find people culpable and punished, is himself/herself corrupt, then whither are we drifting as a nation.

Politics based on glorified violence. Unruly law enforcement officers. A public transport system driven by hooliganism and lack of respect for passengers.

Indiscipline leads to disregard for law and order. An environment where disregard for order is the norm, where anything goes, such indiscipline manifests itself as corruption. Leaders like Paul Kagame of Rwanda understand this. That is why in Kigali, there is so much focus on the “petty” order issues – like being tough on littering, traffic offenses and order in public transportation.

Mamudu: Some months ago, residents in certain locations within the Greater Banjul Area told of harrowing experiences with bot fly maggots burrowing under their skin due to an unkempt dump site in the town. The bot fly experience is also visiting those living near a dumpsite next to Bakoteh. If the municipal and central governments where disciplined enough to respect NEA rules on waste disposal, this dehumanizing experience with bot flies would not have happened in the first place.

Mamudu: In Bakoteh, the largest poorly managed dump site is in the middle of a residential area. Nobody is in a hurry to relocate the dump site to a more appropriate location. It seems “fixing” roads and planting grass on Banjul Highway is important but not as much as the restoration of human dignity. The Bakoteh dump site operates as if the country is devoid of adequate environment and waste disposal law. The authority tasked with regulating the environment is yet to muster the courage to charge the Kanifing Municipal council and government officials in court.

This obsession with indiscipline follows us even in death. A visit to certain public cemeteries serves as an apt illustration of our indiscipline. Both public cemeteries have ran out of space. Our collective indiscipline cannot allow us to accept that fact. Government and municipal councils are busy elsewhere with lucrative contracting and not with “petty” but important things that give dignity to humanity. The effort to procure new land for cemeteries both in the country has fallen off the list of priorities for both central and local governments.

It is now common to find one fresh grave atop another. Dead bodies are being buried in pathways within the cemeteries. Grave memorials and tombstones are being desecrated to find space for the new dead. Disturbed marble plaques and concrete crosses lying hopelessly everywhere.

Rather than encouraging the country government fix the cemetery crisis, families are now busy “buying” and fencing off sections of the cemetery in advance, to secure a final resting place for their loved ones. Unfortunately, even certain communities within public cemetery is not spared the ongoing desecration.

Methinks that to effectively fight corruption, we must restore the place of order in our lives and ruthlessly punish indiscipline. From the ordinary man littering the streets, the public official who thinks traffic laws are not meant for him and the greedy real estate developer, together with his facilitators building on riparian land.

Mamudu: In this country, it is quite common to see people flout rules with impunity and get away with it. We pride ourselves on the façade of practicing the rule of law when everyone in Gambia has become a law onto themselves. Gambians litter indiscriminately and do not care a hoot whatever the consequences would be, we flout traffic regulations with careless abandon and create additional lanes without care, we park our cars anywhere and anyhow, sell at unauthorized places and erect structures indiscriminately even on waterways.

Did you notice the chaos, the absence of decorum, the indecency, the noise, and the child-like indiscipline? For years we have agonized over the Gambia’s failure to take off, development wise; the country’s inability to meet its potentials despite it being abundantly blessed with human and natural resources. For the nation’s present and past predicament, we have, like President Adama Barrow, looked for someone or something to blame. But we seem to have forgotten those little things that matter – personal discipline, self-respect, decency, humility, and sense of order. These are defining characteristics that are mostly absent in the social lives of our political and business elite. Any wonder why the country has been so continually messed up? How can a group of politicians most of who have little or no self-esteem, no social grace, and whose personal conduct so belittles their high offices possibly birth and superintend over an orderly society?

Mamudu: Many years ago, Gambians prided themselves on neatness and order which mostly prevailed in the countryside. This beautiful heritage is, unfortunately, also gradually fading away as people from the cities, with their bad habits, are infesting the communities with their crooked ways. When we travel abroad, we come back with tales of how neat and orderly the places we visited were. But Gambia can only be like the developed countries if we are determined to make it so. Now, we need to revolutionize the way we do things and ensure attitudinal change in people.

A non-Gambian could not but leave with the impression that Gambians are a noisy and unruly lot, a people lacking in self-respect and personal discipline, and who do not appreciate beauty and order. We should be worried when those who pass off this impression of the Gambians are the cream of our political elite, men and women who initiate laws, who formulate and implement policies.

 Is it any wonder this cartel of political elite cannot envision the Gambia in 50 years and put structures in place to make such vision a reality? Any wonder why nobody seems to be thinking of tackling the education and health of the burgeoning youth population in the short and long term? Any wonder why a president would advertise the list of proposed infrastructural development and number of employment opportunities for youth and celebrate that as an achievement, or a legislator commission a pit latrine as constituency project?

Mamudu: We have all been caught in the quagmire; the educated and uneducated, the teacher and the student, the farmer and the office worker, the mechanic and the driver, the ruling authorities and the ruled. We are all involved. The phenomenon had become such a canker that it may need God’s divine intervention to free us.

State House, Banjul, 3 August 2018

His Excellency, President of the Republic, Adama Barrow, on Friday morning received the Letter of Credence of the new Qatari Ambassador to the Gambia, His Excellency Faisal Fahad Abdallah al-Mane’a, at the State House in Banjul.

After inspecting the Quarter Guard mounted in his honour by the Presidential Guard, the Ambassador met the President to present the official letter of assignment. A closed-door meeting followed during which the President expressed gratitude to the State of Qatar for immensely supporting the development efforts of the country, despite a difficult relationship with the previous regime.

‘’Immediately after the change of government, Qatar expressed interest to continue the cooperation and relationship between our two countries. Not only did they send a delegation to express solidarity with us, they also maintained and reopened our embassy in their country,’’ the  President said.

While urging the Ambassador to follow in the footstep of his predecessor, who had so much goodwill for The Gambia, the President expressed best wishes and assurance of the highest consideration during his tour of duty.

For his part, Ambassador Faisal extended greetings from the Emir of the State of Qatar, and promised to strengthen the strong ties between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the President of the Republic also received in audience the Attorney General, Dr. Ali Bin Fetais Al-Marri, at the State House.  During the closed-door discussion, the special envoy was full of praise for the President’s style of leadership and ambition to transform the country.

‘’Other countries and leaders request cash and financial support from us but President Barrow requested technical support to promote the rule of law, justice and good governance. You [referring to President Barrow] choose the Mandela way’’, he stated.

According to Qatari Attorney General, that demonstration of the seriousness and visionary leadership of the President serves as a strong motivation to support the development of The Gambia. He added that The Gambia is changing and Qatar  wants to be part of that history by supporting the justice delivery mechanism in the country.

President Adama Barrow thanked the State of Qatar, through the Attorney General, for supporting his government. He said he is particularly impressed by the commitment shown to support the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission and the forthcoming OIC Summit, which will be hosted in the country by 2019.