The National Assembly committee on Public Enterprises [PEC] Thursday suspended its sitting on the activity reports of The Gambia Ports Authority, as the managing director of GPA; Abdoulie Tambedou failed to appear before the committee.

According to the committee, GPA is obliged to represent its activity reports of both 2015 and 2016, at the end of June 2018.

The suspension was prompted after Muhammed Jagana, told the committee that he came in to step in for his boss, GPA MD Tambedou.

The committee called for beak to the sitting few minutes after the arrival of GPA staff, as they had a closed door meeting after which they decided to adjourn the sitting.

Halifa Sallah, chair of the committee said: “Our knowledge is that the authority is Gambia Ports Authority, and the board is the lawful board that is constituted through the appointments of the president to the lawful board and that is the authority,” he said.

Sallah, who doubled as member for Serrekunda added : “ that is the authority that should engage in consultation internally regarding whatever it has inherited in order to be able to bring the people, who could fully explain what is required to be explained before this committee.”

He said they were expecting Gambia Ports Authority to submit its 2015 report, and formally send the 2016 report.

So in that regard it is resolved that we adjourn pending the board chair and members of the board appearing and the managing director in order to present the 2015 activity report  of the Gambia Ports Authority, the lawmaker said.

Adama Barrow, President of The Gambia has said that only the truth can free the people of Faraba Bantang from their troubles. President Barrow made the statement during the swearing in ceremony of the members of the Commission of Inquiry into the Faraba incident.

The Faraba Bantang incident emanated from a sand mining contract to a private individual that resulted to the death of 3 young villagers with several injuries including Police Intervention Unit (PIU) Officers and destruction of properties.

A Presidential Commission of Inquiry was sworn in Thursday morning to look into the matter headed by Chairman Emmanuel Joof, a renowned lawyer. Other members of the commission are Abdoulie Colley, Omar Cham, Lieutenant Yankuba Jallow, Neneh MC Cham and Charles Njie.

The Gambian leader in his keynote remarks explained that the investigations would help his government follow the right process to established the truth and thereafter make the right decision and a well informed course of action.

“I believed very strongly that its only the truth that can free the people of Faraba from their troubles and allow them to reconcile their differences as a community,” President Barrow said.

“It is vital that those who commit human rights abuses and other crimes are brought to justice,” he added.

Barrow urged the commission to get to the bottom of the event and submit an impartial report for peace and justice to prevail, noting that appropriate action would be taken so that such incidents do not recur in the country. He called on those affected to give the necessary support to the commission to enable it to undertake the sensitive task successfully.

“My government will stand firm for truth and justice,” he concluded.

The Gambian leader said he trust the recommendations of the commission would be without prejudice against anybody.

It gives me great pleasure to extend my warmest congratulations to you on your promotion as the Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia I trust that you will continue to work for the improvement of our great nation.

As you take office The Gambian people especially the youth are looking to you for a new approach to our nation’s economic development. They are no longer interested in repeating the mistakes of Jammeh’s Administration as revealed by the ongoing Janneh Commission. They are deeply interested in what you are going to do in order to make The Gambia great.

We know that as Vice President, you must walk a tightrope of loyalty. We know that your boss, President Adama Barrow, has promised to bring back jobs to the Gambian Youth. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that the said jobs are not yet seen. We believe that the time has come for you and your team in particular, to take urgent and pivotal steps to respond to the recent unemployment rate faced by the youth.

Furthermore, the sovereign Citizens don’t feel safe at all. I remember the president promised us of tightened security. Barely a month on, all I hear is one kind of killing or the other. Not a single day passes without news of somebody being murdered, killed or raped. It is a common thing now to have armed robbers break into your home and robbed you. Our homes are supposed to be our safe heavens but we are more scared sleeping in them. The lives of our loved ones always placed at the mercies of these uncivilized and merciless robbers and rapists.

Mr. Vice President, you see I get more scared because these robbers now are bold enough to attack during the day. I remember fondly the robbery of the Brikama Jah Oil station some months ago. They are just not afraid of anybody. If we keep being murdered, we will remember you as a Vice President who didn’t prevent the killings of our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends and relatives.

I submit to you that electricity is very vital in our daily lives, the patients who are getting their treatment in various hospitals also face many difficulties as per NAWEC’s inability to supply uninterrupted electricity and water supply to the populace. The patients operations are not happening on time as the electricity is moving on and off.

Prevention and eradication of corruption is an absolute requirement for better public life. This disease called corruption takes an interesting turn in such a way that everyone becomes corrupt in some other sort if situation permits.

Saidina Alieu Jarjou

Political Activist

This is for those of us who still think that women can only manage kitchen sinks and not good at Governance. Some of the world biggest and successful economies are led by women. Leading lights include Theresa May of Great Britain (GDP USD2.619 trillion), Angela Markel of Germany (USD3.467 trillion USD) and Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand (USD185 billion). Theresa May is effectively in charge of United Kingdom’s nuclear arsenal.

Other heads of government around the world include; Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović of Croatia, Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia, Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca of Malta, Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Katrín Jakobsdóttir of Iceland, Erna Solberg of Norway, Ana Brnabic of Serbia and Mercedes Aráoz of Peru.

These leaders are equally juggling other responsibilities as mothers, wives and sisters. Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand fell pregnant shortly after assuming office. She told her detractors that, “she’s pregnant, not incapacitated.” In many parts of the world, including the Gambia, we are still stuck with the “what if the President gets pregnant” excuse.

Patriarchal misogynists, many of them serving in Kenya’s parliament, are yet to give effect to the two thirds gender constitutional rule that places a requirement on parliament and other elected organs of governance not to consist more than two thirds of either gender.

In Africa we can only count Saara Kuugongelwa, Prime Minister of Namibia. President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim of Mauritius recently resigned due to financial impropriety,former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,Joyce Bandaws president of Malawi from 7 April 2012-31 May 2014Mame Madior Boye former Senegalese Prime Minister during Abdoulaye Wade, Aminata Toure Prime Minister under Macky Sall In the Gambia the longest serving female Vice president Isatou Njie-Saidy under Yahya Jammeh and short-lived Vice president Fatoumatta -Jallow Tambjang under President Adama Barrow. The absence of women at the very top of public leadership is probably informed by our general attitude towards women in Africa.

It is sad that many of us still believe that to have balls is to know everything.

Spain has demonstrated what women empowerment means: “Spain has set a record; female participation in government. 11 of the 17 ministers sworn in yesterday are women (61%). Prime minister Pedro Sanchez says he wants his progressive government to be a “loyal reflection of the best in a society it aspires to serve”.

In the female-dominated cabinet, ladies hold the economy, finance, defense, foreign affairs & education portfolios – a post-kickback government unequivocally committed to equality. Yes. Breaking barriers: a planet away? (Source: BBC)”

President Adama Barrow in one fell swoop dumped women who propped his first Cabinet. In the national announcement preceded by a soothing preamble on cabinet appointments, the President retained only two female Cabinet Secretaries and appointed fresh male faces.

Home-bound cabinet reshuffle shocker of 2 women Cabinet Secretaries out of 14 of their male colleagues. This is not about political correctness. It is about representative democracy, this is a disaster and setback for the country.

The Clinic facility of the former ‘notorious’ National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has been demolished in the wake of Solo Sandeng’s murder trial, a political activist who was tortured to death in custody.

Wednesday’s visit to the NIA Headquarters by the trial judge, Justice Kumba Sillah Camara has confirmed the demolition of the facility without leaving any mark or trace of the clinic equipment except building materials for the reconstruction of the place.

According to the prosecution witness, Sheikh Tijan Camara who explained that the reconstruction of the building was apparently done after the former President left the country.

The Clinic in question is where the arrested UDP protesters were allegedly taken after they were seriously tortured by the accused persons who were operatives of the NIA.

“The construction work was not
done in 2016,” Sheikh Tijan said.

This witness who worked with the Intelligence Agency gave several evidences to the court particularly the spots where he saw the body of Solo Sandeng lying on the ground amongst others.

Meanwhile, the court is expected to go to the unknown grave next week where Solo Sandeng was allegedly buried in Tanji.

Alagi Yorro Jallow

There is growing fatalism and cynicism around President Barrow’s ability to fight corruption. It is so embedded. It is like a drug that has been administered to just about everyone. The economy appears so laced with the drug that many fears the country would collapse if we started doing business based on integrity, ability and hard work.

Corruption is one of the most formidable challenges to good governance, development and poverty reduction in Africa as has been captured in the latest report of Transparency International Report. The report further states that, ‘corruption in Africa is like an advanced cancer or tumor that cannot be treated. Like cancer, corruption has tragically devastated African societies and made millions of people very poor’. From the Gambia to Madagascar, the tentacles of corruption reach everywhere. Corruption has no boundaries.

From the offices of presidents and cabinet ministers to the smallest administration unit of government corruption is everywhere. Corruption is an addiction and the gangrene of the people. According to the Africa Union (AU) around $148 billion are stolen from the continent by its leaders and civil servants every year. The recent Forbes’ list of most corrupt nations had 9 out of the first 16 countries coming from Africa’

  The Gambia, of course, does not have a monopoly on corruption but being ranked 130 out of 175 in the Transparency International Index tells its own story. The Gambia has continually been ranked among those corrupt countries in the world. What a shame that a few thousand people are damaging the name of our great nation.

To all Gambians, especially those in positions of influence, speak up and demand that President Adama Barrow declare corruption a national disaster. Artists, musicians, traditional communicators, talk show hosts, religious leaders and civil society groups must step up and use your influence on the president urging him and the National Assembly members enact laws to begin the fight against corruption in the country. Just like American celebrities are using their influence to fight institutionalized racism, our celebrities can use their voice to take a stand against corruption. The artists; you are the keepers of memory. Do all the art-for-art’s sake you can that keeps your muse afire. Only remember, it’s your sacred duty to re-member society. You must do so by uncompromisingly taking sides with truth – however sharp its edges, however bitter its taste, however rancid its odor – and placing it in present memory through story and song and dance and strokes of the brush. Keep memory breathing out loud so others may re-member and not die. To forget is to wither.

  Professor of law Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba holds the view that corruption must be treated as a crime against humanity because the vice has killed more people in Africa than all the civil wars combined. We feel there are no better-placed citizens on the continent to share this view than the people of the Gambia.

Today we share the view of Professor Lumumba because Gambian have been victims of crimes against humanity imposed by corruption and our lives are constantly in danger because of the role we have chosen to play in the fight against bad governance.

There are certain individuals in government who take their children to expensive schools in the country and abroad using money that was corruptly acquired. They live in mansions that were corruptly acquired and drive luxury SUVs bought from proceeds of crime. When you attempt to stand in the way of this rampant corruption, they are going to kill you. They will ensure that you are neutralized. These are people that Gambians should be fighting against. These criminal elements in government care about nothing but their own enrichment. Their conscience is dead. They will do anything on earth to eliminate anyone who dares closes the lid on corruption.

Our politicians have wealth which a normal hardworking man cannot amass under their occupation even if they lived a thousand years on Earth, but impunity is alive and thriving in our country. We the electorate are in the business of celebrating thieves. We camouflage theft by giving it fancy names like gifts, money laundering, fraud, embezzlement, and all other kinds of fancy terminologies that make theft look so glamorous.

Let us call these men and women by their right names when they steal from the public coffers. They are thieves, stealing on an industrial scale. They are murderers. Once we begin to call them by their appropriate names and they have the theft tag on their forehead, the stigma will haunt them. Unfortunately, right now corruption is very attractive in country because thieves are celebrated. They are treated like heroes.

 “Without a doubt, corruption must be treated as a crime against humanity. Sometimes you must raise issues to the highest appropriate level. You must think about what corruption does to a country. The crisis in neighboring Congo DR started with the rampant theft by Mobutu Sese Seko’s regime. To date, the former Zaire has never recovered. People had no medicines in hospitals and deaths among the underprivileged became unprecedented,” says Professor Lumumba.

Indeed, it is happening in our own country. Millions of dollars meant for our education sector, health care sector and treatment drugs are being taken away from the poor, the few that are given out are expired. How many people die on our roads because of potholes, just because the line minister took away money that should have been used to make proper standard roads? How are these not crimes against humanity? They are, and the punishment must be of the highest degree possible.

Gambian shouldn’t be foolish enough to be justifying theft with fancy interpretations in the name of strengthening economic ties. The truth is that the country’s’ biggest import is corruption. Sadly, the corrupt are our celebrities, we call them Honorable and Excellences. In China, embezzling disaster relief funds or refusing to hand over illicit funds, attracts a death penalty, but in the Gambia, we are importing corruption from China on an industrial scale.

 President Barrow and his colleagues in the African Union already committed to wage war against graft in Mauritania during the African Union Summit on Corruption. But actions should match with words. Every public servant must declare their assets and liabilities, those suspected of corruption must not enjoy the trappings of power. People with questionable pasts should not be appointed heads in parastatals or serve as cabinet ministers. Assets and liabilities declarations are still under lock and key and no stolen assets or money has been recovered from corrupt individuals since President Adam Barrow was elected.

The war against corruption should not be tribalized or be reduced to political gimmicks. This is one issue all supporters from all political parties should come together to demand zero tolerance on corruption.

The Gambia need emergency rescue from the jaws of the animal in man. This unprecedented corruption cannot continue to be a song for social media. The people of the Gambia need to stand up and preserve this land for future generations.

What our artists, celebrities, talk show hosts, civil society and the media must do is to recruit and educate the population. When the public has been enlightened enough to understand, in the simplest terms, that corruption has killed more people that Malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis put together; that will be the beginning of success in the battle against the thieves in government.

A Cabinet reshuffle is not fanfare or a picnic. Anytime a sitting president or prime minister reshuffles his or her cabinet it is because that cabinet is not performing as expected or desired. Hence the president would reshuffle the cabinet by removing some members, bringing in new members and rotating other members. Cabinet reshuffle is therefore an act and a process of refreshing the entire government in order to overcome inherent constraints and poor performance. Without saying it, it is clear that Barrow’s cabinet was severely constrained and underperforming since it was formed hence the reshuffling on June 29.

When Barrow took office as president on 19 January 2017 and constituted his cabinet, there have been several issues and concerns raised by citizens about his government ranging from poor delivery of basic social services, incidences of corruption and patronage, indecisiveness and abuse of power as well as the slow pace of system change. Many citizens took to social media to sound the alarm bell while others decided to protest on the streets or utilise other means to alert the president about the wrong path his government has been treading ever since.

Now it appears Barrow himself has noticed that his government is severely constrained in meeting its objectives and he has therefore decided to reshuffle his cabinet. For that matter, the reshuffling indicates that indeed Barrow understood that the bug stops with him; that he has to take responsibility to determine and control his government towards meeting national expectations. In that regard, it is important that we impress on Barrow that there are no more excuses for him. When ministers fail or underperform it is his responsibility just as when they did well he will take credit for that too.

I hope that with this reshuffling we will now see real system change in the government characterised by efficiency, responsiveness and accountability across the board. Pres. Barrow and his Vice President-designate Darboe indeed know where the Gambia came from and what experiences we encountered and how we got to where we are today. Hence with the two of them at the helm, there is absolutely no excuse why the government should not deliver.

If anything, we can confirm that former VP Fatoumatta Tambajang did not deliver as expected but served as a stumbling block to the progress of this government. Hence we do not expect the same from Ousainou Darboe. I do not see anyone in this new cabinet that has more capacity in every sense of the word than he. Hence as the second person in charge, his expertise, experience and competence must now show.

As Vice President-designate (since he has not taken the prescribed oath of office yet), Ousainou Darboe must be reminded that if President Barrow fails it is entirely the responsibility of the Vice President and the Ministers. The Constitution has stipulated in Section 74 that the VP and Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the National Assembly for any advice given to the president in Cabinet. This means the VP and the Ministers must tell the president the truth and give him good advice. This means if the president fails it is because the VP and the Ministers had failed in the first place to give the president good advice and guidance.

Therefore the failure of this government since January 2017 can be definitely attributed to the failure of the former VP and Ministers in the former Cabinet for failing to give good advice and guidance to the president. The current VP-designate was part of those ministers. They all failed to provide the necessary leadership, management and performance of their departments to ensure system change.

This reshuffling is therefore an opportunity for the current VP-designate and the Ministers to redeem themselves in standing up to perform their duties as stipulated in the Constitution. They must now realise that today they must not fail in giving good advice to the president. And where the president fails to adhere to their advice, the honourable thing they must do is to resign from their positions. Otherwise they bear responsibility for any failure by the government.

For the Gambia Our Homeland

BANJUL —Justice Kumba Sillah Camara of the Banjul High Court on Tuesday visited the defunct NIA Headquarters to clarify evidence in the trial of Solo Sandeng, a political activist who was allegedly tortured to death in custody.

The trial judge along with the prosecution and defense team including the former NIA Director General, Yankuba Badjie and co accused persons were received at the main entrance by the current Director General, Ousman Sowe in the presence of security officials.

The Prosecution recalled on three witnesses namely Sheikh Tijan Camara, Seedy Saidykhan, Mbemba Camara and Hassan Badjie who are employees of the Agency to clarify evidences before the court. They led the delegation to the reception where Nogoi Njie, Fatoumatta Jawara and Fatou Camara amongst others were screen.

The witnesses went further to identify the most popular torture chambers at the NIA Headquarters also known as ‘Bamba Dinka’ which was examined by the trial judge along with others.

Sheikh Tijan Saidykhan took the court to the spot where he said he saw the ladies sitting at the Bahama grass beside the car park.

“This was the place where I saw the body of the man (Solo Sandeng) lying opposite the office of the former Director General,” Sheikh Tijan said.

The witness said he was ordered to move the body lying on the floor to the waiting vehicle with the accused persons Babucarr Sallah, Tamba Massireh and Lamin Darboe while his former boss Yusupha Jammeh, Sheikh Omar Jeng and Yankuba Jallow, a driver were present. He also identified the spot where he saw the former Director General’s vehicle was fueled before leaving from the back gate.

Mbemba Camara pointed to the spot at the reception of the investigation room where he said he saw the body of Solo Sandeng lying under a ceiling fan. He identified the spot where the vehicle was parked before taking the dead body to Tanji for secret burial.

Hassan Badjie guided the court to the conference room where the interrogation took place. He showed where the panelist where seated and where the camera was placed during the investigation.

Meanwhile, the court has overruled the objections raised by the defense team to recall witnesses to locus at this stage of the trial after they have already given evidence in chief, cross examine and reexamined.

From The Office Of The President, State House, Banjul

Quotations from the President’s Interview with the Media at the Airport

On the summit.

‘’A well-attended and represented summit. One thing is very important: Africa is speaking the same voice on how we deal with corruption. A lot of resources has been wasted in Africa, it is now time that Africa come together and fight corruption if we mean development for Africa. I think we were serious about this, and we want to build our institutions and make them stronger, so that they will help us to eliminate corruption. Even if we cannot eliminate corruption 100 percent, at least, we can minimize it in the interest of our continent. I think this was the main focus and direction of the summit.’’

 Meeting with President Obiang and bilateral engagements

‘’We held a closed-door meetings and most of our discussions centered on African integration. The President of Equatorial Guinea is a Senior Statesman. We discussed…and assure them that one day, we the young ones will continue with the mantle of leadership on the continent.’’

Succeeding against corruption where previous leaders failed

‘’…this is not just about statements, it is about building institutions: the moment we build our institutions, we become stronger as the institutions control everybody. It will not be the matter of a head of state now. It is the institution. That is the most important thing’’.

Cabinet shuffle

‘’I don’t think it has anything to do with corruption. The Gambian people have given me a mandate to make sure we deliver. To do this, there are Gambians who we need in particular places at particular times. So we can make changes. These are constitutional powers that I have so I make the changes in the main interest of this country’’.

‘Ibn Chambas Did Not Receive Such A Letter’ These are the words of Ms. Ade Mamonyane Lekoetje,The United Nations Resident Representative to The Gambia.

Ms. Ade Mamonyane Lekoetje was contacted by The Fatu Network to shed light on information making the rounds on social media that the dismissed coalition members have petitioned The United Nations on the legality of their dismissal during President Barrow’s first cabinet reshuffle last week.

The news went further to say that Ibn Chambas, UN’s Special Represntative of the Secretary General for West Africa and the Sahel and head of UNOWAS is to travel to Banjul for mediation this week.

‘In fact Mr. Chambas is planning a visit to The Gambia as part of his quarterly visit, this has absolutely nothing to do with the alleged letter you asked about. She said

Gambians woke up to the Whatsapp message below stating that a petition was sent to UN on the legality of the dismissal of key coalition members after President Barrow’s first cabinet reshuffle.

‘Apparently a petition was sent to U.N.on the legality of dismissal of certain coalition members.. to that effect IBN CHAMBAS will be coming to Gambia.’

Meanwhile, Sulayman Bokar Bah, a Gambian journalist based in Birmingham, UK has this to say:

‘It is against the foundational principles of the UN Charter to interfere in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. The UN will only intervene in situations that poses threat to regional and global security’.

He is sentinel in the public space, a voice for the voiceless, a conscientious and progressive interrogator of government policy and official conduct on the big issues of the day. Even without the many prompts urging a response to his rejoinder on my contention that the Constitutional Review Commission is unlawfully constituted, I accept a duty to grant audience to Madi Jobarteh (Madi) of TANGO when he knocks on my door.

And so I shall.

But first the unfortunate and unbecoming lamentations of the Honourable Attorney General and Minister of Justice (AG) on Fatu Radio’s “For the People By The People Show” of 10 June 2018.

I was informed of the AG’s assertion on the show that the Gambia Bar Association (GBA) submitted six names and mine was not included. A subscriber himself, I wonder what the AG meant knowing his communication on nominations to the CRC was at no time posted on the GBA email list.

As to ignoring the qualifications of the CRC members, that was information he may be privy to. It was not published for public information, and I had no way of knowing what credentials the several nominees brought to the table.

Pertinently, The Constitutional Review Commission Act 2017 (the Act) states:

4: Composition of the Commission

(1)  The Commission shall consist of:-

• A Chairperson who shall be the Chief Justice or a judge of the superior courts designated in writing by the Chief Justice;
• A Vice Chairperson who shall be a legal practitioner of not less than 10 years standing nominated by the Minister; and
• Nine other members nominated by the President.

(2)  The President shall ensure that the members he or she nominates pursuant to sub-section (1) (c) are individuals of high moral character and integrity who have appropriate academic qualifications and experience in a relevant field of expertise.

5: Appointment of members of the Commission

(1)  Subject to sub-section (3), the members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President.

(2)  The President shall, in appointing the members, have regard to the geographical, professional, age and gender diversity of The Gambia.

(3)  A person shall not qualify for appointment as a member if he or she:-

• is a serving member of any discipline force, whether in The Gambia or otherwise;
• has been convicted of an offence involving dishonesty or moral turpitude;
• is not a citizen of The Gambia;
• is a member of the National Assembly; or
• is of an unsound mind.

Going by Section 4 (2) of the Act, the President was placed under a positive obligation to “… ensure that the members he or she nominates pursuant to sub-section (1) (c) … have appropriate academic qualifications and experience in a relevant field of expertise”. What is the requisite level of academic qualification, what level of experience is anticipated, and what constitutes a relevant field of expertise. We don’t know how these expressly delineated criteria of “academic qualifications”, “experience”,    and “relevant field of expertise”, were present in nominees consequent upon the opaque processes employed by the AG in nominations he unlawfully conducted.

In any case I said nothing about the qualifications of the nominees singlehandedly selected by the AG. My argument that the CRC was unlawfully constituted is akin to a preliminary objection, i.e., that the process delineated by the Act was not followed in the nomination of Commissioners. There was never a need to deal with the substantive question of whether the Commissioners are qualified or not.

On the AG’s assertion that I attacked him personally, he could not have read my article and arrived at such a disturbing conclusion. If I never attacked Professor Babil Mansa, a man who deserved condemnation from rooftops across the country in light of the depraved manner he wielded the police power of the state, I wonder what the motivation would be to attack the Attorney General of a  democratically elected and properly constituted government.

What I must remind the AG is that the rule of law is not a mere mantra. It has meaning and the glaring favouritism and illegality on the face of his nominations is quite troubling. The AG did not even act at the outer extremes of permissible authority. He acted wholly outside the perimeter created by the Act.

All I said was that the AG acted unlawfully, outside the ambit of his legitimate powers and that as a consequence his nine extra nominations to the CRC were null, void, and of no effect. Whether or not he follows the law by rectifying his glaring procedural errors is a matter for him to ruminate over.

The bit about the Chief Justice as Chair of the CRC is rooted in separation doctrine and what delineations there are n the principle in the Constitution!

In any case, I stand by my contentions in their entirety.

Now to our all-Gambian sentinel of the public space!

Contrary to Madi’s assertion, I made no contention that “… the power to nominate the Chair and Vice Chair are vested in the Minister of Justice while the nomination of the other nine members are vested in the president as per Section 4 of the Act”. I reiterate that the only nomination assigned to the AG by the Act is “a Vice Chairperson who shall be a legal practitioner of not less than 10 years standing …”.

What I stated is that “…It is unclear where the selection of the Chief Justice as Chair of the CRC came from but in light of the topography of the Act, the fingerprints of the AG are all over it. On a plain reading of section 4 of the Act, it was a fait accompli without presidential input. An Attorney General ought not arrogate such power to himself”!

In the life of this government, the CRC is a one off. It is a centrepiece of reform, and the role of Chair is a level of appointment that is outside the competence of an Attorney General in light of the Constitutional provision on Commissions of Enquiry. The CRC is analogous to a Commission of Enquiry! However read, Section 4 (1) (a) is a categoric imposition whose plain terms exclude any presidential input and the compelling nature of this contention is unassailable when analysed in the context of sections 4 (1) (c) and 4 (2) of the Act.

This Act started life in the AG’s Chambers and if we don’t know how the Chief Justice was selected to Chair the CRC, the onus of clarification resides in the originator of the Act. Only the AG is privy to the information of how the Chief Justice or his designate came to chair the CRC.

On another point, Madi misread the import of sections 4 and 5 of the Act when he erroneously advanced the proposition of its silence on the process of nomination. With the permission of two of Gambia’s foremost Latinists, I take the opportunity to conclusively answer Madi with a Latin maxim on a canon of interpretation: Expressio unis est exclusio alterius.

This means that the “express mention of one thing excludes any other which otherwise would have applied by necessary implication with regards to the same issue”. The express mention of the President as the person vested with nominating the nine other Commissioners categorically excludes any role in that function by the AG. Madi in fact admitted it was the AG who wrote to TANGO and others: “I think it was therefore wise that the president did exactly that when the Ministry wrote to various stakeholders such as the Gambia Bar Association, TANGO, and the National Youth Council, as far as I know, to ask them to provide three names out of which the president would nominate one”.

It was not wise. It was utterly unlawful!

Now that our positions coincided on who conducted the nominations, the legal position as stated above is that the AG had no authority to nominate other than the Vice Chair. His other nine nominations including from Madi’s TANGO are ultra vires, i.e., beyond the AG’s powers, and therefore null, void and no effect.

Madi’s biggest challenge lies in my contention that the Judiciary’s role as interpreter of the law conflicts with a legislative function of such magnitude. I repeat that the departmental demarcations in the Constitution suggest that a sitting member of the Supreme Court must not Chair the CRC on separation of power principles.

Although not strictly a constitutional provision, the preamble offers a roadmap of how a particular nation intends to manage its public life with its supreme document as guide. It is like the mission statement of an organisation, an encapsulation of the values that underlie a particular system as are expressly articulated in the constitutional text. In our extant Constitution, paragraph 6 of the preamble states “… the functions of the arms of government have been clearly defined, their independence amply secured with adequate checks and balances …”.

Albeit a contested claim in light of Babil Mansa’s attitude to Gambian public life, the vision, i.e., that power must be separated, hollow as it may be, is clear from the layout of Chapters VI, VII, and VIII of the Constitution.The doctrinal principle that power ought to be separated is unassailable and Gambian public affairs must now conclusively reflect it.

I reject Madi’s understanding that I said “… the CJ will undermine separation of powers”, or that “…the CJ could undermine the independence of the CRC or cause undue influence in the work of the CRC”. A lawyer does not speak like that in relation to a sitting CJ. What Madi said is not objectively discernible from my argument and it is a case of my message getting lost in his translation.

In any case, years before anyone could have contemplated the CJ at the pinnacle of our judicial system, I wrote about his seriousness of purpose as an Attorney General under the PPP government and his larger visionary understanding of the public purpose of law.

My contention is simply that the CJ or his designee should not Chair the CRC as it is in conflict with the doctrine of the separation of power. If the composition of the CRC is judicially contested, a first instance venue may be the High Court on grounds that the AG acted unlawfully by circumventing the strictures of the Act. It is not beyond contemplation that a presiding judge may have his mind exercised by the thought of who may be affected by the outcome of such a challenge.

Another aspect of the conflict issue is that the Chair of the CRC may have occasion to deal with issues going to the new Constitution on interpretation and related matters.

In an academic analysis of the separation issues inherent in this kind of scenario, Patrick O’Brien (2016), Judges and politics: the parliamentary contributions of the Law Lords 1876-2009: “Influenced in large part by jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the right to a fair trial, the blended roles of the Lord Chancellor and the Law Lords had fallen under a shadow. In the McGonnellcase the Strasbourg court held that a judge in Guernsey could not participate in a decision in respect of which he had had a legislative role. For a New Labour government that came to power in 1997 determined to modernise the constitution, the argument that the historical practices worked was no longer enough. The judicial and legislative functions of the office of Lord Chancellor were removed by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, leaving only the executive ‘justice minister’ function. The judicial peers were excluded from Parliament in 2009, to the evident dismay of some of their number, and a new Supreme Court was created”.

In McGonnell v The United Kingdom, the European Court of Human Rights held: “The Court thus considers that the mere fact that the Deputy Bailiff presided over the States of Deliberation when DDP6 was adopted in 1990 is capable of casting doubt on his impartiality when he subsequently determined, as the sole judge of the law in the case, the applicant’s planning appeal. The applicant therefore had legitimate grounds for fearing that the Bailiff may have been influenced by his prior participation in the adoption of DDP6. That doubt in itself, however slight its justification, is sufficient to vitiate the impartiality of the Royal Court, and it is therefore unnecessary for the Court to look into the other aspects of the complaint”.

Even a rudimentary understanding of the doctrine of separation will substantiate the contention that this type of law making is not a core function of the judiciary and must therefore not be chaired by the CJ or his designee from amongst the ranks of the active judicial bench.

I apologise that Madi’s vision was blurred by the flowers. Law is work but my academic bias lies in history – queen of the social sciences – and in contemporary and public affairs. May be I ought to prune the flowers somewhat and wonder whether my sentinel brother has a gardener in mind. I can do with a TANGO nominee who failed to make the CRC.

Lamin J. Darbo

By Sainey Darboe

From his elevated perch at Union Pacific, Saikou Camara is thousands of miles away from his humble beginnings in the impoverished West African state of The Gambia where he endured the nocturnal pursuit of stray dogs  infected with rabies in eerily deserted streets in his leap towards a better future in America.

By his own account in his 150-page magnum opus;Saikou was  raised in a polygamous family of limited material wealth and had to spend years working as a child laborer at a busy market in the capital to help his mother make ends meet , while scraping together enough funds to pay for the cost of his education.

Despite the derogatory remarks of his peers at school for the whiff of palm oil on his scent, he persisted in helping out his mum despite the accompanying brawl with his bullies which invariably got him into trouble.

Despite the numerous obstacles he had  to countenance, he triumphed in the Common Entrance Exams with impressive results earning him a spot in one of the best high schools in the country.

In spite of  culpability for numerous infractions with the accompanying punitive sanctions of suspension from school, he would go on to become head boy by dint of his brilliance and determination to make a success of himself.

With successful graduation from high school beckoned opportunities to pursue higher education overseas with Taiwan and United States being the most feasible. He almost benefited from a scholarship to study in Taiwan by virtue of his membership in a pro-government student body, NAPSA.

But Saikou had trouble keeping his mouth shut about the perceived politicization of the student collective.In the grip of high spirits and sense of moral superiority, he confronted the coordinator of the organization Mr Jallow about the political prostitution of the body of which he was a part.

He was soon informed to his chagrin and disappointment that he was no longer to take part in the activities of the organization and the decision to shortlist him for scholarship in Taiwan was being reversed. He had come to gigantic grief trying to do good.

With the crushing disappointment of this loss came seismic shift in focus to United States where he was soon accepted by several schools. Agog with excitement at the prospect of going to the US ,he made the uniformed decision of going to Rust College in Mississippi which drew reservations from people who knew better.

He was advised by the US consular officer to look at better alternatives. Even the educational advisor Nana Grey Johnson whose daughter he  attended thesame school with couldn’t convince him to wait for a semester longer. Upon arrival at the United States, an immigration officer would be the second person after his high school principal to wish  him good luck in the conviction he was going to need it in Mississippi.

Despite demonstration of sufficient means to pay for his education in the US, Saikou had a net worth of no more than $5. The brutal reality of deferring his dreams hit him with a bang, but he was in denial mode and hope sprang eternal for him. Salvation came in the form of $1000 from a brother in Atlanta which helped him make a down payment to start college.

The need to pay for his tuition took him to work for a Chinese restaurant where his job functions ranged from sweeping and mopping  floors, making food and cleaning toilets. He was often yelled at and treated in a demeaning manner. And what’s worse, after months of working at the restaurant the owner did not care enough to know him by his legal name ,but dismissively called him “guy”.

Upon landing a better job at an Exxon Mobil gas station 45 minutes away  from his college, he had to beg for rides to get to work with offer of gas money to drivers. After working his shift, it would be hard to find a ride sometimes the ultimate resort was to work the shift of the incoming staff in exchange for ride in the morning.Despite the precariousness of his existence at this time;he remained infused with hope seeing the colossal  challenges  as his dues for a better future.

Persistence and vision finally paid  off with the successful conclusion of his Bachelors’ at Rust College  and later a Masters’ degree in Computer Science at Jackson State University . Despite the raging recession, he was able to land a coveted job with Union Pacific in Omaha Nebraska where he moved without delay.

It was not plain sailing as expected, with Saikou having to navigate racial and socio-cultural prejudices to actualise his dream.

Despite education attained in  the American university system,his thick African accent threatened to derail everything he had struggled to accomplish thus far . Technical  field workers  for his company complained of not understanding him ,and he was soon enrolled in English tutorial classes which baffled him immensely and made him  contemplate quitting.

But sanity prevailed as it was discovered his English was good enough and his detractors were ordered to deal with their biases and prejudices. Saikou would go on to become a valuable engineer with his company with highly prized skills. Concluding this seminal work on his oddysey in life hammered on the anvil of experience , Saikou concludes with a missive to African leaders imploring them to create circumstances and opportunities so that Africans regardless of their race, ethnicity , religion  or political opinion do not have to leave the African soil to pursue their dreams.

Saikou believes his success is meaningless until it leads to greater impact on others who have dreams on a continent too dead for dreaming . And still he rises.

Testimony of An African Immigrant: A Promise To my Father makes for thrilling and traumatic reading at once , while imparting useful lessons about life and pursuit of success.

STATEHOUSE, BANJUL, 2^NDJULY 2018 –  President Adama Barrow has told African heads of state and government that Africa’s development would be seriously impeded without stringent measures against corruption, stressing that there’s a strong connection between tackling corruption and progress of the continent.

‘’Our successes in the fight against corruption will ensure that resources are retained and used to support structural transformations and expansion of our economies. Our desire for sustainable growth and development in the critical sectors of our economies can only be realized if there is a diligent focus on progressive policies and huge resource investments. Therefore, we cannot afford resource wastages through corruption thereby depriving our citizens the opportunities to improve their living standards’’.

The president made the solid case against corruption as a contribution to the ongoing debate on corruption at the African Union Summit in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on the theme: “Winning the Fight against Corruption: a Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation”. President Barrow described the theme as “a bold statement of intent”, given that corruption in both the public and private sectors negatively impact various national and continent’s development agendas.

He further told his colleagues that success in the fight against corruption will ensure that resources are retained and used to support structural transformations and expansion of our economies.

“We can improve in most key human development indicators, such as access to quality health and education for the youth population of the continent, food security and meaningful employment. Corruption has negative effect on African nations and how we can judicious use of our resources,”

On the way forward for the Continent, President Barrow argued that Africa needs to reform its legal and regulatory regimes, tax administration and procurement systems in order to combat corruption in the public, economic and business environments. “It is imperative that we intensify our efforts to ensure that corrupt practices are systematically tackled and resources that are siphoned off recovered,” he told the Summit.

Urging African leaders to take cue from his zero tolerance approach towards corruption, the President informed the gathering that the exercise of good governance in all facets of public administration is the guiding principle of his government in addressing the consequences of two decades of poor governance and misuse of State’s meager resources [under the former regime]. He also highlighted the great work of the ongoing Commission of Inquiry instituted to investigate the corrupt financial dealings of the former President and his cronies as well as the plans afoot to establish an anti-corruption commission soonest.

The President believes that Africa’s partnership with others should be reinforced to fully implement the Continental Strategic Plan on the Fight against Corruption.  This process requires disbursement of adequate budgetary resources, he maintained.

Meanwhile, the President had closed door bilateral discussions with the following leaders: President Theodore Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea, President Omar El-bashir of Sudan, and the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed.