Mr Dawda Lamin Ceesay, Ministry of Youths and Sports ,debunks Corruption allegation against his his ministry
Breaking: Faraba Banta Youths Clash With PIU
Reports reaching The Fatu Network have confirmed tht serious clashes have taken place at Faraba Banta today, between the PIU and the village youths. The fight ensued following the sale of the quarry to a businessman. Several youths have been arrested.
When trucks came there to load sand this morning, the village youths and women came out in their numbers, to prevent what they call “their sand” mined.
The grievance of the youths, is not only the environmental impact of sand mining in the area, but the disputed place, according to them, should not be sold to anyone, as it belongs to the village. We’ll keep you updated on events.
Bodies Of Two Gambian Migrants Recovered In Italy
The bodies of two Gambian migrants from Niumi Kanuma, have been recovered from the sea of Catanzaro Lido in Italy.
According to Alladin Fatty, a Gambian migrant in the area, the two young men went missing in the waters of Catanzaro Lido.
“It all started when a ball went into the water and, in an attempt to recover it, they drowned,” Fatty told The Migrant Project. The deceased were both 25 years old.
According to a firsthand account, one of the two men dove into the water but didn’t resurface, probably because of the currents. Subsequently, the other young man dove into the water in an attempt to help him, Fatty explained.
It was reported that divers and ground crew from the Reggio Calabria fire brigade and naval vessels from the Port Authority, the Carabinieri, the police and staff of the 118 emergency services all intervened. A helicopter from the Civil Protection department was also involved in the search, which lasted for almost 24 hours before the bodies were recovered.
In other news, a 25-year-old Gambian migrant named Lamin Manneh from Badibu has been reported missing in Libya.
Jammeh Alledgedly Sent NIA Operatives To Spy On UN Investigators At Ocean Bay Hotel
Gambia’s former President Yahya Jammeh is said to have assigned the then operatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to spy on the UN experts investigating the murder of 50–56 West African migrants. The information was disclosed to The Fatu Network by a former Ocean Bay Security Chief, Ibrima Faati.
Faati explained how a group of Plain Clothes agents hired rooms at the hotel where the investigators were lodged to monitor their activities.
“The (NIA) officers would sit at the reception to monitor the movements of the UN investigators at the hotel,” Former Security Chief said.
“They would follow them in white pickup truck with tinted glass to the suspected scenes,” he added.
The former hotel security chief said he believed that the country’s former president has something to do with the murder of 50–56 West African migrants in The Gambia in 2005.
Faati, a retired military went further to blame the former Interior Minister, Ousman Sonko and the ‘incompetent’ (NIA) officials for trying to impress the former president by telling him lies about the 50–56 West African migrants. He said he cannot remember their names but could identify faces.
He added that the $500, 000 Dollars sent to families of the victims to help with funeral arrangements was nothing but sheer hypocrisy.
He concluded by calling for the prosecution of the former president for justice to be served.
UDP leader Ousainu Darboe, has said that his relationship with President Barrow at both the official and the personal level, is cordial.
UDP leader Ousainu Darboe, has said that his
relationship with President Barrow at both the official and the personal level, is cordial. He refuted claims that he had strained relationship with President Barrow.
Take a listen to him.
Guinea’s president reshuffles govt with looming strikes, civil unrest
Facing civil unrest and strikes in the crucial mining sector, Guinea’s President Alpha Conde reshuffled his government overnight, appointing new finance and security ministers among others.
No official reason was given for the sweeping changes, announced by state TV on Sunday, which followed the appointment of a new prime minister, Ibrahima Kassory Fofana.
The changes came amid heightened political tensions and speculation that Conde may be seeking to modify the constitution ahead of a 2020 election.
Guinea is Africa’s top producer of bauxite, the ore of aluminium, and Conde’s government has faced repeated strikes by mineworkers, as well as teachers and has seen civil unrest over local elections.
It has also suffered embarrassment over allegations by French authorities that billionaire tycoon Vincent Bollore’s conglomerate backed Conde’s election campaign in exchange for a port concession. Both Bollore and Conde deny any wrongdoing.
In his reshuffle Conde replaced 13 out of 33 ministers in his government. Finance Minister Maladho Kaba was sacked and replaced by Mamady Camara, Guinea’s former ambassador to South Africa. Her deputy, Budget Minister Mohamed Lamine Doumbouya, was replaced by former central bank official Ismael Dioubate.
Security Minister Abdoul Kabele Camara, in place since Conde’s election victory in 2010, was replaced by Alpha Ibrahima Keira, a loyalist from the regime of dictator Lansana Conte, who died in 2008.
As well as bauxite, Guinea has some of the world’s largest deposits of iron ore, but decades of mining have failed to lift most Guineans out of poverty.
About 10 people were killed in February and March when riots erupted in the capital Conakry and other cities following local elections, which the opposition said were marred by fraud.
Conde’s opponents also fear he seeks to modify the constitution to stand for a third term in 2020. Conde has not yet commented on his intentions, but speculation over them has had a destabilising effect.
REUTERS
eSwatini king should leave politics and focus on marrying – Malema
SWAZILAND
South African politician Julius Malema says the King Mswati of eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) should leave politicians in the country to thrive.
According to Malema, who leads the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), South Africa’s third-force party, Mswati could go ahead to marry as many women as possible but his inteferance in the freedoms of citizens was unacceptable.
Whiles speaking at an EFF event to mark the African Day 2018 in the city of Tshwane, Malema praised Mswati for opting to remove the colonial name Swaziland and to replace same with eSwatini.
… release the political prisoners in Swaziland. We want total freedom in Swaziland. We don’t want the king to interfere with the freedoms of the people of Swaziland.
“Here at home, eSwatini, King Mswati, please leave politics to politicians and continue marrying as you want to marry many women, it’s fine.
“It’s your own problem but release the political prisoners in Swaziland. We want total freedom in Swaziland. We don’t want the king to interfere with the freedoms of the people of Swaziland.
“So we are saying to the king, please allow the people of eSwatini – what a beautiful name. This monarch (dictator) of Swaziland, he thinks better than the ANC people, he has changed the colonial name Swaziland to eSwatini,” Malema said to applause.
The King who took over the reins over three decades ago has over a dozen wives. He usually picks a wive after the annual reed dance ceremony.
The change of name was made during the double celebration in the southern African country. The first landmark was his 50th birthday and the country’s 50 years of independence. eSwatini is known to be one of the world’s last remaining absolute monarchies.
Mswati III took over at the age 18, he rules by decree and has over the years been at the crossroad between ruling as a traditional monarch or modernising his kingdom through multi-party democracy.
Rights groups like Amnesty International, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders have accused him of policies that trample human rights and democracy.
Fatma Samoura: ‘Some don’t think a black woman should be leading Fifa’
Some people do not think a black woman should lead Fifa, says Fatma Samoura – the first female secretary general of football’s world governing body.
Samoura, 55, replaced Jerome Valcke in May 2016 after he was found guilty of misconduct and banned from football-related activity for 12 years.
She says the “glass ceiling has been broken” with her appointment.
Samoura, who previously worked for the UN, said: “I joined a male-dominated organisation. They are used to me now.”
Speaking to the BBC as part of the 100 Women project, she added: “There are people who don’t think that a black woman should be leading the administration of Fifa. It’s sometimes as simple as that.
“It is something we are fighting on a daily basis on the pitch – I don’t want any racist person around me.
“Nobody asks a man when he takes a position if he’s competent to do the job. They just assume that he can do the job. For a woman to make her way up to the top – you need to prove every single day that you are the best fit for that position.”
In April, Senegal-born Samoura was the subject of an investigation into an alleged conflict of interest concerning the Morocco 2026 World Cup bid. She was cleared of any wrongdoing and dismissed the claims as “laughable” and “unfortunate”.
Along with overseeing the reform of football’s governing body, Samoura was tasked with improving conditions for migrant workers constructing facilities for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup.
“Over the past six months we haven’t heard anything negative about the worker condition in Qatar,” she said.
“It is is a strong sign that football can help change cultural behaviour, even in the more conservative society.”
Source: BBC Africa
Gambia’s New Disinherited Class
It has been two years since I last visited the old country — The Gambia. In both 2015 and 2016, respectively, I visited my grandparents in Tujereng, Kombo South, West Coast Region. I have uncles, aunts, cousins, friends – who still live there; my mom owns property there, and know many of the families in the village. My mom’s family moved there from Ngumen village, Senegal, about 10 miles or some such from Baddibou, by the way of Lion House, Serekunda – many decades ago. Anyway, I had fond memories of Tujereng, I spent a summer holiday there after my 9th grade exams – and it was probably the best time of my life; it was always an interesting place, growing up, we would go and visit my maternal grandparents and the extended family once a month; we would also go to my mom’s big orchard to get some oranges, mangoes, among other fruits. In many ways, Tujereng, like Churchill’s Town and Banjul, is also home.
During my most recent visit to Tujereng, I was hit with the latest developments — brimming with new buildings, cars, people. It was a really fascinating sight, totally different from the Tujereng I left when I left for the States. Also, I observed a very disturbing trend among the landed villagers, those who inherited land from their parents and whatnot. I intentionally use the word disturbing, because, years ago, the land they used for farming is now mostly real estate, they have pretty much, especially the land around the coast — from Batakunku to the Sanyang edge — cashed out on all of the land, and leaving little or nothing for their offsprings to farm on or build their own houses. Most of the land is now a 30x30m, 25x25m, 15x15m prospect.
This new generation of Tujereng kids, unlike their parents and grandparents, are most likely going to grow up without agricultural land or no land at all, because their parents have decided to make dough out of their ancestral lands; lands that were the lynchpin of this wonderful community. This new generation is what I’ve dubbed the “disinherited class” – who are going to grow up, seeing bungalows, story buildings, and beautiful self-containers, occupying their ancestral lands. This new class — the disinherited — are going to grow up sans land to fall back on for survival when times are hard, like their great-grandparents, grandparents, and their fathers did before them. The family land used to be the safety net for many of these families; and in a generation, this would be, without a doubt, no more, for the the safety net would bottom out. I think it is also safe to say this new shift would also spell the end of subsistence farming in Tujereng.
The new Tujereng
This, notwithstanding, I think, is going to create a great schism in years to come when the “disinherited class” become landless, because they have no home to go back to, because the family compound is the only thing that Daddy left behind, which is going to be rationed among 20 other siblings, because most of the money Daddy gotten from the real estate sales, were not saved up for the children; some spent it on new brides, some on material things; some even renovated their “Banku-Bungho” into very fine “self-containers”, sprawling the family compound with over a dozen children, all of whom, are also going to fall under this “disinherited class”. This is not a pejorative piece – nor does it mean that all the landed folks in Tujereng are cashing out on their ancestral land – because, I know and had conversations with some, that have planned out, saved up some of the money; some have already even shared some of the land among their children. Also, some of them have also sold family land to send some of their kids on the backway journey – with the hopes of them sending remittances. With the uncertainty surrounding the backway migrants in Europe, what is going to happen if these kids are returned back to The Gambia?
A decade or two from now, the destruction of the safety net — land — would be absolutely complete. Tujereng, like most of the coastal villages, now towns, on the southwest coast of The Gambia – would have to rethink how they are going to tackle this new conundrum, because, the Tujereng of old, is on its way to abeyance. I hope the leaders of the village are planning wisely, because, if not, this would have devastating, cascading ramifications in a decade or two. Is the government of The Gambia making any forecasting, projections, any ideas on how this demographic shift in villages like Tujereng, Brufut, etc., are going to affect this new “disinherited” class? How is this going to affect the family dynamic in a village like Tujereng, where, just a decade ago, even the poor used to be offered a piece of land to live and farm on during the rainy season, when the entire land is now ripe for real estate developers, dripping with “Semester-Dollars’, and the nouveau riche? What does all of this foretell?
There is no need for theorizing. The answers are knowable.
Saul Njie
5.25.2018
A Rapturous Welcome Expected for President Barrow
As the nation expects the return of President Barrow, from his Roundtable Donor Conference, streets are being lined, with chanting supporters, and enthusiastic fans. The pavements are noticeably getting crowded, and cars are speeding past, horns blaring as they head towards the airport.
It seems the call made by the Vice President, for “All Gambians and well-wishers, to come out in good numbers, and welcome his Excellency” is being heeded. It remains to be seen if the Ramadan effect will have any bearing on expected crowd turnout.
The call however, has been met with anger in disdain in some quarters. For some, its reminiscent of the Jammeh days, when students were forced to leave classes and made to stand on the road for hours.
Gambia’s Tax Cuts Fail To Impact Market Prices
The skyrocketing prices of basic commodities is still a major concern amongst most Gambians even though the government has decided to cut taxes on imported goods such as rice, flour and cement among others.
Speaking at a consultation meeting held at the Alliance Franco, the National Assembly Member for Kantora, Honourable Billay G Tunkara said that the government is losing millions on tax reduction without it having any impact on the electorates.
“The government has lost more than D33 Million Dalasi from January to April,” Billay Tunkara said.
“The electorates still cannot feel the impact,” he added.
Honourable Tunkara said he is a member of the National Assembly Select Committee that is given the task to review the tax reduction policy with its impact on prices of basic commodities.
According to experts, the Gambia’s business sector is largely dominated by migrants or settlers since independence from the British Colonial rule.
Meanwhile, there are several calls for the government to engage the youth population on entrepreneurship.
‘Gambia is open for Business’ – Barrow tells investors
State House, Banjul, 24 May 2018 –President Adama Barrow has called on international investors to take advantage of the limitless business and investment opportunities in The Gambia, announcing that the country is ready for business.
Addressing an International Business Forum, as part of the ongoing International Conference for The Gambia in Brussels, the President said that his government has gone far in addressing the inherited financial and economic management challenges that eroded investor confidence and seriously limited private sector investment and foreign direct investment inflow into The Gambia.
The regulatory environment has been reviewed to further enhance the already favorable investment environment that exists in The Gambia. The Public Procurement Act, the Gambia Investment and Export Promotion Agency -GIEPA Act, and the Income and Value Added Tax have been amended.
‘The GIEPA Act and Investment Policy provide adequate investment guarantee to investors. The Gambia is a member of several multilateral organizations that protect and safeguard international investment, such as the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency and the International Centre for the Settlement of International Disputes.’’ said President Barrow.
The Gambia leader also informed the gathering that the financial management reforms being spearheaded by his government are paying dividend. He reported that interest rates have started going down, while lending to the private sector is significantly improving. The president attributed these developments to the steps being taken by government to reform the unfavourable laws and reduce some taxes to spur investment.
President Barrow stressed that the private sector is a cardinal ally in his development agenda by emphasizing that his government recognizes the private sector as the engine of growth. In this regard, he said, strategies have been developed and aligned with the NDP to encourage the development of the Private sector through entrepreneurship, trade and industry. ‘’Recently, my government has launched the National Business Council to serve as the platform for continuous engagement with the private sector’’, the president announced.
As an expression of political will, the presidency will assume the chairmanship of the eminent national forum. The Trade Minister, Dr. Isatou Touray officially closed the Business Forum.
On the fringes of the International Business forum, President Barrow met with the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani. They discussed, among other things, Agriculture with focus on value addition, mechanized rice irrigation and agro-processing. The aim is to create jobs for the youth as well as grow the economy.
“I Remembered Deyda Hydara Lying In A Pool Of Blood” Halifa Sallah
The National Assembly Member for Serrekunda, Honourable Halifa Sallah has called on Gambians to learn from the realities of the past to avoid any recurrence.
Hon. Sallah was one of the Guest Speakers at the National Stakeholders Consultation Meeting organised by the Victims’ Center with the support of The UK based Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI) and the US based National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
The Serrekunda NAM said Gambians have a duty to gather the lessons of the past to inform the government about what happened, not only to remember but prevent it from happening again.
“I remember the day Deyda Hydara lay dead in a pool of blood,” Halifa Sallah said.
He went further to recalled the trial of six Gambian journalist, Emil Touray, Pape Saine and Sam Sarr among others who were sentenced to Prison for saying the killers of Deyda Hydara should be brought to book.
“My heart sank when I visited them at the prisons saying to myself the people who called for justice are sent to prison while the perpetrators are walking free in the streets,” Hon. Sallah said.
“We have a duty to perform and if we fail history will indict us,” he added.
Madi Jobarteh of TANGO said Civil Society should be very vigilant in promoting freedom of speech which is the foundation of modern democracy. He also elaborated on the rights to freedom of expression and holding the government accountable.
“Without freedom of speech the citizens will be plunge into slavery,” Madi said.
The rights activist called on the Gambia Government to constitute the Freedom of Information Law which is also known as ‘sunshine laws’ that empower citizens to hold the government to account. He called on the Gambia civil society to re-examine and position itself to the right track.
Emil Touray, President of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) expressed happiness that the government has finally decided to honour the ECOWAS Court decision to compensate the families of Deyda Hydara, Chief Ebrima Manneh and Musa Saidykhan.
“Its a step in the right direction,” Emil Touray explained.
Touray went further to called on the government to repeal all the bad media laws in line with the African Charter.
Meanwhile, the family of Chief Ebrima Manneh acknowledged receiving half of the compensation which amounts to $50, 000 Dollars. The ECOWAS Court has ordered the compensation of $100, 000 Dollars to the families of Deyda Hydara, Chief Ebrima Manneh and Musa Saidykhan.