BANJUL, The Supreme Court of The Gambia has today declared laws on sedition, false publication and broadcasting as constitutional and necessary in a democratic society.

The five panel judges presided by the Chief Justice further declared the laws on criminal defamation and false publication on the internet as unconstitutional. The two decisions made by the court brought mixed feelings to the members of the media fraternity.

Moments after the court decisions were delivered the Secretary General of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), Saikou Jammeh, posted on his Facebook page.

“The Supreme Court’s decision is bad news for New Gambia, outrageous and unacceptable. The Gambia Press Union is committed and will consider measures seeking to overturn the decision by the court on laws used to suppress free speech and restrict the freedom and independence of the media,” SG Saikou Jammeh said.

“There is good news though. Criminal defamation and false publication on the internet have meanwhile been declared on unconstitutional by the Supreme Court,” he added.

The President of The Gambia Press Union, Emil Touray has expressed the same feelings as his Secretary General.

Meanwhile, there is mixed feelings amongst those in the media fraternity of the tiny West African country.

Our police are enduring a general lack of respect from the public. Cases of disrespect toward our police are reaching shocking levels. Focus must be fully on reversing the trend. I’ll be first to back such effort.

I feel upset about it. Last month we had a recalcitrant student of law at the University of The Gambia who was arrested after he took pictures of a team of police officers on patrol. He obstructed them from performing their duty. They asked him to stop, he refused. That this idiot continued his show of disrespect even as he was taken into custody still weighs with me. There are similar other incidents that deserve our sincere denunciation.

The police are here for one simple reason: to keep us safe. This is a hugely important job in any civilized society. Security remains the first and the last essential for any serious government.

While it is right that the reputation of our law enforcement authorities was battered for much of the past two decades, there role has changed since the Barrow government came to power.

I have worked with the police and I can tell you this: it’s decent and law-abiding citizens who make up Gambian police. I can also tell you that these people who have their country at heart. Their service is to their country.

I don’t want to be too patronizing but that they are diligent about their job is the obvious, towering fact. What they might have achieved if they had all what they continue to need must necessarily be a mere matter of speculation.

And about the odds, we know the average Gambian police constable receives 1,500 dalasis salary every month. What is a man who gets D1, 500 monthly salary? A nobody?  To some, yes. Yet, these men and women do the job that they do. And they often do it with zeal.

I will misrepresent the facts if I said our police are performing their duty of keeping us safe to our expectation. But that is not because they have refused to do so. That’s down to capacity. They will tell you. If they don’t then a little find will go a long way for you.

Meanwhile, people will tell you how well police and other enforcers of the law are respected in other countries. There’s a general show of respect for the police all the time. In The Gambia, it’s different. People have a general knack for despising law enforcement.

It’s more common among young people. Nowadays, all hell breaks loose if a group of young boys are arrested for smoking cannabis. We have seen it in Bakau. Even women were beating police and drug law enforcement officers as they tried to arrest a group of boys caught with drugs.

We often demand that our rights be protected as citizens. But we often fail to ask ourselves the question, ‘On what basis should our rights be protected?’ Our rights have to be protected, I’ll admit. But it can’t obtain in an environment where there’s a breakdown of law and order.

To every right there’s a responsibility. It’s time we all took responsibility for our actions. You can’t be someone who doesn’t believe in law, someone who goes about disrespecting our police and other law enforcement officers and expect that your rights be protected. That doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t know about you.

The thing is it’s not like before. Our police are now treating us with respect as they go about the demanding, risky job of maintaining law and order. We owe them respect, too.

Lamin Njie wrote from Serrekunda. He can be reached via email at: [email protected]

The National Environment Agency, NEA in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Information will convene a press conference on Wednesday, May 10, to shed light on some of the enviromental considerations of public concern.

According to The NEA, the dialogue will center on issues surrounding the Golden Lead Factory in Gunjur, Agua Waste Treatment Center in Kotu and The Monkey Park Located in Senegambia.

Information reaching The Fatu Network has it that President Adama Barrow earns D2, 040, 000 Millions a year, ($46,000) a source at the Personnel Management Office disclosed.

It is reported that former president Yahya Jammeh’s salary was removed from the budget to hide it from the public.

The Fatu Network is privy to the salary scale of President Barrow’s executive including the Vice President and Cabinet Ministers with their per diem allowances for overseas travels and night allowances.

According to information gathered at the Personnel Management Office, the Vice President earns D562, 116. 00 Dalasi per annum ($12,500) while Cabinet Ministers earn D351, 996. 00 Dalasi per annum ($7,800)

According to documents privy to The Fatu Network, the per diem allowances for overseas travels and night allowances for local travels of the Vice President is pegged at £350 per day. The ones for the Secretary General, Ministers and Speaker of the National Assembly, Chairman PSC, Chairman National Planning Commission are pegged at £300 per day.

However, the Deputy Secretary General, Secretary to Cabinet, Chairman IEC, Ombudsman are pegged at £250 per day while Permanent Secretaries, Governor Central Bank, Director Generals, Chief Executives, Managing Directors, Ambassadors, Auditor General, NAMs, CDS, IGP, Director General NIA, Executive Director NDEA, Commissioner General and Chief of Protocol among others get £230 per day.

The officials on Grade 12 and below are pegged at £200 per day, Drivers and Orderlies get £130 per day, night allowances for all grades is D650. 00 per night.

It is reported that there is no per diem for the First Lady in the budget but the former and current First Ladies are getting per diems.

There is a Special Committee for Overseas Travels that screens overseas training with the exception of political delegates.

Meanwhile, there is growing concerns over the frequent overseas travels of government officials in the Barrow Administration.

The United States Department of State has recently released its 2017 Human Rights Report, recognizing that The Gambia’s democratic transfer of power has resulted in “significant positive changes in the human rights climate.”

The democratic transfer of power (in 2016) resulted in significant positive changes in the human rights climate. Among President Barrow’s first acts was the release of 171 prisoners from the state central prison, a majority of whom were political prisoners.  National Assembly members repealed the state of emergency declared by former president Jammeh during the political impasse a few days after Jammeh flew into exile on January 21.  The new administration made several significant efforts to create a more conducive environment for freedom of expression.  The Justice Department conceded that the country’s sedition law and some provisions (pertaining to criminal defamation and false publication on the internet) of the country’s internet law were unconstitutional.  The country previously enacted legislation making both female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and child marriage illegal, although deep-seated cultural norms made the full eradication of these practices difficult. Several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and government agencies actively publicized the newly introduced laws in local communities.

Proceedings continued against nine former officials of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) charged with the torture of protesters arrested in May and April 2016 and the subsequent killing of Solo Sandeng, an official of the UDP party; as of November their trials were underway. The government took steps towards establishing a Truth, Reconciliation, and Repatriations Commission (TRRC), led by the Ministry of Justice, to probe human rights abuses that occurred during President Jammeh’s administration. The National Assembly unanimously passed a bill in December that formally established the nine-member TRRC and outlined its composition, objectives, and functions. Also in December, the National Assembly passed a bill establishing an independent National Human Rights Commission.

The most significant human rights issues included: harsh and potentially life threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrests; lack of accountability in cases involving violence against women, including rape and FGM/C; trafficking in persons; and child labor.

The government took steps to prosecute or punish some individuals who committed abuses.  Nevertheless, impunity and the lack of consistent enforcement remained problems.”

The full report, including The Gambia country narrative, can be found online at: https://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper

The Fatu Network has been reliably informed that some of the Presidential Advisers Appointed at the Office of the President (OP) such as the Security, Special and Youth Advisers alongside dozens of other Advisers at various Ministries are not captured in the government’s budget.

The Ministry of Interior is the latest to appoint a former Inspector General of Police (IGP) as Adviser to the Office of the Interior Minister.

According to sources at the Personnel Management Office (PMO) their salaries are not also captured in the government’s budget.

The PMO confirmed the appointments of only three Presidential Advisers and they are the Political, Religious and Business Advisers. The three advisers combined earn a basic salary of D887, 994.00 annually, which is a monthly salary of D24,666.5 for each of them.

“Nobody should be in the government system without his/her salary being in the budget,” a source told The Fatu Network.

“None of the Advisers to the Ministers are in the manpower budget,” he added.

Sources further revealed that most of the Advisers at the Office of the President including various ministries are using government vehicles, coupons and per diem among other benefits at the expense of poor tax payers.

“I don’t know who is paying their salaries,” he asked.

Recently, Mr Demba Ali Jawo, Minister of Information okayed the appointment of advisers at his monthly press briefing with local journalists. He said advisers facilitate weekly updates but does not explained whether the government is paying their salaries.

Meanwhile, the appointment of so many people in the Foreign Service without adequate resources was also raised as another concern.

By: Dawda Nenegalleh Jallow

When Jammeh arrested Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and some of his party members, most Gambians blamed Jammeh because it was termed as a political strategy to eliminate the UDP. Later that year, coalition of political parties were formed to run against Jammeh.

During their campaign, they promised to restore DEMOCRACY, work according to the RULE OF LAW and respect HUMAN RIGHTS. After one year in office, why is the Barrow government arresting youths for protesting to save their environment?

• Where is the democracy that they were preaching during the 2016 presential campaign?

– If arresting Lawyer Ousainou Darboe and co was wrong, is it right to arrest these Gungur youths?

This government only allows people to say things in their favour but if anyone says anything that’s not in their favour, they use the police to intimidate him/her. If anything is wrong during Jammeh’s era, it should be wrong in Barrow’s era too.

We don’t need any explanations. Just release the Gunjur youths as they’re exercising their rights the way Ousainou and co were doing in 2016. Let this government not be wolves in sheep clothing.

#ReleaseTheGunjurYouths

The President of the Republic, His Excellency Adama Barrow, will receive in audience members of the National U-20 Football Team at State House in Banjul, on Friday, 11th May 2018, at 6:30 PM.

The young Scorpions were crowned winners of the 2018 WAFU Cup of Nations, following a spectacular performance in Liberia. Not only were they the only unbeaten side of the tournament, they defeated the host nation to clinch the title.

In view of this, the President, although on official leave, has deemed it appropriate to personally convey his joy and congratulations to the boys on their stunning victory.

Accredited Media are invited to attend and they MUSTconfirm their attendance by 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, 10 May 2018.

By David Kujabi, Police PRO

Three Senegalese nationals are in police custody for robbery with violence. Abdoulie Saine aged 25, Modou Faye 27, and Ousman Sarr 27 were arrested after they robbed a police officer at the SerreKunda market during the hours of 01:30 to 02:00 AM.

According to the victim, Corporal Lamin Darboe a traffic officer attached at the SerreKunda Traffic Annex, he was on night duty and his brother come to pay him a visit at the station where they chatted until around 01:15AM when his brother wanted to go home. Cpl. Darboe saw him off to the car park where he boarded a taxi (town trip) to go home.

“I was walking back to the police station when after I passed the baobab tree near the Trust Bank building I noticed three men following closely behind me. One of them walked past me and I noted that he was holding a beer bottle which he broke and stood facing me, blocking my way. I asked him to allow me to go on but he refused and instead made to strike me with the broken bottle. I tried to seal off the blow with my left arm and sustained a cut on the thumb, while I struck him in the face with my right hand. Then another held me around the neck from behind and the third one joined in and they wrestled me to the ground. Knowing that I was overpowered, I stopped struggling and let them rob me of D1750, 00 and a simple TECNO mobile phone. They then kicked me several times before they leave”, Cpl Darboe narrated.

He furthered added that after they left him helpless, he got up and rushed to the PIU officers on night patrol duty around the Serrekunda black market where he reported his ordeal.

He was assigned a personnel and they hired a taxi and pursued the assailants and arrested two of them somewhere around Dippa Kunda.

The task force was dispatched in search of the third suspect who was subsequently arrested around Jaiteh Kunda Street. His mobile phone and D650,00 were recovered from them.

The United States Embassy in The Gambia congratulates the seven young Gambians selected for the 2018 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders.

The Fellows are Mariama Barry, Aziz Bala Gaye, Awa Sinyan, Hassan Y. Jallow, Mbassey Manneh, Teslima Jallow and Anna Jaiteh.  They were selected from among almost 400 Gambians who applied for this year’s Fellowship.

These young leaders are among 700 selected from across Africa through a rigorous application process for this year’s program. They represent The Gambia’s diverse society and were all chosen for their community service, leadership, and contributions to the country’s progress.

The Gambian Fellows participated in an orientation session at the U.S. embassy on Thursday, May 3^rd.  Ambassador C. Patricia Alsup congratulated them, conveyed her best wishes that the program would have a profound impact on their lives, and urged them to apply their experience to serving their communities when they return.

The Fellows were also joined by alumni from the 2017 cohort who shared firsthand experiences and useful tips for a successful experience. They will leave Banjul for the United States next month for a six-week program at universities throughout the United States.  Please watch our social media platforms for their serialized individual introductions.

Six Gunjur youths have been arrested and charged with incitement of crime Police Spokesperson, Suprintendent, David Kujabi told The Fatu Network.

The six according to Kujabi were part of a group that dropped off a letter at the Gunjur Police Station stating plans to go on a protest against Golden Lead Company, a Chinese Fish Meal Factory which they say is polluting their environment.

Kujabi added that the police advised that the letter be taken to the police headquarters in Banjul where protests letters are issued but the group insisted on dropping it off in Gunjur where they want to hold the protest.

“They insisted saying that whether they receive a permit or not, they will go ahead with their protest” Suprintendent Kujabi said.

The Police spokesperson disclosed that Ousman Jawo, one of those arrested was found with suspected cannabis. A Gambian American who is currently on vacation is The Gambia is said to be part of those arrested.

Tukulor Sey, a Gambian activist based in The United States said the youths arrested went to the beach and read a statement condemning Golden Lead for the degradation of their environment.

“They live in Gunjur and have a right to express disgust for this. One is a US citizen who was not even part of this protest (Lamin Jammeh). The environmentalists in Gunjur refuse to be intimidated” She concluded.

Meanwhile, all the six youths arrested are currently detained at the Gunjur Police Station.

By Omar Wally

The headless body of a toddler was found in Kotu in the early hours of Friday, near Apple Tree International School.

Superintendent David Kujabi, Police Spokesperson confirmed the incident saying the matter was reported to Police Friday morning. ‘ The body was found without a head attached to it.’ The Police spokesperson told The Fatu Network

Kujabi said the body was rushed to The Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital for post-Mortem.

‘From the look of things, it seems a bald wasn’t used when the toddler was being killed‘. He added.

Information reaching The Fatu Network has it that The Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) has closed several skill training centers across the country on allegations of tax evasion.

According to sources, Sobeya and MJ Skill Training Centers are among a list of institutions closed by the country’s revenue authority based on alleged tax evasion due to political connections with the past regime under the former President Yahya Jammeh.

Some of these institutions offer skill training courses to hundreds of young Gambians on catering, hairdressing, pedicure and manicure among others.

The Fatu Network has contacted Mr Ousman Bah, the head of Corporate and Public Affairs of The Gambia Revenue Authority to shed light on the matter. He promised to call back after talking to the Task Force on the ground.

Meanwhile, Mr Bah has not called after several days.

The Young Journalists’ Association of The Gambia (YJAG) is pleased to associate itself with the rest of the world in commemorating World Press Freedom Day, 2018. We take this opportunity to congratulate all the media practitioners in the country particularly the young journalists on this important day.

As this is a moment of reflecting on the activities of journalists across the world, be it progress made or otherwise, YJAG would like to commend the government of the Gambia for the relative free environment for the press.

We note that the government expressed the will to repeal or amending draconian media laws that have been used to suppress freedom of the press and of expression for far too long.

This has resulted to the low performance of the media in its function of holding the government to account as killings, disappearing, torturing and fleeing of highly experienced journalists during a very oppressive regime became the order of the day.

However, despite the relative free environment for journalists under the present government, colonial laws as well as those enacted by the former government to suppress access to and dissemination of information remain in the legal books.
YJAG therefore, urge the government to quickly translate its verbal commitment to press freedom into action by repealing and replacing them with friendly laws that march the international standard.

YJAG is also calling on the Gambia government to quicken the investigations process of the cases involving some journalists who were victimized for carrying out their work.
We are particularly concern with the cases involving the late Deyda Hydara, co-founder of The Point Newspaper who was gunned down in 2004 as well as that of Chief Ebrima Manneh who was disappeared since 2006.

YJAG anticipates for the new Gambia that will respect freedom of the press and see media as a partner in development.

Equally, YJAG will take this opportunity to call on media administrations across the country to look into the welfare of young journalists. This includes addressing the problem of low pay and creating conducive working environment to enable them to work conveniently.

3 May 2018 – On World Press Freedom Day, PEN International-Gambia Center, calls for the repeal of criminal defamation and insult laws. Over 150 writers and NGOs from across the African continent have joined PEN’s calls by signing a PEN petition, led by African PEN Centres, calling onAfrican states to abolish criminal defamation and “insult” laws as a matter of urgency and to release writers and journalists who have been jailed under such charges.

Many governments in Africa retain criminal defamation laws that make it a crime to say, write or publish anything that they consider defamatory or insulting. The result is a restriction of freedom of expression, open debate, political criticism and media reporting.

The writers, who include among othersNgugi wa Thiong’o, Enoh Meyomesse, Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin, Ahdaf Soueif, and Ismaila Samba Traoré, have added their names to the petition highlighting their concerns about the use of defamation laws to silence critics:

‘As African writers, promoters of literature and advocates for freedom of expression, we are deeply concerned by the continued existencein the majority of African statesof colonial-era laws, which continue to treat defamation as a criminal offence. These laws are invariably used to silence writers, journalists and others, and often carry heavy penalties, including imprisonment and political disenfranchisement.’

The petition was drawn up in response to research carried out by PEN on the continued retention of such laws in Uganda, Zambia, South Africa and Sierra Leone and the impact of the repeal of criminal defamation laws in Ghana in 2001. The research culminated in a report,– Stifling Dissent, Impeding Accountability: Criminal Defamation Laws in Africa– which found that the threat of criminal sanctions deters media investigations into and reporting of issues governments consider sensitive, such as high-level corruption, official malpractice or law-breaking, leading to censorship, facilitating official secrecy and undermining accountability.

The petition was presented to the Pan African Parliament in March, as well as the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on 27 April. Watch a short video to find out more about PEN’s campaign.

For more information please contact [email protected]

MAY 3, 2018

Today, May 3, 2018 on World Press Freedom Day, The Ministry of Information and Communications Infrastructure stands in solidarity with all Gambian journalists, the Gambia Press Union and all its affiliates.

MOICI would also use this opportunity to stand in solidarity with the family of the late veteran journalist Deyda Hydara, the family of Chief Ebrima Manneh and other journalists and media workers who were victims of state sponsored abuses, violations of human rights and excesses of State power.

On this 25^thanniversary of World press Freedom Day, we are pleased to note that The Gambia has gained 22 points on the Reporters Sans Frontiers World Press Freedom Index; and that during the year 2017 there were zero recorded abuses to the rights of journalists in The Gambia.

These positive developments have been registered, as the Government of The Gambia is aware that “New Gambia” will have no meaning when the media is oppressed and information suppressed.

The new trend of a more favorable media ranking is set to improve as the pattern goes in line with our vision to creating the enabling legal environment for the protection of journalists, media workers and media freedoms.

This Government has also started implementing decisions of the ECOWAS Community Court concerning journalists and is working towards the implementation of instructions on media law reforms.

We have been quite open, transparent and consultative about these processes and we will continue to demonstrate the political will to ensure media reforms in line with international standards.

On this day, MOICI would also reiterate its commitment to the Gambia Press Union and other media actors that beyond our work on media law reforms we will also continue to engage on:

• putting in place of a self-regulatory mechanism;
• the framework for the working conditions of Gambian journalists and media workers;
• engage on media literacy and continue to push for respect for human rights and freedom of expression; advocate that journalists remain at the forefront of combatting the dissemination of misleading information or disinformation; and
• support policies that seek to address gender bias and harassment particularly against women in the media

Demba Ali Jawo

Minister of Information and Communications Infrastructure

Spokesperson of The Government of The Gambia

Email: [email protected]

Tel: +220 437 8000

By Omar Waly

Major Lamin K. Sanyang, spokesperson for The Gambia Armed Forces, has refuted claims made by a member of The Gambia Armed Forces regarding issues he and his colleagues allegedly faced during the period of a training program in Saudi Arabia.

The military spokesperson described the claims as regrettable and shocking. Take a listen to his interview.