The Casamance Conflict is a low-level conflict that has been waged between the Government of Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) since 1982. The intensity of the conflict has varied over the years. Occasionally there have been violent flare-ups. The areas in which armed robberies/attacks take place have also changed over the course of time. Up until 2000, for example, most of the Kolda region was not an area in which attacks took place. Increasing frequency of cattle rustling and banditry from bands of armed people who routinely fled into Guinea-Bissau resulted in closure of the border with Guinea-Bissau in September 2000.

Throughout the history of the insurgency, there have been few incidents of fighting within the city of Ziguinchor and the resort area of Cap Skirring. In recent years, however, rural areas have been the sites of sporadic violent attacks on Senegalese military and civilian personnel and, on rare occasions, tourists.

The conflict has taken a hard toll on the population living in the Casamance. Normal means of livelihood (rice farming, other agricultural activities, etc.) are no longer possible for a high percentage of the population who no longer have access to their land or who have lost materials due to theft. Normal markets have been disrupted, and many normal services (such as financial services, health posts, schools) have been suspended or ended.

In December 2000, the Government issued a general warning to the national press that the dissemination of communications from the MFDC would be considered attempts to derail the Casamance peace process and would be prosecuted under the Penal Code. On the same day, the publisher and managing editor of the newspaper Le Populaire were summoned and interrogated for 7 hours by the criminal investigation division after the newspaper published a review of the 19-year-old Casamance conflict; 3 days later, they were arrested and then released on the same day after being charged with “disseminating false news and undermining public security.” In January 2001 the cases were dropped.

Sporadic fighting continued during 2001 in the Casamance area in the southern part of the country between the Government and the secessionist Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC). The incidence of violence in the Casamance region increased during the year, particularly in June and July, and reportedly resulted in some deaths. The military zone commander for the Casamance region made an effort during the year to reduce the number of human rights abuses committed by security forces under his command. During 2001, the press continued to report on frequent small arms attacks, raids, ambushes, and clashes with military forces by suspected MFDC gunmen, with continuing military and civilian fatalities.

In March 2001 the Government and the MFDC signed two peace agreements designed to end the 20-year insurgency; however, these agreements were ineffective and fighting continued in Casamance. Following a change in MFDC leadership in August 2001, new talks were proposed but had not taken place by year’s end.

During 2001 Human rights NGO’s in Casamance reported a decrease in the number of detentions of suspected MFDC rebels reported by local families; however, in January Amnesty International reported that 30 MFDC sympathizers remained in detention in Dakar and Kolda without trial. According to Amnesty International, the sympathizers were arrested in 2000 because of their Diola ethnic origin; they were charged with compromising state security, but no evidence was provided of their involvement in any acts of violence. Following the signing of a peace accord with the MFDC on March 16, on March 19, the Government released 16 of these prisoners; the remaining 14 prisoners remained in detention at year’s end.

According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), during the first 2 weeks of May 2002, approximately 2,000 civilians fled the country to the Gambia following clashes between government security forces and MFDC rebels in the Bignona area of northwestern Casamance. The UNHCR reported that 70 percent of these refugees returned to their villages by early June 2002. The numbers of refugees outside the country fluctuated according to the level of violence in the Casamance region; at year’s end, it was estimated that several thousand refugees remained outside the country, mostly in the Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. A UNHCR census in January 2002 counted 7,000 Senegalese refugees living in the north of Guinea-Bissau.

On 26 May 2003 separatist rebels in Casamance announced the death of Sidi Badji, a hardline leader who had held out against any compromise with the government on Dakar. The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) has confirmed the death of Badji at the age of about 83. Despite his advancing years, Badji had remained, at least nominally, the head of the MFDC’s military wing and commander-in-chief of its guerrilla army. Badji and his supporters opposed the softer line taken by MFDC’s veteran President, Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, a Roman Catholic priest who had shown a willingness to settle for a modest degree of autonomy for Casamance. Over the past two years there had been a concerted campaign by local non-governmental organisations and other would-be peacemakers to improve relations between Diamacoune and Badji and to send an unequivocal message of peace to MFDC combatants in the bush.

To be continued………

Saidina Alieu Jarjou

Political Activist

[email protected]

Terrified employees fled as gunfire rang out at YouTube’s sprawling headquarters in San Bruno, California, shortly after midday Tuesday, prompting a massive police response and evacuation as victims were transported to nearby hospitals.

San Bruno Police Chief Ed Barberini said one female suspect was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Four people were transported to local hospitals with gunshot wounds.

Heavily armed police surrounded the facility, with armed SWAT vehicles stationed outside. Police officers could be seen patting down employees evacuating the campus to a nearby parking lot, where they were surrounded by police cars.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said President Trump has been briefed on the shooting and they are “monitoring the ongoing situation.”

Mr. Trump took to Twitter, offering prayers to those affected in the shooting.

The San Francisco Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said it was responding to the scene.

Several employees tweeted they heard gunfire Tuesday afternoon. Vadim Lavrusik said he barricaded himself and others inside a room before they were able to escape safely.

Google, YouTube’s parent company, said in a statement that they are “coordinating with authorities and will provide official information here from Google and YouTube as it becomes available.”

The headquarters is about 12 miles south of downtown San Francisco, close to San Francisco International Airport. It encompasses about 200,000 square feet, and YouTube leases the building from Gap, Inc., according to a 2017 article in the San Francisco Business Times.

Google says there are more than 1,100 employees at the office and that YouTube is San Bruno’s largest employer, with a variety of people dedicated engineering and sales.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Source: CBS News

Reference is invited from the deceitful article published by the guardian newspaper on Sunday 1^st April, 2018. “Residents of Foni, the Gambian region where Jammeh had a vast farm and allegedly “bunkers and treasure”, have been hosting members of a rebel group that for three decades have been fighting for the secession of their region from Senegal”.( The guardian, 2018)

The aforesaid immorality article by the guardian newspaper co-authored by Saikou Jammeh a Gambian nationality was a hateful fabrication of intolerable huge lies, extreme dislike and deep-rooted, mathematically calculated wrongly with the intended to portray Foni in bad light and to maliciously destroy the dignity and impeccable honor, which the region is known for.

Saikou Jammeh, though he have the “right of freedom of speech and expression” and “right of academic freedom”, which are expressly guaranteed by section 25 (1) (A) and section 25(1) (B) respectively, of The Gambia’s 1997 Constitution. But that doesn’t mean that one have to fabricate unfounded and baseless stories.

The last time I checked Foni bigot the unusual as a bitter confrontation between the peaceful protesters and Senegalese soldiers at the entrance of the village letting to bloodshed. Residents of the rural settlement and the Foni environs demanded the immediate evacuation of both the Gambian and Senegalese soldiers in Kanilai. The protesters were shot on their route to Kanfenda leading to some civilians sustaining injuries and death of one civilian by name Mr. Haruna Jatta who was later laid to rest on the 6th June, 2017.

It was narrated that the ECOMIG soldiers from Senegal were informed to shoot the protesters as they are rebels from Cassamance? If that is true then it is complete ridiculousness to allow any nation, regardless of the external generosity to fight their enemy within your land, and knowing very well and with supreme belief that the aftermath can be life threatening.

Many will asked this question. Why the heavy deployment of soldiers in one part of the country concisely Foni stuck in the minds of most Gambians? To protest again external forces is not a crime as it happened in Congo, Haiti and many more. In Senegal the last time I checked the number of protest occurred is uncountable but none of the protesters were shot to death with a life bullet. But why on the Fonika’s? Also if protesters were armed with weapons as claimed by the then minister of Interior Mai Fatty. How come only civilians were injured and killed?

“The Gambia’s new government has accused supporters of the former president, Yahya Jammeh, of welcoming foreign rebels into their homes in an attempt to destabilise the country”.                           (The guardian, 2018)

Presumption of innocence is under Section 24 (3) of the 1997 Constitution. Besides Foni is not the problem but people who prevailed on former President to subvert the will of the Gambian people are the problem. One cannot use Foni to prevail the hearts of the new leadership with the excuse of cajoling for peace. Foni should not and cannot be a prolific ground for anyone to rejuvenate his or her political ambitions. We the Fonika’s will take the lead and government must recognize that. Strangers cannot be talking to our people as if we the Foninka’s do not have what it takes to resolve whatever misconceptions or perceptions that exist.

In 2006, there exists a bilateral agreement between the President of Senegal, then Abdoulie Wade and the rebel group with the object of laying down arms and join together to form one great Senegal. But then, some of the rebels thought it wasn’t a great idea to abide by the proposal brought forward by the Senegalese government which led to division among the rebel groups as they have different aims and objectives in the struggle. Those various divided groups were led by Sirlif Sarjo, Kamugai Jatta, and Paul Sambou etc. But among all groups, the one led by Sirlif Sarjo became the strongest group with the strongest motive of leading Cassamance to independence at all cost resulting to war for decades. Sirlif became the headache of the Senegalese since he stands firm and mastermind the revolution that is still fighting for the liberation of Cassamance with his rebel group, Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC)

Sirlif is a reasonable man who drew my attention the day he released about eleven arrested Senegalese soldiers during the brutal invasion. The event was then witnessed by the Gambian government under the leadership of former President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh and Amnesty International. He spoke at length about the purpose of their existence claiming that the Senegalese government only sent the natives of Cassamance residing in the Senegalese forces to invade Cassamance resulting to brothers picking up arms and fighting against each other. Sirlif further stated that since the rebellion was formed, known of the international Medias went to Cassamance to ask about what conspired between them and the Senegalese people but rather depends on the information provided by the Senegalese which he strongly advocated that would not end the war in Cassamance. He also opened rooms for dialogue to end the long existing chaos that Cassamance is subjected to for decades.

The real trick to good governance is to place the needs of the masses above everything else; to lead not just with words but with action. Actions define priorities. It’s the only way politicians can successfully bring us the long sought dividend of democracy. It is time for all Africans to come up with tangible solutions in order to safe Cassamance. What this tomorrow looks like depends on our action today. And by using our voices on paper, exercising our power and demanding action through nonviolence can help restore peace in Cassamance. NOW!!

Saidina Alieu Jarjou

Political Activist

[email protected]

A senior member of the former President Yahya Jammeh’s hit squad has raised concerns over his arrest and detention while the people who committed crimes with them are still walking free in the streets.     

 “Do you know that some senior ‘junglers’ are still working in the army,” The former ‘Jungler’ said.

“Why should they detained us and leave others,” he asked.

This military source who preferred to remain anonymous, revealed names of senior ‘Junglers’ whom he said allegedly participated in the torture and extrajudicial killings of Gambians on the instructions of the former President Yahya Jammeh.

‘’My brother, Junglers are still in town working freely in the system while others are locked up at military barracks. Is that fair?” He asked The Fatu Network.

According to information privy to The Fatu Network, Major Salifu Corr, brother to the late jungler Sergeant Malafi Corr, WO2 JK Mendy and Lt. Anthony Mendy are all said to be members of the jungler patrol teams who allegedly participated in deadly operations.

The Source said Major Salifu Corr left the team after the former President ordered for the killing of his brother along with Daba Marenah and others.

The source further revealed that Major Salifu Corr was posted at Kanilai but was later moved to Yundum and WO2 JK Mendy was the Christian father at Defense Headquarters in Banjul while Lt. Anthony Mendy is now posted at Basse.

‘’This trio have participated in so many crimes under Jammeh. Lt. Anthony and WO2 JK Mendy have contributed in the execution of Daba and Co. You can ask WO2 Abdoulie Jallow, aka ‘Jallino’ who is currently detained at Yundum,’’ he said

Meanwhile, the source said the arrest of Captain Malick Boye was a set up by senior Junglers working in the army. He said he has been in the killing squad for many years but has never met Malick Boye.

State House, Banjul, 3^rd April 2018 – President Adama Barrow had briefings from Higher Education, Basic and Secondary Education and Information ministries on activities related to  the implementation of the  National Development Plan 2018-2021.

Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education gave an overview of the school going age based on the lasted census figures of 2013 and elaborated on the efforts to align gender disparities and rural urban divide by reducing access to schools from 3 kilometers to 2 kilometers.  The other issues raised in the presentation included quality of education and retention of girls to complete the cycle of basic and secondary education.

The Higher Education ministry focused on scholarship awards at tertiary institutions, regional distribution of Centers of Excellence and prioritising professional specialisation.  It gave priority to capacity development and Institutional strengthening such as transforming The Gambia College and Management Development Institute –MDI to universities.  Technical Vocational Education training is decentralized at the regions.  The Higher Education Ministry also has plans to work with the private sector on the needed skills.  It took innovative steps to fund higher education.

The Ministry of Information and Communication technology outlined it strategies with targeted timeframes to enhance e-government, Cyber security and liberalise the international gateway. It also reported on progress on a National Information and Communication Policy and strategy.

President Barrow commended the ministries and urged them to improve.  He added that the NDP is the guide to all government sectors and they should work to achieve its targets through innovative means.

The group presentations were followed by comments and contributions on the state of alignment of the sectoral policies and plans in line with the NDP.  It also provided opportunity to monitor the coordination of sectoral activities on cross cutting issues and cabinet decisions.

The three briefing sessions were witnessed by Vice President, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, Secretary General, Habib Drammeh and technical staff from the Office of the President and the Ministries. The Secretary to Cabinet, Ebrima Ceesay moderated the meeting.

I welcome the increment in transport allowances for the civil servants in the 2018 budget. This is long overdue as there has been no increment in salaries which are the poorest in the sub-region. Salaries in the Gambia are so low that it is virtually impossible for someone to live a decent life with it. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why we see corruption seemingly on the increase.

Thus, when it was announced in the 2018 budget that there will be an increment in the transport allowances, civil servants received it with joy and some form of contentment. However, the distribution is very unjust and should be revisited. According to the current distribution format, civil servants of Grade One through to Grade Nine receive a transport allowance of D1500 (one thousand five hundred dalasis); those in Grade Ten receive an amount of D2000 (two thousand dalasis). Directors, deputy permanent secretaries, permanent secretaries receive D8500 and D10, 000 (ten thousand dalasis) respectively.

One can see that this is far from being just and equitable. One can understand that there cannot be equality as the responsibilities vary very much from one civil servant to the other, but there can – and has to be – equity in the increment. Transport is transport whether one is an ordinary civil servant of Grade Three or a deputy permanent secretary of Garde Twelve, they both use the same means of transportation. They pay the same fares if they don’t have a car or buy the same amount of fuel if they do.

It is unfathomable therefore that there is a three hundred and twenty-five percent difference between those in Grade One to Nine and those categorized as directors, deputy permanent secretaries and permanent secretaries. For instance, we know that some senior masters in schools and principals are in Grade Twelve, but they do not enjoy what those categorized as directors, DDPSs and PSs enjoy. All these are civil servants and their work is as important to the nation as the work of the others. Why then do some civil servants receive two thousand and others receive eight thousand dalasis? This is a form of injustice that has to be addressed immediately!

No nation can develop without the input of the ordinary workers. It is the ordinary workers that generate the income of the nation, generate the goods and services to be utilized by the citizens and thus, they deserve to enjoy the fruit of their labour to the fullest. The top officials cannot – should not – be allowed to formulate policies which are only for their own benefits to the detriment of the common man. It is high time we recognized the contribution of these people and treat them equitably, if not equally. The alternative is a recipe for instability. As it is said, peace is not the absence of violence but the presence of justice. If we want peace, we must ensure justice and fairness!

Have a Good Day Mr President…

Tha Scribbler Bah

A concerned Citizen

The National Assembly Member for Serekunda West, Madi Ceesay, has vowed to initiate summoning of the Gambia government before the national assembly if it fails to immediately launch an independent inquiry into the awarding of the country’s national documents to Semlex.

“My position in the whole saga is that the government should have a private inquiry into the awarding of the contract. But if they insist that they will not comply, I can rely on the national assembly executive powers on section 77 subsection 4 to summon the ministry responsible,” he told journalists recently at his Manjai residence.

By Tal Kopan, CNN

CNN’s Laura Koran contributed to this report

Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent David Kujabi has confirmed the arrest of a man in his mid twenties allegedly caught with a gun at a local hotel Thursday night.

The man whose identity is yet to be disclosed was arrested by police after his backpack carrying the said gun was searched.

The police PRO could not tell The Fatu Network if the man has any security background. “Investigations are still going on, we are not able to provide information as at now” The Police PRO said.

Superintendent Kujabi could not also tell us the type of gun the man had and if it was loaded or not. He could not also confirm to us if the man was planning on booking a room at the said hotel or not.

The man was found at Djembe Hotel, where the commission probing into the financial dealings of former Jammeh Jammeh and his associates is currently being held.

Meanwhile, an observer told The Fatu Network that the police did a great job in searching and arresting the man. He commended them for a great job.

By World News Daily Report

A 36-year-old woman from Michigan has made a crashing entrance into the Guinness Book of World Records yesterday at the Harper University Hospital by giving birth to her 14th child all born from different fathers.

According to the internationally recognized authority on the cataloging and verification of world records, Anita Sullivan has just become the first woman in recorded history to conceive children with more than thirteen different men.

“I’m extremely proud to have broken a World Record,” Ms. Sullivan told reporters. “My mother always told me that I was lazy and worthless, and that I would never accomplish anything in my life. Now, I’ve shown everyone that she was wrong, and that I can even be the best in the world when I put my mind to something. In fact, I’ve just accomplished something that no one had done before!”

Anita Sullivan says she’s been unlucky with relationships in the past, but she believes that this time she may have found the man of her life.

“I’m good at having babies, but I’m really awful when it comes to picking the fathers of my children,” says the young woman. “This time, however, I think I’ve learned from my past mistakes. Ramón isn’t like all the jerks I’ve dated before. We’ve been together for almost a year and a half, and I really believe it could work between us.”

Ms. Sullivan’s thirteen other children were all present at the hospital to meet their new sibling. They were all extremely proud to hear that their mother had broken a Guinness World Record, and posed happily for the 2017 edition of the book.

After their meeting with Ms. Sullivan, the representatives of Guinness opened a second investigation concerning the record for the number of child support pensions received by one person.

The Detroit native is already the beneficiary of pensions paid by 11 different men and is implicated in two other custody cases which should proceed before the family court over the next two months.

The investigation should be over by the month of March 2016 and Guinness will then be able to tell if Ms. Sullivan holds a second World Record or not.

By Arfang M.S. Camara

The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) led by its President, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode SAN.

The MOU is aimed at encouraging, promoting and facilitating trade cooperation among the business communities of The Gambia and Nigeria. The President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) visited the Gambia at the invitation of the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Chief Executive Officer of The Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Alieu Secka said the invitation is to establish a practical framework for the development of stronger trade relationship between the Gambia and Nigeria, and to set forth the procedures of cooperation, which he said can enhance the implementation of reciprocal trade objectives.

For his part, President of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce Prince Adetokunbo SAN, used the occasion to address the Nigerian banking and business community in Banjul, during which he stressed the importance of more business activities between countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-regions, saying it would help lift the people out of poverty.

While exchanging views with the GCCI CEO and its council members, Prince Kayode stressed the need for all of Africa to key into the new Continental Trade Free Zone (CTFZ), Africa free trade agreement in order to expand intra African businesses.

He pointed out that the new dispensation will mark a turning point in the way they do business among themselves.

“A vast market such as Africa’s should be harnessed for the overall benefit of our business communities in our respective countries,” he said.

Under the agreement, it is expected that both parties shall coordinate their activities in order to establish and expand a trade network, facilitate business opportunities, collaborate in logistics matters, assist each other in organizing or participating in trade fairs, exhibitions, conference, seminars and other similar activities in particular in areas like tourism, education, oil and gas, construction, agriculture and technology.