By Omar Wally

A 25 year old has been placed under arrest for the alleged murder of a 17 year old in Jeroba-Kunda village in Upper River Region.

Superintendent David Kujabi, Public relations officer of The Gambia Police Force, said the incident happened on March 26, 2018.

‘The deceased Samba Krubally, went to pick cattle from the farm and the accused Saidou Cham confronted him accusing him of cattle rustling’.

According to Police PRO, when Samba tried to flee, he fell down and the accused hit him on his head with a stick several times which resulted to his death. The suspect is currently under Police custody and charged with murder, said Superintendent Kujabi.

In a similar but different incident, Police PRO revealed that a 20 year old woman identified as Jojo has been found at Labato. Jojo is said to have drowned recently.

‘Her remains are currently deposited at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul

State House, Banjul, 28 March 2018 –German Member of Parliament, Mr Johannes Selleh led a team of German investors to a courtesy call on President Barrow at the State House in Banjul. The delegation consists of business people in various sphere of development including agriculture, infrastructure, energy, development finance, sports business and expressed interest in exploring the opportunities available in the country.

The theory of separation of powers in a democracy is for there to be checks and balances. The three arms of government; the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature are supposed to hold each other to account. This is to ensure that no arm of government has unlimited power to abuse the power that they have. This is quite important and must be taken seriously. The National Assembly Members are supposed to ask questions which concern them, their constituencies and indeed the whole nation. This can only be done if the relevant ministers are available to answer questions and shed light on issues which have to do with their ministries.

It has become common that some ministers will not attend these debates but would rather assign colleague ministers to step in for them. Obviously, this can be acceptable only on special occasion when the concerned minister has something very urgent to attend to and will not be able to be in the House. This past adjournment sitting was attended by only the minister of Justice and that of Energy.

Hon. Sidia Jatta of Wuli East raised this concern and vowed never to speak about any issue if the minister responsible is not available. This is understandable as, if the minister is not present whatever is said is likely to be just repeating formulas and the purpose of the debate is defeated. Whichever minister is deputizing for an absent one has his own things to take care of and may not be able to answer all questions raised by the members at the time. This is why five questions were raised in a sitting and only one of them could be answered.

The adjournment debates happen three times in the year. Deputies have fifteen minutes each to ask questions, raise concerns and seek clarity from the line ministers. Naturally, having the schedule of the sittings should enable ministers plan their schedule in such a way that they will not necessarily miss the sittings. It is of extreme importance for them to submit themselves to the National Assembly Members so that they can give them the answers to their questions.

We voted for a change, not only of government, but of the system as well. Ministers must understand that they have a duty to the nation, a duty that they must hold sacred. The National Assembly Members are the representatives of the people and have been mandated by the Constitution, among other things, to hold the Executive to account. Thus, the Executive arm of government must cooperate with them so that we can rebuild our country. The disregard of procedure of the previous government which all but crippled our economy must not be repeated by this one. Let us fulfil our duties and responsibilities.

Have a Good Day Mr. President…

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen

Generals Umpa Mendy & Ansumana Tamba close associates of former President Yahya Jammeh were on Wednesday, March 21, charged with desertion ( Staying away for six months without communicating with their commander) at Military Court in Yundum.

The two generals accompanied Jammeh to Equatorial Guinea last year; but return to the country in January.

General Umpa Mendy was the Principal Protection Officer of Jammeh while General Ansumana Tamba, served twice as Commander of the State Guards battalion.

Up until last year, he was the only heavy weapons specialist at The Gambia Armed Forces.

The two generals will reappear at Court Martial on April 4, 2018.

The maximum punishment for desertion is life imprisonment or a lesser punishment such as dismissal or three years imprisonment provided by Gambia Armed Force Act.

In the past week or two, the West Africa Examinations Council sat in a conference here in The Gambia. During this conference, Mr Baboucar Bouy was appointed as the Chairman of the WAEC zone. This is an honour for the Gambia and clearly engenders a lot of opportunities and hope for the Gambia.

There is no doubt that the past few years have been very difficult for students in the Gambia, and perhaps other countries in the WAEC zone as well. Majority of the students who have been writing the West Africa Examinations Council’s external examination end up failing woefully. This has become a threat to our education system and by extension, an issue of national security.

Obviously, measures should be taken to arrest this situation. The way and manner of conducting examinations should be investigated so that measures to reduce the rate of failure will be devised. Perhaps we should even look into the relationship that should exist between our curriculum and our development aspirations. The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should therefore work with WAEC (that should be easier and more productive now that we have a Gambian as the Chairman) to come up with a syllabus that is relevant to our needs.

Another serious cause for concern is the fact that in the past few years, we have been having serious problems of examination malpractice. This is being aided by the fact that many a time, the question papers leak before the exam. This happens on social media and students see both questions and answers before they enter the exam hall. This is very bad for the country on many fronts.

One consequence of this is that it injects the students with academic dishonesty which can bud into corruption and other evil practices. The other consequence is that it will make students lazy as they will see that they can achieve things without making any efforts. With that attitude, the country’s development will be put at serious risk.

One suggestion that could be introduced which will improve our education system and minimize the possibility of students engaging in examination malpractice or cheating is computer-based examinations. The government in collaboration with the West Africa Examinations Council could work together to introduce this very useful method in our school system. It is not very expensive or difficult to use this method and do away with paper-based exams. This will be of great benefit to the nation considering that the world is moving digital now. We should not be left behind in the digital migration of knowledge.

My opinion is that the Gambia should take advantage of having a Gambian as the Chairman of WAEC and promote our country’s agenda. This will give us the opportunity to put forwards ideas, plans and initiatives that will boast our development agenda.

Have a Good Day Mr President…

Tha Scribbler BSah

A Concerned Citizen

By Alieu Ceesay, Sports Journalist

It is enough! The Gambia Football Federation (GFF) must stop with immediate effect using funds from the world football governing body to finance the national football teams. The funds from FIFA are not meant to be spent on national teams’ participation in qualifiers and test games.

It is meant to help develop the game from the grassroots and to be use on the upkeep of the daily running of the federation. It is the responsibility of all governments through their Sports Ministries to finance national teams of all sports.

However, this is not the case in the tiny West African Nation, The Gambia. The Gambia Football Federation Must ceased competing in all football competitions until the government through Ministry is ready and committed to fully or partly finance the national teams.

Just like previous engagements of the teams, a credible source reveals that last Friday international friendly between the Scorpions and Central Africa Republic was fully funded by the federation, which is not appropriate.

The federation is also financing the National Women Team’s qualifier game away to Burkina Faso next month in Ouagadougou.

The fact remains that, in as much as the Ministry is concern about what transpires at the Football House in Kanifing regarding funds from FIFA, it should be seen contributing its quota to the national teams as it is the case in other countries.

It is often said, every right comes with a responsibility and therefore, the ministry’s rights to scrutinize the Football Federation should be accompanied with the Ministry fulfilling its expected responsibilities, not only to football but all sporting disciplines.

One would argue that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Youth and Sports (estimated D68M) might not be enough to finance all the football activities in a year, but the ministry should be seen participating anytime the national teams play.

Critics continue to complain that the game is not developing but how does one expects it to be developed if the funds coming from FIFA for that purpose is used on the national teams just to have Gambia play international football.

Football remained the most followed and watched sport in the country, but the results are far from the way fans want it. The desire to promote and develop the game and other sports is said to be among Minister Henry Gomez’s top agendas, but not much has changed in our sports yet. Since neither the Ministry nor the GFF can do it all alone, there is the need for the parties to partner in financing the teams.

The private sector should also be seen supporting anytime the national teams play, but is rather unfortunate, most of the private sector prefers supporting political activities for recognition from political leaders.

Football and wrestling are arguably the two most popular sports in the country and perfect sports to have one’s product and service marketed well.

It is evident that the relationship between the Ministry and the GFF is not a good one. The two must be engaged in a dialogue to sort out their difference for the development of the game.

Minister Henry Gomez vowed to develop Gambian sports from 0% to 100% when he took his oath, but that is yet to be seen. This intention of the minister requires a lot of money and support from every Gambian to realize it.

The government must, therefore, consider allocating good budget to the Youth and Sports Ministry.

The entire budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is not even enough to finance the sports activities, much more the youth activities.

Football and sports in general is no more a leisure but a business, therefore, the one that invest most, is more guarantee of success than the one who does not invest.

President Adama Barrow and Government should critically look into the current poor state of the country’s sports facilities. The government should start investing in facilities to develop the game.

The Gambia can boast of only one Stadium, which has not undergone major refurbishment since construction in 1984. The Gambia deserves better sports facilities, not only within the Greater Banjul Area, but across all regions.

In achieving this, sports administrators must be open and engage the government through the ministry of sports. On the hand, the ministry must be willing to listen to the concerns of the administrators and stakeholders.

The ministry must begin to prioritize issues. The Gambia has lot of talents, but greed, camps and infighting for positions is killing the sports in the country.

Unless and until the stakeholders, administrators and ministry see Gambian first before individual and camp interest, Gambian sports will continue deteriorate.

By Alieu Ceesay

A furious former Gambia National Team Head Coach Raoul Savoy on Friday told Gambian Sports Journalists to stop lying that he was sacked.

Coach Savoy who is now Central African Republic’s coach, was responding to one of the questions posed by a sports journalist during a post match press conference. He was asked as to whether The Gambia Football Federation was wrong to have “sacked” him in 2015.

The Scorpions of The Gambia hosted the Central African Republic side in an international friendly at the Independence Stadium in Bakau.

The game was watched by thousands including The Gambia’s First Lady Madam Fatou Bah Barrow. The match ended 1-1 at the regulation time.

Assan Ceesay put The Gambia ahead in the second half, before Central Africa found an equalizer minutes later.

“You [Sports Journalists] should stop lying. First of all, GFF never sacked me, I quit because my wife was very sick,” Savoy reacted.

Sports Journalists who were not happy with Savoy’s remarks, reacted bitterly branding him as “coach who has not achieved anything.” Despite the draw in Banjul, Savoy was happy with a draw against his former Gambian side.

He blamed the referee and what he called the bad state of the football pitch at the Stadium. Coach Matarr Mbodge is part of the technical staff of the Scorpions Team. He told the press after the game that the game was very important for the country.

He applauded Gambians for coming in numbers to support the team. He is hoping that the same turnout will be seen when the Scorpions host Algeria in September.

Captain Pa Modou Jagne alias Nda, said it was an honor for him and his teammates to be invited to play for their country. He is hopeful for a better side against Algeria next September in the African Cup of Nations Qualifiers.

For immediate Release

19th March, 2018.

The Law Students’ Association of the University of The Gambia is dismayed and saddened by the recent denial of visa to four of our students who were supposed to take part in the Jessup Moot Court competition in the US by the US Embassy Banjul.

Haddy Drammeh, Muhammad Lamin Ceesay, Fanta Jawara and Muhammed Jeng were selected through a rigorous process by the moot coordinators at the Faculty of Law to represent the University in this important competition. Since their selection, they have dedicated immeasurable time, energy and resources into preparing for the event, sometimes at the detriment of their academic work.

For years, we have been sending our students to the US to represent us at this prestigious competition. Every year, our students have been doing great in the championship. Our students have made a name for the Faculty for their outstanding performances at the event in recent years.

Understandably, all four were denied visa because the embassy is not convinced that the students will return to The Gambia at the end of the competition. This was principally due to the refusal, in 2017, of two of the Faculty of Law’s participants to return to the Gambia after the competition. Ensa Kinteh and Ousman Suwareh both absconded leaving the image of the Faculty in tatters.

Their infamous decision to abscond has cost the Faculty so much. We wish to express our disappointment with such selfish actions and note with emphasis our opposition to any attempt to put the name of the Faculty of Law in disrepute.

The Law Students’ Association wishes to commend the Jessup Moot Court team for their sacrifice, commitment and resilience towards propelling the name of our faculty beyond limits through advocacy. We hope that all students of the Faculty of Law and the UTG will desist from such irresponsible acts that shatter the dreams and aspirations of many and worse, put the name of the UTG in disrepute. We urge students to be considerate and promote camaraderie.

We wish to reassure all students that the LSA will do everything within it’s powers to ensure this ugly chapter is wiped out of the Faculty of Law books and that we will work on reassuring the embassy that such an incident won’t happen again.

LSA President
Badou Jawara.
Cc: UTGSU
Relation

Thursday, 22 March 2018 – The Chairperson of TANGO John Charles Njie held a meeting with members of the Gambia Association of Resident Doctors led by their president Dr. Ebrima Bah on Thursday March 22 to seek possible ways of resolving the on-going impasse between the Association and the Government. In welcoming the members to TANGO head office in Fajara, Mr. Njie expressed the concern of TANGO on the on-going sit-down strike by doctors and TANGO’s commitment to finding a lasting solution to the issue. He said TANGO has decided to engage the doctors directly in order to obtain first-hand information about the situation and thereby determine possible ways of intervention.

The doctors informed TANGO that the sit-down strike was not about their ego or in disregard of their oath to serve the sick and the country. Rather they embarked on this action purposely to push for institutional and operational reforms within the health delivery system which has been in dire conditions for years. They noted that as soon as Pres. Barrow took office, the Medical and Dental Association had written to him in March 2017 to express the challenges and offer suggestions for improvements within the health system. The doctors noted that they had also engaged the Minister of Health and Social Welfare early in her appointment with concrete suggestions for changes within the health delivery system. Yet for over one year there has been no changes only to have the Minister now falsely accuse young doctors, without basis, for corruption in the health sector. The doctors lamented the misinformed comments of the Minister which they noted has the potential to damage the trust between doctors and patients.

Since the outbreak of their strike, they narrated that they had separate meetings with the parliamentary Select Committee on Health, the Secretary General and Head of civil Service as well as the Vice President. The Vice President promised that by the end of the day Wednesday March 21 there will be a proper apology and from there they will wait to hear from the Doctors. The doctors noted that contrary to public perception, they are not affected by egotistic considerations, rather they are compelled to take action because of the misleading comments of the Minister against the backdrop of the pending reforms that they have been seeking since the coming to power of the new government and the appointment of the Minister of Health to no avail. They noted that while everyone is at home, it is doctors who stay up the whole night taking care of the sick yet they lack the necessary tools to do proper diagnosis and the required medication in order to reduce the pain and save the lives of patients.

In response, Mr. Njie extended empathy to the doctors and all civil servants working under unfavourable conditions to deliver services to the nation and pledged TANGO’s readiness to engage the relevant stakeholders to address the situation. The meeting expressed hope that the Vice President would succeed in obtaining a proper apology from the Minister which will be followed by constructive engagements on institutional reforms. The meeting agreed that doctors will end their strike on receipt of this apology and retraction of the Minister’s unfortunate statement and a roadmap established by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for concrete institutional, administrative and operational reforms. Meantime TANGO will seek engagement with the relevant government institutions with a bid to addressing the issue which is fast becoming unbearable for the country.

End.

In July 2005, at least 54 Ecowas nationals including 44 Ghanaians were alleged to have been killed in The Gambia by soldiers on the orders of President Yahya Jammeh. The killings led to a major diplomatic crisis between The Gambia and Ghana before regional and international bodies stepped in, investigated the matter and defused the tension. The Gambian government ended up paying token money to the families of the murdered Ghanaians.

On 25 August 2005, the then Ghanaian Foreign minister, now President, Nana Akufo Addo, sent a letter to the Gambian Foreign minister detailing Ghana Government’s finding on the matter. Akufo Addo’s letter contained a statement by Martin Kyere, then 27, the only Ghanaian survivor of the massacre. The Standard investigative team has laid its hands on Kyere’s statement, abridged here: “[Our] group left Saly-Mbour in the Thiés Region on Friday, 22 July 2005 at 5.45pm. A total of 56 [people] joined the canoe. The owners took the canoe to Barra beach and abandoned us at about 9.30am. The leaders of the group Victor and Amo then called a Captain Pat to come out with a credible plan to get us into a ship at sea.

At 2pm, he returned from Barra town alleging that he has been instructed by Captain Pat and a man called Lamin to find [another] canoe and transfer the group to a new place. At 5.30pm Victor returned with two canoes with four Gambians. One of the Gambians started giving instructions to stop the ferry coming from Barra and to return to Banjul. That made it evident that a police operation was ongoing. At 6.45pm we were marched into Barra Police Station. Twenty five people handed over their travelling documents. The two women in the group were asked to give written statements. The men made [oral] statements. Then they collected 7,000 Euros, 3 million CFA and D250,000 from Victor. The group was divided into two with one group containing 30 and the other about 20. The group of 30 was taken on a white colour 207 Benz bus driven by a policeman. The group left about 8.30pm. They were put on a naval boat and crossed to Banjul. Then they returned to collect us.

“We then met over 150 soldiers and policemen armed with rifles and Uzi weapons at the Banjul side of the river… A military man dressed in a bizarre manner, wearing a traditional cap with cow horns on them was holding a long sword with talisman all over him. The sinister looking soldier used his long sword to remove every dressing or anything a member of the group was wearing. They searched and removed any money from us. We were marched, amid beatings with police cudgels with some losing their teeth.

Then ten of us were put in one bus and tied together and distributed to various security posts. On Sunday, the 24th, at about 1.30am the two Senegalese were removed from the group leaving eight Ghanaians and one Togolese. The Ghanaians were myself, Richard Boakye, Kwadwo Antwo, Eric, Edmond Kumi, Fi and George Amo. Lamin was brought into the cell. On Sunday 31st July at about 11pm, together with Eric and Fi I was put onboard a police vehicle were six others were there including a Nigerian. We were taken into a warehouse and after 30 minutes more prisoners joined us taking the number to 15. At about 11.30pm, three soldiers armed with banderols, knives and guns and the man with the sword now in mufti appeared and instructed us to pick our bags. Lamin was taken out of the group and was undressed naked except for his underpants.

They used copper wires to tie our hands behind us and put us in a vehicle with our bags. They took us away from the warehouse at about 1.30am on a highway. At about 2.30am, the vehicle hit a sheep. They picked up the sheep and brought it with its blood in the vehicle. One soldier told us, ‘You will travel with the sheep’. We continued until we entered a forest. After an hour’s drive the soldiers went down with our personal effects. They spent 35 minutes and returned without our bags. One soldier hacked Mr Amo’s shoulder with a sword because Mr Amo complained that his hands were hurting him [from being tied]. Then we knew they were going to kill us. So we started making efforts to untie ourselves. I succeeded in untying myself and jumped into the forest. After about four minutes I heard people shooting and it continued for two minutes. I walked through the bush and came to a Senegalese border town, Bounkiling in Casamance where they gave me clothes and a letter to travel to Dakar on 5th August.”

According to Foreign minister Akufo Addo, the “56 West Africans” went to Banjul after being made to believe that there was a ship on the high seas off the Gambian coast to transport them to Europe.
The Standard has also seen the autopsy report of the eight Ghanaians whose bodies were discovered near Ghana Town between Brufut and Tanji during the period. The reports prepared by Dr Duanda of RVTH noted ‘severe skull fracture’, ‘devastating crushed skull exposing brain matter’, ‘traumatic skull and maxilla facial fractures’ during external examination of the bodies. The causes of death were listed as ‘massive traumatic crushing of the skull’ and ‘shock’.

Source: Standard Newspaper

Business mogul, Amadou Samba, has described his relationship with former President Jammeh as “parasitic” as he reappeared before the Janneh Commission yesterday on matters relating to the construction of a recording studio and conference centre at Kanilai among other matters.

Mr Samba said the Kanilai works were done by Swami India Construction Company. He admitted signing numerous agreements on behalf of Kanilai Family Farms but made it clear he had no vested interest in the group and that the consequences would have been dire for him had he refused to sign the documents.

“Like I said, I have no vested interest in the affairs of KFF, and I don’t even know the managers or the general manager of the company. If there is any liability, KFF will be responsible for it and not me,” Mr Samba stated.

He confirmed that the president asked him to find workers to construct four houses for him in his compound but said he did not know the cost of the houses since there was no formal contract.

Mr Samba told the commission that Jammeh used his company, Gamsen, and its resources, to build the said four houses, claiming that some of his materials are still in Kanilai for 20 years and he dared not ask Jammeh about them.

He testified that the fishpond and the three- storey building in the president’s Kanilai compound were built by CSE but did not know who built the military school.
Mr Samba further testified that Jammeh would occasionally ask him to do some work for him and he would use his own money and when he asked the president he would tell him “different stories”.

Samba, a trained lawyer who became one of The Gambia’s most successful businessmen, further explained to the inquiry that he did not play any role in the management of Sindola Hotel in Kanilai except when he was asked to be a signatory to one of the accounts.

He continued: “My relationship with Jammeh was parasitic because anytime I compete with him I will lose and emotionally I was suffering and these were the hazards I was going through. I was never involved in politics but when Jammeh came, he would call me and ask me why I was not at meetings. I was doing my business in the UK. I started my business in The Gambia in 1986 but when Jammeh came, it was different because of the competition.”

Sulayman Samba, former secretary general, also faced the inquiry on matters relating to the management of international gateway.

Source: Standard Newspaper

Musa Bah

In our previous article on the same title, we looked at how religion is being attacked from outside and how it is being ridiculed as primitive and barbaric. Most of these attacks though emanate either form religious people or were caused by them. The existence of a Supreme Being who controls the Heavens and the Earth is widely accepted due to the manifestations of God, the Almighty.

The challenge that proponents of religion face today is – or should be – more on the effort to ‘cleanse’ those within than warding off the attacks of those without. The actions of the ‘believers’ bring disrepute to religion and; its enemies capitalize on it to sway more people to leave religion and become atheists. To stem the flow of recantation therefore, we must look both within religion and outside it.

That means we must seek to find the cause of these behaviors and try to change the attitudes of the adherents of religion that come with it and make them behave in a more seemly and conformist manner to stop the flow of weapons (arguments) which we willingly hand over to the enemies of religion. The world needs religion; no doubt, because all other systems have failed to bring peace and tranquility to the world.

A little delving into the history of Communism will reveal that it has utterly failed in bringing the equality it was meant to bring. That inequality and the inevitable grudge and frustration that comes with it brought it to its knees. This was exemplified in the fall of the Soviet Union a few decades ago. It broke it up into many small and poor countries, many of which went away with a lot of anger directed at Moscow.

Capitalism on the other hand has the ability to present a farce – an illusion of equality – to the world. We are told that Capitalism offers everyone the chance to succeed and thus ultimately, equality will be attained. It projects giving power to the people by giving them the opportunities to improve their livelihoods. But we observe on a daily basis how even in the most advanced Capitalist countries, a large section of society is left to fend for themselves against many hurdles – both natural and artificial. The economic competition makes it almost impossible for them to pull themselves out of the bottomless pit of poverty and want. A little study of Hurricane Katrina will make this point clear.

Thus, the only option left to save the world, to prevent a massive catastrophe which will consume the world, is religion. (In this writeup, religion means any Divine Religion that is based on the belief in the existence of God: Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Zoroastrianism and indeed all religions.)

Thus, it becomes quite clear that the argument has shifted from whether or not God exists, to what palpable effect(s) can be observed in the belief that God exists and what establishing a connection or link with Him can do for man on both the individual level and on societal level. That is why the study of the lives of the people who have primarily established a connection with Him should be studied and used as a basis to establish this fact.

Towards that end, we have to of course study the lives of these people before and after the connection was made. The Holy Qur’an gives a pointer to this when it said, ‘Faqad labistu fiikum umran min qablihii afalaa ta’qiloon’ (Say, O Muhammad, I have lived among you a whole lifetime before this (the claim to prophethood), wont you reflect?) Ch. (10 Verse 17) The Meccans were being told to reflect on the fact that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (thousands of blessings be upon him) lived an entire life among them before he claimed and yet, not a single one among them could ever point out anything wrong that he ever did. The question is; if he were false or evil, could he have hidden it all from them all a whole lifetime? The obvious answer is NO. One would therefore assume that if he did not lie about men, or his relationship with them, it would be farfetched to imagine that he would lie about God or his relationship with Him.

When the Meccans received this message, those among them who were gifted with insight accepted the message and became Muslims. In a short time, they were transformed from ignorant, vile people to pious and spiritual people who valued the relationship with Allah more than they valued their own lives. Within a short time, the land of Arabia was converted into a civilized society. This was why they were able to conquer the rest of the then known world and ushered in a new dawn of civilization.

Observing the transformation brought about Islam, Dr. Michael Hart ranked Muhammad (thousands of blessings be upon him) number one among the world’s greatest men ahead of Moses, Jesus and others who brought about similar, but less, transformations earlier. It would appear that at that time (the time of the Prophets, if you like), this argument – the transformations that a belief in God can bring about – was powerful enough to turn the tide in the argument of the existence or otherwise of God in favor of religion.

Why then, one may ask, is the argument now almost in favor of those who say that God has no place in our ‘enlightened’ lives? The answer to this question is complex and will need a lot of details to even begin to satisfy modern man. However, it is enough to say that people – or most people – no longer seem to care much about values and morals, even among the so-called religious ones. That, therefore, is our next stop, so to speak. In the next instalment of ‘The Onslaught on religion’, we will seek to reveal how the deteriorating morality, the infights and bickering between and among religions has – and continues to – harm belief in God. Then we will attempt to give solutions from our own very limited knowledge of these and other complex issues.

All praise belong to Allah, Lord of the Universe!

Former Secretary General, Sulayman Samba has appeared before the commission of inquiry probing into the financial dealings of the former President Yahya Jammeh and his close associates at the Djembe Beach Hotel, Kololi.

Samba was summoned in connection to the International Gateway project including his signatory to the Carnegie Sand Mining Accounts.

The former Secretary General said he was a signatory to the said Accounts because that was the culture at The Office of The President, saying he would not know whether the accounts were meant for ulterior motives.

“I could not say it shouldn’t be done,” Former SG Samba said.

Samba went further to say that he does not recall any concrete actions taken on the revenues generated from the Gateway account. He said it is not proper for the president to appropriate consolidated funds.

“It is a matter of following directives as instructed,” he said.

Samba who was until now addressing the former president as a gentleman said he was an executive president comparing him to the former US President George W Bush. It was put to him by the Commission Counsel Amie Bensouda that the two former presidents were not comparable with regard to the things one was doing in The Gambia would not be allowed in the United States.

Meanwhile, the former Secretary General said sometimes they would prevail on the former president depending on the circumstances at the time.

KMC mayoral aspirant Momodou Jaiteh has withdrawn plans to contest the May 12 elections as an independent candidate and has now joined the camp of independent Bakary Badjie.
Announcing his decision to join Badjie on Tuesday, Mr Jaiteh said: “After making various consultations with family and friends, I have decided to graciously rally behind Bakary Badjie. My decision was taken wholeheartedly, because I have known Bakary Badjie since his childhood time and I have no doubt he is the best candidate among the lot.”

Jaiteh said he also realised that his manifesto and that of Bakary Badjie’s are similar. “So these, among many other reasons, made me to retract my candidature to support him and I am sure he deserves my support.”

Meanwhile, an appreciative Bakary Badjie expressed his delight that his former teacher and mentor has joined his camp. “I am confident Mr Jaiteh made the right decision and together we shall make KMC great again,” he quipped.

The interim chairperson of The Gambia Centre for Victims of Human Rights Violations, Sheriff Kijera, has said that the victims of Jammeh feel “betrayed and disappointed” by the Coalition government.

“I think we are very disappointed as far as the change that we all voted for is concerned,” he told The Standard newspaper in an exclusive interview.

He said there has not been much efforts from the government with regard to the ongoing investigations into disappearances among others.

“I think the people who are in government now seem to have forgotten about other victims. Ousainou Darboe and Amadou Sanneh are all victims, but none of them have set a foot at the Victims Centre to show solidarity and support with the victims of the former regime. The only other actors that we have seen are Ministers Henry Gomez and Omar Jallow,” he alleged.

“But I have to add that the victims are disappointed with OA Jallow when he stated that he wants to see a Gambia without a TRRC process and he is willing to forgive Jammeh and he does not want to see Jammeh being   prosecuted. Well that is his opinion but as a political figure I think that is a very selfish comment coming from a very responsible person like OJ. So I think we have been very disappointed and let down by some of the political figures in government.”

Kijera said bodies have been exhumed but “nothing has been done about them while the victims’ families have been traumatised during that process and there is nothing forthcoming as far as investigations are concerned.”

Kijera said the Ministry of the Interior should have been in a better position to address such issues, “But as far as we know, we have not received any communication from the Ministry of the Interior and they have never visited the Victims Centre.”

Ministry of health

Kijera continued: “We also have issues with the Ministry of Health. Last year we had a pledge from the Turkish Embassy to support about nine of our victims, particularly the April 10-11 victims. They were planning to support them to have medical treatment in Turkey. But we were supposed to provide the air tickets.

We approached the government but nothing has been coming from the government side. Fortunately GPA pledged four air tickets, Papa Yusupha Njie of Unique Solutions pledged one ticket and through him we were able to have a pledge form Trust Bank.

“But we needed medical reports from the Medical Board. We approached the Ministry of Health, in particular the Serekunda General Hospital, but they told us that they can’t do much because there was too much bureaucracy involved.”

Positives

However, Kijera thumbed up the Ministry of Justice for doing an admirable job done in contacting the Office of the Vice President to see how the government can step in to assess some of these victims.

“We are already in contact with the Office of the Vice President to work out the modalities on how to secure some funding to provide medical assistance to some of these victims. We are yet to receive any formal appointment from the Office of the Vice President. Even today I was in contact with the protocol of the vice president. But hopefully before next week, [we will hear from them],” he added.

Registered victims

He disclosed that the centre has registered at least one thousand victims, including those who suffered torture, enforced disappearance, unlawful dismissal and Jammeh’s HIV treatment.

Source: Standard Newspaper

The four participants expected to represent the University of The Gambia, Law Faculty at the Phillip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition for 2018, were refused a visa on Monday, March 19, 2018, at the US embassy. This was received with great dismay and shock by the entire students at the university and other national institutions.

The participants underwent a rigorous preliminary rounds at the Law Faculty before being qualified to represent The Gambia at the competition.

As a result, they have been busy working on their memorials for almost 6 months which they submitted and have been consistently rehearsing on their oral submissions in order to make this country proud. The team has also made various steps to ensure that they participate in the tournament.

“With such sacrifices and hard work that has been invested by these participants, I believe the students deserve a chance to represent the UTG since the competition will play a great role in broadening their knowledge, strengthen their confidence and also aid in them playing a key role in nation-building”. A source told The Fatu Network.

The chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission has revealed more details which spurred him into fleeing to Senegal after he refused to tweak the results in favour of APRC’s Yahya Jammeh at the 1 December 2016 presidential election.

Alieu Momar Njai told GRTS’ Check Point interview programme that credible sources informed him that former president Jammeh’s men wanted to inject him with a lethal injection after he refused to add 25,000 votes to his tally.

“It was after that intense pressure on me to change the results that I heard that I would have been a target of lethal injection if I did not do their bidding,” Njai said.
According to the octogenarian, even though he genuinely feared for his life, he was never going to succumb to the threats and the pressure and change the results in favour of the president.

Giving specifics, Chairman Njai said the matter “reached a head” on December 31 when he received reliable information that he was being targeted by Jammeh’s men.

He continued: “That was the time I called Professor Saliou Ndiaye, the Senegalese ambassador who told me to go to his house early morning and my son took me there early the next morning. When we reached the house, the ambassador advised my son to stay in his house and not to call from my phone or answer calls on it until he returns.

He said the Ambassador then drove him in his own vehicle to the border at Karang, where President Macky Sall sent another vehicle that took him to Dakar.
Mr Njai said when he arrived in Dakar, he chose to stay at his sister’s residence and President Sall sent one General Niang to inform him that he was safe and he could go anywhere he wanted to go in Senegal.

Mr Njai also admitted that both the US and British Embassy’s in The Gambia offered to give him “all the necessary support”.

Mr Njai said he thanked God for giving him the fortitude to stick to the truth and not to change the results.
The IEC boss said Jammeh never thought he was going to lose the election.

Source: Standard Newspaper

Every other day, we hear of one group or the other calling for a sit-down strike. On the surface, it looks like people (professionals) are finding these strikes fashionable and as such are joining the bandwagon to be in vogue. As we just entered into a new democracy, we tend to be overly conscious of political correctness. Everyone wants to be politically correct when they speak on anything.

Well, looking at the doctors’ strike in that light will appear to be an oversimplification of the whole situation. The various strikes we have observed so far have all had their results of sorts, and their impact was felt across the country. This one, (the doctors’) however, threatens to be more severe in consequences. A doctor staying away from his work is obviously more likely to have more immediate consequences than, say a teacher staying away from the classroom as his impact will be felt only years later.

Initially, it appeared that the Association of Resident Doctors just wanted the minister to resign and then they would go back to the hospitals; but, as the issue dragged longer, other concerns began to emerge, and it became a classical “Daxxa genaar waxaale sa sohla’ (while chasing a hen, you say your piece). It has appeared that the doctors have been unhappy about their work conditions for long. Well, Madam Lowe-Ceesay gave them a platform when she made those statements which purported to say that the doctors were corrupt. This statement was understandably taken badly by the doctors.

This unfortunate saga has gone on for close to three weeks now and there is no solution in sight, yet. The doctors and the Ministry should certainly sit down and negotiate. There is no doubt that the doctors have a genuine cause and are absolutely justified in their protest – the manner of the protest may be open for debate, whether a strike is the right thing to do or not – but no one will argue with the fact that they have a cause. The condition of our hospitals is woeful and successive governments have sadly failed to find a lasting solution.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, I am reliably informed, recognizes the cause and genuineness of the doctors’ complaints and have reached out to sit down and explain their side of the story. They have intimated to me that most, if not all, the concerns of the doctors are already being addressed if only they had a chance to explain. According to a highly placed source at the Ministry, the doctors have not really been engaging them. Certainly, there is a consensus in the country that the sit-down strike should end, and soon.

In Fula, there is a saying ‘Saare haande wel suma’ (Before a village becomes enjoyable it has to burn down first). Perhaps if a solution is negotiated – I hope it will be soon – the Ministry and the Association of Resident Doctors will work towards a good working relationship.

This writeup is to call on all public officials, ministers, permanent secretaries and other ranking government officials to understand that the Gambia has changed for good. We have all been silently screaming about our poor working conditions and relationship with our governors, this new democracy has thus given everyone the right and ability to flex their muscles and change their lot.

Though the doctors are right in protesting, they should now consider other ways of channeling their frustrations so that the loss of lives will be halted.

Have a Good Day Mr President…

Tha Scribbler Bah

A Concerned Citizen