Oumou Bah was the big sister in the neighborhood in Basse. She had taken a liking to some of us, a group of young boys who grew up together. We had a tight-knit brotherhood and a soccer team. We mostly stayed out of trouble, but regularly drifted into childhood frivolities. Oumou would encourage us to study, to do our homework, to be serious about school. She had a great affinity for novels. At the family home, Oumou could be seen lounging around, reading a book. Or resting one on her lap —- perhaps taking a break from a long spell of intent reading.
Oumou was the quintessential bookworm. Perhaps, books more than humans enlivened her daily life during her younger years. Her bookishness went hand in pocket with her reclusiveness. She liked to stay indoors, after work, and during the weekend, that is.. She knew how to hoard herself from public sight.
Don’t misunderstand. Oumou’s reclusiveness had no arrogance or hostility to it. She was friendly. When she (rarely) came out of her room or the family home, her presence, even if transient, conveyed an infectious pleasantness. When you were in her orbit, it was near impossible to balk at her aura of civility. She was hard to despise.
In 2018, Oumou contacted me via Messenger: “Hi lil bro, how are you?,’’ she wrote. “It has been a while.’’ I was surprised. I didn’t expect her remembering, let alone contacting, me. I hadn’t seen her in several years, perhaps going as far back as 1995 when I last visited Basse, a year prior to my relocating to America.
“We are happy that you can now visit home,’’ Oumou told me during our phone conversations. “The neighborhood is waiting for you.” For political reasons, I couldn’t go to The Gambia during the Jammeh days. I finally did in 2019. Oumou was there in the neighborhood when I arrived. Once in a while, we would meet and chat about life, about the neighborhood, about our late mothers who did childhood together.
Oumou died yesterday morning in Basse. She had gone to the neighborhood shop to buy some milk for breakfast and when she returned home, she told family members that she was experiencing some respiratory distress. A taxi was called, and she was rushed to the Basse Health Center. She died shortly after arrival. Oumou had been asthmatic most of her life. Recently, she sought treatment in the Greater Banjul Area, where she spent about two months convalescing after a number of asthmatic exacerbations.
She returned to Basse about two weeks ago, convinced that she had been on the mend. She was hoping to start, in earnest, a new chapter in her life, following her recent retirement from public service.
Oumou was born in 1965 in Basse, where she attended St Joseph’s Primary School. She also attended Armitage High School. She spent a career working for the Department of Community Development. She traversed large swathes of The Gambia’s Upper River Region on her official motorcycle, talking to farmers, market women and local leaders.
She leaves behind three sons, one of whom lives in Germany.
A trial over rape allegations against Baboucarr Bob Keita by his ex-wife, Sainabou Mbye, and her younger sister, had — for almost three years — the country in a chokehold. This was a trial — a legal soap opera — that turned into a mudslinging battle during the course of the trial between and among sympathizers of the accused and the alleged victim.
As the case dragged on, and the media reporting intensified, almost every Gambian, one way or the other, got sucked in. It became a soap opera — a Hollywood TV series in the eyes of many, but something else happened — sides were picked, even by journalists who were supposed to be the objective ones.
Meanwhile, there is no case in recent memory that has attracted more public attention than State vs Bob Keita. While each of us has different reasons why that is the case, it is necessary to refresh memories about what happened so far since the case was officially filed in July 2020.
Here is a short timeline of major events, either at the courts or hospital, for the past two years.
BOB KEITA VS STATE: A Timeline of Major Proceedings
November 7th 2019: Bob Keita was formally charged by the police.
June 15th 2020: The case was officially filed
July 20th 2020: Bob Keita appeared in court for the first time
July 21st 2020: Defence filed motion and affidavit for bail
July 23rd 2020: The Prosecution filed an affidavit in opposition against bail.
August 11th 2020: High Court granted bail
August 24th 2020: The prosecution filed an appeal to the Gambia Court of Appeal against the bail.
March 31st 2021: Court of Appeal revoked bail, stating the offence is not bailable. Bob was then remanded in custody.
April 9th 2021: Defence filed an appeal to Supreme Court against the revocation of the bail. This is still pending before the Supreme Court.
April 29th 2021: Prosecution wrote to Defence to conduct DNA and solicited their cooperation for the process. The prosecution said Defence did not reply.
However, Defence said the police investigation report, which was sent to the Prosecution before Bob was charged, had urged the State to do a DNA examination to determine whose child is Baby M before charging anyone. The Defence said the State however refused and instead charged Bob alone, leaving out Pa Modou Johm, who is the ex-boyfriend of the victim.
June 14th 2021: Prosecution wrote a follow-up letter the on DNA request. Again, Prosecution claimed Defence didn’t respond.
December 16th 2021: The Prosecution filed a motion and a supporting affidavit for High Court to grant an order for a DNA examination to take place.
January 5th 2022: Defence filed an affidavit in opposition to the DNA application. The Defence said the DNA application was only made when Bob was remanded so that they can have total control of the process.
July 7th 2022: Court ruled in favour of Prosecution for DNA to be conducted. Court also added the victim’s ex-boyfriend be part of the DNA examination process.
July 15th 2022: Defence filed an appeal against that order for DNA to the Court of Appeal.
July 18th July 2022: Defence filed a motion for the stay of execution of DNA sample collection to the same court which granted the ruling.
July 27th 2022: High Court ruled against Defence, holding that it cannot grant a stay of execution of its own order. Case adjourned to October 5th.
July 28th 2022: Defence applied to the Chief Justice for the case to continue with the vacation judge.
August 3rd 2022: Defence filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal to overturn the high court’s ruling and grant a stay of execution. This is yet to be determined by the Court of Appeal.
August 4th 2022: Chief Justice denied the request to continue the case with the vacation judge.
PROSECUTION ON DNA SAMPLE COLLECTION
July 4th 2022: The Prosecution said it wrote to EFSTH requesting for blood samples to be extracted from Baby M and kept in safe custody. The prosecution said Baby M was at the time unconscious, hospitalized and on the verge of being transported to Dakar for further treatment.
The Prosecution told the court that samples were already extracted from Baby M and it said the court held that this was okay.
July 13th 2022: Prosecution said Bob and Johm’s samples were collected at EFSTH in the presence of the prosecution, Bob’s family and friends.
The Defence queried the sample collection from Baby M prior to the court order, stating that it was not a transparent process
August 9th 2022: Prosecution wrote to Defence requesting their presence for another sample collection from the late Baby M and that another biological sample was desirable to be collected from the accused.
The court had earlier stated that any other biological sample could be taken from the persons subject to DNA and not necessarily only blood samples.
August 9th 2022: The Defence replied that it will not be present for the second sample collection from the late Baby M
August 10th 2022: The Prosecution said it wrote back to Defence to ask them to reconsider their position that they won’t be present for the second sample collection.
The Prosecution stated that there was a subsisting court order and that they merely invited Defence out of good faith and for purpose of transparency.
August 10th 2022: Defence replied that they still hold on to their position, stating that they had already filed an appeal against the order for DNA and a stay of execution.
The Defence said they will not undermine that appeal by witnessing the sample collection.
August 12th 2022: The Defence didn’t show up to witness sample collection. Bob did, but stopped at the entrance of the mortuary and refused to enter the hospital to witness the said sample collection.
The Prosecution said the court registrar, the police forensic officer and the state prosecutor all attempted to convince him but it all proved futile.
The sample collection then went ahead in the absence of the Defence and the accused person.
The Prosecution maintained that had the Defence responded to their letters, they wouldn’t be arguing about lack of transparency or trust in the sample collection because the Prosecution gave them the opportunity to decide how and where they want it, and the State would pay for everything.
DEFENCE ON DNA SAMPLE COLLECTION
The Defence said their refusal to the DNA examination was communicated to the State Counsel orally in court. The Defence said they clearly stated that they will not participate in the process that’s supervised by the state, which is prosecuting the accused.
The Defence said the ruling of the 7th July made it worse when it stated that the State shall coordinate and supervise the sample extraction and examination.
The Defence said the court deemed the samples of the 4th July from Baby M as regular when it was extracted before the order and no one was present when it was extracted.
Defence said they refused to participate in the extraction on 9th July and made their position clear that their stay of execution of the ruling at the Court of Appeal is pending and they will not undermine it.
The Defence said the Prosecution knows that when a stay of execution is filed in any matter, execution of the ruling sought to stay is abated, pending the outcome of the application no matter how long it takes.
The Defence said the Prosecution does not collect evidence in any trial as that is the role of the police
October 5th 2022: Case resumed after vacation. Prosecution called a witness, Mr. Francis Jatta to explain how he transported the DNA samples to Ghana. Defence objected to Mr Jatta as a witness citing that Prosecution has not served them any statements by PW9 (Mr Jatta) and that he is not an expert witness. Matter adjourned to 11th October for the continuation of witness testimony of PW9 to be followed by cross-examination by Defence.
October 11th 2022: Case resumed. PW9 continued his testimony and was cross-examined by Defence. Prosecution proceeded with their next witness, the forensic expert from Ghana, Sup. Edward Kofi Abban. Prosecution made an oral application to admit DNA reports identified by Kofi Abban into evidence. Defence objected to the admission of the DNA into evidence, saying it is not admissible under any law in the Gambia. Case adjourned to 12th September.
12th September 2022: Case resumed. DNA results were read, and it was confirmed that Bob Keita (accused), and Pa Modou Johm (victim’s ex-boyfriend) were not the father of Baby M (the deceased child at the centre of the rape trial). State filed a nolle prosequi against Bob Keita and dropped all charges against him. Bob Keita was acquitted and discharged.
Following a string of robberies and theft at the Dalaba Estate and the recent arrest of a group of suspected criminals believed to be among the many criminal gangs within the estate, a cross-section of frightened residents of the Dalaba Estate have expressed their disappointment and angst towards the CEO of Taf Global Africa and developer of the Estate, Mustapha Njie over “unfulfilled” marketing promises, including security, streetlights, and a gated community in the estate.
Reggae, hip-hop, and Afro-Manding artist, Singateh (pronounced ‘sing-ar-teh’) who also goes by the moniker Freaky Joe and owns a residence at the Dalaba Estate, says he has spent at least three million dalasis (D3,000,000) to buy his house at the Dalaba Estate while revealing that he has now lost all respect for Mustapha Njie.
“This is very sad. People, including myself, have spent over D3 million dalasis. So how much D3 million has Mustapha collected from this estate and after selling everything, he jumped like a frog and moved to Taf City without completing here? We are very upset.
I had lots of admiration and respect for Taf because of his success but as things stand, I am very disappointed and I have thrown all that respect away since his last statement about the Dalaba issues, where he indicated that he is not responsible for Dalaba and that he is just a developer after failing the promises he made to sell Dalaba to his customers, especially the diaspora.
I could recall he had a tour while I was in Norway when he clearly promised that Dalaba will be one of his best estates, and he promises a gated estate, security, and pavement for all the streets. All of these are things he has not fulfilled. Instead of showing remorse to families that have been affected, he came with a bold statement that he’s not responsible for Dalaba which hurts many residents in Dalaba after failing 40 per cent of the promises,” Freaky Joe says.
Germany-based Babucarr Kujabi, another property owner at the Dalaba Estate, agrees with Freaky Joe, saying it was because of Taf’s promotional video that convinced him and others to buy a house at the Dalaba Estate.
“Like many of us saw it – the Taf promotional video circulating online is what convinced most of us to buy a house in his estate because, in this video, he made lots of promises that we all trusted and went ahead to buy a house from him. To date, most of these promises are not fulfilled.
One of the things Taf promised was to bituminise roads in the entire estate but as of now, Taf has not even completed 30% of that promise. Secondly, Taf promised a perimeter fence to round the estate; to date, Taf has not fulfilled this promise. Taf also promised that the Dalaba Estate will have one thousand (1000) trees, but we have only seen a few on the first street and the estate is like a desert. The workmanship of the houses is very, very poor. After spending millions, the windows of my house do not close and up to now, Taf has not been listening to us. He is doing nothing about it.
This is why we are fed up and in the past few days, we have all seen what is going on with these thieves. Yes, if we had the fence this could be controlled. We need this fence to be completed. If Taf doesn’t do anything, I will be pleased with other homeowners to sue Taf. We will definitely sue him because that is all we can do. We worked so hard for our money to get these houses and he promised us things he is not doing. What can we do about it? The only thing we can do is sue; that is what we are going to do,” Abubacarr threatens.
Fatoumata Darboe-Drammeh, who is based in Seattle, USA, and usually comes to her Dalaba Estate house for holidays, says her main concern has been about security and that she has been afraid to come to The Gambia to her Dalaba Estate house since last year as a result of the high crime.
“I’m a resident of Dalaba but right now I am so disappointed; not only me but everybody is also disappointed. The reason many of us bought these houses from Taf was because of the promises he made. However, for me, my main concern is security. You cannot build an estate that has no security or a gate. His promise of gating, fencing, providing streetlights, and many other promises are hanging right now.
As residents, some things are our responsibility but when it comes to security, Taf needs to try and respect human rights because you cannot do business where people have spent 2-3 million dalasis without fulfilling the promises. In fact, you can actually build your own house from scratch with that kind of money. But because of his advertisement and the promises he made especially about security, I thought well let me go to the Gambia because living in a secure place is worth it. This is why I bought a house in Dalaba.
I used to go to the Gambia every year, but I have not since last year because I’m afraid. I am a single mum and I have two children who I always go with to the Gambia for holidays, but I feel it is not safe for me anymore. I spent my last holiday in the Gambia with my mum because I was afraid to go to my house in Dalaba. This is because it is an ungated estate, and I could be attacked in my sleep. Being in the country and afraid to sleep in your house is hard.
So, Taf needs to fulfil his promises. The money we have spent on our houses is too much and it is we and God who know how we got that money. Before Taf goes and concentrates on Taf City, he has started a project that he has not completed. Before fixing a gate at Taf City where there is nobody, why not Dalaba where there are people? Since thieves broke into my house in 2019 when I moved in, I have been scared to live in Dalaba,” Fatoumata, a single mum of two, bemoans.
Just like Fatoumata, Momodou Camara also bemoans the lack of security within the estate and blasts the real estate developer for building “cheap houses” while “bragging to the world about how it is a dream home”.
“We have been promised so much by TAF just to realize that most of what he was advertising was never going to come to fruition. To start with, TAF built cheap houses for us and bragged to the world about how Dalaba is a dream home.
There is a security breach that I am not sure most people are aware of, and I am not sure if it should be open for discussion since we don’t know everyone who sees or listens to our messages. Most buildings are leaking during the rainy season.
The plumbing is poorly done to an extent that when you flush, it doesn’t drain all the way. The front of Dalaba is what convinced most people to buy homes there but nothing that was advertised has yet come,” Momodou tells TFN.
Amina Aziz, who is an African-American married to a Gambian, also owns a property at the Dalaba Estate. She says she thought Dalaba was going to be her dream home, but instead, it has turned into a nightmare.
“I purchased my home at Dalaba thinking it would be my dream home, but it has suddenly turned into a nightmare. About two years ago, there was an attempted burglary at my home, I met the thieves at the door, Alhamdulillah. But security and safety are most important now and it is a problem where we need help. We are suffering here. We have been victimized and this is ongoing,” Amina admits.
Here are, in verbatim, some of the key unfulfilled promises from the media team of these concerned Dalaba residents:
“1. They promised to do a secured perimeter fence around the estate – not completed, and the fence is just 1.8m high without razor wires
They promised and were supposed to provide solar lights on every street – not completed as many streets are still dark
They promised to do the roads with bituminizing material– now we partially got paving slab (cheap and light duty) and only completed less than 50% of the entire estate
They promised to put a security gate at both entrance points – we got nothing as we speak, the place is open and porous making criminals access the estate easily 5. They promised to provide social amnesties spaces (playground) – not even started or allocated
They promised to plant 1,500 fruit trees – all that the estate has are bushy flowers that cover less than 50% of the estate
The only sign we had written ‘DALABA ESTATE’ was removed and transferred to his other development sites making it very difficult for our visitors to locate the estate
No street names on some streets (NO BOARD).”
The CEO of Taf Global Africa, Mustapha Njie, who developed the Dalaba Estate and is facing these accusations, was contacted for comments on these claims but he told this medium that he and his team will communicate their side of the story soon.
010Jb University Of The Gambia Medical Students Association Health Myths/Benefits
As the use of microwaves becomes more rampant, not all utensils are safe and approved for this purpose. In this short article, we take a look at some potential risks posed by some materials, and also microwave-safe utensils and how to recognize them.
The main concern with microwaving plastic is that it can cause additives, some of which are harmful to leach into your foods and beverages.
The primary chemicals of concern are bisphenol A (BPA) and a class of chemicals called phthalates, both of which are used to increase the flexibility and durability of plastic.
These chemicals especially BPA disrupt your body’s hormones and have been linked to obesity, diabetes, and reproductive harm.
In addition, plastic containers that are scratched, damaged, or excessively worn, pose a higher risk of chemical leaching.
Therefore, unless the plastic product is deemed microwave-safe, avoid microwaving it, and replace worn plastic containers with new ones. Look out for these levels at the bottom of plastic containers you intend to use in a microwave; a PP stamp or a recycling sign with the number 5 in the middle.
Materials safe for microwaving include glass and ceramic containers, along with plastic utensils that are labelled “microwave safe” are good choices. Metals (stainless steel) are safe for microwaving but risk inducing an electric shock and possible fire outbreak, especially if your microwave is having electric leakages.
Sensational young female Gambia artist, Awa Gambia, who is set to launch her maiden music album said the moment is so huge for her, noting that she has put a lot of effort into making the album a success.
Album named “Taking Over”, the young musical hotshot is currently the country’s finest, and certainly most-talked-about young female singer, ready to stamp her talent and name in The Gambia music industry with her dulcet singing melody.
Awa Gambia explained her maiden album is huge for her, noting that she has expressed numerous things in the songs composed on the album as she addressed the press about the album launching on Saturday.
“Taking Over album is huge for me because, on the album, I expressed plenty of feelings; I have expressed plenty of things that I have been through. Many things that I have seen people do and go through. A lot of things that I have learned are there. It is huge for me seeing people reacting to my songs,” she told the press.
As Gambian music fans roll towards the Penchami Hall on Saturday night, the young artist said the fans should expect massive things because she has been working for the day.
“October 22, I just want to say that it won’t be easy because this is something that I have been planning and working for, spending sleepless nights in the studios just to make this day huge,” she pointed out.
The Taking Over hitmaker said receiving positive feedback from people is a motivation for her. She confidently expressed that the Taking Over album is just the tip of the iceberg for her, considering her mega plans and future projects as an artist.
She explained that she is expecting a successful album launch.
The 11-track album also features collaborations with award-winning Gambian superstars, rapper ST Brikama Boyo and singer Jizzle.
Her collaboration with ST, All Eyes On Me, has attracted massive attention from Gambians with impressive views on her YouTube channel.
Her music manager, Ali Wally, said the young star has been putting in numerous efforts for the day. He promised the security on the day will be effective, noting that they have met with security chiefs, and they have been promised a huge and efficient security presence on Saturday
Music is a core human experience and generative processes reflect cognitive capabilities. It is often functional because it is something that can promote human well-being by facilitating human contact, human meaning, and human imagination of possibilities, trying to our social instincts.
According to a study by Harvard, listening to music can improve mood, reduce anxiety and through bringing people together, can be an antidote to loneliness and social isolation.
The music industry has begun to gain momentum in The Gambia over the years as young people venture into the industry exploring their talents in the arts in which many singers gained large audiences.
Senegambia female singer Haddy Trawally known by her stage name Diha officially released her Blue Jays EP Project on 11th October 2022.
Diha who has been performing in the Senegalese music industry over the years told journalists that she is back to promote her art after working under Bouba Ndour the younger brother of Youssou Ndour Senegalese music superstar.
According to Diha, female musicians in the music industry benefit very little in the music industry compared to male artists.
During the press briefing, she informed journalists that the listening party for the Blue Jays EP is slated on 21st October at Club LAVA which she said was produced by music producers both at home and abroad.
She stressed that the industry is occupied by opportunities and “fake promises” while further disclosing that the EP songs will be distributed for promotion and business-related activities.
“I am finally back in The Gambia to promote my musical projects after spending a few years in Senegal working with music stakeholders, but unfortunately things did not work well as expected.
“I have started producing a couple of good songs for the EP titled ‘Blue Jays’ among the songs produced are Time Bi Jotna Ft Attack, Mama, Cherie, Yalla Nyew Bolleh, Fake love and Visuals will soon be out in the market,” the young female singer disclosed.
The Singer a few years ago produced a popular song called ”Taling Taling” with hit the waves globally and the song is loved by a huge amount of audience.
Haddy Trawally commonly known as Diha, the daughter of an immigrant father who hails from Tambacounda in Senegal and a Gambian Mother of Basse origin was born across the border in Tambacounda at the age of five (5) years old she moved with her mother to settle in the Gambia.
The musician said she has a passion for music, which keeps her in the industry to make a difference. At the age of twelve (12), Haddy ventured into the realm and self-discovery within the music arena.
She spent most of her time watching music videos and following musical stars, to a point that affected her education Journey and school became secondary for her.
Her musical inspiration is tapped from different sources, but Sambou Susu, Whitney Houston and Vivian Chidi are very influential female singers in Senegal.
Going into the 2021 presidential elections, two pertinent questions followed incumbent Adama Barrow on the campaign trail: How competent was he? How much did he grow on the job? Barrow might not have grasped the sheer immensity of the doubts swirling around his ability to govern.
Or perhaps he did, just that it didn’t bother him because he sensed the disconnect between what voters thought of him and what they would actually decide on Election Day. Distilled to its essence, the 2021 presidential election turned out to be a farce. Ideas? Voters were drawn to other things. Consider the alternatives? They demurred. It was never about who was better equipped with the know-how of statecraft.
Margaret Thatcher once said, “First you win the argument, then you win the election.” If Barrow had won the argument in 2021 and thus the election, it was largely in the realm of sentiments rather than in ideas: The general perception went something like this: Barrow was more likable than his main challenger and former vice president Ousainou Darboe. Voters felt more at ease with him than with his rival. So, he coasted to victory, not by dint of his own electoral finesse or by a consensus affirmation on his stewardship, but by what the overwhelming members of the electorate saw in or feared about, his main rival.
It was to Barrow’s benefit, gifted by an opposition unable to make it a referendum on incumbency, that the 2021 election campaign largely avoided talking about issues pursuant to presidential ability. It was a squandered opportunity to litigate and to deal a decisive electoral blow to the blundering ineptitude of Gambian leadership since the last election cycle.
For the sake of representative governance, and to help avoid incumbents think infallibly of themselves, perhaps it is best when the re-elections are keenly contested, when incumbents do not have it so easy, when they come out of re-election campaigns victorious but bruised, chastened by the fact they almost lost or barely won.
Perhaps, if Barrow had been humbled by a near-defeat, he would have been forced to take the job of the presidency more conscientiously. He would have finally come to grips with his leadership shortcomings and worked even harder towards improving them. But six years later, he is still struggling, perhaps unwilling, to vitalize his presidency. Get this: management of national affairs is not his forte. The evidence is conclusive, if tardy.
His speech to the nation on the deaths of the 66 kids after it was found out some cough syrup imported from India had killed them, was a new low in how not to level up with your constituents during a national crisis. Instead of becoming the mourner-in-chief, speaking directly from his heart and reassuringly to a country in shock, Barrow sounded impersonal; his body language was antithetical to the sombre mood of the nation.
These deaths are a national tragedy of cosmic proportions. No country should allow the nefarious practices of poorly regulated multinational pharmaceuticals to work in cahoots with greedy local citizens to wreak havoc on its national health sector. If the health minister Dr. Amadou Samateh won’t resign for this tragedy, then Barrow should demand it from him. Or worse.
It’s leadership malpractice to bring on board people who don’t have the requisite competencies attendant to the task at hand. Worse still, coddle them after they have failed to perform their duties or have caused damage to the public interest.
But Barrow is reluctant, scared even, to fire his employees. It took him a good while to summon the courage to fire Darboe, who, catapulted by the cult of personality and armored by the wages of political hubris, had thought he was too powerful to be given the sack. He was mistaken.
After the sacking of Darboe, which was actually largely driven by individual rather than national, interests, Barrow is yet to repeat a similar feat of boldness. He has gotten increasingly cold while impropriety and waywardness go ascendant in his government.
In this season of discontent, triggered by heightened worries over the rapid decline in economic livelihood and the frequency of murders in the streets, deep-seated anger at the miscarriage of justice in the Bob Keita case and at per diem-chasing government officials, it’s a national imperative that Barrow show attentive leadership. He should be more attuned to the everyday concerns and challenges of the people and be more informed about the running of the bureaucracy and the undercurrents in society. Out there, exists a pervasive sense of hopelessness about the current state of the nation. Its future, too.
But is Barrow paying close attention to the pulse of the nation? Recently, he said that the $20 airport tax will help contribute to national development, but the tax is unpopular. It is also affecting the tourism industry. In 2018, he dismissed the outrage over the costs of a private jet he used for his trip to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City. “It is just 4 Million Dollars…. compared to other countries,’’ he told journalists.
During the 2016 presidential elections, Barrow was the lead, albeit unknown, campaigner for democratic change in The Gambia. Perhaps, he and the majority of the voters who went for him had in mind H. L. Mencken’s famous saying: “Democracy is the belief that people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.’’ Gambians knew what they wanted and went hard for it: the end of the tyranny of one man and the intimidating control of society.
But now, there is something else Gambian voters want, but must start working hard for it: productive governance. The current occupant of the seat of power is still struggling to provide it.
“Gambian artists don’t have proper administrators that will be able to administer their craft and advise them as to what is playable in the market,” artist manager and music business consultant in the Gambia, D Jobz said as he outlined why Gambin music still remain less popular compared to artists from other countries in the Gambia.
Gambian music spectacle has seen some glimmer of growth over the years, however, despite the seemingly glittering fortune and headway in the Gambia music industry, foreign music continues to dominate Gambian media airwaves and night clubs. Gambian artists Binbunka and Chronic Bob as well as a music promoter and consultant, Dembo Jorbarteh alias D Jobz, shared their opinions about the dominance of foreign music in the Gambia and explained why Gambian music continues to linger behind compared to Senegalese and Nigerian music.
According to Binbunka, a female singer and the wife of singer Baddibunka, Gambian artists now produce quality music like those from Senegal and Nigeria. To Binbunka, many Gambians listen to Nigerian music because they chose to and not because of the bad quality of songs by Gambian artists.
She added that many Gambians prefer Nigerian music to Gambian songs because of the nature of clubbing.
“Nigerian music is a club type and the younger generation are well aware of clubs and partying, so they are familiar with those types of music,” Binbunka narrated.
On the side, Chronic Bob, another Gambian rapper who spoke to The Fatu Network, explained that Gambian music doesn’t have a wider market compared to other artists from different countries. This, many people including Gambians listen to those artists more than Gambians artists. He asserted that the Nigerian Afrobeat has taken over the music industry worldwide. He augmented that Gambian music riddim is not even recognised Internationally.
“We are moving but we are not yet there. Our genre itself should first be recognised. We need to do more work for our music to be internationally recognised,” he said.
The young rapper explained that it is sad that Gambian music presenters and DJs play more foreign songs than songs produced by Gambian artists.
Dembo Jobarteh, who is known to many by his sobriquet D Jobz, is a Gambian music promoter, artist manager and music business consultant. The outspoken D jobz said the Gambian music industry, based on the availability of crowds, has grown but business-wise, the industry is far from being on top.
Jobz, who at one time managed sensational Gambian rapper ST Brikama Boyo, said he doesn’t see the Gambian music industry as a developed enterprise in the business aspect.
“I have always said this. The music industry in the Gambia is partially developed. Is not fully developed because this is an industry where people depend entirely on gate-takings for survival,” he pointed out.
According to D Jobz, one reason why Gambian DJs and music presenters promote more foreign music is that Gambians have so much flair for anything international. He said Gambians believe that anything that comes from foreign is the best.
Jobz, in explaining the slow pace of Gambian music and the reason for the promotion of more foreign songs in the country, argued that another reason for it is that Gambian DJs and presenters do not have or understand the legislative aspects of the music business.
“Gambian DJs and presenters don’t know about the legislative copyright laws, infringement, and the realities surrounding copyright laws in the country. But because the copyright laws in the country have not been enforced, the DJs and presenters will of course continue to play more foreign songs in the country,” he asserted.
He pointed out the copyright act should be guiding Gambian DJs to be playing Gambian songs.
D Jobz agreed with Chronic Bob that Nigerian Afrobeat sound is epic and is the dominion in the music industry which is why it is controlling the music scene, another reason why many align, listen or enjoy Nigerian songs more than Gambian songs.
“For our music to be able to be considered an international level, there are so many factors that will be responsible to be in place. One is that the marketable genre has to be played by our artists,” he pointed out.
He added that for the genre to be adapted and consistent, Gambian artists need to have skills to maintain that.
Hardly, a year passes by without Gambians longing for foreign artists to come to the Gambia despite the crop of artists the country is endowed with. Numerous Gambians preferred to invest in foreign artists to come to the country rather than Gambian artists they have here.
The Gambia is a member of the 194 member states of the WHO as referenced in the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005). Article 21(c) and (d) of the Constitution of WHO signed 22 July 1946 and entered into force 07 April 1948 stressed standards with respect to diagnostic procedures for international use as well as respects to the safety, purity and potency of pharmaceutical products moving in international commerce.
State Parties in Africa must learn from The Gambia’s case to appreciate the treaty for the establishment of the proposed African Medicines Agency (AMA) adopted in Addis Ababa on 11 February 2019. Today, this evening, I checked the status list of this treaty and saw that Gambia is among the countries refusing to submit it’s signature as at 27 April 2022.
To escape the trouble of medical commerce, State Parties must come together and harmonize regulations to protect our medical market from drugs out of specification. How can we be safe when drugs can specifically be produced for African’s medical market, while not even a diagnostic stick produced in Senegal fails to meet international standards for european export.
Apparently, in The Gambia, our medical supply chain is infected with corruption and nepotism. A country where medical and related products regulators are conflicted as license holders and inspectors at the same time. But then, who cares?
October is declared Breast Cancer Awareness month throughout the world, hence the name Pink October.
Being the most common cancer by incidence globally, it calls for such attention.
According to WHO in 2020, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 685,000 deaths out of which the Gambia registered 26 deaths.
Breast cancer is the uncontrolled growth of breast tissue. Whilst there are no known causes, there are many risk factors predisposing to the condition.
The female gender and age around 40 and above are the two highest risk factors. It is, however, important to note that all women after attaining the age of menarche (menses) can develop this condition but the peak incidence occurs around age 40 and above. Hence the importance for every female to be aware of this malignancy.
The male gender is not an exception, but incidence is low, out of every 1000 cases, one is likely to be of the male gender.
Other risk factors include increasing age, obesity, harmful use of alcohol, family history of breast cancer, history of radiation exposure, broad reproductive age (early menarche-late menopause) tobacco use and postmenopausal hormone therapy.
Those born with BRCA I, BRCA II genes are at higher risk.
Behavioural choices and related interventions that reduce the risk of breast cancer include:
Prolonged breastfeeding,
Regular physical activity,
Weight control,
Avoidance of harmful use of alcohol,
Avoidance of exposure to tobacco smoke,
Avoidance of prolonged use of hormones; and
Avoidance of excessive radiation exposure.
Breast cancer most commonly presents as a painless lump or thickening in the breast. It is important that women finding an abnormal lump in the breast to consult a health practitioner without a delay of more than 1-2 months even when there is no pain associated with it. Seeking medical attention at the first sign of a potential symptom allows for more successful treatment.
Generally, symptoms of breast cancer include:
A breast lump or thickening.
Alteration in size, shape or appearance of a breast.
Dimpling, redness, pitting or other alteration in the skin.
Change in nipple appearance or alteration in the skin surrounding the nipple (areola); and/or
Abnormal nipple discharge.
The presence of one/more of these symptoms doesn’t translate to cancer directly, it could be something else, but you can only find out by visiting a health care centre for test, examination and treatment.
To conclude, look at your breast, touch to feel, check with health care providers for any abnormalities.
For a country deeply enmeshed in economic hardship and struggling to propel its population to some millions, infant mortality is one of the worst things to bedevil it. It is quite worrying that what initially appeared as paranormal deaths are now attributed to Indian-synthesized substandard medications flooding our local pharmacies.
This has raised quizzical eyebrows from all corners over the functionality of our health system, the competence of our very Health Ministry, and the impalpable service of the so-called pharmaceutical council. The fact that public hospitals are devoid of drugs and incessantly refer patients to buy prescribed medications from local pharmacies is beyond me and contests to validate this claim. The ministry is dutybound to ensure that pharmacies at public hospitals never run out of drugs.
Some citizens, like I heard over the radio in a morning show aboard a cab while going to school, also blame the paucity of drugs at public hospitals on health workers, saying that some of them pilfer from hospital pharmacies to furnish their own at home. That, if proven true, is the depth of iniquitous disingenuity and criminality; and the issue should be probed to bring culprits to book.
The high allotment of the budget reserved for the Ministry of Health is suggestive of the paramountcy of health to our existence. After such heavy expenditure yielding a dismal output in health care delivery, one is tempted to ask: is the Health Ministry spending all of the allotment, or, The Gambia, as a country, takes pleasure in self-imposed affliction by being inertial to the motion of growth and development?
When the Health Minister blew the whistle on the monumental corruption at his ministry right in front of lawmakers in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, many Gambians were excited at his undisguised aversion to corruption and waited with dewy-eyed anticipation to his—or the government’s—punitive stance. How this revelation died out with impunity further ossified people’s belief in the prevalence of the said canker in many facets of the ministry.
Our country, at this age of its independence, should be somewhat sophisticated to pre-empt tragedies that are hitherto uncharacteristic of countries serious enough to be dubbed a third world, much less those in the pantheon of developed countries. If our country had a quality control unit at our highly permeable borders, we would not be at the mercy of stratospheric inpouring of not only unfit pharmaceuticals but also other chemically fortified consumables.
The number of deaths in relation to the conflicted (lethal if you like) syrups might have even surpassed the 66 we acknowledged. Do we know how many children have died aloof from the hospital, and whose deaths can be traceable to the same syrups doing the rounds in our country? How long will it take unsuspecting and conservative nursing mothers to dispense with the remaining collection of syrups they usually keep and give to their babies in the event of mild sickness, even without going to the hospital for diagnosis?
This writer pleads with you to take it upon yourself and see what obtains for your mother, sisters, aunties, friends and other relatives. Reach out to them and see the kind of syrups they are giving to their babies or keeping with them for future use. Discard any syrup you see that is infamous for the deadly acute kidney injury, as pictures of them are all over the internet.
This situation could have serious economic implications for our country’s pharmaceutical industry. Some people have already lost faith in our pharmacies, with others arguing that only a few sells good yet expensive drugs. But an ordinary citizen is too financially blind to make a distinction between pharmacies that sell authentic drugs and those that don’t. Consequently, he remains being vulnerable.
For this and other problems to end, Africa, in general, should veer away from its consumer identity and build a new profile that would see it as a producer. The saying that who feeds you controls you cannot be truer. This is what Africa needs to understand and wake from its inaction.
The former President Yahya Jammeh who is currently on exile in Equatorial Guinea launched a nationwide witch hunt exercise between 2008 and 2009 which has resulted in forty-one (41) deaths while others who survived are still alive battling with a range of challenges. Years after the incident, it still continues to have a serious impact on the lives and livelihood of victims and their families.
Yaye Bojang, a resident of Jambanjelly Village and a mother of four children [three girls and a boy] who also survived the witch-hunting and is the breadwinner of her family, recalled her ordeal and described it as the darkest chapter of her life.
“I was humiliated. I have been a widow for years after I lost my husband to the witch hunt exercise. And because of my terrible financial situation, all my children have dropped out of school. As a poor widow, I cannot provide food for the family and pay school fees as well. We need support. Watching my children under the care of others is never my wish, but circumstances forced me to allow them to move and stay elsewhere.
Remembering the past and my current condition keeps me crying every day. Without support from people, we sometimes find it difficult to get food. Prices of rice and other food commodities are skyrocketing daily, making our sustenance more difficult,” she lamented.
Yaye Bojang is a victim and poor widow of four children
Bojang said her husband’s death left her in the dark, adding that things became more traumatizing when she also lost her son.
She expressed that her son was a source of hope and courage. “My son died a few years ago on a perilous journey to Europe. My father was the one supporting me after my husband’s death. Unfortunately, he has also died. I don’t get any support from the government.”
Another victim is Mariama Saidy, a 52-years-old widow and a resident of Jambanjelly village.
“I lost the strength to walk, and now I depend on my daughters for support. I was healthy, but now I keep visiting the hospital due to my health conditions. I don’t have someone to help, so my daughters dropped out of school.”
Mariama Saidy is a 52-years-old widow
The 52-year-old widow is the breadwinner of her family of six children [four girls and two boys]. She said she is disappointed in the government for not providing them with their urgent needed supports.
“I don’t think we will get justice and supports because the white paper [TRRC report] has been out for months now, but we have not heard from the government since.
Seeing my children at home not going to school causes me more pain, because in this generation if you don’t have educated children, you will live a difficult life. I fear that we will not get justice, and this keeps me crying. Occasionally, my daughters keep calming me down whenever they see me cry.”
Ms Saidy urged people to provide any support, particularly for her children to continue their schooling.
Buba Sano and Ebrima Darboe are other survivors of the so-called witch hunting exercise. 40-year-old Buba Sano disclosed that he has undergone several operations and has lost the strength to work.
“I have become weak because of those operations. However, if I don’t go to work, my family will starve. I now suffer from a severe stomach pain which I fear will kill me if I don’t get the required medical treatment.
All these started showing up after the witch hunting exercise in which I was mistreated. I am advised not to engage in hard labor, but because I have no other means to earn a living, I am still taking the risk to provide for my family,” he narrated.
Darboe said he is owing people a lot of money which he borrowed and spent on his medications, but said he is however gratefully because those he owes understand his health condition hindering him from paying.
In tears, the old man confirmed that he has never gotten any support from the government.
Neneh Babou appears to be in her early 40s. She is a resident of Essau. She was pregnant at the time she experienced the witch-hunting exercise in 2009.
Babou revealed that she lost her baby three months after giving birth. “I lost my baby due to the severe torture I went through. I however gave birth, but three months later my baby died because I was sick and unable to breastfeed and take care of him. Since then, I have not given birth to any other child. I will never forgive Yahya Jammeh in this world and hereafter because he is behind the loss of my child who could have been benefiting me currently,” she cried out.
Neneh Babou was pregnant at the time she experienced the witch-hunting exercise in 2009
Neneh is still faced with the fear of not bearing children, confirming that she has not received any support from the government.
Lamin Darboe described the witch-hunting exercise as “politically motivated,” adding that they are suffering while awaiting justice. “I am gradually losing hope because of the delay in reparation and justice. There cannot be any development without justice.
It has been months since the TRRC ended, but still, we have not got justice or received any support from the government.
We are citizens who were accused of what we are not, and we encountered tortured, inhumane treatments and some even died in the process.
The government should ensure that the perpetrators face justice. I can forgive the past, but I can never forget the terrible things I went through,” he explained.
Getting close to survivors, hearing from them and observing their living condition, it is apt to emphasize that they and their dependents really need a range of urgent supports.
Background and nature of witch-hunting exercise
Following Gambia’s transition from a dictatorship to democracy in 2017, a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) was established to investigate the Yahya Jammeh regime from 1994 to 2017, a period believed to be a dark age for human rights in The Gambia.
Theme 12 of the TRRC report titled “President’s witch-hunting exercise” delves deep into the hunt for presumed “witches and wizards” in the country and atrocities committed therein.
Government White Paper (position) on TRRC report
According to the report, “former President Jammeh launched a nationwide witch hunt between 2008 and 2009 where victims were unceremoniously identified as witches or wizards, forcefully detained by the ‘witch hunters’ and security personnel and later removed from the security and privacy of their offices, homes, and communities to unknown destinations.
The witch-hunting exercise was conducted in Kanilai, Sintet, Jambur, Essau, Barra, Mankumnaya, Galoya and was expanded to government institutions.
“The ‘witch-doctors’ believed to be from Guinea Conakry or Mali were escorted and assisted by members of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), members of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU), the paramilitary wing of the Police, conventional police officers in some villages and the Green Boys and Girls and some villages were accompanied by Alkalos, residents and APRC supporters.
The TRRC report, that former president Jammeh, launched the witch hunt after the death of his aunt which was attributed to witchcraft.
The exercise was carried out in nationwide resulting to the deaths of 41 individuals while many others fleet for their lives. The TRRC report revealed that the victims were forced to drink bitter or unpleasant herbal concoctions thought to be sourced from “Kubejera” and “Talo” a local hallucinogenic plant identified as toxic to the body.”
Some testimonies at the TRRC revealed that the witch hunt exercise was politically motivated. The TRRC report revealed that witch hunt exercises conducted at different villages and the victims included pregnant women, nursing mothers and children.
“Victims were forced to bathe in a repulsive herbal concoction whilst nude or semi-naked under humiliating and sexually abusive circumstances,” the report added.
The Commission found that at least one of the victims of the witch-hunting exercise was raped while other victims died or suffered from serious illnesses and other negative effects such as nausea, unconsciousness, hallucinations, intoxication, diarrhea and exhibiting strange behaviors following their release.
The report added that victims were, threatened, exposed to guns and ammunition, beaten, tortured, and subjected to inhuman and degrading conditions including the deprivation of food, medical, and attention.
During the process, several individuals were identified as witches and wizards including Yahya Darboe, Wuday Ceesay and Yusupha Saine and were assembled and required to drink and bathe in a witchcraft cleansing ritual or be dismissed.
“Many victims also lost their means of earning a living because they were no longer fit to work. They were forced to spend the little money they had on medical treatment, despite it failing to alleviate their suffering.”
The Commission found that Former President Jammeh, Solo Bojang, the security forces, witch hunters and Green Boys are all individually and collectively responsible for ordering the persecution, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, inhumane and degrading and sexual gender-based violence treatment of hundreds of individuals, leading to about forty-one (41) deaths during the 2009 witch-hunting exercise.
The Commission found the former president responsible for the forced labor of various people in the Fonis and other areas in his home village, Kanilai.
The Commission also found the following individuals responsible for their role in the witch-hunts; Saihou Jallow for his unlawful assault and torture of lamin Ceesay and his role in witch hunts in Essau and Barra.
Ensa Badjie for his role in the Banjul, police force witch hunts. Omar Jawo a senior member of the police in the North Bank Region for his participation in the witch hunts including the unlawful arrest torture among others of Lamin Ceesay of many people which has led to the death of 40 people including others.
Tamsir Bah the OC of Sibanor Police Station in 2009 for the unlawful arrest and detention of Nyima Jarju, and her mother-in-law Fatou Bojang 2009 during the Sintet Witch Hunt.
The way forward
To avoid reoccurrence of such degrading treatment, bring culprits to justice and cater for victims, government and partners should act on recommendations of the TRRC, civil society and victims.
The TRRC report recommends the prosecution of Yahya Jammeh, Solo Bojang and Saikou Jallow for the murder, manslaughter of forty-one (41) individuals who died as a result of being targeted and forced to drink toxic concoctions which resulted in all the deaths.
The report also recommends the prosecution of Yahya Jammeh, Solo Bojang, Ensa Badjie, Tambajiro, Saikou Jallow, Omar Jawo for the inhumane and degrading treatment and torture inflicted on the victims during the witch hunting exercise.
In addition, the said TRRC report makes many recommendations for a range of punitive actions to be taken against those who mistreated people accused of witchcraft.
It is further recommended that the government passes a legislation to criminalize labelling individuals as witches or wizards because of the societal stigma attached to it.
The National Council for Civic Education (NCCE), Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE) and Civil Society Organizations are encouraged by the TRRC report to engage in advocacy and awareness programs to sensitize the public and local communities to change the mindset and attitudes regarding the stigma attached to witchcraft to remove negative impacts against individuals accused of being witches and wizards.
On the same way forward, the civil society working group on transitional justice, doubling as victim’s and victim-led organization, recently put out a position paper on the government white paper on the TRRC report.
The government white paper indicated that the government has accepted the recommendations made by the TRRC and will follow due process to bring the culprits to Justice.
The civil society organization led white paper recommends that government should empower the Ministry of Justice to prosecute individuals implicated in human rights violations to enhance justice and deter impunity.
The CSO white paper appreciate the findings and recommendations of the TRRC report, noting that it is now left with government to create a human rights culture in the country that will engage victims and other stakeholders to realize justice.
“It is essential that victims remain in the driver’s seat of the transitional justice process and steer along government’s engagements and actions in the various stages,” the report pointed advised.
The consortium of CSOs emphasized that there are clear international laws which mandate government to investigate and prosecute torture and crimes against humanity, adding that there should be accountability to avoid reoccurrence of human rights violations.
The National Assembly, Gambia’s lawmaking body, has before it a legal document seeking to criminalize labelling people as witches or wizards.
Hon. Gibbie Mballow of the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) representing Lower Fulladu Constituency assured that he will support the bill that seeks to criminalize labelling people as witches or wizards.
Hon. Gibbie Mballow promises to support in parliament the enactment of the bill
“I will strongly support the bill. Such a law will reduce the rate of labelling people on issues without evidence. Labelling people on issues that are not realistic and evidence-based needs to stop,” the lawmaker emphasized.
The prosecution of perpetrators, addressing challenges of victims and criminalizing labelling people as witches and wizards through legislation are crucial in addressing such human right violation and deterring impunity.
Despite government’s acceptance of the TRRC recommendations, the victims are without compensation nor is the government implementing the proposed reforms, however, not all hopes are lost with the presence of National Assembly Members like Honorable Gibbie Mballow and others who vowed to support the bill seeking to criminalize labelling people as witches or wizards.
Globally, the WHO mentions that between 72,430 and 169,271 children have died of pneumonia each year after taking counterfeit antibiotics. Recently, The Gambia has got its fair share of such misfortune which is the death of sixty-six (66) children that suffered acute kidney injuries. The World Health Organisation identified four medicines used for treating cough and cold made by an Indian company, Maiden Pharmaceuticals Limited as the cause of death.
Counterfeit medicine is a medicine that is deliberately and fraudulently misbranded about the identity and/or source. Counterfeited drugs are in three forms which are: substandard, falsified, and unregistered. Substandard counterfeited drugs are drugs of low quality, expired or not properly stored. On the other, a falsified drug is a misrepresentation of a drug that uses purports to have a particular identity or source. Whilst unregistered drugs are those medicines that were not approved or evaluated by health authorities. All these three types have a commonality of causing harm to live and possessing inactive ingredients.
Moreover, intellectual property which is a very dormant area in The Gambia has not been much appreciated. This is why fake drugs are overwhelmingly flowing around our pharmacies, hospitals and eventually in our homes. Intellectual property is about the creation of minds. It gives protection over what a person created for a limited period. Therefore, trademarks, patent, industrial design, copyright, and trade secret, among others – are all intellectual property rights that give a person an exclusive right to commercialise their invention to gain returns from their investment, and in return for the public to benefit.
In that instance, if a person uses, makes, imports or sells such IP-protected goods – they have committed an infringement punishable by law. This helps in preventing unauthorized use or copying of one’s creation because it is unfair to the inventor – considering the time and resources they have invested. So, there is a give-and-take between the inventor and the society which fosters creativity and innovation which helps the society to thrive. As a result, enforcement of rights becomes indispensable because a right without a remedy is an expensive fantasy. This means that we must build respect for intellectual property by combatting infringers – that are using counterfeits to generate revenue, particularly fake drugs. This nefarious act calls for serious immediate measures since they are not only producing and selling fake drugs – but in reality “merchants of death”.
It will shock your attention that according to Interpol, “some fake medicines have been found to contain mercury, arsenic, rat poison, or cement.” Besides, other fake drugs would even contain nothing but chalk or oil; some had been relabelled long after their expiry date. Others contained such a dilute quantity of the active ingredient, that they contributed to generating drug-resistant strains of, for example, malaria and tuberculosis. All these misdeeds are causing preventable deaths and heinously destabilizing public health. A campaign against fake drugs in The Gambia, therefore, becomes a necessity. Every life counts particularly the lives of our children – who are the leaders of tomorrow. They will be lawyers, governors, teachers, doctors, carpenters, and ministers of our country – to name a few. So, our lives and their well-being to be particular, must not be second tier.
Nigeria as a case study is a good model to follow in the fight against fake drugs through IP enforcement by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC). The agency has been able to decrease fake drugs to 80% which was incredible. NAFDAC clamped down on fake drugs through – frequent unexpected raids, prosecuting suppliers of counterfeited drugs, the public burning of fake drugs, and even making sure that banks abstain from giving out loans/finances to any entity/individual potentially importing fake drugs. This has made its work to be commendable leading to global awards and recognition.
Equally, the Nigerian Customs Service was able to suppress counterfeited drugs by building a relationship with various regulatory border agencies with a mandate to enforce IP. These include the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), and the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC). This collective effort helped in seizing IP-infringing goods worth millions of naira and intercepting over three million counterfeit medicines.
In that light, The Gambia should promote the enforcement of intellectual property rights against counterfeit drugs by following some good practices:
Establish an IP UNIT at the Customs points that will assist in the seizure of fake drugs. Because the Customs and Excise Act of 2010 section 18 (2) gives customs officers the mandate to examine imported goods. Those goods can be condemned and destroyed eventually in order to safeguard the welfare of the public. The customs are important stakeholders since they are mandated to allow or refuse the entrance of goods into the Gambia.
Use of technology to detect counterfeit drugs entering the Gambia. Again, the Customs and Excise Act of 2010 under section 20 (h) encourages the use of technology in custom processes to scan the contents of materials. For example, The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in 2013 under the leadership of Dr. Paul B. Orchii introduced cutting-edge technological devices. These were MAS (Mobile Authentication Service) and Black Eye which are both instrumental. The Black Eye to be specific is a ready tool in the hands of NAFDAC’s operatives because it can take up to 1000 different tablets at the same time and break them down and tell you which one is good or bad.
Media intervention to publicise actions taken against those involved in the transaction of counterfeited drugs. Because media attracts public attention which quickly spreads the word and serves as a deterrence for those dealing in counterfeited drugs.
International and regional cooperation are necessary since no country can combat fake drugs in isolation. Therefore, Gambia must work with other countries to suppress the importation and exportation of fake drugs to end it as a global crisis.
To sum up, the Gambia being a contracting state to the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property) and being ever-ready to be bound by its international treaties as outlined in section 44 of the Industrial Property Act 1989 (as amended). It must ensure that enforcement IP rights measures outlined in PART III of the TRIPS are duly applied – particularly border actions. Because goods make their way into a country through our borders. We must therefore equip our officers and enlighten them about IP for them to effectively suppress the circulation of fake drugs in the Gambia.
Before 2016, he has a dream of becoming a medical doctor, just like his namesake. However, in September 2020, Yusuf Saine, a 21-year-old young boy in Brikama, emerged in the Gambian music scene with a captivating stage moniker, Wulol-Faama. A Mandinka word which roughly translates as Dog Father in the English language. Two years into the music industry, Dog Father is arguably one of the hottest, if not the hottest, young rappers in the country with a huge fan base. Already, he has an EP to his name with eleven songs and he will be releasing two new songs on Monday.
Surprisingly or not, Dog Father was a brilliant student in school growing up. He was a science student and had the desire of becoming a medical doctor in the Gambia.
He attended Bottrop Technical Junior and Senior Secondary as a science student and did access to nursing training, Dog Father rescinded his prospect in the medical field for music, the career he said he has a future in.
“I was a pure science student. My dad wanted me to be a medical doctor like my namesake, but arts is where I think I belong. I have always been a fan of rap music, so I have gone in for it,” the young artist told The Fatu Network why he circumvented Science for Arts, despite his late father’s longing for him to be a medical doctor.
Dog Father has taken a step in the musical setting a bit earlier before he began performing on stage. According to him, when he completed senior school in 2016, he began drumming and became a very good drummer. His popularity started up when he was a drummer, and this carried on with him on stage.
He told The Fatu Network that, Gambia’s top rapper, ST Brikama Boyo stimulated his journey into rap music. He revealed that ST is his favourite Gambian artist, and he looks forward to having a collab with him.
Why The Name Dog Father?
The young rapper’s stage name, Dog father, has attracted quite the attention from all walks of life. Different people have different opinions about his stage name. Some even called for him to choose a better name. However, the young enterprising rapper told The Fatu Network how and why he named himself Dog Father.
“My namesake is a medical doctor. As a result of that, many people started calling me Doctor. This name has been there for a while and later then, some started shortening it by calling me Doc, Doc. One of my elderly friends then started adding Father to it. So, when I started music, I turned it into Mandinka, which means Wulol-Faama,” he disclosed.
The rapper, after revealing how his name evolved from Doctor to Dog father, further told TFN why he chose the name.
“You know my music is all about what’s happening in the society. A dog — whenever a dog sees anything, it howls. So, I named myself Dog Father because I talk about issues happening in the society in my music. This is the actual meaning of the name Dog Father,” he claimed.
He further told The Fatu Network that, his name is unique and despite calls from people to alter the name, he said he will maintain the Dog Father name because it has a meaning.
In just two years as a rapper, Dog Father has performed as far as in southern Senegal. He told TFN that, he has offers from Senegal up to Bissau but turned down proposals to concentrate on producing an album next year.
Born and christened Yusuf Saine, the young star lamented that he has financial challenges in shooting music videos. He called on companies to support his career.
Young and buoyant on this path as a rapper, the young star reckoned that he would go great in the industry.
Are you someone that visits the toilet and passes stools less frequently than is normal for you or strain hard to pass stools? This is a health problem known as constipation.
In addition to its discomforting nature, constipation is a risk factor for many other devastating health problems.
Chronic constipation is infrequent passage of stools or difficult passage of stools that persists for several weeks or longer.
Constipation is generally described as having fewer than three toilet visits a week i.e passing stools.
Diets rich in fibre might be your way out. Fibre can benefit your digestive health by preventing constipation. It promotes regular bowel movements by contributing to the formation of stool.
One such precious dietary fibre is dates. A tropical fruit considered one of the healthiest fruits in the world, highly regarded and used by Muslims to open and close their fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
Amongst the numerous benefits of this fruit is that it is highly rich in natural fibre, increasing the weight and size of your stools and softening it as well. A bulky stool is easier to pass, decreasing your chances of constipation. If you have loose, watery stools, fibres may help solidify the stool by absorbing the water and adding to the bulk of the stool.
In one study, 21 people who consumed 7 dates per day for 21 days experienced improvements in stool frequency and had a significant increase in bowel movements compared to when they did not eat dates.
Other diets beneficial in helping reduce constipation include beans, vegetables, fruits, whole grain cereals and plenty of fluids.
By the window, I sit inside the Tim Hortons coffee shop, trying to play catch-up with my last week’s Sunday copy of The New York Times and also chatting with friends online. I am unable to do neither. My concentration, if you factor in my repeated coffee-sips, wheat-bread-munches and the chorus of voices within my vicinity, is neither here nor there. It is adrift, a net cast wide into sea.
But how do you create your own self-contained world in a public place like a coffee shop? You have to contend with a lot of distractions: the frequent comings and goings of customers, the whirring of the coffee machines, the bells of the cash registers, the buzz of music from the ceiling and the jabbering of colleagues behind the counter. The coffee shop is no sanctuary of perfect harmony. If anything, it only reinforces the fecklessness of my concentrative abilities when I am out of the house. In public settings, I tend to harbor a migratory mind, possessed of the inquisitiveness of a rambunctious teenager.
It’s possible that my wandering looks inside the shop may have caught the attention of this man – of an indecipherable age – sitting close to me. Or maybe he had detected my accent during my phone conversations – something told him there was a certain foreign-ness to me: an African? Maybe. Did I come across as somebody familiar, approachable? Out of the blue, he beckoned me over to his table and pulled out a letter from an insurance company. He pointed to a name written on the top left corner of the letter. I took it as an unspoken request for me to read it out to him. “Baide Ba,” I announced. He nodded approvingly, pointing his index figure towards himself as though he were speech-impaired. But I concluded that he simply couldn’t read. He just wanted to be sure if the letter was for him. I asked him in the Pulaar language: “Are you Senegalese?” He looked taken aback. He wasn’t expecting that. ‘’Yes,’’ he replied. He said he came from the Matam area in northeastern Senegal. “From Gambia,” I declared before he asked. We both laughed. “We are all the same people,” he replied in Pulaar.
Our occasionally high-pitched conversation on subjects ranging from Fulani history to marriage to religion attracted the attention of a young man sitting in the far eastern corner. He had been reading, a laptop and a stack of books purposelessly sitting at a jaunty angle of his table. I saw him get up and walk leisurely over to us. “How are you?” he said to us in Pulaar. We looked up, our faces aglow. He announced his name: Ebrima Diallo, an engineering student at the Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan, and from Timbi Medina, Pita, Guinea.
There is nothing special about three West African Fulani men meeting up, and by chance, inside a coffee shop in a foreign land. Yet somehow, I found it captivating. The coincidence of our meeting, or rather how we met – there, appealed to something imaginative in me. Maybe it was the quirk of fate. Or maybe it was the beauty of our companionship that it didn’t take long before we warmed up to each other and before we settled into the groove of things.
I don’t know about the other two, but I came away reflective of the symbolism of three strangers huddling around one table and sharing in the collective experience of their immigrant lives, and in the larger context of humanity. This unanticipated experience and the sheer immensity of its allure, stayed with me long after my new buddies and I had parted company, each going a different direction, and each perhaps hoping for a promising future for our new-found acquaintanceship.
On this bright, sunny Sunday morning, I came for a cup of coffee, to muse on an old newspaper copy and to surf the Internet in between. Yet somehow, I ended up doing other things – I went off-script. I found myself helping a stranger, building new human connections and pondering the infinite possibilities of life.
As part of the Sickle cell awareness program, the Sickle Cell Association visited Kiang Tankularr LRR over the weekend.
It’s believed that the highest number of sickle cell patients are registered in this part of the country, prompting the association to visit the village.
Speaking to the people of Tankularr, Mr Alieu Sambou the president of the Association said they are delighted to visit the village and share relevant things with them regarding the disease.
He first started informing the gathering that he is shocked that there is no health facility nearby apart from MRC which is all the way in Keneba. He said considering how serious the disease can be, especially when you have an attack, it needs an immediate check-up from a doctor. He said what will happen if you have to travel Kilometers to a health facility. He said after their visit he will convey the message to the Government through the Health Ministry to inform them about how important it is for Tankularr to have a health facility.
Mr Sambou informed the residents that June is always sickle cell awareness month, but they could not do it this June because some of their prominent members passed away. He informed the gathering that sickle cell disease is not only in Tankularr but a disease affecting millions of people worldwide.
“Every month over a hundred thousand kids are born with Sickle cell and almost half a million people die of the disease every year”.
He told them there is no need to panic and advised them to be visiting the health centre frequently and taking their medications as advised by a doctor.
Turn by turn many sickle cell experts mainly from MRC and RVTH took time to speak to the people of Tankularr and discuss the symptoms of the disease.
Modou Bella Jallow and Dr Masering Njie took to the podium and told the audience that they should see a doctor for advice before getting married. They said it’s important for one to do a test to see if your partner is compatible for marriage. They said most sickle cell disease is because of intermarriage among very close family members.
After getting off work on Wednesday evening in the US state of Virginia, Sulayman Jallow began the drive home.
It would be his last commute.
Sulayman died in a car crash involving an 18-wheeler truck and another car, according to his family. He never got the chance to say a few parting words to his family. Tragedy struck unexpectedly, a flourishing life cut short, and a family left to pick up the pieces of their devastated lives.
Sulayman was born in a big family in Basse. He attended the area’s St. George’s Primary School, once a paragon of academic excellence in colonial Gambia and several years after Independence.
We were childhood friends. Our late fathers were also good friends, from childhood to the very end. They died several years apart. Dad was the last one to go.
Our dads were avid farmers, growing rice and peanuts and corn. They made us work hard, planting the seeds and pulling the weeds and harvesting the crops.
On one afternoon in the summer of 1984, we —- Sulayman, me, our dads and some siblings —- were busy clearing the weeds from around the infant plants in our neighboring farms at the Basse rice fields. It was immediately past midday. The sun was nearing its acme of intensity. Hunger, the strength of breakfast long decimated, was making a comeback.
But the work had to go on. Respite was still several hours away. Unless our dads called for a halt to activity and a rest under the shades of the trees, we knew, as usual, this was going to be a long toil.
Sulayman and I and the rest of the kids would often grumble, ear-to-ear, of course, about our dads keeping us busy for a long stretch of hours.
But on this humid summer day, we had our lucky break. Sulayman’s little brother, Amadou Jallow, came from town with some good news. Hence a jubilation. Hence a lull in our farming activity.
“Both of you have passed the Common Entrance,’’ Amadou announced, referring to Sulayman and me, and barely able to hold his breath. We had seen him from a distance, hurtling towards us, tip-toeing over the muddy waters and speeding up on the embankments.
“They are talking about you guys in town,’’ he said. We didn’t believe him, at first. But we knew we had been waiting for the results and the timing of their arrival was about right.
‘’You two need to go,’’ Amadou stressed, revealing that crowds had already teemed up in the center of town. They were talking about the results.
Our dads told us we could go. And we dashed off, Amadou in tow. Our legs were dirty and muddied. And we were hungry and tired. We didn’t care. We arrived in the center of town, meeting with other successful students, and congratulated by friends and schoolmates.
I scored 265. Sulayman, 257. He went to St Augustine’s High in Banjul. I went to Nasir High in Basse.
Sulayman had a good heart. He was generous to philanthropic causes. He recently donated $100 to a fundraiser to help a Basse resident finish up a house whose construction had stalled due to financial difficulties.
Full of excitement, Sulayman was never short on exuberance. He was constantly animated, effortlessly witty and comprehensively friendly. He harbored and deployed a plethora of jokes and teasers —— laughter came easily and prodigiously to those at the receiving end of his quips. When you were in his company, you got the full worth of his warmth and charm and passion. His buoyancy had no limits to it, and it easily drew you in —- and towards him. A vibrant soul has suddenly left us.
Sulayman leaves behind a wife and two kids, his mum and several siblings. He will be buried in Virginia on Sunday.
By:Sulayman Jammeh. MSc Road and Transportation Engineering Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
Nothing is more frustrating than being forced to navigate the Gambia’s daily commuter nightmare. The government should seize the opportunity by making investments in the public transport infrastructure since the instrumentality of transport is undeniable. Technically, the public transport systems, particularly in the informal sector, are chaotic. Since the collapse of the Gambia Public Transport Cooperation (GPTC), Gambian commuters have been faced with the difficulty of reaching their regular destinations on time. From the spectrum of service provisions like access to water and electricity so shall transport services be viewed. The government can play a very instrumental role in alleviating the current plight of the people by empowering the Gambia Transport Service Company (GTSC). In developed countries, it is clear that the era of transport ownership is coming to an end and that the age of access to transportation has begun.
Transport systems shouldn’t be left in the hands of private vehicle owners, who decide at their whims and caprices which routes to ply, fare structure, tolling and parking charges, etc. The appropriate entities of the state should be the precision crowbar to nip in the bud issues related to the locomotion of all men and women by all means and modes of transport. However, if transport stakeholders show laxity in their responsibility, they might not escape from the ramification of their inactions, which ultimately gave birth to the offspring we are challenged with, ranging from frequent fare hikes, traffic congestion, dilapidated pavements, parking nightmares, crashes, pollution, etc.
Dealing with transportation problems is a daunting task, not because it’s both science and humanities, but because it requires the application of theories from engineering, planning, sociology, psychology, education, and policy. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson, an American astrophysicist, once said, “In science, when human behavior enters the equation, things go nonlinear. That is why physics is easy and sociology is hard.”
Human beings have choices to make in their daily travel patterns as to which mode of transport they wish to use, the route they want to take, the place, time, and when they want to travel; all have a direct link with the efficiency of the transport system that needs to be created for them. For any country to effectively deal with public transport issues, transport research should be the genesis of empirically driven policies that will not only stimulate seamless connectivity but as well enhance business and proliferate investments in a country’s economy.
Affordable and accessible transport enhances the quality of life of men and women in any country. A huge chunk of commuters’ monthly income goes into travel fares, which has improvised them literally, combined with the struggles of accessing transport. Luxembourg, as a country, making public transport free for all its citizens is a step in the right direction. Recently, India made public transport free for all women, which is a beautiful idea since much research has highlighted that women experience more travel difficulties; they travel more, pay more, and suffer more in their daily travels. Therefore, it’s a way of empowering women to realize their dreams and enhance their potential, which will indeed promote gender equity. In the United Kingdom, senior citizens can apply for free public transport.
Finally, it’s crucial to view transportation as a cornerstone in the attainment of sustainable development goals in the Gambia. The state should take a keen interest in matters regarding public transport systems through investment and public-private partnerships. The mass transit system should be promoted through the creation of bus rapid transit lanes and high occupancy toll lanes to ameliorate urban traffic congestion, commuter exploitation, and other externalities of prevailing conditions.
Every 9/11 Remembrance Day, my mind hearkens back to the very moment I heard the news.
It was over my car radio. I was driving on the JC Lodge Freeway in Detroit, in the US state of Michigan, running late for morning lectures at my old school, Wayne State University. I had tuned into the flagship BBC Newshour program like I would every morning on my way to class.
I heard the news presenter Alex Brodie announce that a plane had struck one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center building in downtown Manhattan. At first, I didn’t know what to make of it. I struggled processing it. Then Brodie interrupted his interview and announced that another plane had struck the other tower. He seemed jolted by what was unfolding before his own eyes, and on his TV screen, of course. He gave that ‘oh-no-mouth-agape’ kind of reaction to the earth-shaking events. This was big stuff, big enough to compel a reporter to inject his own emotions into the story.
Brodie has since retired from the BBC. His former colleagues Owen Bennett-Jones, Claire Bolderson and Robin Lustig have also left the news outlet. Julian Marshall, perhaps the only holdover from the 9/11 era of BBC reporting, is still on the Newshour show.
On that fateful morning of September 11, 2001, Brodie kept me company, or to do justice to the day’s suspense, tantalized me, until I parked my car on the side street near campus. Inside the school I saw my fellow students huddled up in the main yard, talking about the day’s events. Others sat in the student lounge, glued to the giant TV. It was an endless loop of news reporting and analysis and interviews.
It was overwhelming.
Cataclysmic events like 9/11 pulverize your mental tranquility, even if momentarily. They stretch incredulity to vanishing lengths. They make you ponderous, imaginings and flashbacks commingling in their oceanic plenitude.
Three years before 9/11, I had done a research paper for my last undergraduate English class. It was titled: “Target: America.’’ My interest was global terrorism. Flying planes into buildings would be the new tool of international terrorism, my research paper explained. My professor took notice, and he read out my paper in class. He said he would retain a copy for future reference in his upcoming classes.
I was surprised to find out that my classmates had no familiarity with what I was talking about. Some of them thought my research interest was strange — why would anybody write about stuff like that?
When 9/11 happened, I didn’t see my research paper as having foretold it. This issue of planes and buildings and mass murder had been previously talked about in The Economist magazine, Foreign Affairs and other journals. I just latched onto it and did my own wide reading and reporting. In the process, I learned several new things about global affairs. And I am sure, my former classmates, wherever they may be now, would remember my paper as having given them an idea or two about what 9/11 was all about.
A week before 9/11, a former colleague, an African-American, told me at work that I had made the wrong decision coming to America. “Why would you come to America, of all places?,’’ she asked as we sat in the dining room. “You should have gone to Europe or Australia.’’ I told her I didn’t see anything wrong with my coming to America.. She retorted: “crazy things happen in America, gun violence, serial killers…” I was getting an earful and I just didn’t feel like continuing the conversation any further, certainly not when I had a meal to finish before rushing back to work.
A few days after 9/11, I ran into my old colleague near the company’s cafeteria. “You see what I was telling you about,’’ she said, using the tragic event as a confirmation of what she had told me about her country a few days earlier. Her facial deportment gave it away: ‘I told you so.’ And: ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’
I took a blank stare at her. She stared back. And then we went our separate ways.
