By: Madi Jobarteh

The press release from the Police about the Central Bank scandal should be taken with a huge pinch of salt, if not a whole plate of salt!

But first things first; The Alkamba Times story is not false, nor does it lack clarity. Therefore, the last point in the press release that the media should verify things with the Police PRO is nothing but an attempt to divert attention and to impugn the media.

The Alkamba Times or any media need not necessarily seek the opinion of the Police PRO for any and every story.

It is good that the press release said in Point 18 that they are working to expose the truth. The fact is this press release is not the whole truth.

For example, it is amazing that the press release cannot name any so-called scammer. If they had interrogated Ansumana Bah, surely, he must have told them one name among the scammers. Citizens have a right to know. Who would pay 11 million dalasi to an unidentified person? Am sure Ansumana is not so dumb to do that! So, this press release is very economical with the truth.

The press release has not even mentioned the letter from the lawyers of Ansumana. One would assume that an established law firm would not be so irresponsible as to write such a letter to the Central Bank of a country when those lawyers have not verified their client’s story.

We must recognize that what is alleged here is a very serious matter! It does not only touch the Central Bank, but it also directly impacts on the Gambia Government’s relationship with the World Bank and the IMF and all regional and international financial partners.

To claim fraud involving a central bank of any nation is a major economic, political and national security issue.

Therefore, for these lawyers to ignore the gravity of this allegation and write such a letter is indeed outrageous, unless they are zombies! But the Police did not even mention the law firm! Why?

Who is Ansumana Bah? Where does he live and work? What does he do for a living? When did the Police know of this so-called charity such that no action was taken against them since early 2021? Since the 2.5 million pounds emanated from the UK makes this case an international crime too. In that case, the British law enforcement and Interpol are legitimate stakeholders. But the press release did not say anything about that!

In fact, how come this letter was written to Abdou Ceesay and copied to the Governor on February 10 and the Governor did not find it necessary to inform the IGP immediately so that action was taken asap. Rather both the Central Bank and the Police had to wait until a newspaper had to break the story 7 days later only for them to do some ‘fat-fat’ investigation and then release open-ended press releases?

Who on earth will have 2.5 million pounds sterling only to change it into mutilated bank notes and then decide to take those militated bank notes to a country’s central bank to cleanse them into authentic new notes? It does not make sense. Why did the so-called scammers choose to take in mutilated bank notes in the first place, and then have the audacity to go to the Central Bank with those bad notes to turn them into new ones?

If I have 100 pounds and wish to change into dalasi, even if I go to Westfield, I will not accept mutilated notes. Why should I? So why did these so-called scammers accept mutilated notes when they could have easily taken their time to get the right notes without having to go to any bank? Were they in a hurry? Why, when the risk is greater with the Central Bank!?

Therefore, it is not enough for the Police and the Central Bank to release high sounding statements of denial. This matter requires the intervention of the National Assembly and the Financial Intelligence Unit.

There have been far too many scandals in this Government. Either these scandals are completely ignored or denied, or the Government said they are investigating but then no report comes out or the Police claim there was no case. This is unacceptable and there is a need for citizens to stand up to confront corruption by demanding the President to address it head on. The incidents of corruption are far too numerous that they cannot be counted by the fingers!

For The Gambia Our Homeland

By: Madi Jobarteh

It is with sadness and disappointment to notice the many voices seeking to impugn the ongoing constitutional amendment process aimed at catering for more seats for women and persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the National Assembly. Some have said that the mover of the bill, Hon. Touma Njai is on a self-serving agenda. Some even ridiculously question why she did not come up with this initiative five years ago but now.

Even more sadly, others have said that this initiative will only give opportunity to elitist women at the expense of the ordinary hard working yet suffering masses of our women in the farms, markets and homes. Others have dismissed the entire initiative on the basis that these elected women will never stand for their fellow women when they are in parliament.

Indeed, given history and politics in any society, one can raise so many doubts and questions, some of which can be indeed genuine and necessary. But to be utterly cynical because of the past and present prevailing circumstances will not serve any society. After all, governance is a process the quality of which depends on the quality of laws, strength of institutions, active citizen participation and effective leadership.

I can vouch that Hon. Touma Njai is not seeking selfish interest with this bill. She cannot use this bill to gain re-election. She genuinely believes in the need to enhance women’s quality participation in politics and increase their representation in decision making structures in the country. One may disagree with her on any issue or approach, but she has no ulterior motive with this bill other than to serve the best interest of women in particular, and the society at large. She has always been positive on women’s empowerment!

Those who critique this bill must ask themselves how we can bring about equal participation and representation of men and women in this society? Indeed, the Constitution has guaranteed the right to equality and participation in politics. There has been a Women’s Bureau since 1980. In 2010 the Women’s Act was created. In 2019, the Ministry of Gender, Social Welfare and Children was also created. Yet until today, after half a century of Independence, women continue to face marginalization, disempowerment, abuse, exclusion and inequalities in our homes, communities, workplaces, power and across the entire society. Why?

We know that since 1960 when Augusta Jawara became the first Gambian woman to stand for election, even though she did not win, to Nyimsata Sanneh Bojang who became the first woman to win an election in 1982, women continue to be hugely under-represented in the National Assembly. Currently there are only three women elected NAMs. The country has never had a woman president. Only two women ever vied for the presidency, Isatou Touray and Marie Sock Jobarteh. All political parties are led by men with few having women as deputy party leaders.

Therefore, those who ridicule this bill and Touma, should ask themselves how on earth could his country ever bring about power equality among its two largest population sectors – men and women, such that none is disadvantaged purely because of their sex. Meantime women form the majority in this society. Funnily, many of those who question this bill and Touma are in fact men, thus raising the question as to how much they know and feel about gender inequality as Touma who is indeed a woman! She who feels it, knows it.

A bill like this is not meant to magically and automatically at once change the status of girls and women in this country. There are huge social, economic, cultural and political beliefs, practices, and structures that stand in the way of women and equality. Thus, this bill, like the Constitution itself or the Women’s Act or the Women’s Bureau and the Ministry are part of the process of changing that long and deeply unjust narrative of a society to become more just and equal.

To achieve that is not the job of only Touma Njai or the 14 women and the two persons with disabilities who will be elected when this bill is passed into law. Rather it means the entire society – citizens, government, political parties and indeed every CSO, community, institution and organization will have to work hard to remove all of the structural and immediate barriers to equality, justice, empowerment and progress.

Thus, before one raises all sorts of innuendos, cynicism and outright condemnation, we should rather recognize that our country has not been on a just foundation since Independence in 1970. We are a sovereign republic in law, but we are yet to obtain sovereignty – i.e., equality and dignity – in practice for our all citizens. It is initiatives like this that will serve to facilitate the transformation of society. But that transformation does not lie only on the President or National Assembly or political parties or individual NAMs alone. Rather all citizens have a right and duty to achieve that transformation.

Therefore, if we condemn this bill and chastise Touma Njai for it, what is it that we wish to offer? Do not just raise questions and doubts and offer high-sounding intentions and hopes. In practice, how do we wish to really change this society, positively? Let us exercise our minds to that. Surely, it is not that every woman or PWD elected will become that ideal freedom fighter for women and persons with disabilities. There will surely be disappointments and betrayers among these elected women and PWDs. But there is also the opportunity for voters to remove such non-performing NAMs in the next election. That is also a duty of the voter.

I wish to therefore call on all citizens to support this bill to form part of the initiatives that any society will take in order to bring about equality, justice and freedom hence equal development to all. Everyone has a right and duty to make the Gambia a just and equal society. Let us critique this bill with a view to improving it or offering a better alternative. But let us not attack the bill and Touma just to satisfy one’s cynicism or dislike for Touma or one’s disdain for the political leadership in the country.

For The Gambia Our Homeland

The Gambia Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) Report has exposed how the Mile II detention facility was used by Former President Yahya Jammeh to inflict unfathomable pain through torture on prisoners, particularly those detained for political reasons.

The report states that the prison service was used as a tool for oppression and formed part of the tentacles of the State control over every aspect of life of Gambians.

“Detainees were incarcerated at Mile II Central Prison without due process, and they were not allowed family visits or access to their lawyers,” the TRRC Report states.

According to the report, the Former President Yahya A.J.J Jammeh used the prison system to punish his opponents by sending them to what he called a ‘five-star hotel’.

As at the time the commission was doing its work, a visit paid to the facility confirmed it was dark, dirty, damp and mosquito infested. Such conditions in the words of one of the witnesses during a public hearing are inhumane degrading and a violation of the prisoners basic, fundamental human rights.

The report also noticed that Ex-President Jammeh appointed a Director General who was not qualified for the job and therefore could be manipulated into carrying out his illegal orders.

It further noted that the eligibility criteria for recruitment into the prison force and subsequent promotion were based on ethnic and community consideration.

“From 1994 to 2016, a special category of prisoners not recognised by law under the classification ‘detainees’ were kept at the security wing of Mile II central prison pursuant to executive directives and on orders of Former President Yahya A.J.J Jammeh. They were subjected to all forms of ill-treatment, abuse and striped of all their fundamental human rights,” the report said.

Detainees, during the public hearing confirmed they were deprived of food, water, clothing, basic sanitation and health care among other facilities. The infamous group, the Junglers and the State Guards are accused of mock executions, torture and corporal punishment.

Ambassador Carl Paschall II arrived in The Gambia in March 2019, taking over the baton from Ambassador Pat Alsup, an equally amazing Ambassador who oversaw the first two years of the transition from dictatorship to democracy. At her departure, Alsup had worked on the building blocks for a transformative relationship between Banjul and Washington, but much of the work were still at their infancy stage, requiring a great deal of continued innovative and stronger leadership to move the needle through.

At the birth of the change in 2016, relations between The Gambia and United States were at all-time low. For years, Jammeh’s autocratic leadership, bad governance, and worst human rights record, had almost collapsed what remained of the ties between Washington and Banjul. The portfolio of bilateral programs between the two nations was too small compared to countries like China and others. While there were a few U.S. large interventions through third party organizations, direct assistance from the United States Embassy were through small grants such as Ambassador’s Self-Help Fund, Public Diplomacy funds, and Democracy and Human Rights Fund; funds designed to support smaller community-driven and civil society-focused projects.

Other direct supports focused on building the technical capacity and competencies of Gambians and her institutions. For example, through several exchange programs, the embassy offered opportunities in the US for Gambian youth and mid-level professionals through Mandela Washington Fellowship, Study of the U.S. Institutes, Pan-African Youth Leadership Program, International Visitor’s Leadership Program, and Humphrey Fellowship. These programs have Gambians attend some of the best universities in the U.S. for short-term institute programs. Additionally, U.S. technical assistance through the Fulbright program brought professors to promote curriculum development at The University of The Gambia.

While these programs were helping the country build its human resource cadre, major funding United States institutions like the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) had no direct presence in The Gambia. Although USAID-Dakar funded cross-country projects like the Cashew Chain Value Project, there was no direct support to The Gambia Government under Jammeh. It was inconceivable for the U.S. to offer Gambia such projects given the country’s decayed human rights records. The United States’ assistance is tied to a country meeting certain benchmark, for example, making advancements in its annual Human Rights Report, Trafficking in Person (TIP) Report, and Fiscal Transparency Report.

The ties between the two nations were further deteriorated by Jammeh’s paranoia and ghost suspicions of “America’s efforts to undermine” his rule, especially after the events of December 30th, 2014, when he pointed fingers at “certain major powers behind” the botch attempt to end his decades of carnage and misrule.

Without digressing from the reasons for this tribute, the context is meant to offer understanding of the status quo at the time and the amount of worked needed to transform the ties between the two nations in a democracy.

Ambassador Paschall’s personal traits

Coming back to Ambassador Paschall, his smart, innovative, excellent communication, culturally sensitive, and negotiation skills breathed a new life into the relationship between Banjul and Washington. Even as he took over, The Gambia, despite the new democracy, was still a long way to meeting certain right and governance benchmarks of America. And with the tools, machinery, and lubricants of a dictatorial system intact, Ambassador Paschall had a huge task before him. The Ambassador was so ambitious to make a significant inroad in our ties, but he knew the new government must translate political will into tangible reforms that will improve the country’s scorecard. Paschall’s kind but bold diplomatic style, backed by a willing and committed embassy team, enabled him to make significant inroads. As I wrote this tribute, the National Assembly last week ratified a $25 million United States grant to support the country’s power and energy sector. That grant came through the MCC, which now has a direct base in The Gambia, headed by a director and support staff. Should the country continue to augment its democracy and governance scorecard, there is no limit as to what the MCC or the USAID could do for it.

Inspiring leadership

On his other traits, Paschall is an inspiring leader. Throughout my entire career, I have never worked with a more professional and inspiring leader like him. Ambassador also has a deep sense of compassion, strengthened by his sheer humility and sensitivity. The three years that we worked together; I saw this diplomat come down to the level of the last rank in line. He was the most approachable diplomat, a good listener who respected the concerns and viewpoints of his staff.

One of the most inspiring accomplishments of the Ambassador within the embassy community was the elimination of a deep-seated suspicion between American and Gambian staff. At the time of his takeover, relations between Americans and their Gambian colleagues were marked by “Us versus Them” atmosphere. No sooner had the Ambassador arrived than this ugly situation ceased to exist. The Ambassador promoted tolerance, mutual respect, equal opportunity, and professionalism among his staff. Leading by example, he oriented his staff to this new culture. As I left the embassy last year, the collegiality among the staff was exceptional with productivity outstanding. It takes great leadership to manage this kind of relationship.

The Ambassador was equally empowering. He made sure every member of his staff was allowed to do his or her job to the best of their ability. Because of such empowering nature, Ambassador hardly rejected a press engagement proposal from my supervisor and I. I also remember how he empowered the locally employed staff association to lead the development of an embassy-wide ethos statement as a corollary to the U.S. Department of State. He could have asked the American staff to lead on this, but he wanted to ensure the local staff influence this statement.

Throughout the two and half years we worked together, I had accompanied the Ambassador on several regional trips and other official functions. Each of those visits saw the Ambassador immersed himself deep within the local communities as he interacted freely and openly with community leaders, youth, ordinary villagers, volunteers, and local authorities.

My personal interactions with the Ambassador were gratifying, and each presented an opportunity to be inspired and challenge my own career ambitions. My most memorable moment with the Ambassador was when on a Friday evening in October 2020, he placed a call, informing me that I was the Africa Bureau’s Finalist for the U.S. State Department’s Global Employee of The Year Award (I was among six finalists each representing a region). And it wasn’t only me, the Ambassador had conveyed personal courtesies to his staff on numerous occasions, good or bad.

I can’t conclude this tribute without mentioning a few lines about the Ambassador’s deep and genuine love for The Gambia. If he had his way, he would have opted to extend another term in The Gambia. The Ambassador is a proud lover of The Smiling Coast, appreciating our rich cultural tapestry, local delicacies, socio-cultural interactions and relationships, and the local treasures and heritage. Paschall might have just wrapped up his tour, but his love for the country is ingrained in his heart, which he will take along.

Wishing you the best, Ambassador.

Disclaimer: This piece has not been influenced nor supported by any member of the current embassy staff. This is a personal tribute as an ex-staff, showing gratitude and appreciation to a diplomat who wraps up his tour with indelible marks on The Gambia-U.S. ties.

Hatab Fadera worked at the U.S. Embassy Banjul from 2015-2021, first as Cultural Affairs Assistance, and as Strategic Content and Media Coordinator. He is currently doing his Master’s in Emerging Media Design and Development at Ball State University in the U.S.

By: Alieu Bah

To eulogize a certain breed of men is both hard and easy. Hard because they defy the categories imposed on the living and their exploits. Easy because their life is itself a testimony that’s easy to remember owing to the richness it holds to illumine the living. Abdulai Jobe (I lovingly called him Uncle Aib) was one such man. His life bears witness to this in more ways than one. 

Some will sing his praise as a humanitarian, others as a wise elder in the community of the exiled and yet from others like me a glowing ode to a revolutionary and progressive African who stood fort right against the neocolonial state (he named the African state rightfully and it was one of the reasons I gravitated ever so deep towards him).

He aspired in his words when he eulogized his old comrade, Ousman Manjang “…the total transformation of the Gambia from a neocolony to a progressive, nation amongst nations. Where ignorance, injustice and poverty are eradicated.”

This was the dream from those heydays for him and his comrades in the 60s when he started a revolutionary struggle that will span the rest of his life.

The Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Foundation was founded by a group of them to further the cause of the African struggle and to usher in a continent that was united on the basis of the Nkrumahist ideological bent; that of a federated Africa under scientific socialism. The Foundation would give way to The Movement for Justice in Africa – Gambia (MOJA-G). 

This was to be the organization that would have a watershed influence on the progressive political trajectory of neocolonial Gambia. He was one of the founders of this organization and in latter years when the organization was banned by the Jawara government, his house in London would be the hub for it through the publication of their newsletter “Balangbaa.” It was in the context of these movements and their intersecting histories with our times that we met.

A bit of context as to how I came upon Uncle Aib and MOGA-G:

I came of age in the Pan Africanist movement. In my teens I was already reading the now classic works of Nkrumah, Cabral and Fanon; these were heady, intellectual and passionate times. But one thing kept nagging me. This nag had to do with the question: have there been any sort of Pan Africanist and leftist activism in that regard —Nkrumah, Fanon, Cabral—in this country? And oh boy are there great legacies! From men who lived with Nkrumah to those who built movements that reverberated throughout the motherland. 

I started digging and putting pieces together. It was fascinating to read and learn of people still alive by then who hatched liberation plots and held fierce grounds for our collective salvation. I read about MOJA-G and their controversial history in the annals of a nation beholden to backward reactionary politics.

This is an organization that always evoked the strongest feelings in all those who know of it. It was either bitter reminiscences about a wayward vanguard Marxist organization that set the country on fire at some point (this is not at all an accurate account of events) or its a romantic remembrance of a group of idealistic young folks who wanted to change things qualitatively for the masses of Gambian and African people (it was still more complex than this).

Fast forward I met Uncle Aib for the first time. He was elated as was I. He said he had heard of me and the movement we were then building. Said our struggle is righteous and that he admires it from afar and that it reminded him of the 70s and 80s when they were doing the same thing. 

I became very close to him in the subsequent remaining years of his life. He will regale me with stories of struggle and meeting people like Walter Rodney during their school days at SOAS, London. At how he caught a glimpse of Amilcar Cabral and Nkrumah and other such fabled leaders of an awakened Africa. I was insistent that he writes his accounts and exploits for the generations to come. He did say he was working on it and through it to set the record straight on the now-defunct MOJ-G, the 1981 coup and other such things that would define the narrative around him and his comrades.

Whenever he should visit the country from London, he would spend the first few days going across the country visiting farmers and workers alike and doing a thorough material and objective analysis of the land and her people. He would come back with bleak and amazing results. I would wonder at this old man and the stamina he has in going down those dusty roads to meet, greet and gather all this relevant information.

He had connects and contacts from Kartong to Koina since back in the days he was an agricultural worker who would criss cross this land helping poor farmers and their communities. It was in this context that he would solidify his revolutionary convictions.

By rubbing shoulders with those he loved: the farmer, the odds job man and the hustler, he concluded that only a complete overhaul of this neocolonial state will fix this land. He believed this deeply. I believe it too. 

But Uncle Aib wasn’t a runaway revolutionary who lived in nostalgia. He stood fast against Jammeh and he was a recognized face and voice in that struggle to end the 22-year-old terror we were held in. He was ever watchful for the tyrannical lifestyles of our leaders and that led him to again join in the struggle to cut down the excesses of Barrow’s government. He was a man at once vigilant and resilient in the face of so many odds. It’s amazing that when many have given up he charged ever on without burnout or fatigue. He was the true revolutionary model Rodney saw in CLR James. To be old but to never give up or turn sour by the tides of time.

He was a man from another time who have known other joys and pains. But he was also a man of our time. He was a man who was at home with us from the Occupy Westfield generation even as he was at home with the generation at the dawn of our nationhood.

He was an exiled man and exile is a painful condition of uprootedness and strangeness. But he would partly transcend that condition and turn his London home into a dwelling place for Gambians far and wide. He was at home in exile as he was back home in the Banjul he loved. Bless his heart. 

His dreams of a nation that is developed and progressive still holds true. We honour him accordingly in so far as we turn this dream into a material reality that in the fullness of time elevates our people into human beings worthy of the name. That we dismantle this afterlife of the colonial project and create a newness rooted in the ancient reality of this land. 

Rest well, Uncle Aib! Thank you for your long-suffering commitment to the bent back peasant and the toiling masses of Africa. May you dwell in the meadows of Heavens and to rest forever on and to watch over us. You’ve become an ancestor and a fitting one too! My beloved comrade from Kenya said in Kiswahili: Safiri salama uncle Aib. 

Condolences to Uncle Koro Sallah, his comrade and brother, and the progressive forces of the African Nation that must be.

By: Sarjo Brito, U.S Midterm Elections 2022 Virtual Reporting Tour Participant

One year after the Biden Administration took office, Americans will be heading to the polls on November 8th for the 2022 US Congressional Elections.

The highly contested elections between Democrats and the Republican party will see the two fight to take control of the House and Senate. While Democrats currently hold the majority in the Legislative branch of government, the phenomenon of midterm loss cannot be completely ignored as House Democrats face what seems to be an uphill battle to maintain a majority in the 2022 midterm election following high profile retirements from House Democrats and a decline in President Biden’s approval rating.

Dr. Bradley Jones, Senior Researcher, Pew Research Centre explains the midterm loss phenomenon, citing the Obama and Trump Administrations who both, at the beginning of their terms had majorities in both the House and Senate but will later lose seats to this political pattern that have been experienced by almost all previous administrations, except for Roosevelt’s election in 1934 and the 1998 elections.

“So, we went from, at the beginning of Obama’s term, you have the trifecta, a Democratic majority in the Senate and the House. In the midterms, lost the House, kept the Senate, and by the end of his presidency had lost the Senate as well. Trump comes into office with majorities in the Senate and the House as well, loses the House majority in the 2018 midterms, and then Biden comes into office with majorities again in the Senate and the House. And so, this is something that is a pattern in American politics where, almost without exception – there are a couple of exceptions – the incumbent party loses seats in the midterm elections,” Dr. Bradley Jones says.

A recently released report by Pew Research gauging America’s view on the Biden Administration has shown a decline in his approval rating over time, a key component of the popularity/economic theory in which some Americans see the midterm as a referendum on the state of the economy and the popularity of the incumbent administration.

“We [Pew Research Centre] just released this report, looking at kind of a one year in how the Biden administration is viewed by the American public. So, like most other public opinion data, it has shown a decline in his approval ratings over time. So, I think our estimate is a little bit higher than some, but the important thing is the trend here. It went from clear majority support immediately following his election to now only 41% of the public approving of Biden’s job in office.

So, when you ask about the coronavirus outbreak, or making good decisions in economic policy, or immigration policy, or bringing the country closer together, or handling criminal justice issues, or dealing with China, we see declines basically across the board and among both Republicans and Democrats,’’ Dr. Jones explains.

While many Americans significantly side with the Democratic Party on issues regarding healthcare, climate change and abortion among others, the road might still be harder just because of these historical factors.