By Madi Jobarteh

It’s 4 days since the IGP issued a press release on the Poliso Magazine Facebook page. In one sense it gave a reassuring message that the police will act according to law. But in another sense it raises more questions as to why the ‘vigorous patrols’ in Sanyang if the police already had said that the situation was under control.

But since then dozens of youths are being arrested yet Poliso Magazine has not provided an update! The initial report said there would be investigations. But now arrests are taking place when the public is not told if the investigations indeed took place and what was found!

The police cannot stay mute over its actions in Sanyang. It must not use the riotous incident to unjustly and illegally arrest and detain.

There are already unconfirmed witness accounts that some of the arrested youths are being tortured. There are reports that others are arrested at night. These are unacceptable actions if found to be true.

Arrests and prosecutions will not address the core of the problem in Sanyang. Since the Faraba incident 2 years ago, the Commission of Inquiry Report predicted this kind of incidents erupting in coastal towns if necessary action is not taken to address issues of land and natural resources. The Government only failed to implement that report.

For so long, the youths of the coastal towns have been raising serious concern about the destruction of their environment by the Chinese fishmeal companies. Yet The Gambia Government only ignored those concerns.

Riot, according to Martin Luther King is the language of the unheard. So let the Government listen to these youths and their communities to address their concerns than to ignore only to use force and law when hell breaks lose.

Gambians must not accept ever again the arbitrary and illegal use of force by the security institutions on our citizens.

Yes, it is utterly unacceptable for citizens to burn down a police station or engage in violence in expressing their grievances. But the solution to that is not to further ignore the original concerns and only focus on the consequences of that negligence that comes in the form of riots!

Therefore can the IGP issue an update to citizens as to what is reason for the spate of arrests in Sanyang! Police services in a democracy are expected to be transparent and accountable to the public.

The National Human Rights National Human Rights Commission, The Gambia must monitor the situation to equally update citizens and ensure that they police act within the law and not violate rights.

TANGO and The Gambia Bar Association must also be seized with this issue in the internet of justice and human rights.

For The Gambia Our Homeland

By Dibba Chaku

In the annals of Gambian politics and our unflinching determination to untether ourselves from dictatorship and tyrannical rule through democratic means, one institution that was inundated with a plethora of praises and commendation is the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) due to the pivotal role it played in ensuring that the will of the Gambian people was not subverted in the 2016 presidential elections. One would have expected the IEC to build on that success but that has not been the case. Just before the announcement of the final results of the Niamina West by-election, we saw the current chairman of the commission punching numbers on a calculator in what I think was the addition of numbers.

A sickening sensation assailed me upon seeing that because the IEC should not have an eighty-six-year-old using a calculator as a final check of the arithmetical accuracy of election results. He should be reading the results from a wide screen, with the numbers having been entered and checked by some computer program. Even a simple excel spreadsheet that is prepared and reviewed by multiple people could be used in this case. From 2016 to date, the IEC’s performance continues to be mediocre. If there is anyone or any institution that is oblivious of the fact that the next presidential elections will be held in December 2021, that is certainly not the IEC. They had almost five years to prepare for the conduct of the next presidential elections. Arguably, that is ample time to put its house in order and be election ready.

With political parties sprouting left, right and center in an environment that is nearing saturation point, the IEC ought to see the tenacity of Gambians in the democratization process. Thousands of fourteen-, fifteen-, sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds in 2016 have all reached the voting age and should be ready to cast their votes in December. What could be more monumental in the activities of the IEC than a registration exercise that would put voter’s cards in the hands of these young people? Shouldn’t the IEC sensitize the public on this pivotal exercise, weeks or even months before the commencement of the registration exercise? Should they not hold a press briefing to detail out the plans and modalities of the registration exercise? To our utter dismay, they issued only a statement-long press release that the registration exercise was postponed until further notice, just a week before the commencement date of the voter registration. When they later appeared before the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) of the National Assembly, the IEC argued that they could not conduct the registration exercise because their requested budget has been cut significantly, meaning they have not been given enough financial resources to conduct such an exercise. FPAC’s reason for slicing the IEC budget was that a lot of prices for the items listed in that budget have been inflated, so they had to redo the math thereby cutting the budget numbers to reasonable amounts.

The IEC responded by saying the items will be used for several years, so they ought to be of the highest quality. The issue here does not require the services of a mediation expert to get resolved. Let the Gambia government buy the requested items at the reasonable prices and not the IEC-inflated prices, and then hand those items to the IEC. Then we will see if the commission would reject the items and demand the receipt of funds instead. It is my fervent belief that they will not be that infantile.

Election 2021 is a monumental event that Gambian voters are looking forward to, considering the level of political activity in the country despite the global pandemic that has ravaged communities and confronted every level of the world economy. The quality of refereeing in this national event should neither be mediocre nor feckless. This institution must understand that its decisions and actions have more profound consequences than one might think.

By Yunus Hydara

The message in the old adage that women can make or break a man; and that behind every successful man is a woman is solidified in me based on the research and knowledge I came across. The pursuit to indulge in sex is the strongest desire in all men. It has caused many men to put their life, livelihood and reputation at risk. This desire is natural and inborn, and aids the perpetuation of life and maintenance of health through its therapeutic effect. The expression of sex energy is mainly used in its less worthy outlet – the physical expression. However, many research posits when this energy is expressed in other channels through transmutation, it has a potential to elevate a man from mediocrity to a status of a genius. A genius is described as a person who is able to increase his/her vibration of thought at such high rate that they can freely connect with their sixth senses that enables them to communicate with infinite intelligence not available to the average person. The sixth sense being the creative imagination.

It is a proven fact that the human mind responds to certain stimuli and amongst these, sex expression ranks top. When driven by this energy, man is gifted with super power for action. He develop keenness of imagination, courage, persistence and creative ability. Destroy the man’s sex glands and you’ll render them docile completely. History is filled with stories of successful men whose success can only be attributed to their women. My favourite example amongst these is the pioneer of the conversion of energy James Joule. He was on his honeymoon with his new bride at a location overlooking a waterfall from a mountain top. He hypothesised that the water at the top of the mountain is warmer, and its temperature is reduced while falling and colder at the bottom. This led to the discovery of the first law of thermodynamics which heralded the industrial revolution.

Men naturally are driven to impress women. Thus, in my book, in any given society women sets the standards. This is why no fundraiser that’s set up to pay for a girl’s school fee would pass by me without checking my pockets. But what impresses women, especially our Gambian women and can force men to shoot to meet expectation? If women are only impressed by money and material wealth, especially where how one acquired this money is irrelevant, this sex energy in men will only be expressed through physical action and a man can go as far as rubbing a bank, steal or even kill a human being to gain this money. Sex energy, especially when mixed with the emotion of love, the result for the man is calmness of purpose, poise, accuracy of judgement and balance. Many research showed the secret behind the fact that many men achieve success from the age of 40 to 60yrs is nature harmonises the emotion of sex energy with the emotion of love around these age.

This may be skewed towards men only, its because I do not know what stimulates the mind of a woman to increase the rate of its though vibration. That may be a topic for another day. Women are traditionally regarded as enhancers of their men, and the woman who makes the effort to fully understand the nature of their man and tactfully manages these, such woman need not worry of any competition. Regardless of the polygamous nature of men, such a woman will complete their man and will positively influence him to reach his full potential.