Gambian troops have arrived at the Banjul International Airport to fly out to Darfur, Sudan for peacekeeping.
Troops numbering 132 will be leaving the country for Darfur in two batches on September 2 and September 23 respectively.
It comes as 66 troops returned to the country Wednesday after their time in Darfur ended.
The Fatu Network’s Fatou Camara II is at the airport and she reports the departing soldiers are 66 in number, the same number as those that returned.
The Mother of Library in The Gambia is Gone!
By: Hassoum Ceesay, Historian
Aunty Sally P.C Njie died this week at the ripe age of 88. She was the pioneer staff of The Gambia National Library when it was founded in 1963, a few months after the closure of the British Council in Bathurst. Hitherto, the British Council Library served as the only reference and lending library facility in the country. Her demise offers us an opportunity to go down memory lane and retrace the development of public library service in The Gambia.
It was Bishop Daley of the Anglican Mission who opened the first public library facility in Bathurst in 1945. Before then the few educated elite had always moaned in the pages of the Bathurst Press that the absence of a public reading facility was indeed a shame which needed to be remedied. Although Bishop Daley’s library was mainly ecclesiastical, it whetted the appetite of local readers such that in 1946, the British Council opened its Library and Reading Room along Clifton Road(Independence Drive), where the National Museum is now located. Ms Njie was among the first Gambian staff at the British Council Library.
In 1955, she was sent to study Library Science at the Gold Coast(Ghana), and in 1957 she returned home a qualified librarian. Subsequently, her keenness and determination was requited with a yearlong internship at the Ghana Library Board. She studied in the UK to become a Chartered Librarian.
In 1962, the British Council told the P.S Njie’s Government that it was closing its operations in The Gambia. Despite Chief Minister Njie flying to London to argue against this decision, the Council shut its operations in 1963, but handed over its library collection of 5000 volumes to The Gambia Government. The debate raged as to what to do with the books: distribute them to school libraries or establish a National Library. Ms Njie managed to convince Premier Jawara that the latter option was more dignified of a country.
She was asked to become Librarian. She worked alone for there were no other qualified Librarians in the country. Also, no resources were allocated to the nascent library. But by dint of hard work and foresight, Ms Njie built the National Library into a formidable instrument for national development.
For example, by 1970, the Library had over 7000 books and lent 4000 books annually. Soon, she operated a mobile library service that took reading material to all parts of the country. Moreover, she established the Gambiana Section where she deposited every material published about The Gambia. This section still exists, and it is most useful to researchers.
However, Ms Njie greatest legacy was how she successfully built up a cadre of Gambian librarians. She started by training school librarians, and later some of them were recruited into The Gambia National Library staff. Ms Njie insisted that each trained school librarians, mostly teachers, must returned back to their school with a Reading Cupboard full of interesting books which he/she could lend out to pupils or use in the Reading class sessions.
Ms Njie started the issuance of International Standard Book Number(ISBN) and the International Standard Serial Number(ISSN), the sort of birth certificates of all publications, from books to newspapers, which make them traceable in the international publications system. Before the introduction of the ISBN and ISSN, it was not possible to trace a publication printed in the country or to have it deposited in major libraries like The Library of Congress or the British Library.
With support of the British Government, The Gambia National Library was moved to a more spacious site along Reg Pye Lane in Banjul in 1976. Ms Njie became The Gambia First Chief Librarian and remained so until her retirement in 1987.
But prior to her retirement, she had published widely. In 1979, for example, she published the first ever edition of Who’s Who The Gambia. This is a biographical dictionary of prominent Gambians in all spheres of life. In 2016, I worked with James Abraham and Alhaji A.M Sering-Secka on an updated version of Who’s Who The Gambia, published by Toplink Print. To her scholarly credit also, Ms Njie annually published a Bibliography of The Gambia, which listed all published material on the country to serve as reference guide to researchers. In later years, Professor David Gamble expanded the Bibliography and continued to publish it.
On 30 May 2005, I met Ms Njie at her modest house off Garba Jahumpa Road for an interview on her life for my book titled Gambian Women: An Introductory History(Fulladu Publishers, 2007). She told me the contours of her life from her days at the Methodist Girls High School, and her sojourn as a staff of the Post Office in the 1950s. She also told me how as one of the first Gambian women to drive a car, how when she took books to the villages, crowds will turn up to see if it was indeed true that there was a woman who could drive a car. ‘Driving my new Landrover through Gambian villages in the 1950s and 1960s, I realized that I was breaking stereotypes of women not being able to do certain tasks..’, she told me then.
Another thing she told me was how came she spoke such impeccable English. Once over the telephone, I asked her where she got her perfect British Accent. Ms Njie laughed and told me at school in those days they learnt Greek and Latin, and did Pronunciation as a subject as they did Hand writing. ‘But you know, I also spent many years in England as a student and on holidays’.
Ms Njie was an accomplished Gambian woman. She built singlehandedly, from scratch, one of the most important institutions in our Republic, our National Library, the depository of our knowledge production and the fulcrum of our knowledge consumption. She was modest, intelligent and keen in the production, distribution and consumption of knowledge in The Gambia.
To her family, friends and colleagues at the National Library like Mr. Mbye, Ms. Ndow, and to all staff of the National Library, I convey my condolences and pray that her soul rest in peace.
(Sally P.C Njie, Gambian Chartered Librarian; Pioneer Chief Librarian of The Gambia National Library, born in Bathurst 1932; died 25 August 2020).
Hassoum Ceesay, historian
Anytime I recite the “Salatul Ibrahimiyyah” which is recommended as the best way to send salutations and prayers upon the Holy Prophet of the Whole World Muhammad (sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam) my mind runs to the blessed place
where his blessed body rests beside his beloved family and honoured disciples.
And often my mind goes to the fact that the best of creation is gone and so are his closest friends and family. And when I recite the part of the prayer where we ask Allah to bless and send peace on Muhammad just like he did for the patriarch of his forebears, Prophet Abraham, (peace be upon him) I remember, for sure, that death is inevitable; and surely the Day of Judgement is near, as prophesied by all illumined souls sent by Allah as warners to humankind.
In multiple Quranic verses, Allah reminds us about the closeness of the hour. The Day of judgment is mentioned so often in the Quran that it scares me daily. And from the Quran to the Hadiths of the Prophet (SAWS) it is always emphasised that we do not have time. The hour for the whole of creation to come before the Creator is not far away. The first three verses of Surah Qamar come to mind: “The Hour (of judgement) has come near, and the moon has split [in two]. But if they see a miracle, they turn away and say, “Passing magic.” They reject (the warning) and follow their (own) lusts but every matter has its appointed time.”
Despite these powerful reminders, mankind continues to revel in our delusion. This age of distraction, fuelled by the Internet, has worsened our forgetfulness about the inevitable moment and yet its imminence and obviousness is unmistakable.
With strong onomatopoeic cadence Allah alerts us in the first verse of the 22nd chapter of the Holy Quran, Surah Hajj “Inna zalzalata’sa’ati shai’un atheem” (Verily the convulsion of the Hour (of Judgment) will be a thing terrible!). Allah goes further to give us some window into this inevitable moment in the subsequent verse of the same Surah, “The Day you shall see it, every mother giving suck shall forget her suckling-babe, and every pregnant female shall drop her load (unformed): thou shalt see mankind as in a drunken riot, yet not drunk: but dreadful will be the Wrath of Allah.”
If you are like me, then, you have lost at least one parent, friends, close relatives and some colleagues. They have all gone into that long ‘sleep’; into that inevitable abode we shall all share one day, the graveyard. From there our next moment of wakefulness, out of that enclosure, in our physical dimension shall be the Day of Judgement. Yet as a preacher once said “if you should state here that a year from today, some of us in this crowd would have been dead, then each person would assume that the one to join the dead would be the next person sitting beside him.”
One wise man has put it in a very smart way: why should we worry about how many hundreds or thousands of years far away is the Day of Judgement? The Day of Judgement happens upon us the day we die and leave this world. The moment we go to sleep in our graves is the very hour of the Day of Assembly before our Creator because the next step we take would be the day of Judgement.
A whole chapter, Surah Al-Qiyama, is named after this day. Moreover, in the Quran Allah tells us that His Holy book itself is sent as an admonition about the Day of Judgement as clearly stated in Surah Shura, verse 7, “And thus We have revealed to you an Arabic Qur’an that you may warn the Mother of Cities [Makkah] and those around it and warn of the Day of Assembly, about which there is no doubt. A party will be in Paradise and a party in the Blaze.”
In Surah Yasin, which is considered the heart of the Quran, one of the the key themes is about the subject of this essay. And if that chapter is the heart of the Quran then, shall we not take heed? The Day of Resurrection and judgement is at the very heart of the Holy Book of the Muslims. In this Surah Allah tell us in verses 51-52 : And the trumpet shall be blown, when lo! from their graves they shall hasten on to their Lord. They will say, “O woe to us! Who has raised us up from our sleeping place?” [The reply will be], “This is what the Most Merciful had promised, and the messengers told the truth.”
Elsewhere in the same Surah Allah answers the doubters who question the possibility of resurrecting the dead “when they would have become mere bones”. In verse 79 He proclaims: Say, “He will give them life Who created them for the first time! for He is Well-versed in every kind of creation!-
Allah then goes ahead to conclude the Surah with an emphatic blow to the doubters after having earlier stated the similitude of the dead earth which is brought back to life with green foliage. In verse 81, He asserts with a rhetorical question “Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? Yea! and He is the Creator (of all), the Knower.”
Therefore, doubtless, the Hour will come and none knows it’s specific moment but Allah. Shall we not then be mindful of the multiples warnings He has sent us? The alarm bells are ringing constantly. And as the poet John Donne states “never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”
The only barrier between us and this day is death and death is certain, none can deny that. And as the Holy Quran poignantly assures us in verse 8 of Surah Jumuah:
“Say: (As for) the death from which you run away, that will surely overtake you, then you shall be sent back to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will inform you of that which you did.”
Momodou Sabally
By Baba Galleh Jallow
The people of Tonya Kunda were so happy that Degere had changed so much after Alkatan threw him down. Now they knew he would not dare beat anybody up because Alkatan was around. And to their surprise, Degere did not only not try to beat anybody up, he became one of the most peaceful and friendly people in Tonya Kunda. He now wore a permanent smile on his face and did not hesitate to say to anybody, you are a good person. But his sudden friendliness did not endear him to the people of Tonya Kunda; rather, they were happy that they could now ask him in so many ways just who he thought he was! For the transgressions of Degere were just too much!
Now when Degere passed by, people would call out to him and ask when he would next wrestle, adding that they really missed his famous faity style. Degere would always say “ah, now I stopped wrestling. I have left it to the children.” People became so unafraid of Degere that some would come up to him, give him a snappy handshake, and ask if he had seen Alkatan lately. Degere would say, “no, I saw him just yesterday. Or when was it, this morning? A good man.”
And when Degere now passed by the well at which the women did their laundry, the women would stop their work and all stand up to argue loudly as to who was their champion wrestler. Some would loudly say “As for me, Degere is my champion!” and loudly clap their hands and laugh out aloud. Another would say, “Degere? That Degere the old man threw down? Muk! As for me, Alkatan is my champion!” The women would laugh and make loud references to the fact that a scorpion is small but if it stings you! And some would say, “I would rather marry an old man than a young man who could be thrown by an old man!” Degere would walk past, pretending not to hear. Before the Alkatan encounter, Degere would always stop by the well to brag, flirt and have the women tell him which among his victories their favorite was. Was it when he threw Nyambo down? Or did they think it was what he did to Falo of Sembe Kunda village? “Ah,” he would brag, “you all saw what I did to Cheepu! As for Mbahalo, I almost killed him!” Now, he just quietly walked past and the women always repeated their drama whenever Degere passed by.
In the days and weeks following their encounter, Alkatan had a lot of visitors and heard a lot of strange stories about Degere that often made him cry. Everyday people would come around to thank Alkatan for dealing with Degere. “He saw that he had more power than me so he beat me up. I did nothing to him,” many would say. Alkatan would listen in utter amazement as people told of how Degere publicly disgraced them and how they had not been feeling well ever since. The stories unfailingly made Alkatan sad, but they never made him angry, for Alkatan had become incapable of anger. But he was deeply pained to imagine a big and strong man like Degere fiercely pouncing upon an old and frail man, smashing him to the ground and severely beating him up just because he thought they were looking at his wife the other day! Such stories made the tears fall in Alkatan’s heart and made him wish that he was there to deal with Degere. And they made his heart cry not merely because of the absurdity of Degere’s cruelty, but because of the utter helplessness of his innocent victims as Degere unleashed his bulky fury against them. He could never understand the human capacity for cruelty.
Alkatan’s heart cried at the scale of Degere’s unjust behavior against the powerless people of Tonya Kunda. Yes you could beat somebody up if he committed some beatable offence, but you certainly could not beat somebody up just because you thought he was looking at your wife the other day, or because he dared request that you repay his small debt. “He tells you sweet words when he wants to borrow from you,” many villagers had said of Degere. “And if you don’t give him a loan he would say you think he is dishonest and a thief. And he would pounce on you and beat you up. That is why he fell on me and broke my hand. See, it is still swollen and it hurts a lot,” one villager said, showing Alkatan his swollen hand. Alkatan could not hold back his tears, and promised the man he would find a cure for his hand the following day. A woman came who said because she refused to do what he wanted, Degere beat up her sick husband, and he died shortly afterwards and made her a widow. Now she had to feed her three children all by herself. “I said I did not want to play with him and he said did I think my husband was a better man than he. I said no it’s not that; but he said yes it was but he would show me. When my husband came home that day, he told me Degere fell on him and beat him up because I said my husband was better than him.” Alkatan held his mouth and listened and the tears flowed in his heart.
One afternoon a man in tattered clothes came to Alkatan’s hut. His face was wet with tears and he clearly was in great distress. As he entered Alkatan’s hut and sat down, he was wiping his tears and struggling to greet the old man with a shaky voice. Alkatan was hoping to hear another tale of cruelty about Degere, but this man did not speak of Degere. He spoke instead of the Alkalo seizing his only goat. “When Kiyanka’s father died and he became alkalo last year, he immediately said everyone must now give him a goat every year as taxes. His father did not do that but he said he was not his father and that he was now the alkalo. Kiyanka is a rich man. He has three herds of cattle and hundreds of sheep and goats. Last year I gave him my male goat, and this year he forcefully took my female goat which is suckling her kid. My wife is sick and her breasts have no milk, and we use the goat’s milk to feed our daughter, who is only six months old. Now the baby does not have anything to eat and last night she cried till morning because we only had water to give her. So I said let me go to Alkatan and tell him. Probably God will help us though him,” the distraught man told Alkatan.
“So the alkalo has three herds of cattle and hundreds of sheep and goats, yet he took your only goat,” Alkatan said. “Yes,” the man replied. “And each herd has over two hundred cows. But everyone paid a goat last year and this year. I was the last person to pay because I only had one goat and my wife is sick and her breasts have no milk and it was the goat’s milk that we gave our daughter. But yesterday Kiyanka sent his men and they forcefully took my goat away and the baby was hungry and cried all night and we couldn’t sleep. She is till crying at home.”
“Ah,” Alkatan sighed. “I think we should go have a chat with the Alkalo. I think he should return your goat.” With that Alkatan rose and followed the man out of his hut. The two men walked towards the center of Tonya Kunda where the Alkalo’s compound was.
Ecowas leaders are playing a chameleon game in Mali’s crisis and this is how they will keep failing in addressing problems in the sub-region. Ecowas leaders know very well that demanding reinstatement of Keita was going to be “FIGHTING A LOSING BATTLE” and last week’s talks between them and the Malian Junta has proven the INCOMPETENCY of Ecowas leaders in handling any problem within the region with maturity and professionalism.
I doubt whether those leaders really know how to exercise diplomacy in crisis management. They quickly announce coercive action in situations that need only frank diplomacy.
How many presidents in West Africa are illegally bidding for third term in office which Ecowas leaders are fervently aware of this ILLEGAL move and they are mute over it. In Guinea Conakry hundreds of people start to die there because Alpha Conde is ILLEGALLY bidding for third term likewise in Côte d’Ivoire– Alassane Ouattara.
And all Ecowas leaders are being silent over this damning issue. All they would be doing is when the matters go out of hands – when bloodshed starts – then they will start bombarding people with meaningless statements in condemnation.
As much as Ecowas leaders don’t start to be proactive in addressing problems in the sub-region on time – they continue wasting resources meaninglessly.
For instance, some members in the delegation of Ecowas of leaders who were to hold mediation with the Malian Junta are not qualified and competent to mediate for any democratic change, because they are incompetent. Some of them are bidding for a third term which is in violence to their nation’s constitution.
If Ecowas wants to be in charge of the situation in the sub-region -then they MUST start to operate in HONESTY and CANDOUR, and stop playing CHAMELEON GAME.
Finally, let me highlight a few reasons for the cause of the coup in Mali. I totally reject wrong acts and I am totally against coup in Mali and anywhere it happens. But in the case of Mali is a different ball game which many people failed to know and understand.
Mali is a country which has been riven by Jihadists insurgency and ethnics violence since 2012 – that resulted in the massacring of thousands of innocent Malians and non-Malians.
Precisely, the coup in Mali is as a result of bad leadership which embodied corruption, incompetency and lack of sense of direction. Former President Ibrahim Boubacarr Keita is a man who despite serving in the Malian government for years, couldn’t and in fact cannot solve the crisis in Mali. This is the hard fact.
The writer, Adama Makasuba, is a Gambian journalist.
By Madi Jobarteh
Honestly, Gambians, like the rest of Africans must begin to ask themselves what is the benefit of citizenship? What is the purpose of Government? Why do we pay tax? Why has our Government taken so much loans that we can’t even pay back now yet we live in so much poverty and deprivation?
Since independence, why do we remain, until today a so-called developing country when another country called Singapore is able to catapult itself into the group of most advanced countries in the world? Meantime Singapore also gained Independence in 1965. Until today, The Gambia Government remains so incompetent, so corrupt, so inefficient and so dishonest causing our people to die from preventable diseases coupled with poor education, poor communities and lack of opportunities for our youth and women. Why?
We need to ask these questions to further ask ourselves, is this the life we deserve? Did we create a Government and elect and appoint public officials into it, to whom we pay tax, only for them to deny us our basic rights and needs? A mere basic social service, for example, electricity is always so erratic and poor yet so expensive that most of our population cannot afford it nor access it!
For how long shall we live in this condition? For how long?
After all, the leaders and technocrats who are in charge of Government institutions did study, travel, visit and live at some point in other countries including Singapore where the citizens enjoy high quality public services uninterrupted, thanks to their Government! Yet our Government cannot make that happen in The Gambia. Why? 55 years of Independence!
After 55 years how come the Government cannot perfect the delivery of water and electricity supply in each and every home and community in The Gambia? 24/7 uninterrupted. The Government of Singapore did it.
For 55 years how come the Government cannot pave all of our streets? In every village and town. The Government of Singapore did.
For 55 years how come The Gambia Government cannot provide excellent healthcare and quality education for all – in decent, well equipped public hospitals and public schools? The Government of Singapore did it.
So what is wrong with The Gambia Government?? They have well educated technocrats like the public officials in the Government of Singapore or the Government of UK or that of Germany, etc.
Every year the Government budget increases but we don’t get more and better services in return. Why? Our public enterprises generate billions of dalasi annually. Where is the money? GRA generates billions of dalasi every year. Where is the money? All that we see and feel is higher taxes, higher cost of living and poorer public services.
Anytime Government officials want to travel they would do so. Anytime they want to buy vehicles they would do so. Anytime they want to host a ceremony in an expensive hotel they would do so. Anything they want to buy they can buy. But when it is to buy drugs for our hospitals or learning materials for our schools or build roads they say there is no money. But they have money to buy big fat expensive vehicles with tinted glasses and fully air conditioned!
Truly is this The Gambia you deserve? Are you satisfied with the life you live? In this Gambia? Open your eyes!
Every year we are told our economy is growing by this percent yet every year our poverty increases. Who is lying to us? Who is stealing our money? Who is failing to do his or her job?
Are we donkeys to just sit here to live a life of abuse and deprivation and lies heaped on us by a few elected and appointed public officials? For how long shall we accept such insult? Are they better than us? Are they more Gambian than us?
I have enough!
I reject the lies and the path and the work of The Gambia Government 100%. I don’t deserve this Government because my worth as a human being and as a sovereign citizen is above the conditions to which The Gambia Government has illegally and criminally subjected me to!
I am oppressed, exploited, deprived, lied to, abused, cheated, enslaved. This is my life in The Gambia as a Gambian! I detest it. Period.
For The Gambia Our Homeland
By Basidia M Drammeh
Like everybody else, Arabic and Islamic teachers in the Gambia are going through extremely difficult times as they struggle to make ends meet amid an unprecedented pandemic that has brought the world to its knees.
Reports have it that some of the Arabic and Islamic teachers have not received salaries for over five months because of the closure of schools, as part of the Government’s efforts to contain the deadly virus. As a result, these teachers have been unable to feed their starving families or pay their rent and other essential housing bills.
Yet, the authorities seem to have chosen to turn a blind eye to their plight, despite diligent efforts to engage the relevant authorities and bring the urgent issue to their attention for appropriate action.
In the Gambia, Arabic and Islamic teachers play an instrumental role in society because not only do they teach, but they also lead naming and wedding and naming ceremonies as well as funeral services to no cost. Most importantly, they instill morality and good manners in the children to become upright, righteous and honest.
These private learning institutions enormously contribute to the socio-economic development of the country, by creating jobs for hundreds of citizens with no subsidy on the part of the Government, which only pays for their own teachers in these schools.
As a matter of fact, the disregard of the Islamic and Arabic teachers falls within a pervasive perception that they are inferior to their English-educated counterparts, hence face marginalization and insubordination at the hands of the authorities.
Arabic and Quranic schools are private entities that heavily rely on meagre tuition fees to pay salaries and cover operational costs, so the closure of schools which resulted in non-payment of tuition fees has obviously rendered the school authorities unable to meet their obligations towards the teachers. There is a widespread perception that the Arabic and Islamic schools are funded by Arab countries. This is simply false. Yes, some Arab nations, mostly, the oil-rich Gulf States, help build schools, mosques and Islamic centers but they do not allocate permanent funds to cover operational costs.
The Government is expected to treat Arabic and Islamic teachers on a par with their counterparts in public schools, at least during this period, because they are citizens too, who are committed to their duties and responsibilities towards the State. The role of Arabic and Islamic institutions must be recognized for they are part and parcel of society.
Some years back, I wrote on the National Assembly to legislate an act centred on presidential term limit in memory of the late Solo Sandeng. Given an era of instant glorification with society moving at lightening pace, people have a tendency to exaggerate or just about easily forget events on the go. And since trends on the (new) Gambia story seem an ever alluring prospect in a state of constant flux – commitment to “Teamwork” and “Trust” is a favourite recipe for success.
Few months ago, Forbes magazine expounded on the Magniesty Act, a tool of U.S. foreign policy geared towards legitimate international financial transactions. The law was actually the initiative of Bill Browder, a US born financier, carried out in memory of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax advisor who uncovered tax fraud implicating (Kremlin) Russian officials. In 2008, Magnitsky was imprisoned in Russia and later died in jail as a result of the mistreatment he suffered.
The U.S. Congress rushed to approve the law as a tool of sanctions against individuals who commit gross human rights violations. These include visa bans, issued arrest warrant through Interpol, among others. Targeted sanctions also apply to freeze the financial resources of perpetrators which may otherwise have been used to continue the atrocities – former president Jammeh and his cronies are sanctioned under the said act.
If The Gambia and Senegal’s leaders are truly serious about fighting corruption and trans-border crimes, the issue would have discussed loud and clear with coordinated agreements on arrest warrant and return of ill-gotten wealth. I see no reason why such policy can’t translate among all ECOWAS member countries – in fact Africa-wide – if continental leaders are truly serious about the issue of corruption, capital flight – #SeneGambiaSecretariat must act!
The problem of corruption and poverty, and endless wars on the continent are directly interrelated. Evidently, the proceeds of corruption continues to fund and funnel small scale arms, organised crime & wars, as Liberia & Sierra Leone was; while Somalia, Mali and D.RC continue to burn.
The Kofi Annan foundation cites capital flight as the biggest drain on resources from the continent. Africa needs NOT foreign aid if ever positioned to regulate its financial system to stem the tide of disappearing wealth into Swiss banks and dodgy real estate.
With its vast land spaces and rich mineral resources, the Democratic Republic of Congo seem cursed from the start, as foreign handlers & beneficiaries refuse to let go. The way wealth is stolen is easy – sign bogus contract deals or pay valuable mineral resources at the lowest minimum – for vast profit sums at the other end. That was the case with Sierra Leone, true of Gambia today, as with oil rich Libya.
A thing or two about China – The Chinese Communist Party (C,C.P) employs zero tolerance approach to corruption, even while its leaders live lavish. It is known to issue death sentences to party officials charged with corruption. Although one calls not for such harsh laws in The Gambia, something drastic has to change if we are to address the scourge of dodgy deals in our government.
To memorialise the memory of the very brave Solo Sandeng, I call on parliament to earmark a special provision as part of electoral law reforms on presidential “Term Limit.” In his final interview – at the height of Jammeh’s brutality – Mr Sandeng foretold his own death in an audio recording in circulation ‘… if I am to be killed, I hope to die for a purpose that Gambia is free …’, paraphrasing his last known interview – and so it was.
Is that not the mark of bravado, unselfish sacrifice, and honour for the freedoms we all enjoy today? While we can never repay his worth, we sure can, at the very least, honour his memory.
Also dedicated to the memory of all those killed & victimized during ‘Jammeh’ years.
Gibril Saine, the writer, is based in the United Kingdom.
By Baba Galleh Jallow
Alkatan was a small old man, slight of build, but very healthy and very strong. He was cheerful and had a lively air around him and was perhaps more friendly and more jovial than anyone you’ve ever met and was very much beloved of the people of Tonya Kunda, the village that he called home. Young and old alike enjoyed his company and would always show him great respect. And Alkatan reciprocated the friendship and the respect he received many times over, always endeavoring to make people feel good about themselves.
But there were some people in Tonya Kunda who did not enjoy Alkatan’s company and only pretended to be friendly to him. These were people he had had problems with, people he had occasion to censure because of their unjust actions against others. For while Alkatan never got angry or spoke in an angry fashion, he was drastic in his actions against people who perpetrated injustice against others in Tonya Kunda. He intervened in legitimate differences and conflicts only as a neutral mediator and often succeeding in making peace. But in cases of gross injustice by one person against another, Alkatan’s charm and simplicity was not to be taken for granted; which is what all the people who did not like him in Tonya Kunda did.
The first person Alkatan had a problem with shortly after he moved to Tonya Kunda was Degere the wrestler. Degere was the unbeaten champion of those parts and had thrown many a champion who came to Tonya Kunda village to challenge him. A tall and bulky fellow with large, red eyes, Degere was at his prime when Alkatan came to Tonya Kunda. He was feared by everybody and had a reputation for grabbing and slamming people on the ground just to show that he was not to be messed with. And it did not matter whether you were a man or woman, young or old. If you dared question Degere’s words or actions, Degere beat you up, and beat up anybody who dared object to the beating or intervene on behalf of the beaten. When Degere beat somebody, even the beaten did not cry out for it was Degere’s rule that the more you cried out the more he beat you!
One morning, Alkatan arrived at the village Bantaba to find a small crowd of people standing in a circle. In the middle of the circle were Degere and another man. Degere was repeatedly slapping the man, knocking him on the head with his clenched fist, and demanding to know why the man dared to challenge him to a wrestling contest the previous night. The wrestling match was swift because Degere was no match for the challenger who came from a nearby village. The man was on his way home when Degere stopped him at the Bantaba and demanded to know why he dared challenge him. The man was repeatedly saying, I’m sorry, please forgive me. But Degere was paying no heed and kept slapping and knocking him on the head. The villagers stood around watching. No one dared to intervene or even ask Degere to forgive the man because they knew what would happen to them. Such was the dread Degere inspired in the people of Tonya Kunda.
When Alkatan arrived, he entered the small circle and said, “Hey, why don’t you leave that man alone. You are hitting him, he’s not hitting you back and he’s begging you to forgive him. Can’t you just leave him alone?” At this, Degere looked at the old man and angrily gnashed his teeth. “Old man do you want to die!” he roared. “How dare you ask me to leave him alone?” “I think it is you who wants to die,” Alkatan retorted, wagging his finger at Degere. “You threw that man down but I can throw you down right now and put you to shame.” Hearing these words Degere rushed at the old man and grabbed him by the waist and tried to dash him on the ground.
But it was not as easy as he thought. Alkatan was a bundle of strength. The two wrestled round and round for a few minutes before Degere felt himself flying in the air and landing with a heavy thud on the ground. The crowd cheered and held their mouths in awe shouting, “he threw him, he threw him! How could such an old man throw Degere down?” In a fit of rage, Degere sprang to his feet, rushed at Alkatan, lifted him high above his head, and tried to slam him on the ground. To his dismay, Degere found that he could not throw the old man down. He ran with him around the circle and tried to throw him down again, but he could not do so. And so he carried Alkatan round and round the circle, not able to throw him down or put him down. Soon, he was sweating profusely and felt as if he was carrying a tree and not a small old man. Meanwhile, Alkatan continuously knocked Degere on the head, pulled his ears, and pinched his nose over and over again saying, “I told you to leave him alone.” Then suddenly, Alkatan jumped and landed behind Degere, grabbed him by the waist, and flung him to the ground in the famous busulu style. Degere landed with a heavy thud, let out a mournful cry, and fainted.
From that day, Degere retired from wrestling and became a changed man in Tonya Kunda. Alkatan on the other hand became a hero. All kinds of stories were told about him, including that he was himself a famous wrestler in his youth and that he had some hidden powers. It was not long before Alkatan had another problem with another person in the village. This was no other than Kiyanka, the newly installed Alkalo of Tonya Kunda.
In response to an article published on the Freedom newspaper and Fatu network, entitled “The Jawara Administration was a Moonwalk: shall we tell Papa Njie?” written by Bub S Njie, research assistant, center for research and policy Development (Not sure where). The article according to him was in response to an interview given by the current leader of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) Hon. Muhamadou Papa Njie to the Standard newspaper, Gambia. That interview was in honor of the upcoming first anniversary since the demised of the late FATHER OF THE GAMBIA SIR DAWDA KAIRABA JAWARA on August 28th, 2019.
The current PPP leader was being sincere and upright about the legacy of the modern Gambia founded by the late Sir Dawda and his team from the twilight of the 1950s to the dusk of July 22nd, 1994. The ideals and beliefs Sir Dawda under his leadership etched into the minds of Gambians based on country and people. The political struggles of the late 1950s and1960s, the living of a country believed unable to sustain herself, the challenges of limited educated minds, the lack of mineral resources to help boost this struggle to create the modern Gambia was like an impossible mission
I intend to help him understand Hon. Papa Njie was paying a tribute to Sir Dawda on his first death Anniversary, for any Gambian to falsely attack Sir Dawda on moment likes this is very disheartening. Culturally and religiously when people speak about death at a moment of their anniversary they focused on the good side of his/her life. Of-cause, Sir Dawda as a human being also made his share of mistakes. The difference between him and other leaders is that he pondered those mistakes and quietly learned from them, and he grew and developed because he had a learning mindset.
Now let’s look at Bub S. Njies take on PAPA NJIEs interview AND THE JAWARA ADMINISTRATION Bub is allegedly a researcher at a policy center and I do respect that but I expect an honest and factual assessment with a productive counter-argument to papas claim but not based on half bake unconnected allegations with no substantive facts. I tried to be reasonable and open to his alleged claims but sadly, I found it either he is too young to understand the trajectory of the Jawara Administration from 1962 to 1970 and what they achieved from the dawn of a republic to the 1994 or he was just intellectually dishonest. I expect a comparative policy analysis from him on the PPP Administration to Jammehs 22 years and the current Government. Calling the Jawara legacy a “moonwalk” was just not only intellectual dishonesty but professionally inept.
Bub S Njie said “In his attempt to glorify his party’s founding father, Sir Dawda Jawara: “someone who will not want to harm anybody” Mr. Njie exposed how Sir Dawda was comfortable and never wanted to disrupt the status quo; a corrupt political class, a sclerotic bureaucracy, a heartless economy, a divided and distracted public that had gone untreated for more than two decades. Our people had learned to live, uncomfortably, with the manipulative political equation of the Jawara Administration”. This is just false and misleading in his effort to mischaracterize the good intent of Mr. Papa Njie paying tribute and echoing the great trades of Sir Dawda both as a politician and a defender of human and people’s rights both at home and abroad. Probably Mr. Bub Njie has never done any research on Gambian political evolution. Let me try to draw an image for him how the Gambia look like before independence. During the colonial rule, people leaving in the provinces weren’t allowed to vote, Gambian are been enslaved both within the Gambia and abroad, there was no drainage system in Banjul (they use “Poti Kama”), Our farmers sell there Groundnuts at the price the British wanted, there was no bridge in the Gambia, There was no road network between Banjul to Basse (the Denton Bridge at the time was a one-way bridge one vehicle have to wait for the other to cross the bridge), Gambians are denied education (some due to family and others because going to school was preserved to sons of rich and chiefs), Girls are denied the rights to education, the caste system is used to deny people their rights, there was no resources both Human, capital and natural, there was no system of democratic government in place, etc..
Looking at this picture one can only argue that Sir Dawda from unset his objective was to disrupt the status quo to ensure Gambian become an independent sovereign state, to make sure that every Gambian vote counts, to ensure farmers get the money they deserve from their hard labors, to ensure the caste system is never used to deny any Gambia a good-paying job, to ensure every Gambian have the right to education (including Girls). Considering the concerns raised by many people that the Gambia getting full independence was too risky before independence Gambia has only ten university graduates, most of whom are medical doctors, it has no natural resources, the book written by Berkeley Rice explained the situation of Gambia at the time, but with his determination and foresight, the Gambia is still a sovereign state. He also embodied the mantra of “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Sir Dawda not only made positive changes in the Gambia he was a part of, but he also cared about people. He believed that positive change and caring about people were intricately linked.
Talking about corruption that most Gambia uses as a talking point against the PPP has probably been masterminded by the Military Junta emptied accusation of Jawara administration of rampant corruption and flamboyant lifestyle. After the military Junta took power they had established a commission of inquiries against PPP government up till now no Gambians have ever seen the findings of that commission. I will also use this opportunity to appeal to the Barrow Government to look into the archives and make such finding public. Sir Dawda is a man who believes in rule of law and would not punish any Gambia base on a mere allegation of corruption without evidence but he those acted when he has evidence and facts. Yes, he those fired a Minister who was accused of corruption as well as Minister who made a false statement to back a supporter on a passport application. He allowed the Minister to be tried in court and jailed for six months which ended his political carrier.
Furthermore; the above quote by Mr. Bub Njie just convinced me that the writer hasn’t bothered himself into any research before he writes such a misleading article. The Jawara administration has expanded the Gambia beyond the colony of then, Bathurst, to Koina. The Jawara administration set up all the public corporations in the Gambia from the National Trading Corporation (NTC), GPMB, GCDB, GGC, River Transportation, the Cooperative Unions, Jahally Pacharr, Cotton Ginnery in Basse, etc. most of this set the basis of the economy and had been making empirical changes in the socio-economic lives of the people. At the time of Independence in 1965, the government coffers were red! No human resources, some positions in the civil service has to be advertised to other qualified candidates in the commonwealth nations to fill in.
When the 1981 Rebellion took place shattering the dreams of a poor country about to notice gains of her work. After the 1981 coup and the struggled to recover from both human and material loss, came in the complexities of nature in the greater Sahel- DROUGHT. That period 1981 to 1985, was a very tough period for the PPP and there has to be tough decision making that indeed affected hundreds. At that moment, not only the Gambia but there was drought dragging hunger and malnutrition along with sub-Saharan Africa. Sir Dawda was human but also a leader of a country of poor farmers, it was challenging but we had to cross the bridge. The IMF and WORLD BANK conditionality to privatize our public corporations, peoples have to be laid off, the era of price control was over, and market reforms were introduced. This was tough but the turning point for The Gambia and hereafter the hardship and shortages of commodities came to the economic boom.
This is how Sir Dawda was able to revive the Gambian economic when it faces serious challenges, he said “A great deal of homework had gone into identifying and selecting what projects went where with the rationale for their execution based entirely on the sole objective of development that would make our independence real. It was inevitable in the early stages to pay much attention to buildings and structures but the bottom line was the well-being of the people, which should best be counted in the quality of food they ate; the standard of housing they enjoyed; the level of education and health care at their disposal; and, above all, the scope of the peace and freedoms they enjoyed; Many leaders in the sub-region asked me on several occasions what made our recovery and restructuring so successful. Ours was a simple answer. The country had taken on the whole program as a package and did not cherry pick which of its aspects were convenient to apply. We went the whole hog, whether it was administrative reforms, retrenchment, reduction of subsidiaries to farmers, or any of the measures on a tough list we had to introduce. But because we knew it was a massive load to the demand of the people, I went on a countrywide tour to explain the EPR. I told the people what it meant, and shared with them the purposeful outcomes if they came through with us. Thought four years of commitment and understanding it worked. The foreign exchange problems eased; and shop stalls filled up again. We were such a leading light in structural adjustment that the Sierra Leonean Minister of Finance, Tommy Taylor Morgan, and researchers came to study the implementation of adjustments Sierra Leone had been trying since 1983 without success.” This is to cement that Sir Dawda was a transformational leader and if our current leaders can learn from his style of leadership Gambia can only be a better place.
Mr. Bub Njie when further to say that “Jarawa’s Legacy cannot save the Gambia, he left a bad political tradition; with the advantages of incumbency; he had state resources at his disposal, using government vehicles for campaigning purposes, and his unflinching encouragement of traditional authorities to exert pressure on electorates to support his administration.” Mr. Bub S Njie need a serious basic civic education about Gambia political history, this is laughable. Hon Sidia Jatta is the only living person who has contested against Sir Dawda in an election he had accused Sir Dawda of many things but none of the above. Hon Sidia Jatta said “my wife use to be the makeup-artist for Sir Dawda’s wife at the time I was contesting against him in an election” his wife was never fired because of Hon. Sidia Jatta was his political opponent. Jawara has never used government resources to campaign, or use traditional authorities most traditional authorities didn’t like him because he fought very hard to ensure traditional leaders didn’t have absolute power to punish Gambians that every Gambian must have a fair trial. It would have been easy for him to slip into an authoritative power mode as he was under immense pressure to declare the Gambia a one-party state, but Sir Dawda humility was the real power he had in the relationships he cultivated to ensure the Gambia remains a Multi-Party Democracy. Being humble helped him to be known as someone who acted out ethically even while others in similar positions did not
Bub Njie Said “How can a legacy of political correctness, economic downturn, and deliberate control of the state media save a country? This was a government that used libel lawsuits to oppress prominent journalists sending many to Mile 2 central prisons. President Jawara’s original intent was not to be a “unifier” as Papa Njie suggested! No! Jawara’s style of politics was based on coalitions, because he thought he needed to form alliances with the urban Wollofs and Aku who dominated the bureaucracy. He sought to please these people and coax them to be on his side because, otherwise, their administrative skills could used to undermine his crumbling government. It was political. It’s a glaring fact that under Jawara’s Administration the poor majority of Gambians were forced to make the choice to sell their voters’ cards in exchange for resources needed for daily sustenance. Voter – buying became a booming business for politicians, in the Gambia”.
What frustrates me most Mr. Bub Njie did not make any reference to any media personality who was arrested or what law was in our constitution at the time that was intended to oppress the media. A good researcher argues on facts, not hearsay. Sir Dawda was a unifier, for bob Njie to say he was not is very baffling. His intention from unset was to be a unifier cognizant of the fact he was able to convince his people to change the name of his party From Protectorate People’s Party to People’s Progressive Party well before he formally gets into politic Sir Dawda said “the country, having reached a crossroads, it was with a great sense of urgency that I mounted the platform at a mass meeting the party had called at Albion Place in Bathurst to justify the need for a very important change in the name of the party. I explained that events had overtaken the original name that now lingered with a limiting feature about it. The Protectorate People’s Party carried a parochial aftertaste and presented a politically incorrect image which needed immediate correction to avoid disaffection within an urban public whose sympathies we absolutely could not afford to do without. It was a blessing that the tradition of democratic consensus was already bearing fruit. Thankfully, the party was built on principles that derived authority from no other source than the people. The meeting quickly saw the need for a name that properly reflected the national character of the party, and accepted my suggestion to retain the already recognizable abbreviation PPP- which will henceforth stand for People’s Progressive Party”. Sir Dawda in all his campaign his slogan use to be One Gambia, One Nation so clearly, his intention from unset was to see the unified Gambia.
Gambia was heaven for media personalities, due to the democratic nature of Gambia when AU decided to open a Center for Democracy and Human and People’s Rights, it was decided to choose The Gambia because of the Country’s respect for Democracy and People’s Rights and the foremost country in Africa that guaranteed the rights to its people and others around the World. Two years before the Despicable 1994 Coup, A world survey of all country around the globe, the results listed The Gambia as one of the five most democratic countries in the world and included all Western Democracies and all under the thoughtful leadership of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara and his commitment to the respect of Human Rights, Rule of Law and full and unfettered Democracy.
Mr. Bub Njie’s allegations are just pathetic, Sir Dawda`s legacy is today the very country you’re certainly proud of. He left an educational system based on quality and access, not quantity. The tertiary educational system became the components of the current University of The Gambia (UTG), Such as Gambia College, Management Development Institute (MDI), Rural Development Institute, School of Nursing, National Agriculture Research Center, Chamen Self Development Center, Cooperative Training Center, Gambia Technical Training Institute (GTTI), etc. without these institutions there will be no Gambian university as we speak.
Finally, people like Bub S Njie always remind me of the need to ensure PPP stays alive as a political platform to fight all deceptions surrounding the legacy of Sir Dawda and all our hard-working public servants under the PPP government. It is very unfortunate and hateful for Mr. Bub Njie to have the guts to attack Sir Dawda when people are trying to celebrate his life on his First Death Anniversary. May his soul continue to rest in perfect peace!!!!
Kebba L Nanko
PPP USA Chapter, Interim Coordinator
Former president Yahya Jammeh’s brother Ansumana Jammeh has died aged 45, family sources have told The Fatu Network.
The younger Jammeh died at Afrimed clinic a short while ago, the sources said.
Jammeh died on Saturday at Afrimed clinic at 11pm after being admitted to the facility over high blood pressure. Family sources said he died of disease.
Opposition APRC in an announcement said burial rites will be held on Sunday 23 August 2020 at 11:00am ‘possibly at Kanilai’.
“Whoever wants to make it to Kanilai to attend the funeral rites can be on standby whilst we await confirmation,” the party said through its deputy spokesperson.
Mr Jammeh’s death comes less than two months after the appellate court denied his stay of execution prayer over his properties.
The Janneh commission had investigated him and agreed that a 2016 high court order against him be implemented; it meant he would lose his properties in Bijilo and Old Yundum. He was also fined over 24 million dalasis.
Last month, the Appeals Court dismissed his application for a stay of execution over his properties which effectively left the properties at the mercy of the state.
Having been inundated by demands from friends to sound my opinion in the current political situation in Mali, I decided to abort my initial intention of waiting for the next African Spring in Ivory Coast or perhaps the next in Guinea Conakry before finally echoing my next prediction. Oh yes, my view about the situation in Mali is not about playing Monday morning quarterback to confuse clueless followers or readers by merely dissecting what should have, could have or would have but about telling my readers that ‘I told you so that the Malians will do it’ a day before the people came out to change their government with the help of the army. Realistically, that’s what all good armies must do under such circumstances.
Whereas I used to wholeheartedly condemn military coups because of their recurrent upshot of the leaders sooner or later betraying the expectations or aspirations of the masses that initially supported them, I no longer subscribe to such generalizations of military intervention in so-called “democratically elected governments”. I am now convinced that coups or better put, military interventions in elected governments that betray the aspirations of the electorate and bend on corrupting their national institutions and constitutions to remain and justify their indefinite clinging to power deserve to be ousted especially when the masses can no longer tolerate them. Otherwise, radical elements could resort to exploiting such impasses for extreme measures aimed at destabilizing the nations just for the heck of spoiling things for everybody. Coups, as far as I am concern now, will remain a part of African political change until we have honest political leaders representing the interest of the people in general and not that of a greedy few functioning under the dictates of foreign masters.
I strongly believe that if the Mali military had remained indifferent to the demands of the overwhelming majority of the population, the threat of the “Jihadists in the North” to disrupt the society, the main excuse France deploying over 4000 of their troops in the country, could have on the same logic succeeded. Because, after all, regardless of the massive presence of foreign troops including over 15,000 UN peacekeepers and the French Foreign legion forces, France’s most elite combatants, the Malian soldiers do most of the dirty fighting against the “Jihadists” under the most appalling working conditions. They have frequently complained about being underpaid, under-equipped and marginalized while the foreign troops enjoy every imaginable luxury with minimal input in the national crisis. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
Essentially, if the Mali Army had to stop fighting today the “Jihadists” will most likely disrupt the political, economic and social stability of the country and perhaps turn the nation into another Libya where foreign powers will only sponsor mercenaries and local militias to protect their investments of exploiting the natural resources of the country.
What most people don’t understand about the economic importance of land-lock Mali to the West in general or to France in particular is that the country has the fourth largest gold deposits in Africa with European investors, bankers and even politicians investing heavily in stocks from various mining companies strewn all over the country with guaranteed safety and protection from France.
In the wake of the ongoing crisis, only Barrick Gold (ABX. To), the biggest miners report minimal effect on the value of their shares in the world market with only 2.7% drop; but to name few more, Resolute Mining, (BTO.To) went down 11.7%, Hummingbird 9.4%, B2 Gold fell 8.8% and Cora Gold 9.3%.
In 2019 alone, gold output from Mali rose to 71.1 tonnes, translating into government revenue in excess of $700,000,000.00.
All these companies go through France to secure mining rights in Mali like all foreign investors do in Francophone African nations still under the Neo-Colonial occupation of the French. Hence contrary to the conventional wisdom that France’s inclination to willing and indefinitely deploy the best of their troops in large numbers with all the expensive logistical support in Francophone African nations is about preventing Islamist or Jihadist expansionism or just being nice to their former colonies, the indisputable reality is about protecting their economic interest, nothing more and nothing less.
Apparently, the French will maintain control of these Neo-Colonial nations because their economic lives depend on them.
I wonder how the Malians are going to wriggle out of it and vote a president insulated to finally break the umbilical cord which will eventually happen in order for these sorry countries to emerge from their self-inflicted poverty and misery, but to reach that promised land they must be prepared for a tough and deadly uphill struggle.
Leaders who tried it in the past had their regimes changed or had paid dearly with their lives. Captain Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, is still a typical example of a Francophone Neo-Colonial West African leader who in 1987 tried to cut the French colonial “umbilical cord” and paid his life and that of his government for attempting.
In one of his attempts to square with France over how the natural resources of Ivory Coast were unfairly exploited by France at the detriment of the Ivorian economy, former President Laurent Gbagbo explained how since colonial days they had in place an arrangement where France will always enjoy 85% of their natural resources while the Ivorians only settled for 15%.
It is an arrangement with most former French colonies in Africa excluding the $500 billion dollars they must deposit annually to France’s central bank for safekeeping.
Anyway according to President Gbagbo, his downfall emanated from the French inciting the Muslims in Ivory Coast and dragged their country into politics of religion when he insisted on a 50-50 share of their resources with them, a novel arrangement that would have brought about huge economic growth to his country and of course a dent in the French economy.
What an irony! In Ivory Coast, the French supported the Muslims who throughout the history of French colonialism were marginalized because the Christians all the time played along with the colonial agenda but when Christian Gbagbo made an attempt to liberate his people from them they embraced a Muslim-Puppet Outtarra, armed and supported his rebel militia and changed the regime to maintain the Neo-Colonial status quo.
I bet the French would have eagerly supported an Islamic state in Mali, if the Islamists or Jihadists in Mali were to guarantee them the liberty to continuously control Mali’s gold and other natural resources.
Just take a good look at what is happening in Libya and tell me what exactly these foreign powers believe in.
It might however be because of the horrible and unforeseen effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or of just the right time at last for the African Spring coming out of the global contemporaneous enlightenment, but it looks like the days of African puppeteering to France and the institutional and constitutional corruption by their chosen politicians is coming to an end, an unstoppable phenomenon to finally liberated Africa, economically.
The exploitation that started since the 1885 balkanization of the continent at the infamous Berlin Conference has to end before Africa can catchup with the rest of the world.
In short, I therefore support the military interventions in Mali, a country that was heading to unpredictable chaos and possible anarchy with no reasonable solution in sight but only amateur puppets peddling unacceptable resolutions; nonetheless, I also hope that the soldiers listen to reasoning and work towards realizing the aspiration of the Malian people and not to be corrupted by any foreign or domestic forces.
The international threat of sanctions or blockade is meaningless as long as the European mining companies are there protecting their stocks in the world market. If the Malian economy tanks, some prominent European investors and banks will go bankrupt; this is beyond our dumb ECOWAS leaders threatening to use military force. The invasion of Mali to reinstate former President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita will doubtlessly end most regimes in the subregion. They know that but are just bluffing out of fear of facing the same predicament because of the same color and shape of feathers they wear like Keita’s. They are also bothered by their ineptitude in failing to fulfill France’s expectations in this particular case.
Long live the “African Spring”.
SAMSUDEEN SARR
BANJUL, THE GAMBIA
By Fatou Camara II
The Gambia government has swung into action in getting distressed Gambian women in Lebanon evacuated.
Dozens of Gambian women working in Lebanon have asked the government to help them return home as they continue to face difficulty surviving in the country.
The women who are in groups and often crowded in small rooms had earlier this month told The Fatu Network the coronavirus pandemic coupled with a massive explosion a few weeks ago which killed 135 people have compounded matters for them in the country.
“The consul isn’t telling us anything clear. We’re here suffering and don’t have anything to eat. We’re here crowded in one room. We want to come home. It’s a lot of us and we’re in groups. In our group we’re seven,” Mariama, 30, who is one of the women had told The Fatu Network earlier this month.
On Thursday, the women staged a protest outside the Gambian consul’s office in Beirut demanding assistance.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Saikou Ceesay told The Fatu Network efforts were at an ‘advanced’ stage for the women to be evacuated.
“Efforts are underway and are at an advanced stage to repatriate the girls, for them reunite with their families and loved ones,” Mr Ceesay said.
He quickly added: “As at now, 36 emergency passports have been prepared and ready, working on their repatriation in due course but I cannot give you any specific timeline as of when we can expect them in the country.”
It is logically incoherent to argue that politicians will only be noble if they stop seeing power as a reason for their politics. As head of a political party, PPP’s Papa Njie, must understand that any political movement, whether noble or ignoble, needs ambition, and power, to make a practical change! This is why I was shocked when I saw the PPP leader’s statement on today’s issue of the Standard: “Only Jawara’s Legacy can Save The Gambia.”
In his attempt to glorify his party’s founding father, Sir Dawda Jawara: “someone who will not want to harm anybody” Mr. Njie exposed how Sir Dawda was comfortable and never wanted to disrupt the status quo; a corrupt political class, a sclerotic bureaucracy, a heartless economy, a divided and distracted public that had gone untreated for more than two decades. Our people had learned to live, uncomfortably, with the manipulative political equation of the Jawara Administration.
Jawara’s Legacy cannot save the Gambia, he left a bad political tradition; with the advantages of incumbency; he had state resources at his disposal, using government vehicles for campaigning purposes, and his unflinching encouragement of traditional authorities to exert pressure on electorates to support his administration.
How can a legacy of political correctness, economic downturn, and deliberate control of the state media save a country? This was a government that used libel lawsuits to oppress prominent journalists sending many to Mile 2 central prisons.
President Jawara’s original intent was not to be a “unifier” as Popa Njie suggested!
No! Jawara’s style of politics was based on coalitions, because he thought he needed to form alliances with the urban Wollofs and Aku who dominated the bureaucracy. He sought to please these people and coax them to be on his side because, otherwise, their administrative skills could used to undermine his crumbling government. It was political.
It’s a glaring fact that under Jawara’s Administration the poor majority of Gambians were forced to make the choice to sell their voters’ cards in exchange for resources needed for daily sustenance. Voter – buying became a booming business for politicians, in the Gambia.
Jawara’s administration was a moon-walk; it gave an impression that things were moving forward, when they were actually getting backward. We don’t need that legacy to salvage us! We need a serious leader with impeccable moral standing, intellectual apptitude, and a blueprint that suits our downright realities, to save our country!
Bub S Njie,
Research Assistant,
Centre for Research and Policy Development.
It was the great poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who famously penned this reassuring truth:
“Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;”
This is the truth about all great men, but more so for those who took the decision to work and contribute to human progress through the profession of teaching. The late Imam Tafsirr Gaye has surely left his own footprints on the sands of our times and many of us will continue to see his brilliant footprints as guiding lighthouses and beacons of hope as we take our own paths towards self-actualisation and service to humanity.
The late Imam, a graduate of the prestigious Al-Ahzar University in Egypt, was a teacher of Islamic studies at many institutions, including, the famous Saint Augustine’s High School where his path crossed with that of my good friend Ebou Ndure (currently serving as Imam in Ireland).
Ebou and I met through a mutual friend, Omar Mbowe, while we both did our Advanced level studies in Banjul. At the time my desire for further Quranic studies was being kindled as I compared the effort I put into my regular academic studies against time spent on religious studies. I arrived at the conclusion that investing a maximum of 10 percent of the time and energy I devoted to school into the study of the Holy Quran would yield immeasurable dividend. My firenship with Ebou Ndure became the catalyst for me to embark on that Journey.
At the time, Ebou was very close to Imam Gaye and he was part of a group that would converge at the Imam’s house on weekly basis on Thursdays and Fridays in the evening at the Imam’s residence in Banjul, Lancaster street. I lived at Boxbar road and having finished my 6th form at Gambia High, I became a regular visitor for these sessions of studies and lectures with the Imam. Thursdays were for studying the Quran, especially for novices like myself; and on Fridays we would gather and the Imam would do a lecture-cum-sermon.
There were senior ‘talibes’ (students) there as well. Ustass Abdourahman Sowe was one of them; he was specifically assigned by the late Imam to give me intensive lessons in Arabic phonics so that I could speed up my learning of the Quran. By this time I had had many forays into Quranic studies but all such studies were on part time, mainly during weekends and evenings after school on week days. I had the privilege of studying with such luminaries like the late Pa Ablie of Primet Street, the late Ustass Babacarr Njone, and the master of the traditional Quranic school in Lamin, the late Jamanty Jammeh. May Allah grant them all His eternal Grace and Mercy.
My studies with Imam Tafsir Gaye became a huge catalyst for the life-long Quranic studies I was to embark on. After a few weeks, I had grasped a good mastery of the Arabic phonics and with encouragement and consistent support from my friend Imam Ebou Ndure I gradually became quite well efficient with recitation of the Holy Quran in the original Arabic text.
It was a blessing to sit before Imam Tafsir Gaye and listen to him preach about Islam. His understanding of the religion, coupled with his eloquence and peerless wit was awe-inspiring. He always had a unique way of explaining the deeper meanings of the Quranic verses. His insight into current issues were also enlightening. Throughout those lesssons, his love of the late Imam Ratib Abdoulie Jobe always manifested itself.
Anytime I listened to Imam Gaye make a speech, my respect and admiration for his intellectual dexterity increased. He always rose to the occasion with the perfect witty aphorisms to match the situation being addressed. And thus I was as much amazed by what he said as I was curious about how much more wisdom I could still tap from his inexorable intellectual endowment.
This morning, I went into my electronic archives to retrieve the video of my graduation from the Gambia’s first ever university programme. Imam Tafsirr Gaye was the one to have had the honour to bless that occasion. Clad in a gown, he delivered a beautiful prayer that would touch even those of us who could not understand the Arabic language. He had a gift of oratory; his words came out with a unique cadence.
My first encounter with the late Imam was an occasion about the Quran; my own reinvented journey with the Greatest Book of all times. My last encounter with him was also about the Quran. We had converged at the residence of the late legendary football hero Biri to recite the Quran as part of the rites of his demise. Let me clarify here that the late Imam was properly clad with a protective mask and the gathering was not a big one.
I took several pictures of him from a distance. It was a pleasure to see him hold the Quran, reading it. And he was granted the honour of reciting the prayer that caps off the recitation of the ‘Qamil’ called the ‘khatm’; at the end of the ceremony the Imam Ratib of Banjul, Imam Cherno Kah, gave some words of advice concerning the need for unity in the country as he decried inflammatory and derogatory speeches in our current political debates. He then asked Imam Gaye to also give some words of advice regarding that matter.
I was all ears when Imam Tafsir Gaye started speaking. And surely I was not disappointed. He reiterated the Imam Ratib’s admonition and then made reference to verses 13-14 of the 17th chapter of the Quran: “And We have made every man’s actions to cling to his neck, and We will bring forth to him on the resurrection day a book which he will find wide open: Read your book; your own self is sufficient as a reckoner against you this day.”
You just had to hear the late Imam’s inspiring enunciation of the foregoing pair of verses in Arabic to be able to fully appreciate what he was saying. Yet his explanation of the first verse in Wolof was equally amazing. He warned us that the modern microphones that media practitioners would clip to our shirts close to our necks is quite emblematic of the statement “And We have made every man’s actions to cling to his neck…” he then advised that people should speak words of truth with decency and respect.
His speech was so touching and profound that I wanted to write an essay about it. My reverence and love for the Quran would not allow me to jump into such an assignment without some more research. I went home and recited the full Chapter (Surah Isra) from which the late Imam quoted that verse just to have a better appreciation. I shared the relevant verse on social media and I kept meditating about it but never got to have enough time to write an essay.
As the late Imam Tafsir Gaye begins his journey into the next world, his Quranic quotations and witty statements will continue to reecho in my mind and heart, inshaa Allah.
They will continue to be useful gems in my mission of education and inspiring young people around the world. Hopefully, those youths would make good use of the little I was able to gather from the immense reservoir of knowledge that was Imam Tafsir Gaye. I would continue to use some of these guiding principles in my own affairs. And that is the beauty of having been blessed with the company of enlightened beings like Imam Gaye. May Allah illuminate his path with the light of the Quran and grant him blissful repose in Jannatul Firdaus.
Truly he did his work and we shall continue to pray for Allah to shower him with His Grace and Mercy as we take inspiration from the footprints he left behind; in the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
“Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.”
Amen.
Momodou Sabally
Ibrahim Boubacarr Keita has announced his resignation as president of Mali hours after his arrest by the army.
Mr Keita speaking on state television ORTM late Tuesday said he was resigning in the interest of peace. He said he doesn’t want bloodshed.
By: Hassoum Ceesay, The Gambia National Museum, Banjul
Last Sunday Alhaji Imam Tafsir Gaye died aged 84, and I lost another friend and confidante of twenty years standing. He was an astute scholar of Islam, who trained at the most respected, prestigious and oldest Islamic institution of Higher Learning, Al-Ahzar University in Cairo, Egypt.
He arrived in Cairo in 1962 following many years of Dara scholarship in Bathurst and in Tivavoune. Egypt at this time was under the very inspirational rule of Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser(1913-1970). Nasser was a great Pan-Arabic and Pan-African. Like his friend Nkrumah, Nasser did not see the Sahara as a divide but as a contour of cultural and economic continuity which unites.
Nasser opened the doors of Al-Ahzar to African students in ways no other Egyptian leader did in modern times. Usually, the Gambian students would stay close to ten years, because if you reached the famous gates of Al-Ahzar, you knew you were in a pantheon of knowledge and so you must drink deep in its founts. Most Gambian students like my respected teacher K.L Jagne, stayed for over ten years doing Middle, High School and university courses.
Alhaji Tafsir only returned in 1971 and soon became a teacher in the newly formed Muslim High School. He taught Islam and Arabic there until he retired from active service.
Alhaji Tafsir at an early age became a close confidante and protégé of Alhaji Imam Abdoulie Jobe(1910-2004), the well respected Imam Ratib of Banjul, who had honour of leading Gambian Imams from 1982 to his demise in 2004. For a few years before Imam Jobe’s demise, Alhaji Tafsir regularly led the main congregational prayers at the Main Banjul mosque, and became a leading and respected member of the Bathurst Muslim Elders Committee, and always eager to spread and strengthen Islam.
Another way he supported Islam was through his regular Islamic column published without fail in the defunct Daily Observer from 1992 to 2017! Each Friday, including the Friday of July 22 1994, Alhaji Tafsir will anchor the Wahtanu Ajuma column discussing various Islamic topics in simple prose which all readers could imbibe. Not many readers of this very popular and dependable column knew the trouble Alhaji Tafsir had to undergo each week to put the copy of the column on my desk as Features Editor at the Daily Observer. Even I did not know until he told me one day in the office.
He said for each column, he would research and draft it in exquisite Egyptian Arabic. Then he will translate it into Wollofal. Then he will read the Wollofal to one of his children like Amran or Dabakh or his youngest wife, who will draft an English version. He would get this English draft translated back to him to cross check, before he asked them to type out a final copy which he must sign before dropping the column himself to me. This was the level of panacahe he had for righteous knowledge and its spread.
Moreover, Alhaji Tafsir did lot of missionary work in Senegambia and in the USA and Europe. An ardent disciple of the Tivaoune Sect and for many years, its official Representative in Banjul, Alhaji Tafsir believed in reaching out to the talibes in climes where their access to religious knowledge could be spotty. He made yearly missionary trips, which caught the positive eye of the US State Department and in the 2000s enjoyed a Travel Grant to USA in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Alhaji Tafsir enjoyed talking about Nasser and Egypt. Many a times, he will visit me at the Museum with one of the numerous photo albums he kept of his student days under Nasser. In one photo, I well remember, he was dressed in suit, and was shaking the hand of Nasser at an Al-Ahzar function. In another photo, Alhaji Tafsir was bestrode a dromedary, resplendent in Bedouin garb with a silhouette of the great Sphinx giving him a canny resemblance of Lawrence of Arabia, whom, in fact, he told he admired for helping to unite the disparate Arab clans. He knew Arabic and Arabs well. He knew the origins of the various Ruling Families, but as a Nasserite, he thought Arab Republicansim had a brighter future in the Orient.
Alhaji Tafsir was a restless scholar and propagator of Islam in The Gambia and beyond. He was a brilliant preacher, and a patient and affable person who I will sorely miss. To his family, and many talibes here and yonder, I pay my sincere condolences and pray that his soul rest in perfect peace.
(Alhaji Imam Tafsir Gaye(1936-2020): Gambian Orientalist, Religious Teacher and Columnist).
Hassoum Ceesay
By Reuters
Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was arrested on Tuesday by mutinying soldiers in the capital Bamako, two security sources told Reuters.
The arrest came after soldiers mutinied at the Kati army base outside of Bamako and rounded up a number of senior civilian and military officials.
A spokesman for Keita could not be reached for comment.
Fellow Citizens,
Residents of The Gambia,
It is now obvious that no one is immune to the Coronavirus and its impact. The recent increase in the number of cases, including high profile personalities within and outside of my government, as well as other citizens and non-citizens alike, is of concern to me and cause for alarm.
I take this moment, therefore, to extend my condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones, and I pray that the departed souls rest in eternal peace. My best wishes for a speedy recovery also go to all those infected by the virus.
My Dear Citizens and Residents of The Gambia,
In April of this year, our health experts projected that by July-August 2020, cases of Coronavirus related infections and mortality will rise in the country. In the past weeks, we have witnessed this sad development, with a dramatic rise in the number of COVID -19 cases and deaths in our dear country.
The latest situational report on the country indicates that more than one thousand five hundred infected cases and over forty deaths have been recorded in the country.
Health Experts have suggested that these numbers can be minimised if we work together as a people; that is, as government authorities, experts, frontline personnel, household members and individuals.
With serious consequences, COVID-19 has derailed our development agenda, challenged our health system and undermined our economic growth. Our GDP indicators have become unrealistic, trade has slowed down and many young people are now unemployed. In one way or another, we are all affected by the global Coronavirus pandemic.
To mitigate its impact, my government has taken decisive policy decisions to address the health, economic and social concerns associated with the Coronavirus. I have invoked Constitutional powers to impose emergency regulations. We have provided funds to fight the pandemic, and have supported frontline institutions and our heroes, who are tirelessly and whole heartedly fighting to save us all.
I have established a Cabinet Sub-Committee to provide policy guidance. Together, we have demonstrated very strong political will through the implementation of a comprehensive National COVID Response Programme. In the process, all arms of Government, relevant institutions, partners and stakeholders have been engaged to enforce measures to protect our people.
Dear Citizens and Residents of The Gambia,
The reality is that we all have a stake in ensuring the enforcement of the measures put in place. Whether we are in a position of authority, an enforcement agent or a citizen or resident of The Gambia, every one of us has the common responsibility to prevent, contain and stop the spread of COVID-19. No one else will do it for us; we have to stand up in unity, and act together as a nation.
Fellow Citizens and Residents of The Gambia,
The reasons for cutting down business activities, restricting movement, and declaring a state of emergency, are obvious. We live in unusual circumstances which require unusual, urgent and decisive action.
I appreciate that many of you would like me to address the nation often and I want to assure you I will do so whenever the need arises. I must emphasise, however, that the most important thing is taking collective action to enforce the messages in my addresses on the pandemic and the advice by the health experts. Whenever I address the nation, I do so in the national interest and every law-abiding citizens and residents of the country should abide by our pronouncements.
It is not my wish to see any citizen and resident of The Gambia suffer in any form. If we work together, respect our diversity and utilise our expertise, we can do a lot more to change our situation.
Fellow Citizens, each of us can be an advocate for healthy living, if we follow the precautionary measures advised by experts. We can all be law enforcement agents, if we value and respect the rule of law. We can have the type of country we want to live in, if we all act responsibly and hold ourselves duly accountable to the nation.
Fellow Citizens,
It is obvious that we will make a positive difference towards the development of our country if we value the time we spend and do good. Importantly too, we can maintain peace and stability in the country, if we are honest, truthful and sincere, and treat everyone as an equal. That is why my government chooses dialogue and observing the rule of law, noting that The Gambia belongs to all of us. Through dialogue and respect for each other, we can achieve our development aspirations.
Fellow Citizens,
Residents of The Gambia,
To stop the spread of the corona virus, we are all duty-bound to wear a face mask, properly covering our mouth and nose, before going to any public place. We do not have to wait until the law is applied before we do the right thing. Let us police ourselves as individuals, groups and communities.
It is important to emphasise further that all transporters, be they official, private or commercial, should be responsible enough to wear a proper face mask and ensure that passengers in their vehicles wear an appropriate mask in a proper manner. Anyone who violates this regulation or breaks the curfew in force will be dealt with according to the Law without any compromise.
Every sector of society has a duty to prevent the spread of COVID-19. I encourage and call upon the religious leaders to support and adhere to the COVID-19 measures in the best interest of the country.
Municipal and Area Councils, Market Managers and all stakeholders are advised to provide sanitary facilities and design proper physical distancing mechanisms in all markets and their environs.
While Civic Education groups and the media sensitise the public, families, neighbours and friends have the civic and moral obligation to enlighten one another on the messages from the experts, the regulations and their implications.
Government can devise or invoke the necessary public health laws and regulations, but it is our responsibility as individuals to maintain regular hand washing, proper wearing of masks in public places and practise physical distancing. In the thick of all these, Law Enforcement Agents will have to enforce the emergency powers.
There is an old adage that “Prevention is better than cure.” Acting on this, let us demonstrate that we care about ourselves and those around us by following the COVID 19 prevention guidelines, regulations and measures.
My dear Citizens and Friends of The Gambia,
Once again, I reassure you that my government will continue to pursue the right policies and programmes for the betterment of our citizens. We will maintain an environment where peace, progress, the rule of law and self-realisation will thrive. Therefore, let us work together to contain and stop the spread of the Coronavirus.
We are One Gambia, One People. Act now and stop the spread of the virus. Indeed, COVID-19 is Real!
Thank you for your kind attention.
After days of relentless calls by concerned Gambians for the President to address the nation even though I personally don’t see the need for it, he is set to give a prime time speech tonight slated for 8pm local time. This follows a surge of Covid-19 cases in our country both in infection and in mortalities, overwhelming our already strained health care system and threatening to shut down our economy. With the President in isolation and many cabinet Ministers contracting the virus, Gambians were left to fend for themselves for the most part as the authorities rely on muscular enforcement of emergency powers to contain the transmission. Sadly, the only leadership presence Gambians feel is through press releases and patrolling men and women in uniform..
The President’s planned address will be no different from his previous ones in the past. The uninspiring, scripted speech will be weak on facts, shallow in substance, light in specifics and devoid of empathy. This is because President Barrow has been living in a bubble within the confines of the State House luxury and detached from the every day reality of the struggling Gambians. Worse, he has surrounded himself with like minded sycophants and political hacks solely preoccupied his self-succeeding efforts and blaming everyone and everything else than serving the critical needs of the people. Even when faced with the life and death situation of his own people President Barrow has demonstrated jarring unpreparedness, shocking disconnection and ineffective leadership to sail through the storm.
Thus, while I am relieved that our President is in good health, I am not not naive to believe that his address to the country will make any difference in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic plaguing our country. Not only is it too little too late, Gambians are simply used to his No Call/No Shows and our trust and confidence in his ability to turn things around are evaporating at astronomical rate!
The writer, Zakaria Kemo Konteh, is based in the United States.
