Letter to my ancestors

Dear Father,

Your sons have scattered after the Big Bang. Tiramang, your first son, became a Nko. Ndofen, your second son, became a Sino. Enyaw, your last son became an Ajamataw. Oh, Father, how thankful you must be to your gods. Your three sons have ruled empires of different generations. Tiramang has turned down offers to marry Jollof Jewels in favour of marrying the Mansa Musso of the Empire of Baadinbung. Ndofen reigned in Nyo-Mi. But, the best is often reserved for the last, and your prophesy is delivered through Enyaw. One of his sons, Appai, has mounted the Stallion. Appai’s prowess is legendary. He’s charismatic and benevolent. But he’s also a troubler. He’s in trouble and needs the forgiveness of you, Our Ancestors. For many reasons. The most abominable is that he fought and disrespected a respectable member from the House of the Julas. Appai has put bruises on ANM Jula’s head and denied him the Sun he did not own. He has transgressed our Book of Wise: thou shall not hurt a fly in the House of the Julas.

'We need Solo, dead or alive'

The atmosphere in the home of Ousainou Darboe, the leader of main opposition United Democratic Party was tense. News of the death in prison of one of the party’s executive members has spread. Hundreds of sympathisers have already gathered, waiting for their leader’s confirmation and command.

“I’ve got unimpeachable information that these arrestees were taken …to the NIA where they were subjected to the most brutal torture,” Ousainou Darboe reveals.

Gambia Approves Law to Promote Renewable Energy

Minister Jaiteh on the move for renewable energy

Gambia’s legislators on Friday December 13, 2013, unanimously approved a law – Renewable Energy Bill - which seeks to “establish the legal, economic and institutional basis to promote the use of renewable energy resources”.

More to an Imam than Leading Prayer Congregations

Imam Baba Leigh

When Imam Baba Leigh was declared winner of the first-ever pan-African human rights defenders award, broad smiles and loud cries of joy simultaneously filled Kairaba hotel’s giant Jaama Hall peopled by hundreds of human rights defenders from across Africa and beyond.

The atmosphere was emotionally charged, especially for rights activist Dr Isatou Touray who, like Baba Leigh, has had her share of the repression in Gambia, a country once known to be a model of democracy in Africa.

Fatou Camara Charged to Court

The embattled former press and public relations director at State House has been finally charged to court by Gambian state authorities.

Ms. Fatou Carama fell out with President Yahya Jammeh in August this year and has since been under siege.  Her prolonged detention runs counter to the Gambian constitution, which allows detention period of 72 hours.

But the Gambia government has ignored previous calls by rights groups and kept the former popular state TV broadcaster at the closely-guarded, highly inaccessible spy agency, National Intelligence Agnecy,  for 23 days.

Opposition Leader: Gambia’s Commonwealth Withdrawal Reckless

UDP standard bearer Ousainou Darboe (source AFP)

 

The leader of Gambia’s main opposition United Democratic Party, UDP, says Gambia’s withdrawal from the commonwealth was the most reckless foreign policy decision made by President Yahya Jammeh’s government. 

 The West African’s country’s controversial leader has again shocked the world when on Friday Oct.4 he announced Gambia’s withdrawal from the commonwealth.  

Tourism Falls for Smiling Coast’s Broadened Smile

Mr & Mrs Gridley having a tropical tan beside

a swimming pool at their regular, Kairaba Beach Hotel.

“We were going somewhere warm,” Mrs Gridley, a tourist, told me. “When we got here, we realised that here’s got everything we wanted for a good holiday.”

Mrs Gridley and her husband, Mr Gridley, were among a sea of tourists having a tropical tan beside a swimming pool at their regular, Kairaba Beach Hotel.

NAWEC’s Failure Should Be A Shared Blame

The Point, privately owned Gambian newspaper on Monday reported that the managing director of The Gambia National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) has been fired.

As characteristic of our current administration, no reason has been advanced for the abrupt dismissal of the NAWEC boss, Mr Momodou Jallow, who was first appointed in 2006, but dismissed later on, before he was re-appointed. 

The Cleric Was Neither on a Vigil, After All

Imam Leigh freed at last

The ‘disappeared’ Gambian Islamic scholar, who had been wildly speculated dead, has finally appeared, alive and ticking. But, after all, the astute cleric had neither been on a vigil. In fact, the past five months that he’d been away, whether he was regularly saying his prayers, is a question that awaits his confirmation.

Imam Baba Leigh was kept against his will, arbitrarily, in a secretly-shrouded place where not even his wife could access to him. The Gambian state authorities, who had all along been telling the public, unfaithfully, that the imam was not in their custody, are the culprit here.

Hobnobbing with MFDC Rebels

Rebels untying the hostages

Several hours after they were unshackled and ferried away from hell of a bush in Casamance to a safe-haven in Gambia, and hosted and freshened-up and quenched and fed in one of Gambia’s finest luxurious five-star hotels, the freed Senegalese hostages, which included six soldiers, could not wear a descent smile. But this forest of frowned faces on display has a distinguished dissimilarity with the rather bluffing grim-faced red-eyed men of boot camp.  

Matter-of-factly, the year-long captivity in the hands of the rebels in the bush, away from women and weapons, has apparently stripped the men in arm and uniform off any aura or pride that accompanies their professional or social standing. The soldiers, to say the least, as well as the gendarmerie and the fire fighter, were uncharacteristically cool and collected despite the pleasant twist of fate that should normally be greeted with bang.  

Gambia’s Destroys US$1 Billion Worth of Cocaine

The Gambia’s anti-narcotics agency today destroyed the 2 tonnes of cocaine impounded in the West African country back in 2010. The whereabouts of the illicit drugs bound for Europe had been a subject of speculation for the past two years.

But the officials of the country’s anti-narcotics agency say the destruction was delayed due to a lack of equipment.

The EU-Jammeh Conundrum - This is About Presidential Pride, Not Patriotism

With President Yahya Jammeh’s denunciation of the EU, thousands of Gambians, save not even National Assembly members, collapsed into a froth of blind nationalist frenzy. Obligingly, the protesters took to the streets in what was widely seen as stage-managed demonstrations.
Like President Jammeh had earlier done at State House, the activists led by senior government officials, whose ranks were swelled by rank-and-files, condemned the EU for 'busy bodying in the internal affairs of sovereign Gambia’.
From Banjul, the protests spilled over to all the local administrative regions. They marched in solidarity with the Gambia leader's defense of tiny, monetarily-poor Gambia's sovereignty against the mighty EU’s intrusion.

ACE - Will the Broadband Bring Bread to Africa’s Poor?

VP Njie-Saidy at the launch of ACE

In a popular cyber café at the heart of the Gambia’s business hub, Serrekunda, Mafuji Ceesay was staring at the computer screen as if reading an important mail. In reality, the 29-year-old Gambian was waiting for the hour-glass dancing before his eyes to stop. With a tinge of hopelessness, he right-clicked on the mouse for options and refreshed the system, hoping to make a breakthrough. No improvement.

    “As you can see for yourself, I have been here for the past eight minutes unable to view my email inbox. The whole of yesterday I could not access my email because the network was down,” he decried.  

Youth Minister Tells Young People: ‘Be Patient With Us’

Minister Jammeh being interviewed

 After much hullabaloo, the NaYCONF 2012 is now history. On Wednesday January 9, the biennial youth gathering came to a close in the Central River Region town of Bansang, the host for this year's rotational event.

The high point of the weeklong conference and festival characteristically marked the presentation of NaYCONF 2012 Resolution to the Gambia's minister for Youth and Sports, Alieu K. Jammeh.

This year’s Resolution, signed by head of delegation of all the seven regions and the NYC executive secretary, dished out a handsome slice of responsibility to a wide range of stakeholders in the development of the country's young people.

Journalist John Heaves a Sigh of Relief, But...

Journalist John recovers his laptop from NIA

Press freedom continues to elude journalists in Gambia. Currently under fire is Mr Abdoulie John, a stringer with the US-based Associated Press (AP) news agency. More than one month today, John who doubles as an editor of a Gambian online news agency, JollofNews, is still battling for his freedom.

From Dec.9, 2012 to date, the journalist had been arrested and detained on two separate occasions by the country's intelligence agency, NIA. Interestingly, all this while, he is yet to know his crime, if any.

“I did nothing wrong," he says with a unique emphasis. "It is sad to know that such things are happening in a country that is supposed to operate democratically. This is part of harassment and intimidation by the state to deny independent journalists to operate freely."

Gambia to Host Green Africa Conference

Bianca Griffith

Gambia will play host to an international conference on environment dubbed Green Africa Sustainability Conference slated for April 12-15 at Nemasu eco-lodge.
Green Africa brings together sustainable development practitioners and visionary funders with government leaders and pragmatic industry leaders.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the event, Bianca Griffith, the brainchild behind the conference said there exists a vast number of international conferences dedicated to policy debates on climate change, renewable energy and sustainable development policy.
“Green Africa Sustainability Conference is not one of them,” she said.
She said over the course of the gathering, ripe opportunities to ignite a fresh business framework built for maximum sustainability stakeholder benefit will be developed.

Jammeh Slams US, UK's 'gay rights or no aid’ campaign as ‘new wave of evil’

US and UK’s recent threat to cut aid to anti-gay governments in Africa is greeted met with growing resistance from African governments.

The Gambia’s president Yahya Jammeh, who had previously threatened to behead gays and lesbians in the country on Tuesday joined the list of African leaders, which include Uganda and Ghana in condemning the conditions president Obama and prime minister David Cameroon attached to their countries’ aid to developing countries.

“It’s not in the Bible or Qur’an.  It’s an abomination. I am telling you this because the new wave of evil that they want to impose on us will not be accepted in this country,” he said, renewing his seeming uncompromising stance against homosexuality.
“As long as I am the president, I am not going to accept it in my government and in this country. We know what human rights are. Human beings of the same sex cannot marry or date – we are not from evolution but we are from creation and we know the beginning of creation – that was Adam and Eve.

“Did God make mistake? No! If you think it is human right to destroy our culture, you are making a mistake because if you are in Gambia, you are in the wrong place. Discipline based on our tradition will be enforced to the letter.”

President Jammeh’s remarks came few months after president Barack Obama of US had reportedly instructed US officials to consider how countries treat their gay and lesbian populations when making decisions about allocating foreign aid.

UK prime minister David Cameroon had also threatened to withhold UK aid from governments that do not reform legislation banning homosexuality.

However, Uganda’s presidential adviser, John Nagenda, in response had accused Mr Cameron of showing an "ex-colonial mentality" and of treating Ugandans "like children" when he told them to criminalise anti-gay laws. "Uganda is, if you remember, a sovereign state and we are tired of being given these lectures by people," he’d said. "If they must take their money, so be it."
Also in response to Mr Cameroon’s threat, Ghana’s president, Atta Mills vowed never to capitulate to the demands by UK and US to respect the rights of gays and lesbians.
"No one can deny Prime Minister Cameron his right to make policies, take initiatives or make statements that reflect his societal norms and ideals, but he does not have the right to direct other sovereign nations as to what they should do especially where their societal norms and ideals are different from those which exist in Prime Minister's society," Mills was quoted as saying.

Ghanaian Faces Extradition to Gambia for Drugs Worth $400 m

Ghanaian authorities are set to extradite a suspected Ghanaian drug baron to The Gambia to face trial for drug trafficking, Ghana’s Daily Graphic newspaper has reported.

In June 2010, Robert Yaw Danquah, 54, has allegedly managed to import more than two tones of cocaine estimated at $400 million from Columbia for re-export to The Gambia on a boat, but was intercepted by Gambian security agencies.

He’d reportedly escaped arrest in The Gambia and had since been on the run until he was arrested on Monday 6 February 2012 at his residence in Accra by Ghana’s security agencies.
 An investigation in his saga was conducted after The Gambia’s National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDEA) wrote to Interpol Ghana and Ghana’s anti-drug agency to assist in his arrest.

The Ghanaian’s three accomplices, Robert Roselhamid Gazi, a Dutch, and George Sanchez and Juan Carlos Sanchez, both Columbians, are said to be currently serving a 50-year jail term each in The Gambia.

According to the deputy director of Ghana’s anti-drug agency, Nii Blankson, Mr Danquah made his appearance at the Accra High Court on Friday, February 10, 2012.

He is being remanded in Ghana, awaiting the outcome of the application of a bench warrant made to the magistrates’ court in Banjul by the NDEA, Daily Graphic newspaper quoted Ghana’s top anti-drug official as saying.

Meanwhile, efforts were made for NDEA officials to shed light on the facts attributed to the agency, but as at neither press time, its spokesperson Abdoulie Ceesay nor the executive director   Ben Jammeh could be reach for comments.

Yousou N’Dour Dances, But to the Tune of ‘Dirty’ Politics

For the past 25- plus solid years,  the undisputed king of Mbalax has been signing songs that appeal to the world. That was thought to be his destiny.  He even refused his father’s wish to pursue a university degree.  Today, he is one of world greatest singers. He earns support beyond his country of birth. But in a rather shock move, he changed his gears, plunging into domestic politics. He’d accused President Wade of ‘hearing only in mono, not stereo’, but little did he realise that the instruments that produce appealing tunes in politics are different from the ones he was used to. Now that he is disqualified to run for the presidency, Kissy Kissy Mansa writes that the super star is, but dancing to the songs of other authors…


When Mbalax super star Yousou N’Dour puts his successful music career on hold in response to what he calls a “supreme patriotic duty,” at first, it all sounded like a ‘big joke’.
For Yousou N’Dour had always maintained: “I want to use my music to deliver a political message… but I don’t want to be a politician.”
On January 3, Senegal’s most known person sent shock waves when he declared that he wants to become a force for change rather than just a voice of change.
Certainly, the pull factor was too heavy for him to resist. He entered. His justification: “For a long time, men and women have demonstrated their optimism, dreaming of a new Senegal.
“They have in various ways called for my candidacy in the February presidential race. I listened. I heard. And I responded favorably.”
Even after that declaration, there were misgivings. But those who think that the musician had no political ambition are not better informed. N’Dour was very much involved in politics. He’d campaigned for the release of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and performed at concerts for Amnesty International. In 2006, he was the only black actor in Amazing Grace, Michael Apted’s film about slavery. As a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, he has focused on African issues such as the Darfur crisis, broadening internet access and the famine in Somalia. That is political.
And those who think that Yousou N’Dour’s plunge into electoral politics is an unusual move for an African entertainment celebrity, are equally not well informed. Infact, since the end of European colonialism, musicians have often served as voices of conscience and protest in independent African nations, criticising corruption and dictatorship.
The best-known example was Fela Kuti of Nigeria, the main creator of the Afropop style in the 1970s and a ferocious opponent of military rule in his country. Like Yousou, Fela announced planned to seek Nigeria’s top position in 1979 and 1983, but was disqualified both times.
In some other developing countries, especially those in Latin America and the Caribbean, that kind of crossover is more common and accepted, however.
The current president of Haiti, Michel Martelly, was a singer. He was elected last year in a race in which the rapper Wyclef Jean, a friend to Yousou, also threw his hat in the ring, only to be disqualified because he did not meet presidency requirements.
But Africa is a different continent. N’Dour is the undisputed king of Senegalese music, and arguably the most important figure in world music.
He is famous for much more than being famous: the embodiment of the self-made man, he is feted at home as an entrepreneur and job-creator, owning two recording studios, a micro-finance company and a stake in a leading nightclub. He is a media mogul with television and radio stations and the widely read L’Observateur newspaper.
That aside, N’Dour is a member of that country’s most powerful Sufi brotherhood, which would boost his election chances.
But the hurly-burly of domestic politics, is something else. Liberia’s super star George Weah, the former world footballer of the year tried in 2005 to translate fame into votes, but failed.
“But I’m not George Weah…” alerted Yousou N’Dure responded to that comparison. He’d hoped his celebrity brings greater success than it did for George Weah and Fela Kuti.
But the spine-tingling singer, composer, occasional actor, entrepreneur, and political activist could not have realised that he needed more than fame and money.
For the past 25 years, this undisputed king of Mbalax has been signing songs that appeal to the world. Music was thought to be his destiny. Born in Medina in Dakar, Senegal to a car mechanic, Youssou even refused his father’s wish to pursue a degree in law or medicine.
Today, he is one of world greatest singers. He is feted home, earns support beyond his country of birth, Senegal.
However, in a rather shock move, especially to the music world, he changed his gears, plunging into domestic politics.
He’d accused president Wade of ‘hearing only in mono, not stereo’ but little did he realise that the instruments that produce appealing songs in politics are different from musical instruments – the ones he was used to.
He needed political knowledge beyond understanding the requirement of standing as a candidate, but N’Dour does not even have a school certificate. And he does not have a political organisation. He may be a giant in music, but compared to his opponents in the political race, he is a dwarf. Yet, he is determined.
“It’s true that I haven’t pursued higher education,” he had admitted in reaction to his critics. “I have proved my competence, commitment, rigour and efficiency time and time again. I have studied at the school of the world.”
Perhaps Yousou never thought that his innocent intension of emerging as the savior for his chaos stricken Senegal would be crushed the way the Constitutional Council did it on Friday January 26.
Shocked to his throat, he helplessly stared at President Wade appointed strange-looking five people who were to decide on his eligibility. Disqualified, he was declared. Qualified was the man the entire nation did not want. And shattered were Yousou’s dreams.
“I am a candidate and I will remain a candidate,” Ndour however said after the Constitutional Council’s decision.
“Abdoulaye Wade should not even have presented his candidacy as the basic law says he does not have the right to do so.”
He continued: “This is going to create tension. The opposition in its great majority does not support any fiddling with the constitution.”
“We have exposed ourselves to tensions, to electoral problems from the beginning. The die has been cast. From now on, we don’t control anything.”

Victory against the ‘Four Fold Damocles'

Perhaps because it involves a former speaker of parliament or maybe it involves a government-aligned newspaper. Or maybe because the claimant is an opposition sympathiser. Whatever is certain, the outcome of Mariama Denton Vs. FJC and Daily Observer is a victory for freedom of expression in a country where journalists have no confidence in the courts in the face of restrictive media laws, which late Edward Francis Small, father of Gambian journalism and trade unionism told British colonialists are ‘four fold Damocles intended to kill the media. Kissy-kissy Mansa writes

“If I have to hang somebody, I will hang him and go to sleep using the laws.”
These were the words of Gambian president Yahya Jammeh in a state broadcast in 2006.
Jammeh, who was making reference to the murder of a prominent Gambian journalist, Deyda Hyadara added:
“I don’t believe in killing people. I believe in locking you up for the rest of your life.”
If, as said to be true to his character that, he lives by his words is anything to go by, then President Jammeh did not fail this time round.
 From 2006 to date, about 11 Gambian journalists came under criminal prosecutions for their newspaper articles. 9 of them were nailed-down, convicted and sentenced.
In the case of the remaining two that escaped conviction, it is not because they were not found guilty. Rather, as in the case of the co-publisher of The Point newspaper, Mr Pap Saine, the case was withdrawn whilst Abubacarr Saidykhan, a reporter with Foroyaa newspaper was wrongly charged.
Of course, some 15 years ago (1997) when the constitution of the Second Republic came into being, entrenching the civil liberties including Freedom of Expression and clearly defining the role of mass media, reporters and editors predictably celebrated, and pointed regally to Section 25 (1), assured of being provided with an iron clad protection.
Section 25 (1) reads that every person shall have the right to freedom of speech which shall include freedom of the press and other media.
The Gambia media is more especially called upon to maintain the principles of free discussion. Hence Section 207 reads: “the Press and other Media shall at all times be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of the responsibility and accountability of government to the people of The Gambia.”
Thus looking at these expectations, one can observe that the clear-worded constitution embraces democratic principles by recognizing the important role that the PRESS, acknowledged as the FOURTH ESTATE, plays in building awareness and ensuring accountability of public trustees.
However, these constitutional guarantees have been negated by other statutes that take away the very freedoms given by the supreme law of the land.
These essentially include the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 2005 - in it the sedition and criminal defamation, the Public Order Act, Official Secret Act and False News publication.
With the co-existence of these inconsistent binding legal forces, which rendered a mockery to freedom of expression in The Gambia, the constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of expression are not as protective as the media had thought.
Consequently, the courts have repeatedly held that section 25 is not absolute. Thus they are constantly called upon to decide whether actions taken by the PRESS are legally permissible.
But throughout the cases involving, for instance sedition, emphasis was laid on test of criminality and not who is the judge of criminality of the utterances.
This leads to a direction of the law of sedition that makes the test-blame of the government and its officials because it brings into disrepute and tendency to ‘overthrow’ the government.
This is confirmed in the case of ‘The Six Journalists’ when Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle of High Court in Banjul describes seditious publications to mean ‘a crime against society; that it disturbs tranquility and steer up opposition against the Government and bring Government into hatred and disaffection.’
Justice Fagbenle even weighted-down Mr. Sam Sarr and Pap Saine’s view of publishing divergent views of an international standard and in accordance with good governance to favor the decision held in State Vs Lamin Waa Juwara that freedom of expression is not absolute; that it could be restricted for ‘national interest, public safety and national security’.
But common law depends a lot on precedence, and judges and magistrates’ have been relying on earlier bondable decisions. Gambian journalists will now have a decision to rely on. A High Court decision for that.
On Thursday January 12, Justice Mama Singhateh of High Court in Banjul cleared of former speaker of National Assembly cum ruling APRC bigwig, Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay and Daily Observer newspaper of defamation charges levied by Mariama Denton, a lawyer and an opposition sympathiser.
The civil suit came when the former Speaker, in reaction to a comment about the claimant in May 2001 published on Daily Observer newspaper said: “Those UDP women who he [Juwara] praised were the opportunists he was referring to that they are following the UDP because their brothers, uncles and husbands were corrupt and were implicated by the Alghali Commission and other commissions…”
These words, the plaintiff averred were meant to  damage her credit reputation. They did damage her reputation, she told the court.
But here, the nitty-gritty of the saga is not that relevant. What we are concerned here is what Justice Singhateh said as she struck out the case:
“If the alleged defamation involves a matter of public concern, the plaintiff is constitutionally required to prove both the statement’s falsity and the defendant’s fault.”

Maybe because it involves a former Speaker who still has the power to gather all evidences against the allegations. Perhaps because it involves a government aligned newspaper who can equally put up a robust defence. Or maybe it involves an opposition sympathiser, who will find it hard, if not impossible, as it infact turned out, to provide an alibi.
Whatever is certain, the outcome of Mariama Denton Vs FJC and Daily Observer is a victory for freedom of expression in The Gambia.
There is freedom of speech, but the reality is what Galsworthy has to say of press freedom in communist Russia after the second revolution:
“The other day in Russia, an Englishman came to the street meeting shortly after the first revolution had begun. An extremist was addressing the gathering and telling them they were fools to go to war and so forth. The crowed grew angry and soldiers were making a rush at him. But the chair, a big burly peasant stopped them with the words: brothers, you know that our country is now a country of freedom of speech. We must listen to this man, we must let him say anything we will. But brothers when he finished, we will bash his head-in.”
This means the government did not censure speech or word, but punishes as it deems fit after publication. But it may not be all that easy now…