Goodbye Georgie

I wish to join millions of Americans, in saying goodbye to George W Bush and wishing him and his family well in their future endeavours.

Bush may have been the most unpopular US president in history, but he was the best friend of Africa, a continent he visited twice and his wife Laura, five times during his presidency.

You will be right to call him a war criminal, who has the blood of thousands of women and children on his hands, a maroon, an enemy of the environment and a staunch supporter of the State of Israel, yet Bush has done more than any other US president in helping out the African people.

When President Bush came to power in 2001, the US spent US$1.4 billion a year on humanitarian and development aid in Africa. By 2006, the figure had increased to a massive US$5.6 billion a year. The centerpiece of Mr Bush's aid to Africa is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Pepfar), a five-year US$15 billion HIV/Aids prevention and treatment programme, which he launched in 2003. His last budget proposed doubling the funding to US$30 billion over the next five years.

Before the coming to power of Bush, the US government funded anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for just 50,000 people across the continent despite millions of people suffering from the disease and thousands dying every year. Thanks to Bush, the number has today increased to 1.3 million people.

The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), a three-year US$1.2 billion programme centred in Africa, has brought dramatic gains in several focal countries; in 1997, the US malaria programmes in Africa were US$1 million per year, which was increased last year to US$338 million.

Eleven well governed African countries are currently benefiting from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), accounting for 65 per cent of the over US$5.5 billion committed worldwide.

Since Bush came to power, the US has backed programmes to cancel US$34 billion worth of debt for 27 African countries. At the same time, aid to Africa has risen to US$5.7 billion a year by 2007.

While he may be criticised by many for refusing to recognise the International Criminal Court (ICC) and supporting attempts by human rights organisations to indict President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, Mr Bush led the international community in declaring that the atrocities in Darfur amounted to genocide.

Even some of the severe critics of the Bush administration have spoken out favourably about his support for the continent. Joel Barkan, a senior associate at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies said: "Taken alongside US funding for malaria prevention, plus the Millennium Challenge Accounts, which provide funding for countries with strong governance records, Mr Bush has done more for Africa than any other US president. I am a very severe critic of the Bush administration, but you cannot take away from the president the fact that the commitment of the US, in terms of aid and debt relief, is certainly greater under Bush than Clinton."

Anti-poverty campaigner, Bob Geldof, who traveled to Africa, last year with Mr Bush said: "The Bush regime has been divisive - but not in Africa. I read it has been incompetent - but not in Africa. It has created bitterness - but not here in Africa. Here, his administration has saved millions of lives."

Todd Moss, a senior fellow at the Centre for Global Development in Washington said: "I don't think it's too strong to say that President Bush's Africa policy is the most distinguished foreign policy legacy of the administration. Although few expected such interest eight years ago, the president has clearly been deeply and personally committed to strengthening US - Africa relations."

Bush’s Africa Record

**Pumped US$18bn into fighting HIV/Aids, much of it in Africa
**Backed cancelling US$34bn worth of debt for 27 African states
**Launched initiative that has halved malaria in 15 African countries
**Led condemnation of Sudan's record in Darfur as genocide
**Pressed for north-south peace deal in Sudan
**"Saved millions of lives", according to aid activist Bob Geldof
**Backed Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia to battle Islamists

Looking at the assistance Bush rendered to the continent, all I can say is enjoy yourself in your Texas ranch.


A camel does not make fun of another camel's hump

Here we go again. Last week, while reading some online papers, I came across President Yahya Jammeh's condemnation of last month's military coup in Guinea Conakry.

The coup in Guinea was of course illegal, but how can Jammeh himself forget so soon that his July 22 coup was also illegal. Both he and Moussa Camara committed a crime against their countries and he is not qualified to offer any lecture to Captain Camara.

Jammeh is among a few African statesmen who because of their selfish interests maintained a cordial relationship with the Late Lansana Conte, while ignoring the sufferings the ordinary Guineans were going through as a result of his misrule.

Despite the fact that his military coup was illegal and that the Gambia is now under 'civilian rule', Jammeh still continue to waste millions of tax payers' money in glorifying it. Just last July, a cash prize of a million Dalasis was awarded to someone for composing a song suitable for adoption as the anthem of the July 22 coup. That is very insulting to the Gambian people many of whom are living on less than one Pound Sterling a day.

Jammeh's July 22 coup was unjustifiable as it has not brought anything meaningful to the Gambian people. And the more Jammeh continues to ruin the hopes and aspirations of the Gambian people and tear our country into shreds, the more he is breading dissatisfaction among the people.

Sit-tight despotism breeds military coups and rebellion.

Another thing that makes me laugh is the way Jammeh kept emphasising the importance of Ecowas in the article. The Gambia has ignored or broke many Ecowas protocols since Jammeh came to power.

Secondly, the Gambia government showed total disrespect to Ecowas when it failed to appear at the Ecowas Court of Justice last year. To further insult the sub-regional court, the government is yet to comply with court ruling that for the immediate and unconditional release of Chief Manneh.

If Jammeh truly believes in the ideals of Ecowas, then let him comply with its court ruling and show respect to its protocols.

For comments write to info@allgambian.net or papak196@yahoo.co.uk

Lawyer Darboe chides Jammeh's criticism of Guinea coup

APA Banjul (The Gambia) The Gambian leader, President Yahya Jammeh, who recently chastised those African leaders that endorsed the coup d'etat in Guinea, on Monday came under sharp criticisms from the leader of the main opposition United Democratic Party, Ousainou Darboe, who accused him of paying lip service to democratic ideals.

Darboe made the statement in response to a press release issued by President Jammeh informing people of the opening of a competition for the composition of a song suitable for adoption as the anthem of the July 22 military takeover that brought him to power.

The release states that the winning entry will receive one million dalasis (US$40,000).

Darboe remarked, "it is ironical that a government that calls itself a constitutional government could extol a military takeover to the extent of asking people to write an anthem to extol it. This press release shows that Yahya Jammeh was hypocritical in condemning the military takeover in Guinea. He has no moral standing to condemn the coup d'etat in Guinea, because what he is doing is condoning and encouraging a coup d'etat."

OBAMA THE GREAT

My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people, have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
Serious challenges
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.


These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
Nation of 'risk-takers'
We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
'Remaking America'
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.


This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.
Restoring trust
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.


What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.
The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
'Ready to lead'
As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.


Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
'Era of peace'
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
'Duties'
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths.
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
'Gift of freedom'
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

Keeps gettin' worst

by PK Jarju
It is common believe that a new year brings new habits and better things. However, with regard to the Gambia, the more the years come and go, the darker and dangerous the atmosphere in which the media operate becomes.

Since the coming to power of the AFPRC/APRC government, the Gambian media has never enjoyed the rights and freedoms that are enshrined in the laws of the country. Their rights and freedoms are trampled upon by a government that funnily swore to protect and defend them.

While the rest of the African continent is well on the road to democracy and good governance, the Gambia is moving hundred steps the opposite direction, as the government continues to do everything possible to kill and bury the press.

The government is using the repressive criminal code it enacted in 2004 to clamp down on its critics and opponents. The criminal code makes criticism of the Jammeh regime a criminal offense liable to heavy fine, imprisonment or both.

Local media houses are today afraid to embark on investigative journalism, writing editorials or publish articles that are critical to regime.

The government is yet to repeal Decree 70/71, which increased the bond to be executed by a newspaper from D1, 000 to Dl00, 000 before it commences operation. The Newspaper Amendment Act enacted in 2004 is also yet to be repealed. The Act which further increased the bond to be executed before a media house commences operation from D100, 000 to D500, 000, is making it very difficult for Gambians to establish private and independent media houses.

Decree 45, which abrogates constitutional safeguards against arbitrary search and permits search and seizure of property without due process, is still not repealed by the government despite criticisms from international human rights organisation.

These allows the NIA, which centres its operation on journalists and critics of the regime to arrest and detain people arbitrarily as well as tap phone lines without a court warrant. These harassments, arbitrary arrests, torture and disappearances have forced many journalists and critics into exile.

There has never been a year since 1994 in which a journalist has never been arrested and detained in the Gambia for writing or publishing articles that are deemed critical of the Jammeh regime.

2008 was the same as the previous years. The Gambian media witnessed arrest and detention, harassment, intimidation.

On June 14, 2008, Dida Halake, managing editor of the pro-government Daily Observer, was arrested and detained for many days by the police before being charged with sedition. Mr Halake's arrest came in the wake of fallout he had with the paper's board. He was later acquitted and discharged but not without losing his job.

On July 17, 2008, Abdulhamid Adiamoh, editor of TODAY newspaper was arrested and detained for several hours by the police before been charged with sedition. He was arrested in connection with an article on his July 15 publication captioned: Children dodge school to pick scrap metal.

While the matter is still ongoing, Mr Adiamoh, a Nigerian, was convicted on a separate charge and ordered to pay a fine of D10, 000 in default to serve six months imprisonment for failure to renew his business certificate with the registrar of companies at the AG Chambers contrary to Section 3 (1) and punishable under Section 2 (a) (1) of the Business Registration Act 2005.

On 18 August 2008, Fatou Jaw Manneh, a US based journalist received a heavy fine after been found guilty of sedition by Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing court. Ms Manneh was arrested on March 28, 2007 by NIA officers upon arrival at Banjul International Airport for granting an interview to this paper [AllGambia]. In the interview, she criticised the manner in which the country is being rule by the president, whom she accused of betraying and tearing the country into shreds.

On December 30, 2008, two Scottish Christian missionaries, David and Fiona Fulton, were fined D250, 000 and sentenced to one year in prison with hard labour by Magistrate Idrissa Mbai of the Banjul court for sedition.

The couple were arrested in November after sending e-mails to groups and individuals outside the country which criticised the government of Yahya Jammeh.

Until now, the government is yet to comply with the June 5, 2008 ruling of the Abuja based Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States for the immediate release of Chief Ebrima Manneh.

Mr Manneh a journalist with the Daily Observer was arrested at the newspaper premises on July 11, 2006 by plain clothes security officers and detained incommunicado. He has since been sighted several times in the custody of state security personnel.

The Jammeh regime has consistently denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the journalist, and has demonstrated gross disrespect for the Ecowas court by refusing to appear throughout the proceedings.

By the end of the year, there is no development with the government investigation into the gruesome murder of Deyda Hydara, managing editor of The Point Newspaper, who was gunned down by unknown assailants on December 16, 2004 while driving home.

For comments, write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk or info@allgambian.net. U can also read my blog www.pkjarju.blogspot.com

Ghana to be tough on Banjul

New Ghanaian vice president John Mahama has reiterated his desire to seek justice for some 44 Ghanaians brutally murdered in Gambia in 2003.

He told Journalists in Accra he has called for a briefing from the ECOWAS committee mandated to investigate the matter, and a decision will be taken thereafter.
He assured government will seek adequate compensation from the Gambian authorities to appease the relatives of the victims, adding, bodies of the victims would be retrieved for the appropriate burial ceremony to take place in Ghana.

Vice President Mahama was an ardent critic of the Kufuor administration and advocated for a tougher stance to be taken on Gambia.

He suggested government must sever diplomatic relations with Gambia until they cooperate with investigations.

The killings were suspected to have been perpetrated by operatives of the Gambian government and have since frustrated efforts to investigate the matter.

Not even the United Nations emissary tasked with the responsibility to investigate the killings have made any headway, at least for now, but have shown no signs of giving up, until they get to the bottom of the killing.

Vice president Mahama said a lot more pressure will be mounted on the Gambia to extract more information on the details of the killing.

Story by Nathan Gadugah, myjoyonline - JoyFM Online

The dark, strange truth behind David and Fiona Fulton in Gambia

By Richard Pendlebury
Mail online
At the State House in the Gambian capital of Banjul one evening last week, President Yahya Jammeh addressed a gathering of his nation's Christian leaders.
His Excellency told them that not a single member of their religious faith had been convicted of a crime by a Gambian court during the whole of 2008.
What a marvellously trouble-free example the Christians were to his country's Muslims, who make up 97 per cent of the population.
This was a puzzling statement by the head of state, given that in Banjul only a few hours earlier, two Pentecostal missionaries, David and Fiona Fulton, originally from Devon, had been sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour for allegedly spreading sedition against his rule.
The case had already made international headlines and did so again the next morning.
But if any of the senior churchmen present raised a cynical eyebrow at the President's blandishments, it went unreported by the state media.
After all, Gambians have learned it's best not to contradict a leader who claims to have personally invented a 'cure' for Aids using green paste and bananas and has kept power for 14 years through what Amnesty International lists as 'unlawful detention, torture, unfair trials, enforced disappearances and extra-judicial executions'.
Two hundred years after the British established it as a base from which to attack the West African slave trade, fear and political oppression are the twin realities of life in Africa's smallest mainland nation.
In those early days, the only way to communicate along the steamy banks of the great Gambia River was by small boat and word of mouth.
Today the internet has reached the larger towns, allowing instant access to the rest of the world for a few of its inhabitants.
It is thanks to the internet that the Fultons came to be lodged last night in the notorious Mile Two maximum security prison on Banjul's outskirts.
Emails which they had sent to friends in the UK had found their way back to Gambia and into the hands of Jammeh's security apparatus.
One of the messages had apparently contained the observation that the country was 'sinking fast into a morass of Islam'.
But what undoubtedly sealed their fate was the description of the president as a 'madman'.
In many respects, the Fultons' story is one of sin and redemption, struggle and disenchantment, set against a tropical background of seething violence and widespread corruption.
But there are areas which remain unclear, not least among them David Fulton's colourful life before he found God and relocated to the African jungle.
He was born 60 years ago and was brought up in the Scottish seaside town of Troon, where his elderly mother still lives.
According to a cousin, Mr Fulton left the town in his late teens and would appear to have joined the British Army.
But members of his wife's family seem vague about his military career and immediate aftermath. (His own are not commenting on the affair, in the hope of securing a presidential pardon.)
But two biographical details have been repeated as fact in all press reports on Mr Fulton since his arrest.
The first is that he had been an Army officer and risen to the rank of Major. The second - made all the more remarkable by the first - is that after leaving the military he embarked on an armed robbery spree which led to his imprisonment.
But contemporary newspaper accounts of this remarkable and unexplained rise and fall are conspicuous by their absence.
Nobody of Fulton's name and seniority appears on the Army Lists - the annual directories of serving officers - during the relevant period.
But friends recall that he said he was a major in the Territorial Army while in Devon.

Family album: David Fulton and his wife Fiona holding their adopted daughter Elizabeth, alongside son Luke and daughter Iona
On the website of the Christian charity Prison Fellowship International (PFI), with which Mr Fulton has been working for many years, there is a brief account of his earlier life.
It states: 'As a young man David had served in the British Army, where he had risen to the rank of major.
'Despite his military career, David also had a background in prison. When he was in his 30s he became involved in armed robberies. "I robbed security cars all over England," Mr Fulton says.
'When the law eventually caught up with him, he faced the possibility of serving a lengthy prison sentence.'

The family emigrated to Gambia in 1999 (file picture)
While in prison, David visited the prison chapel and converted to Christianity.
During the early to mid Eighties, he served time at Dartmoor Prison in Devon and then Channings Wood, a category-C training prison near Newton Abbot, also in Devon.
It was at the latter establishment that he met and fell in love with Fiona McMinn, a prison visitor from nearby Torquay, 14 years his junior.
She came from what one family member described as a 'conventional Christian background', but had a strong faith which Mr Fulton now shared.
They married in 1986 and had two children, Iona, now 20, and Luke, 18. After his release, Mr Fulton went into the car repair business in Torbay, where the family lived in the Nineties.
A source close to Mrs Fulton's family said: 'We never knew exactly what David had done in the Army, not even what his regiment was or where he might have seen service.
'But I had no doubt because of references he made to his service, in particular an operation which involved helicopters, that he was a regular Army soldier.
'Whether he didn't speak about it because of the sensitivity of what he had done or whether he was just private about it, I don't know. It was the same with his time in prison.
'The reason he came to settle in Devon was because he had first been moved there, to a jail at Newton Abbot.
'He never spoke to me about what he had done, where he had done it or when it had all happened.
'Obviously we knew he had met Fiona in prison, so we knew he had been convicted and was doing time.'
Maureen Stone, a local family friend, had a similar story. She says: 'I didn't know much about his background - certainly not that he had ever been in prison.
'I think his involvement with the Army continued after he left, because I recall that he was in the TA.
'In the years before they went to Gambia for good, we used to help them collect old tools and sewing machines, which he would then take out there and give to young offenders in prison.
'That was so typical of him. He was always trying to help others.
'I couldn't believe it when I heard what had happened on the news. But David had a strong sense of what was right and wrong.
'He would speak up when he felt something wasn't fair.'
The PFI website says Mr Fulton had a 'calling' to go and minister in Gambia after going there on holiday.
A source close to Mrs Fulton's family said the couple announced their decision to become missionaries at a family dinner. He described it as a surprise, 'but they felt very strongly about it'.
The family emigrated to Gambia in 1999.
'David was planning on doing vehicle maintenance to pay his way, but I think soon after they got there the government introduced a licence system whereby non-Gambians had to pay to work,' says the source.
'The cost of the licence was so prohibitively high you would have had to work for years before you could recoup the outlay.
'That was the reason they went across into doing full-time missionary work.'
Given what has since happened, it is ironic that Mr Fulton found work as a chaplain to Jammeh's armed forces and prison network.
Mrs Fulton was appointed chaplain to Bunjal's international airport while spending most of her time visiting the terminally ill.
The family source explained: 'Their funding came from a network of supporters, particularly Canada, but not particular churches other than one near Manchester - the Westhoughton Pentecostal Church.
'It paid for all sorts of things but particularly medicine, some of which might be sent out from the UK.
'Sometimes Fiona would cross into neighbouring Senegal to buy basic supplies such as antibiotics.
'Money could be erratic and for a long time they only had half a house and half a roof until more money arrived and they could add bits on.
'Everything is so haphazard out there. People don't think long-term, but when your goal is to get through the day alive and fed, you have very different priorities - especially when there is so much disease and danger.'
It was a great comfort for the Fultons to be able to talk of their work and troubles with the outside world.
'In the early days, they would send regular letters back and more recently emails,' says the source.
'When they first got online they used an internet cafe. But then they got their own connection.
'The emails which came back were almost like installments in a book in that each one could be a chapter in their daily life. I can imagine how they came to be misconstrued.
'If you know David and the sort of person he is and the sort of humour he had, then you wouldn't read too much into his words.
'But if you were Gambian and in authority, and read them literally without any wit or irony, then you might take offence.'
The emails contained grumbles about a number of aspects of life in Jammeh's Gambia, including the chronic shortages of fuel and water, according to a member of the Fulton family.
On one occasion, they were stopped by the authorities from giving water from their new borehole to local people because the authorities were asking for contributions towards the fuel for the generator that pumped it.
Life had become increasingly hard for everyone in the past two years. In March 2006 Jammeh claimed to have uncovered yet another coup attempt - the sixth since he came to power.
It led to a fresh round of arrests, imprisonments and disappearances. Against this background, the Fultons decided to send their two teenage children back to Devon to finish their education.
They had just adopted a baby Gambian girl whom they called Elizabeth when Mr Fulton was sacked from his prison chaplaincy for allegedly trying to convert inmates.
There had also been a number of religiously motivated attacks on him in the street and he had begun to carry a gun for protection.
On one occasion, he is said to have fired it at an assailant.
Latterly, the couple were based in Kerr Sering, an hour from the capital. Mr Fulton was ministering to communities deep in the bush.
A family friend spoke of 'domestic difficulties' which put Mr Fulton 'under a tremendous amount of pressure' and might have clouded his judgment.
One message from Mr Fulton, sent in September, was apparently headed: 'Hell in The Gambia.'
Another read: 'I believe it is quite clear there is a growing extremist element in the army and indeed in the country.
'I suggest that we arm the Muslims with sticks and the Christians with machine guns and let them fight.'
It seems that these and other offending emails were seen by a Gambian national living in the UK with whom the Fultons had fallen out. The couple were arrested on November 24.
On Christmas Eve they changed their pleas to being guilty of attempting to 'bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the President of the Republic, President Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh and the government of Gambia'.
While on remand, Mr Fulton was held at the squalid Mile Two, where beriberi, malaria and food poisoning kill a number of prisoners each year. Having refused to eat the food he is given, his health is failing.
His wife was kept at Banjul's main police station, while Elizabeth is being cared for by friends.
They both face a year's imprisonment in Mile Two, plus hard labour - possibly in one of the peanut plantations which, along with tourism, are a cornerstone of the economy.
Meanwhile, their daughter Iona is reportedly due to give birth in the UK. Little wonder the Fultons both broke down and cried when sentence was passed this week.
'It's so hard for all of us back here,' says a family member. 'We are desperate for information about what is happening to them yet so little is filtering back.
'The Deputy High Commissioner is one of the few allowed to visit them.'
Last night, a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: 'We will continue to provide consular assistance to them both. There have been no significant developments.'
On Sunday, a letter from the Fultons to Jammeh was read out on Gambian state television.
They wrote: 'We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to apologise publicly to His Excellency and humbly ask for what will graciously and compassionately show us clemency.
'We humbly ask that the present proceeding be withdrawn and our passports be returned to us so we may return to the United Kingdom with our little daughter Elizabeth on the first flight available to us.'
Reports yesterday suggested that the two-year-old has, in fact, now been sent to Britain.
Friends say that before his arrest Mr Fulton was putting the finishing touches to his autobiography.
From 'Army officer' to armed robber, to missionary to prisoner once again, it promises to be gripping.

Jammeh Frowns at Israel

by PK Jarju

As the international community continue to keep a tight lip over the Israeli invasion of Gaza which has killed hundreds and injured thousands more, Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, has called on "civilised members of the human race to rise up against what he described as a holocaust" that is being unleashed on helpless Palestinians.

In his televised New Year's message, Mr Jammeh said Palestinian lands, human dignity and right to peaceful and dignified existence in their own country, are being blatantly violated with impunity by a country that the whole world went to war for between 1939-1945 to free their citizens from Nazi Germany and other parts of the West.

"Today, they are the principal perpetrators of the same genocide/holocaust against the people of Palestine on Palestinian soil; and all that we hear from the West and other Quarters is that Israel has a right to defend itself against attack! That Hamas is to be blamed for all the Israeli murderous campaign against the people of Palestine. Why didn't the principle of the right to self defence apply to the Russian-Georgian Conflict? Why was the West quick to intervene in that conflict and the UN Security Council was sitting almost daily to find an urgent solution to end that conflict? May be, because the people that were dying are White and Christian and so the conflict must be stopped.

"Today, nobody is making any serious effort to stop Israel from mass slaughter of Palestinians because they are Muslims and not European or White. Where there are so-called western civil societies and the so-called human rights activists/campaigners?," Mr Jammeh asked.

Mr Jammeh who is an outspoken critic of Israel, said Palestinians have the same human value and lives as the Georgians that the entire West stood up to save and that the world will be a very dangerous and violent place if such blatant barbaric and genocidal behaviour is condoned by the world community.

While calling on Gambians to pray for their brothers and sisters in Palestine who are "victims of a brutal and inhuman occupying power that is bent on wiping them out, whilst the whole world is watching with indifference", Mr Jammeh expressed his wish and prayers that the Almighty Allah will intervene and save humanity from the "scourge of murderous racist powers" that pride themselves by atrocious invasions of other countries in the name of democracy, pillaging, looting and destroying lives and plundering their properties with impunity.

He also prayed to Allah the Almighty to "destroy all these evil forces" and let decent and civilised humanity live in peace and love, free from such satanic beings.

In Gambian, Arbitrary, Indefinite Detention without Family Access

Detention without trial has added dimension where access to family members is flatly denied. After suffering arbitrary arrest, detainees in Gambia are now being subject to tougher sanctions including and not limited to refusal to access family and friends.

State detainees in the Gambia have access to their families curtailed by authorities at various secret detention centres across the country. Many of them are simply perceived opponents of President Yahya Jammeh’s coarse ideas.

They are held incommunicado without bail, access to medical care and that of their families. Some of them are reportedly held at the notorious maximum security wing of the State Central Prison on the outskirts of Banjul, for years without charge or being informed of the reason(s) for their arrest, as required by the constitution of the Gambia.

Chief Ebrima Manneh, journalist with the Daily Observer Newspaper was arrested at the premises of his work place on 7th July, 2006. He was arrested by plain clothes men. Chief Manneh was last spotted in September, 2007 at Fatoto police station, in Eastern part of the Gambia.

The Media Foundation for West Africa has filed a suit against Gambia Government at the Community Court of Justice of West African States in Abuja, Nigeria. Government and state security agents have failed to appear during the entire course of the case. The court at the end of the case delivered judgment in favour of Chief Manneh. Government was ordered to pay US$100,000 as damages to Manneh’s family. The government is yet to comply with the order to compensate Manneh’s family. Security forces who work under directives of President Jammeh are still keeping tight lips over where Chief Manneh is and what happened to him since that fateful July 7 arrest in 2006.

Repeated appeals by Chief Manneh’s aging father, Sarjo Manneh has failed to yield success.

Momodou Lamin Nyassi, former chief of Foni Kansala, Western Gambia, Buba Sanyang and Ndongo Mboob were all arrested in April, 2006 in Bwiam. Their whereabouts has become a mystery and cause unending psychological strains to families and friends. Their families reportedly searched and visited all accessible detention centers but cannot trace the trio.

Ebou Jarju, a presidential steward at State House is reportedly detained at the police headquarters in Banjul. He was arrested in March, 2008 at Kombo Darsilami, located by the border with the Senegalese province of Cassamance. He was reportedly arrested on suspicion of wanting to poison President Jammeh after a powder was found in his possession. Sources noted that the circumstances surrounding his arrest were investigated but results do not found him guilty. Mr. Jarju is yet to be charged or informed of the reason(s) for his continued detention.

Jasaja Kujabi of Dobong, (a supposed uncle to President Jammeh), Macie Jammeh, and Haruna Jammeh, all relatives, were picked up by security agents in September, 2005. Whereabouts and wellbeing of the trio still unknown to their families.

Kebba Secka, Officer Commanding - OC of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) at Madina-Ba Division, was arrested since 14th May, 2007. He is reportedly languishing at the maximum wing of the notorious Mile 2 prisons.

Kanyiba Kanyi a staff of the Christian Children Fund (CCF) and a staunch supporter of the United Democratic Party was also arrested on 18th September, 2006. His counsel Ousainou Darboe, leader of the opposition United Democratic Party filed a suit at the Banjul High Court for the State to produce him. The then Judge of Gambia’s High Court, Justice Monageng ordered the State to produce him. Authorities in Gambia so far failed heeding to court orders.

Detention without trial of opponents has become an integral part of state operations in Gambia, defying all policy provisions of the current government.

Gambia’s justice system is fast decaying in the hands of the people entrusted to keep custody of the country’s instruments for protecting all and sundry. Before the world comes to Gambia’s rescue, many silent sufferers would face the brunt.

In its latest report on Gambia, the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute said the rule of law is at risk in the country and that the judicial system "suffers from neglect," creating "a climate where the protection of human rights is undermined and the rule of law subverted."

It added that legal practitioners in the Gambia are currently operating under challenging conditions due to the existence of ongoing incidents of harassment and intimidation, which have created a climate of fear in the profession.

The report further said the Jammeh regime exhibits hostility and suspicion in its dealings with the legal profession which it perceives as an oppositional force, and there is currently an atmosphere of fear amongst lawyers, emanating from the attempted murder of a lawyer and several other incidents of harassment and intimidation of lawyers, that they may face serious adverse consequences as a result of their acceptance of certain causes on behalf of their clients

2008 a difficult year for Gambians

The New York Chapter of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) have described 2008 as a difficult year for Gambians who believe in democracy and the rule of law.

In their New Year message, the party said over the past year, President Yahya Jammeh undermined the Gambian constitution by ordering the arrest ordering the arrest and disappearance of opponents of his dictatorial regime like Kanyiba Kanyi a supporter of the UDP, who was arrested on September 18th, 2006 to date without trial or release and Journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh of the Daily Observer.

They added that the year also 'witnessed a serious hostility on the Gambia judiciary system by the summary dismissal of high Court Judges Mr. B.Y. Camara and Haddy Roche for intimidation purpose.

Below we reproduce the full text of the press release.

The UDP wishes to take this opportunity to wish all Gambians and friends of The Gambia a happy 2009 year.

Year 2008 has been a difficult year for Gambians who believe in democracy and the rule of law.The year 2008 President Jammeh went on undermining the constitution by ordering the arrest and disappearance of opponents of his dictatorial regime like Kanyiba Kanyi a supporter of the UDP and employee of CCF who was arrested on September 18th, 2006 to date without trial or release and a Journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh of the Daily Observer.

On June 5th, 2007, Hon. Justice Ms Sanji M. Monageng of the High Court of The Gambia ordered;

1. The Director General of the National intelligence Agency, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General to produce the body of Mr. Kanyiba Kanyi to Court on June 7th, 2007 but it is a well known fact that the law is only respected when it's favor the APRC regime.

The year 2008, witnessed a serious hostility on the Gambia judiciary system by the summary dismissal of high Court Judges Mr. B.Y. Camara and Haddy Roche for intimidation purpose.

The year 2008, witnessed the revelation of a rampant corruption scandal at the Gambian Embassy in Washington DC and to date neither the Auditor General nor the Accountant General has issued a word concerning the allegation and no action has been taken. Gambians want the Washington DC Embassy to be audited and the report be made public, in the absence of that one would be left to believe that the allegation is positive and the APRC regime has a case to answer to the Gambian people.

In the history of The Gambia, year 2008 has been the year when the United Nations launched an investigation on the Gambian Government for alleged massacre of 50 West African Nationals and the investigation is still on. Gambians deserve to know about this serious matter.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, once said "The abandonment-even the postponement-of the process of justice is an affront to those who obey the law and a betrayal of those who rely on the law for their protection; it is a call for the use of force in revenge and, therefore, a bankruptcy of peace."
We wish all a happy new year.
Signed:
UDP Secretariat.