Press Release
The following statement was issued Thursday, May 21, in Banjul by Mr. Robert Powell, the IMF mission chief for The Gambia:
“The IMF team visited Banjul from May 8-21 to assess progress under the government’s economic program supported by the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). Meetings were held with Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Mousa Gibril Bala-Gaye, Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia Momodou Bamba Saho, other senior government officials, legislators, the private sector, and members of the donor community.
“The economy of The Gambia grew by about 6 percent in 2008. Economic growth is expected to be weaker in 2009 in the face of a significant fall in receipts from tourism and remittances resulting from the global slowdown. Nonetheless, a strong rebound in agricultural production in 2008 is supporting a recovery in manufacturing and trade-related services this year, and 2009 growth is expected to be about 3 1/2 percent, which is higher than the regional average. Inflation is also expected to remain under control.
“The Gambia has continued to make progress under the IMF-supported program. In the period to March 2009, government revenues have achieved the budget targets, and government borrowing has been contained within planned levels. The central bank has also achieved its target for international reserves, following sharp falls at the end of 2008. Among the structural measures planned by the government, the key action of making the credit reference bureau operational is now expected by July 2009, after necessary legislation has been considered.
“Even after the debt relief provided recently under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries and Multilateral Debt Relief initiatives, The Gambia’s external debt remains high. It remains critical, therefore, to establish a medium term debt management strategy that sets clear goals for reducing debt ratios further. This requires limiting external borrowing to highly concessional loans, and stepping up efforts to seek grant finance to support the implementation of The Gambia’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.”
Tuesday 26 May 2009
At his mercy
by PK Jarju, Birmingham UK
It is often said that moving houses is one of the hardest things to do in the UK. Since posting my last article, I moved into an empty house that does not even have a phone line. Typical of British Council Housing. Not even a carpet or flooring was in the house and I have to spend every hour in the past three weeks trying to put the bit and pieces together.
I will therefore like to apologise to my esteem readers for my long absence. I am yet to get the my phone line sorted and as a result I may not be able to contribute regularly as before. So like we say in Jollof, Balal lem ma
Whenever I take a serious look at the Gambia, the more worried I get concerning the political situation of the country. The country is fast sinking and nothing is being done to save it. It is sinking not because the general population is unaware, but because they feel they cannot do anything to stop it.
The Gambia looks like a hijacked ship being flown to an unknown destination. For the past 14 years, a man who many Gambians don't want as their head of state is holding a gun to the captain's head and the passengers and the rest of the crew are all too terrified to say a word or stop him.
The principles that were supposed to make you and me safe in our own land of birth and protect us from such political madness have been badly tampered with to favour the head of state. He is given full control of our land of birth and is empowered to do whatever he wants, anytime, anyhow and to anyone.
He is applauded for anything he does or say whether good or bad. The head of state is said to love our country so much so that anything he does or says is seen as in our best interest. He is seen as a messiah, puritan and reformer hand picked by Almighty God Himself to make the Gambia a prosperous country and a giant of the sub-region.
As a country of true believers, we believe in anything we are told by our head of state even when he told us without any prove that he have discovered a cure for HIV/Aids. Despite him being the richest Gambian, we contributed millions of our hard earned taxes towards his HIV treatment programme.
Patriotism to our head of state, is defined by how much you love and support him. He comes first and the country second. You cannot claim to love the country without loving him. Be the most qualified Gambian but there is no job for you in any government department if you don't worship the head of state.
Our head of state is the heart of all government organs. They operate round him and him alone. The executive dance to his tune and the National Assembly smoothens his path. Every bill he drafted is quickly enacted into law. The judiciary feared him and follows every order he barks.
Anything which is against the head of state is seen as an enemy. And enemy that should be destroyed in the national interest. Criticisms are never welcome. Try telling the head of state how to govern the people and life will be made difficult for you. So difficult that you wish you were never born.
Journalists get bullets put through their heads, their houses and printing machines set on fire, arrested, tortured and media houses closed down on bogus charges. Political opponents are always hunted down, arrested, tortured, jailed or buried six feet deep.
Gambians don't trust each other any more. We cannot talk freely to each other without looking at our backs. Political discussions are out of the way. Talk about the head of state and you risk spending months in a secret detention centre, where you will be tortured and subjected to all sort of inhumane treatment.
Once you are arrested, forget about getting a lawyer. Many of the top lawyers will simply say no to your request as they don't want to upset the head of state. Our legal practitioners according to the London based International Bar Association are "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.
It added that government 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.
The name of our head of state's is sacred. He is worshipped like Lord Voldermort in the Harry Potter series and disobedience is regarded as the worst crime.
In The Gambia today, an accused person is presumed guilty even before being tried in court. Get arrested by our security officers and you risk losing all your friends. You become stigmatised and people become even too scared to get close to you. Fall out with the head of state and no company will dream of even employing you as a cleaner. Ask former KMC mayor, Abdoulie Conteh, for Imam of Banjul International Airport to name just a few and they will tell you.
It may be easy to convince yourself that because you have good personal relations with senior people in the Gambian government you Will be protected in someway if things go wrong. Maybe if you are a close family member of the head of state. If you are an ordinary Gambian then you are on your own.
Your highly placed friends will deny ever knowing you for they have their own careers, their own lives to protect.
What a tragic demise of democracy in a country that shelters the headquarter of African Centre for Human Rights studies? God help us.
Rest in peace Alex
It was shocking to read the news of Alexandre Djiba's death. I first met Mr Djiba in 2000 at the former Atlantic Hotel in Banjul during peace talks between the MFDC and the Senegalese government. I saw him as a smart fella who was the voice of the MFDC and had interviewed him on many occasions for The Independent Newspaper.
The last time I interviewed him was in 2001 after Jean Marie Biague renamed himself as MFDC secretary general some few weeks after his resignation. Months later he rang to informed me that he was travelling out of the Gambia. I was later to hear rumours that he was kicked out of the Atlantic Hotel.
While he was at the Atlantic Hotel, it was rumoured that the Gambia government was footing his hotel bills although DJiba himself neither denied nor confirmed it in the many interviews I had with him.
During his stay in Banjul, Alexandre spread MFDC propaganda in Gambian and the international media as well as keep in touch with other MFDC figures in France.
In late 2000, he was arrested in Guinea Bissau but later claimed upon his returned to Banjul that he escaped from custody.
Alexandre may have gone but many Gambian journalists who have had the opportunity to meet him will always remember the stocky, beared and big eye fella, who have always defended the cause of the MFDC.
It is often said that moving houses is one of the hardest things to do in the UK. Since posting my last article, I moved into an empty house that does not even have a phone line. Typical of British Council Housing. Not even a carpet or flooring was in the house and I have to spend every hour in the past three weeks trying to put the bit and pieces together.
I will therefore like to apologise to my esteem readers for my long absence. I am yet to get the my phone line sorted and as a result I may not be able to contribute regularly as before. So like we say in Jollof, Balal lem ma
Whenever I take a serious look at the Gambia, the more worried I get concerning the political situation of the country. The country is fast sinking and nothing is being done to save it. It is sinking not because the general population is unaware, but because they feel they cannot do anything to stop it.
The Gambia looks like a hijacked ship being flown to an unknown destination. For the past 14 years, a man who many Gambians don't want as their head of state is holding a gun to the captain's head and the passengers and the rest of the crew are all too terrified to say a word or stop him.
The principles that were supposed to make you and me safe in our own land of birth and protect us from such political madness have been badly tampered with to favour the head of state. He is given full control of our land of birth and is empowered to do whatever he wants, anytime, anyhow and to anyone.
He is applauded for anything he does or say whether good or bad. The head of state is said to love our country so much so that anything he does or says is seen as in our best interest. He is seen as a messiah, puritan and reformer hand picked by Almighty God Himself to make the Gambia a prosperous country and a giant of the sub-region.
As a country of true believers, we believe in anything we are told by our head of state even when he told us without any prove that he have discovered a cure for HIV/Aids. Despite him being the richest Gambian, we contributed millions of our hard earned taxes towards his HIV treatment programme.
Patriotism to our head of state, is defined by how much you love and support him. He comes first and the country second. You cannot claim to love the country without loving him. Be the most qualified Gambian but there is no job for you in any government department if you don't worship the head of state.
Our head of state is the heart of all government organs. They operate round him and him alone. The executive dance to his tune and the National Assembly smoothens his path. Every bill he drafted is quickly enacted into law. The judiciary feared him and follows every order he barks.
Anything which is against the head of state is seen as an enemy. And enemy that should be destroyed in the national interest. Criticisms are never welcome. Try telling the head of state how to govern the people and life will be made difficult for you. So difficult that you wish you were never born.
Journalists get bullets put through their heads, their houses and printing machines set on fire, arrested, tortured and media houses closed down on bogus charges. Political opponents are always hunted down, arrested, tortured, jailed or buried six feet deep.
Gambians don't trust each other any more. We cannot talk freely to each other without looking at our backs. Political discussions are out of the way. Talk about the head of state and you risk spending months in a secret detention centre, where you will be tortured and subjected to all sort of inhumane treatment.
Once you are arrested, forget about getting a lawyer. Many of the top lawyers will simply say no to your request as they don't want to upset the head of state. Our legal practitioners according to the London based International Bar Association are "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.
It added that government 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.
The name of our head of state's is sacred. He is worshipped like Lord Voldermort in the Harry Potter series and disobedience is regarded as the worst crime.
In The Gambia today, an accused person is presumed guilty even before being tried in court. Get arrested by our security officers and you risk losing all your friends. You become stigmatised and people become even too scared to get close to you. Fall out with the head of state and no company will dream of even employing you as a cleaner. Ask former KMC mayor, Abdoulie Conteh, for Imam of Banjul International Airport to name just a few and they will tell you.
It may be easy to convince yourself that because you have good personal relations with senior people in the Gambian government you Will be protected in someway if things go wrong. Maybe if you are a close family member of the head of state. If you are an ordinary Gambian then you are on your own.
Your highly placed friends will deny ever knowing you for they have their own careers, their own lives to protect.
What a tragic demise of democracy in a country that shelters the headquarter of African Centre for Human Rights studies? God help us.
Rest in peace Alex
It was shocking to read the news of Alexandre Djiba's death. I first met Mr Djiba in 2000 at the former Atlantic Hotel in Banjul during peace talks between the MFDC and the Senegalese government. I saw him as a smart fella who was the voice of the MFDC and had interviewed him on many occasions for The Independent Newspaper.
The last time I interviewed him was in 2001 after Jean Marie Biague renamed himself as MFDC secretary general some few weeks after his resignation. Months later he rang to informed me that he was travelling out of the Gambia. I was later to hear rumours that he was kicked out of the Atlantic Hotel.
While he was at the Atlantic Hotel, it was rumoured that the Gambia government was footing his hotel bills although DJiba himself neither denied nor confirmed it in the many interviews I had with him.
During his stay in Banjul, Alexandre spread MFDC propaganda in Gambian and the international media as well as keep in touch with other MFDC figures in France.
In late 2000, he was arrested in Guinea Bissau but later claimed upon his returned to Banjul that he escaped from custody.
Alexandre may have gone but many Gambian journalists who have had the opportunity to meet him will always remember the stocky, beared and big eye fella, who have always defended the cause of the MFDC.
Sunday 3 May 2009
The reluctant democrat
When Yahya Jammeh came to power in July 1994, his Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) that overthrew the PPP regime of Sir Dawda Jawara promised to be soldiers with a difference.
by PK Jarju
With the motto accountability, transparency and probity, they promised to act and to do everything different from typical military governments we have seen in our god forsaken continent. They said they were servants of the people, whose main objective was to free the enslaved Gambians ruled by a corrupt, despotic and retrogressive government that lived on flamboyant life styles while the average Gambian lived in abject poverty.
However, 13 years on, all the sweet talk of making a difference, accountability, transparency and probity is dead and buried 360 feet deep. The current military regime in Gambia is not accountable to the electorates, nor is it transparent and trusted by the very people it claims to be serving. The regime has become a curse to Gambian people with President Yahya Jammeh transforming himself into a super god expecting to be worshipped by every Gambian.
Despite return of the country to 'civilian rule', The Gambia is far from being democratic. It has become more tyrannical with president Jameh continuing to tighten his grip on power everyday. While President Jammeh claims that he is a democrat, he rules with an iron hand, showing no mercy towards his political opponents. To him democracy, which is defined by Abraham Lincoln as government of the people, for the people and by the people is inapplicable in The Gambia. His own definition of democracy is government by Yahya Jammeh, of Yahya Jammeh and for Yahya Jammeh.
As president, Yahya Jammeh is in total control of all the chambers of government. He uses his moppet National Assembly Members who forms a large majority in the National Assembly to manipulate the country's constitution left, right and centre. These dummies (excuse my French) at the National Assembly put the president's interest before national interest. Bills drafted by the executive are hastily passed into laws without second thought. The Gambian National Assembly is now transformed into an APRC bureau were President Jammeh is regarded as a puritan, perfectionist and prophet who will never eat until every Gambian has eaten.
Being party leader of the APRC, President Jammeh has over the years expelled National Assembly Members of his own party who fell out with him despite the fact they were voted into office by thousands of people in their constituencies. He reserves the power to dissolve the National Assembly and to declare state of emergency.
The executive is also under firm grips of president Jammeh. Ministers are hired and fired without any explanation. Civil servants suspected of being opposition sympathisers are sent packing out of the Quadrangle. Police officers, armed forces, NIA and other security officers openly manifest their loyalty to the president and they never hesitate to harass opposition supporters and critics of the regime. Many security officers have been sacked for merely being impartial in the execution of their duties.
The Gambian judiciary has lost its independence to administer justice in a free and fair manner. It has failed its motto of fiat justicia. President Jammeh is responsible for appointment and removal of judges. Many judges who pass judgements against the state have been unceremoniously removed.
While the Gambian constitution guarantees rights and freedoms of the citizens, the government continues to violate them without giving a monkey. Freedom of expression is not tolerated as journalists and other media practitioners are persecuted left, right and centre. And in a bid to prevent Gambians from establishing private newspapers, the government has still refused to repeal military Decree 70/71 from the country's laws. Government has also introduced the criminal amendment code under which journalists risk receiving long jail terms for publishing false news and caricature.
Private media houses are shut down by the state without any court order and journalists are killed, arrested, tortured and detained well over the legal 72 hour period. President Jammeh himself has described African journalists as illegitimate sons of Africa who are brainwashed by the West to cause trouble and instability in their countries. Lashing out to journalists in one of his interviews he said: "Journalists are sh..t. You don't need to go to toilet to know that it stinks."
Today, becoming a journalist in The Gambia is more risky than joining the army. A journalist is ten times more likely to go to jail than a minister who swindles thousands of Dalasis from the state. As a result many Gambian journalists are fleeing the country living behind their children, parents and wives.
NIA officers at the Banjul International Airport now have a classified listed of innocent journalists and writers abroad not because they looted the Gambia economy or attempted to assassinate the president, but for telling the regime the unpleasant truth. Like vultures looking for a dead carcass, these officers cannot wait to lay their hands on any member of the wanted club.
Freedom of association and assembly is also strictly restricted. Opposition parties intending to hold gatherings are required by the bogus laws to seek a permit from the Inspector General of Police, who is appointed by the president. Gambians also need a permit from the police to hold any demonstration. Gatherings and meetings without a permit are termed unlawful and the police and armed soldiers are often sent to disperse such gatherings. These security officers are immune and cannot be held liable for prosecution for any force they prefer using to disperse such a gathering.
The government also seriously violates privacy of Gambians. As a result of its intolerance to criticisms, the lethal National Intelligence Agency (NIA) similar to the German Gestapo, tap the phones of innocent Gambians without any court order. Gambians cannot talk about Yahya Jammeh in the streets without looking at their backs to see who is listening. Air mails living or entering the country inspected by NIA officers permanently posted at all postal offices. Political discussions in schools are now well out of the way with many students recruited as NIA officers to spy on their colleagues. Anyone found criticising the regime is whisked away to the NIA headquarters where they are merciless tortured.
Pressure groups in the country have all become voiceless and toothless. Their rights have been taken away and their leadership doesn’t even have the balls to criticise any law or government policy that are not in the interest of their members.
Gambians are today living in constant fear wondering who is next on the NIA list. Power belongs to the president and his ever loyal NIA officers are so thick that they regard any critic of the regime as an enemy. They are protected by law and can get away from any crime ranging from murder, kidnapping, torture and rape.
The Jammeh regime continues to violate rights and personal liberty of Gambians. It also fails to protect political opponents from inhumane treatment to the extent of even depriving them from their properties. People who fall out with the president are often detained indefinitely at the Mile Two Prisons without any court order.
While the constitution guarantees the right of Gambians to join any political party of their choice, opposition sympathisers are stigmatised and treated like outcasts. Opposition figures and their children cannot get any job in the civil service. They are always presumed guilty anytime they clash with APRC supporters. Law enforcement officers are always in a fishing expedition to arrest and charge opposition sympathisers who refuse to defect to the APRC for the slightest wrong doing.
Today in The Gambia, we are like in the reign of Lord Voldermort in the Harry Potter series. Security officers are like the death eaters always on the hunt for opponents of the regime.
May Allah shower His love and protection on us all. Amen.
Note: The above article was first published on Nov 29 2007 in AllGambian.net
by PK Jarju
With the motto accountability, transparency and probity, they promised to act and to do everything different from typical military governments we have seen in our god forsaken continent. They said they were servants of the people, whose main objective was to free the enslaved Gambians ruled by a corrupt, despotic and retrogressive government that lived on flamboyant life styles while the average Gambian lived in abject poverty.
However, 13 years on, all the sweet talk of making a difference, accountability, transparency and probity is dead and buried 360 feet deep. The current military regime in Gambia is not accountable to the electorates, nor is it transparent and trusted by the very people it claims to be serving. The regime has become a curse to Gambian people with President Yahya Jammeh transforming himself into a super god expecting to be worshipped by every Gambian.
Despite return of the country to 'civilian rule', The Gambia is far from being democratic. It has become more tyrannical with president Jameh continuing to tighten his grip on power everyday. While President Jammeh claims that he is a democrat, he rules with an iron hand, showing no mercy towards his political opponents. To him democracy, which is defined by Abraham Lincoln as government of the people, for the people and by the people is inapplicable in The Gambia. His own definition of democracy is government by Yahya Jammeh, of Yahya Jammeh and for Yahya Jammeh.
As president, Yahya Jammeh is in total control of all the chambers of government. He uses his moppet National Assembly Members who forms a large majority in the National Assembly to manipulate the country's constitution left, right and centre. These dummies (excuse my French) at the National Assembly put the president's interest before national interest. Bills drafted by the executive are hastily passed into laws without second thought. The Gambian National Assembly is now transformed into an APRC bureau were President Jammeh is regarded as a puritan, perfectionist and prophet who will never eat until every Gambian has eaten.
Being party leader of the APRC, President Jammeh has over the years expelled National Assembly Members of his own party who fell out with him despite the fact they were voted into office by thousands of people in their constituencies. He reserves the power to dissolve the National Assembly and to declare state of emergency.
The executive is also under firm grips of president Jammeh. Ministers are hired and fired without any explanation. Civil servants suspected of being opposition sympathisers are sent packing out of the Quadrangle. Police officers, armed forces, NIA and other security officers openly manifest their loyalty to the president and they never hesitate to harass opposition supporters and critics of the regime. Many security officers have been sacked for merely being impartial in the execution of their duties.
The Gambian judiciary has lost its independence to administer justice in a free and fair manner. It has failed its motto of fiat justicia. President Jammeh is responsible for appointment and removal of judges. Many judges who pass judgements against the state have been unceremoniously removed.
While the Gambian constitution guarantees rights and freedoms of the citizens, the government continues to violate them without giving a monkey. Freedom of expression is not tolerated as journalists and other media practitioners are persecuted left, right and centre. And in a bid to prevent Gambians from establishing private newspapers, the government has still refused to repeal military Decree 70/71 from the country's laws. Government has also introduced the criminal amendment code under which journalists risk receiving long jail terms for publishing false news and caricature.
Private media houses are shut down by the state without any court order and journalists are killed, arrested, tortured and detained well over the legal 72 hour period. President Jammeh himself has described African journalists as illegitimate sons of Africa who are brainwashed by the West to cause trouble and instability in their countries. Lashing out to journalists in one of his interviews he said: "Journalists are sh..t. You don't need to go to toilet to know that it stinks."
Today, becoming a journalist in The Gambia is more risky than joining the army. A journalist is ten times more likely to go to jail than a minister who swindles thousands of Dalasis from the state. As a result many Gambian journalists are fleeing the country living behind their children, parents and wives.
NIA officers at the Banjul International Airport now have a classified listed of innocent journalists and writers abroad not because they looted the Gambia economy or attempted to assassinate the president, but for telling the regime the unpleasant truth. Like vultures looking for a dead carcass, these officers cannot wait to lay their hands on any member of the wanted club.
Freedom of association and assembly is also strictly restricted. Opposition parties intending to hold gatherings are required by the bogus laws to seek a permit from the Inspector General of Police, who is appointed by the president. Gambians also need a permit from the police to hold any demonstration. Gatherings and meetings without a permit are termed unlawful and the police and armed soldiers are often sent to disperse such gatherings. These security officers are immune and cannot be held liable for prosecution for any force they prefer using to disperse such a gathering.
The government also seriously violates privacy of Gambians. As a result of its intolerance to criticisms, the lethal National Intelligence Agency (NIA) similar to the German Gestapo, tap the phones of innocent Gambians without any court order. Gambians cannot talk about Yahya Jammeh in the streets without looking at their backs to see who is listening. Air mails living or entering the country inspected by NIA officers permanently posted at all postal offices. Political discussions in schools are now well out of the way with many students recruited as NIA officers to spy on their colleagues. Anyone found criticising the regime is whisked away to the NIA headquarters where they are merciless tortured.
Pressure groups in the country have all become voiceless and toothless. Their rights have been taken away and their leadership doesn’t even have the balls to criticise any law or government policy that are not in the interest of their members.
Gambians are today living in constant fear wondering who is next on the NIA list. Power belongs to the president and his ever loyal NIA officers are so thick that they regard any critic of the regime as an enemy. They are protected by law and can get away from any crime ranging from murder, kidnapping, torture and rape.
The Jammeh regime continues to violate rights and personal liberty of Gambians. It also fails to protect political opponents from inhumane treatment to the extent of even depriving them from their properties. People who fall out with the president are often detained indefinitely at the Mile Two Prisons without any court order.
While the constitution guarantees the right of Gambians to join any political party of their choice, opposition sympathisers are stigmatised and treated like outcasts. Opposition figures and their children cannot get any job in the civil service. They are always presumed guilty anytime they clash with APRC supporters. Law enforcement officers are always in a fishing expedition to arrest and charge opposition sympathisers who refuse to defect to the APRC for the slightest wrong doing.
Today in The Gambia, we are like in the reign of Lord Voldermort in the Harry Potter series. Security officers are like the death eaters always on the hunt for opponents of the regime.
May Allah shower His love and protection on us all. Amen.
Note: The above article was first published on Nov 29 2007 in AllGambian.net
A hand book for 2009
Readers
Got the mail below from a friend which I wish to share with you. I hope it will help to change someone's life for the better.
Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2008.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others'.
You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past.
Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past.
That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and
fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.
Got the mail below from a friend which I wish to share with you. I hope it will help to change someone's life for the better.
Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, and prayer.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2008.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile.
Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others'.
You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past.
Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past.
That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and
fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends will. Stay in touch.
Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.
Saturday 2 May 2009
Unfinished business
Press freedom is stifled year after year by an intolerant and unpredictable government. The work of the privately owned media is hobbled by an extremely threatening climate, bolstered by laws of defamation and against “publishing false news” that are among the most draconian in West Africa.
Despite the existence of a civilian government, headed by young president, Yahya Jammeh, the country is the reserve of a small clique of frequently irrational soldiers, who imprison, torture and terrorise often randomly, those who dare to clash with the head of state or his friends.
The murder of the country’s most prominent journalist, editor of the weekly The Point, Deyda Hydara, on 16 December 2004, marked the end of a period when a well organised and rigorous private press could still stand firm against a government which did not hide its hostility towards it. Hydara was formerly president of the journalists’ union, correspondent for Reporters Without Borders and AFP, the doyen of the country’s journalists and a perceptive editorialist, pointing out the erring ways of the inexperienced and mystic young president. At the time he was killed, within a stone’s throw of a police barracks, Hydara was being permanently watched by the dreaded National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the head of state’s all-powerful intelligence service.
Since his death, almost all those who were a thorn in the president’s side have fallen into step or have left the country. Apart from The Point, which is more or less protected by the aura of its deceased editor, most newspapers that tried to get a different voice heard from that of the pro-government Daily Observer have been illegally closed.
One imprisoned journalist, “Chief” Ebrima Manneh, disappeared without trace into the sinister Mile Two prison on the Banjul sea front. And the authorities have always denied holding him, despite numerous reports from prisoners and eye witnesses to the contrary.
RFS on press freedom in Gambia
Despite the existence of a civilian government, headed by young president, Yahya Jammeh, the country is the reserve of a small clique of frequently irrational soldiers, who imprison, torture and terrorise often randomly, those who dare to clash with the head of state or his friends.
The murder of the country’s most prominent journalist, editor of the weekly The Point, Deyda Hydara, on 16 December 2004, marked the end of a period when a well organised and rigorous private press could still stand firm against a government which did not hide its hostility towards it. Hydara was formerly president of the journalists’ union, correspondent for Reporters Without Borders and AFP, the doyen of the country’s journalists and a perceptive editorialist, pointing out the erring ways of the inexperienced and mystic young president. At the time he was killed, within a stone’s throw of a police barracks, Hydara was being permanently watched by the dreaded National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the head of state’s all-powerful intelligence service.
Since his death, almost all those who were a thorn in the president’s side have fallen into step or have left the country. Apart from The Point, which is more or less protected by the aura of its deceased editor, most newspapers that tried to get a different voice heard from that of the pro-government Daily Observer have been illegally closed.
One imprisoned journalist, “Chief” Ebrima Manneh, disappeared without trace into the sinister Mile Two prison on the Banjul sea front. And the authorities have always denied holding him, despite numerous reports from prisoners and eye witnesses to the contrary.
RFS on press freedom in Gambia
The Gifts And the Salary of the President Do They Correspond?
Source Foroyaa
The 29 Million Dalasis offered to those connected with the Under 17 victory, the offer of 1 Million to the winner of the competition to draft an anthem for July 22nd and the huge sums of money frequently granted to musicians have raised questions regarding the source of the wealth of the President.
It is important for people to concentrate on the legitimate earnings of the President from Public Funds .It is important for all readers to understand that no authority including the President has power to withdraw money from public funds without the authority of Law. The Constitution has stated very clearly how Public Finance is to be managed in the country. Section 150 of the Constitution states that "There shall be a Consolidated Fund into which shall be paid all revenues or other money raised or received for the purpose of, or on behalf of, the Government.."
Section 151 adds that "No money shall be withdrawn from the consolidated fund except-to meet an expenditure charged on a fund by this constitution or an Act of the National Assembly; or where the issue of that money has been authorized by an Appropriation Act" or Supplementary Appropriation Act.
Hence the President's legitimate income must be prescribed by law. Now one may ask: How is the income of the President determined?
Section 69 of the Constitution states that "the President shall receive such salary and allowances as may be prescribed by an act of the National Assembly, and such salary and allowances shall not be altered to his or her disadvantage during his or her tenure of office."
Furthermore, "the salary and allowances, and pension and retirement benefits, as prescribed by an act of the National Assembly, shall be exempted from taxation, but the President shall be subject to taxation on all other chargeable income."
It is therefore clear that the President cannot receive any salary or allowances from public funds without a bill being passed by the National Assembly, assented to by the President and then published in the Gazette as Law.
The salary and allowances of the President and the Cabinet members should not be secret.
The salary of the Secretary of State is put at 204,000 dalasis per annum; Responsibility allowance for both Permanent Secretary and SOS amounts to 108,000 dalasis,;telephone allowance for both amounts to 48,000 dalasis and house rent for both is put at 200,880 dalasis per annum. It is strange that the Salary and Allowance of the President and Vice President's are not put as part of the break down of expenditures of the Office of President and Vice President.
The Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs will be contacted to find out how the salary of the President and Vice President feature in the approved estimates and the Appropriation Act governing the budget for the 2009 'financial year. We will keep the public informed in the interest of transparency and accountability.
The 29 Million Dalasis offered to those connected with the Under 17 victory, the offer of 1 Million to the winner of the competition to draft an anthem for July 22nd and the huge sums of money frequently granted to musicians have raised questions regarding the source of the wealth of the President.
It is important for people to concentrate on the legitimate earnings of the President from Public Funds .It is important for all readers to understand that no authority including the President has power to withdraw money from public funds without the authority of Law. The Constitution has stated very clearly how Public Finance is to be managed in the country. Section 150 of the Constitution states that "There shall be a Consolidated Fund into which shall be paid all revenues or other money raised or received for the purpose of, or on behalf of, the Government.."
Section 151 adds that "No money shall be withdrawn from the consolidated fund except-to meet an expenditure charged on a fund by this constitution or an Act of the National Assembly; or where the issue of that money has been authorized by an Appropriation Act" or Supplementary Appropriation Act.
Hence the President's legitimate income must be prescribed by law. Now one may ask: How is the income of the President determined?
Section 69 of the Constitution states that "the President shall receive such salary and allowances as may be prescribed by an act of the National Assembly, and such salary and allowances shall not be altered to his or her disadvantage during his or her tenure of office."
Furthermore, "the salary and allowances, and pension and retirement benefits, as prescribed by an act of the National Assembly, shall be exempted from taxation, but the President shall be subject to taxation on all other chargeable income."
It is therefore clear that the President cannot receive any salary or allowances from public funds without a bill being passed by the National Assembly, assented to by the President and then published in the Gazette as Law.
The salary and allowances of the President and the Cabinet members should not be secret.
The salary of the Secretary of State is put at 204,000 dalasis per annum; Responsibility allowance for both Permanent Secretary and SOS amounts to 108,000 dalasis,;telephone allowance for both amounts to 48,000 dalasis and house rent for both is put at 200,880 dalasis per annum. It is strange that the Salary and Allowance of the President and Vice President's are not put as part of the break down of expenditures of the Office of President and Vice President.
The Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs will be contacted to find out how the salary of the President and Vice President feature in the approved estimates and the Appropriation Act governing the budget for the 2009 'financial year. We will keep the public informed in the interest of transparency and accountability.
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