Wrong signals

It is now evident that the ongoing sedition trial against Fatou Jaw Manneh is nothing but a waste of public money and above all a mockery to our justice system. The decision by Magistrate Buba Jawo to allow the identity of state witnesses to be concealed leaves open a lot of question marks.

Ms Manneh is a critic of the Jammeh regime and civil servants, more so, officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), who are directly answerable to the President, are the state witnesses testifying against her. The loyalty of these witnesses to the regime and President Jammeh, who was taken to the cleaners in the article, is known to every Gambian and non-Gambians in the country. And their appearance in court to give testimony against Ms Manneh can only be likened to Jesus testifying against Judas in a court presided over by Pilate.

As civil servants being paid by tax payers, the identity of these witnesses should never have been concealed. The public need to know why the identity of these men should not be revealed? Why should their testimony be in camera, thereby denying Ms Manneh the right to a free and open trial?

Magistrate Jawo should have only accepted the state's request for the testimony of the state witnesses to be made in camera only if they posed a health or security threat to the public. The NIA officers are not suffering from any contagious diseases and the public has a right to see them testify in open court. The public need to have confidence in Magistrate Jawo that he would deliver nothing but justice in the case.

Ms Manneh should never have been put on trial in the first place. She has committed no criminal offence in criticising President Jammeh and his administration. President Jammeh needs to grow up and stop throwing punches at his critics. He willingly entered into the political arena and must take criticism on the chin. If he cannot do that, then he should gracefully step down.

Excuse me Fatoumata!

Last weekend, while searching the archives of the Daily Observer, I came across a story published in its April 15th edition captioned FJC Vindicates Jammeh on Women Empowerment. In the story, the speaker of the National Assembly, Fatoumata Jahumpa-Ceesay heaped praises on her master for what she called his tremendous efforts towards the advancement and empowerment of women. It was not surprising to see such ludicrous commends coming from someone like my dear friend, who believes that her master was indeed the chosen one, sent to the Gambia by Almighty God Himself.

While she worship her master even in her sleep, as the second most powerful person in the country and a woman for that matter, my friend FJC has to stop playing political football with women. She is definitely betraying her women folks. Yes, although it is true that some educated women are manning top government positions, it would be very wrong to use that as a political weapon for the APRC. Having a few women in, cabinet, National Assembly and the judiciary should not warrant us to jump to the conclusion that President Jammeh and his regime have the love and interest of the women folk in their hearts. The conditions of Gambian women, especially those in the provinces can only be described as sorry.

They are not spared the hardship and suffering the country is facing as a result of the failed policies and programmes of the APRC regime. Gambian women especially those in the rural areas are firmly trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty, abuse and hardship from birth to death. The home, is still the place for her where she continues to suffer in silence. She wakes up at the first cock crow and goes to bed at midnight. Many of them, especially children are still being subjected to harmful practices like female genital mutilation (FGM).

As a country which is yet to get rid of the culture of silence, many rape cases and abuses suffered by women are brushed under the carpet. And while FJC had the opportunity to have come from privilege family and living a life of luxuries, many women are not. They grow up in poverty and hardship, live in poverty and hardship and die in abject poverty and hardship.

The APRC regime can go about boasting that the number of girls being enrolled in schools is increasing, yet it need to realise that a large portion of these girls do not make it to senior secondary school. Many of them are given out in marriage and in most cases they are taken as second or third wives to men far older than them. Many of them start having children before reaching their 18th birthday.

The lucky ones who complete their senior secondary education are among the thousands of unemployed Gambians at home and in the ghettos. Many of them have turned into prostitution as their only means of survival. Just take a night visit to the Youth Monument at West field Junction, Kairaba Avenue or the Tourism Development Area (TDA) and you will see young girls selling sex as cheap as D100. Some of these young girls are being abused by men, especially tourists, who nurse them with the dream of bringing them to Europe.

The Gambian women are still being discriminated at work places and many of them are being forced to offer sex to their bosses in exchange for promotion. Take a visit to the Quadrangle and you will get a list as long as my arm of women who are either dating their bosses or have been approached for sex by their bosses in exchange for a job or promotion. This is the hard reality facing the Gambian women and we should not ignore it.

Like their male colleagues, women farmers are also suffering from the lack of government interest to the farming community. Their groundnuts are not bought on time and in most cases they became victims of credit buying and as such waited for several months before they get their money.

The poor situation of Gambian women is even confirmed in an article on the State House website. The article captioned: The Situation of Gambian Women stated that: "Women have very little decision-making power even regarding their health and that of their children. This has contributed to the high fertility rate of 6.0. Women start childbearing at early ages of 15 – 16 and continue up to 40 – 45 and at short intervals, thus the reason for the maternal mortality rate of 1,050 per 100,000 live births, one of the highest in the sub-region."

Time for the old man to go

Zimbabwean President, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, is making a fool of himself. At 84, what does this old fart want again? He has been in power for over two decades but he still want to remain in power. His people are dying of hunger and poverty but he still wants to remain in power to govern who? Dead bodies?

Mugabe needs to understand that the people of Zimbabwe do not want him as President. That is why the MDC is leading in the polls.

Zimbabwe's official figures show that its soaring inflation hit an annual rate of almost 165,000% in February. Continuing shortages of food and fuel helped to push up inflation from January's rate of 100,000 percent. Mugabe's officials have even admitted that the shortages make it hard to work out inflation with any degree of accuracy.

Latest reports say 80 percent of the Zimbabwean population lives in poverty and it is estimated that three million people have left the country for a new life in South Africa. Looking at this sorry state, it would be unwise for the old man to continue hanging on to power. He has been there for too long and its time for him to exit gracefully with his head held high.

Mugabe should spend his retirement in mansion, writing his memoirs and telling his grand children stories about his revolution. There is time for everything and now is the time for the old fart to say bye to the presidency before his country descends into chaos.

So, go away Comrade.