Yet another gimmick

by PK Jarju

Last Tuesday, after taking my ten month-old son to bed, I tiptoed quietly downstairs to read the speech delivered by President Jammeh at our great nation's 43rd Independence Anniversary. But by the time I got to the tenth or eleventh paragraph, I started to yawn. Not that I was tired. I was not hungry either as I had eaten a full four inches pizza and drank two glasses of cranberry juice. I was bored.


While President Jammeh may have succeeded in impressing the large crowd at the Independence Stadium in Bakau with his speech, I found nothing new or exciting to warrant those people standing or sitting in that scorching hot sun to nearly dislocate their hands clapping for him. The speech was just mere rhetoric and political gimmick.


Years after years, we have seen him deliver similar ear-pleasing speeches only to see him act differently. President Jammeh seems to have forgotten that the deepening political differences among Gambians are of his own making. He has divided and continued to rule Gambians base on their political affiliations. And in order for Gambians to put aside their political differences and work together for the betterment of our country, Jammeh himself has to take the lead.


He has to take the lead by being sincere to his words and by governing The Gambia as a country and not his kingdom. Jammeh has to convince the Gambian people that he is a man they can trust. He has to stop being a chameleon that keeps changing its colours every now and then. There should be no room for hypocrisy. We have seen enough of that. All we want is action.


Since 1996, President Jammeh and his APRC militants have put politics before national interest. And while Jammeh can stand in front of those school children- the cream of our society and try to portray himself and his government as having the interest of the country at heart, many brilliant and hard working Gambians are being fired from their posts.


They are fired not because of corruption practices or wrong doing, but simply because someone elsewhere reported them for being opposition sympathisers. Many of those kids he was addressing will in a few months or years be denied jobs, government scholarships, arrested and tortured because their parents are opposition sympathisers or because they choose to be critics of his regime.


We have seen many Gambians killed, arrested and tortured by State Guard soldiers, the Gestapo (NIA) and other state security officers not because they are a threat to national security but because of their political affiliations or beliefs. And as i write this article, such crimes are continuing to be committed against innocent Gambians by men in uniform with the blessings of Jammeh.


Today in The Gambia, we use politics in everything. People suspected of having links with the opposition parties finds it very difficult - if not impossible to even register their businesses with the relevant government departments.


To suite the interest of President and his corrupt APRC government, Gambians are being restricted from setting up prosperous business entities like newspapers and other media outlets. Other media houses that have provided jobs for hundreds of Gambians like The Independent, Sud FM Banjul and Citizen FM are shut down for non other than political reasons. Communities that support the opposition are still being neglected by the government. Interestingly even though they pay their taxes to the government, yet they are being punished for voting for the opposition. These and many other things are happening in the country day in day out and they cannot just be ignored.


People cannot put their political differences aside while they are being bullied. Jammeh does not have any respect for his political opponents and critics. He have repeatedly called them and their sympathisers derogatory names on national television and even swears in the name of Almighty Allah to bury them six-feet deep just because they disagree with his policies and programmes.


And judging by the eyes which Jammeh looks at his opponents and critics, it would be very impossible for him to work with them. Jammeh has a lot of pride and does not listen to anyone. He is paranoid and reacts brutishly like a cobra to any advice he deems wrong. There is no job security when working with Jammeh and you can be lock up in Mile Two Prisons as long as he wants without even being charged for a crime. Working with Jammeh is like putting your hand in fire.


If there is to be real progress in our country's democratisation, the APRC regime has to try and win the confidence of Gambians. It cannot do so by continuing to manipulate the constitution left, right and centre to suite its interest. People cannot trust a regime that disregards all the democratic principles of the country. And unless Jammeh buries his pride and govern the country according to the dictates of the 1997 constitution, the political situation in the country will continue to get worst and worst.


With regard to women and youths, it is true that they have contributed so much to the development of the country, but they are still being failed by the APRC regime. The Gambian women continues to suffer from early marriage, female genital mutilation, poverty, you name it. Having a few women in cabinet, parliament and judiciary does not mean the government has the interest of women at heart.


Home is still the place of the Gambian women where she continues to suffer in silence. She wakes up at the first cock crow and goes to bed at midnight. She continues to be born in the cycle of poverty, grow up in poverty, live in poverty, and die in abject poverty.


The importance of the Gambian woman is only realised during elections and political rallies. She is transported around the country in trucks to campaign for politicians who are even too civilised to be covered in dust. Women are being transformed to political slaves. Take for instance, instead of looking after the kids, they are taken to Kanilai to work in Jammeh's farms and entertain his guests. They dance all days and night while Jammeh sits and giggle on his soffa and if he is too excited, he pumps money on them.


President Jammeh should stop playing political football with our women. His government should rather devise modalities of how to remove them from the firm clutches of poverty, abuse and sufferings.


The youth sector is another area which the government has neglected. The Jammeh regime has totally failed Gambian youths. It has failed woefully to provide a fruitful environment where the cream of our society will explore their talents to the fullest.


Over six thousand school children graduate annually from our schools while the public sector employs less than a thousand of then. In fact, I would be fair to say that more retrenchment than recruitment is taking place in the public sector. Giving out scholarships to members of the National Patriotic Student Association (Napsa) or children of Yai compins and senior APRC figures does mean that the government is helping to advance the cause of youth empowerment.


Our youths are being disempowered. They are not allowed to protest or criticise any government policy which is not in their interest. After 12 years of education, a large majority of youths ends up in the ghettos, or in the tourism industry as bumsters.


The government has created a ghetto culture in our youths and it is very unfair to see Jammeh accusing them of laziness. Gambian youths are not lazy. Provide them jobs and other opportunities and you will be surprise to see how hard working they are.


The National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS) only recieves an annual subvention of D4.1 million. Only D800, 000 serve as a Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund. The rest is meant for salaries, allowances, utilities and other costs of sustaining the programme. The National Youth Council receives a subvention of D738, 000.


Only D50,000 is designated for Youth Assistance Training. All these subventions are part of the budget of the Department of Youth, Sports and Culture, which stands at D14.5 million. D2 million of this is supposed to be a contribution to finance a National Enterprise Development Initiative.


If government really had the interest of youths at heart, it would have surely invested more money in to the productive base of the economy. More jobs would have been created for the youths. If over 10 million Dalasis could be spent in glorifying the tenth anniversary of the July 22 military coup, why can't such a huge amount be spent in creating jobs for the youths? The answer is simple. The men in power don't care about them.


The new Gambia President Jammeh is envisaging cannot be developed without the regime respecting the political freedoms and rights of the citizenry. The current policies of President Jammeh and his regime are killing our country. There are many intelligent Gambians in Europe, US and other parts of the globe, who wants to contribute to the development of the country. But they can only do if the right environment is created by the regime.


The Gambia can only move forward if Jammeh starts looking at what Gambians can do for The Gambia and not what they can do for him and his APRC party. We can also move forward if most of the unresolved murder issues and other crimes committed against innocent Gambians are address. No justice, no progress.

The naked truth

by PK Jarju

How do you feel when you lie?

Straight faced while people cry

How do you feel when you promise something

That you know you'll never do

Giving false hope to the people

Giving false hope to the underpriviledged

Do you really sleep at night?

When you know you're living a lie

To you it is just a job

To the people it hurts to the bone ----Lucky Dube

Here we go again, the fact that an institution owned by President Yahya Jammeh is calling Gambian journalists and online newspapers abroad liars, idiots, trouble makers, cyber terrorists, enemies of The Gambia and other names is not surprising to any Gambian.

This reminds me of one of the seven commandments in George Orwell's book, Animal Farm, which reads: whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy.

In other words, the Daily Observer is implying that people who bow down and sing praises of Yayha Jammeh even when he declares a public holiday in honour of his son are the friends who have the interest of the country at heart. And those who criticise the Jammeh regime for its lack of respect to our rights are the enemies of The Gambia, the very country of their birth. How interesting is that?

The Daily Observer like its owner, hates to see any one who is demanding for the full restoration of democracy and the respect of the rule of law in The Gambia. As the only daily paper in the country, the Observer is doing a great disservice to The Gambia and Gambians by trying to build a false image of the country and its leadership.

How sad it is to see a newspaper with the motto, Forward with The Gambia, glorifying a man who for the past 12 years has transformed our great country into his kingdom, which he rules any how he wants with no regards to the laws of the land.

The management of the Observer wants Gambians to treat Jammeh as God and believe in whatever he says. They are taking advantage on the fact Gambians are believing and trusting lot and they want us to believe in Jammeh when he tells us bed time stories of pigs flying, curing Aids, curing barrenness or having the ability to know things that are about to happen in 40 years time. How wonderful is that?

The leadership's gross disregard to the constitution and other laws of the country has indeed turned our blessed country into kingdom of the fittest. Criticisms are not tolerated and the men in power comes down heavily on anyone who try to speak out against them.

The Daily Observer has to differentiate between Jammeh and The Gambia. Yahya Jammeh is an individual and The Gambia is a country. While Jammeh will be history, whether today, tomorrow or day after, The Gambia which is home to 1.5 million people will remain forever until the end of time.

The Daily Observer got to understand that no matter what mechanism it employs, it cannot change the truth, the reality on the country. The more it tries, the more laughable its efforts will be to the Gambian public. Its effort to suppress the truth, can be compared to that of a person trying to hide from the sun with his hands.

While we maybe far away from home physically, the Daily Observer, got to know that our minds and spirit are still in The Gambia. We are proud to be Gambians and as a concern people, we follow the events back home minute by minute. The Observer has to remember that the world is now a global village. With the help of technology, we are aware of any development in Banjul within minutes. In most occasions, we are privy of events in Banjul even before the news reaches Serekunda.

While we may be hated by President Jammeh and his regime, which has since 1994 employed all sorts of brutality ranging from intimidation, arrest and detention without trial, torture and murder, we are loved and respected by the Gambian people.

Our newspapers have a much wider Gambian readership, which shows solidarity and support in our service of writing nothing but the truth without fear or favour. Day after day, we receive letters of solidarity from people around the globe thanking us for being sane Gambians, who are not seeking for any political office but trying to keep a tyrant accountable.

The Daily Observer got to realise that the Gambian people are fed up with Jammeh. They are tired of waking up everyday and seeing their president getting more and more obessed at their expense while they suffer with starvation. They are sick of being unable to meet the rising costs of living while the president and his associates diverts their taxes to fund their flamboyant life styles. They are tired of being held to ransome by a president who is being paid from their taxes. They are sick of seeing a President who does not have their interest at heart. They hate a president who waste millions of dalasis to feed exotic animals in his Kanilai zoo while the population cannot afford to a decent three square meal. They hate to see a president who treats them like kids and swears Billahi Wallahi Tallahi at them.

Gambians are not fools. And thanks to the gallantry of the independent media, they have now fully understood that President Jammeh is not representing their interest at State House. He is there for his own selfish interest.

What the Gambian people need at the moment is a stronger opposition leadership. When that is fixed, hopefullly soon, then President Jammeh and his cronies will realise how frustrated Gambians are to his rule.

I and a thousands of other Gambians wants a leadership that will rule the people according to dictates of the 1997 constitution. We want a government that will not enslave Gambians. We want a government that will not seize the rights of the citizenry. We want a governemnt that will respects the opinions of the electorate. Jammeh and his cronies may not be hearing from these people, certainly not in the Daily Observer, but they are out there in our streets, work places, ghettos, everywhere- and their anger is brewing just beneath the surface.

As a democratic minded journalists, all I will keep doing is to continue telling the Gambian people what they need to hear as well as provide them with the space- the space they are shamelessly denied by the Daily Observer to freely express themselves. This will no doubt enable them to exercise their democractic rights by voting Jammeh out of power.

President Jammeh and his cronies and indeed the Daily Observer, got to realise that the so-called return of the country to civilian rule in 1996 does not in anyway make us a democratic country. The mere periodic voting in general elections does not make us a democratic country. The mere existence of the three arms of government does not make us a democratic country. What we have is The Gambia is Jammehcracy, a system of government that can best be define as government of Yahya Jammeh, by Yahya Jammeh and for Yahya Jammeh.

In Jammehcracy, while there exist the three arms of government, yet the president gets total control of their activities. He hires and fires ministers, legislators and judges. A minister who disagrees with him during cabinet meetings gets a good kicking on the backside. A member of parliament who fails to vote for any bill drafted by the executive is whack from the National Assembly and a judge who delivers a verdict against the state gets his contract terminated or remains at the bottom of the judiciary ladder with no prospects of promotion.

In Jammehcracy, the president becomes so intoxicated with power and will do everything in his powers to remain president for life. Like all dictators and tyrants, he becomes so paranoid thus trusts no one. He surrounds himself with his tribal men from the same village or division, who are pampered with goody goodies as long as they remain loyal to him. These tribal men in uniform spend sleepless nights arresting, torturing and in most occassions killing anyone who refuses to bend his knees for the president.

This of course reminded me of an article, The Portrait of a Tyrant authored by one of my mentors, Baba Galleh Jallow. In the article, Mr Jallow said: "Democracy, it is often said, is the tyranny of the majority. It is a political arrangement in which the majority elect representatives who then make and impose laws on the minority, whether the minority likes such laws or not. But it is universally acknowledged that a well-ordered democracy with the necessary checks and balances to prevent abuse of power is the best-known form of government. The situation becomes tricky when there is but a semblance of democracy, when there are no checks and balances, and where the elected representatives lack the personal wisdom and integrity to do the right thing and abstain from abusing their powers.

"The elected minority, knowing that those who elected them are really not in any position to control or punish them, begin abusing their power. Under the leadership of the would-be tyrant, they throw all care to the winds and employ every sort of conceivable device to deceive the people. They steal and get rich, lie and lavish goodies to blind the minds of the people, and become veritable sycophants to their leader, the would-be tyrant. When they are adequately corrupted and stripped of all honor and integrity, the would-be tyrant would start eliminating them one by one. So that in a short while, he would be the only surviving member of his former companions, thus beginning the rapid transition into a fully fledged tyrant. He would have been transformed, by his greed and insatiable lust for power, into a monster in human skin. For he would have lost all sense of proportion and would see himself as the very paragon of virtue and righteousness, thanks to the creeping and cringing sycophants groveling at his feet at every moment of his waking life."

The Daily Observer needs to know that while it is willing to blindly glorify President Jammeh and his bandwagon, sane Gambians will not. Gambians know that the APRC leadership is a complete sham. It is a bunch of currupt and selfish individuals who are using their positions to enrich themselves.

Take for example, we all know how much the president and his ministers are earning. Their earnings are not even upto £12,000 a year, yet they boast of fleet of cars, uncountable houses, zoo, foreign accounts and other properties far beyond their wages. How can they acquire all these riches if is not true bribery and corruption? Well you tell me that?

To conclude, let me make this clear once and for all. The Gambian media is here to stay. While the management of the Daily Observer is willing to bend its knees and bow its head to President Jammeh and his band wagon as they embark on their quest to milk the country to dry, we will not. We will always remain steadfast and committed to our principles. We will never abdicate our responsibilities no matter what bullying tactics you use. We can never be silent. NEVER.

Peace

Self defense

by PK Jarju

So far so good we still living today

But we don't know what tomorrow brings

In this crazy world

People dying like flies every day

You read about it in the news

But you don't believe it

You'll only know about it

When the man in the long black coat

Knocks on your door'

Cause you're his next victim

As you are living in this crazy world

.. Lucky Dube

This Tuesday, while reading the online papers, I came across an article on the February 5th edition of President Yahya Jammeh's newspaper, the Daily Observer, captioned Flagrant Injustice. While lashing out at the British High Commission for denying an entry visa to ill Gambian, Momodou, the paper stated: "Imagine how much money the British embassy in Banjul makes out of the pockets of the many poor Gambian students genuinely seeking scholarship in UK universities. This again contrasts sharply with the readily available visas for so-called dissident asylum-seeking journalists who end up becoming liabilities to the British citizens, as much as they remain forces of evil for their own countries. Is this how Britain intends to help The Gambia develop?....Also people that turn their backs to their countries, suddenly making themselves enemies of their home, are not only given asylum in the UK, but the country serves as sanctuary for them in their anti - development propaganda works."

I had to laugh aloud when I read this vile statement because Dida Halake, the paper's managing editor is doing the dirty work he is hired for by President Jammeh from his council flat in Leeds. It is very idiotic and stupid of him to try to compare Momodou's case with others. Dida has to know that his Master at State House is nothing but a corrupt and bloody dictator, who do not have the interest of the Gambian people at heart. Jammeh is not a blessing for the Gambian people.

How insane it is for an Ethiopian refugee to come to our very own country and insult us simply because we call for a democratic government that will govern the electorates in accordance to the laws of the land? Mr. Old man, if you are reading this piece, you got to know that we Gambians are not fools. We can be the most hospitable people on earth but never take our hospitability for weakness. We will not sit idly and watch a green snake like you come to our backyard and tell us that rubbish.

While he boost to anyone willing to listening that he holds a British passport, Dida was nothing in the UK but a mere primary school teacher in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He had to thank his lucky stars for being made Observer's managing director. He got the job not because of his intelligence. He got it not because he has any journalism experience. He got it simply through selfishness. For many years, we have seen him praise singing President Jammeh even when does things that are not in the interest of Gambians. And after all Jammeh does not care about one's qualifications when putting them in positions of public trust. As an incompetent leader himself, all Jammeh cares for is how much support you give to him and his APRC party.

As a man who have spent many years in Kenya and the UK, it is very ignorant and naive for Dida Halake to call Gambian journalists as anti-development. How stupid of him to think that we are enemies of the Gambia? How can a bloody foreigner come to our country and make such vile statement? Mr. Halake, we are not enemies of our motherland. We will never be. While you are nothing but a locust, who is only looking for green grass to chew, we are not. We will forever be proud to be Gambians and will do anything within our means to ensure that our country is not transformed into a kingdom rule by one mad man.

We have seen how corruption, nepotism and dictatorship led to the savagery resulting in the death of thousands of Ethiopians. And before you waste your time preaching us to love our country, why not preach love to your adopted home, Kenya, where thousands of people were killed.

Mar Halake, it is only a mad man who will try to put his own house on fire while his parents and kids are sleeping inside. Our criticism of the Jammeh is not in anyway geared towards bringing instability to our very own country. We have a gaddem right to criticize a tyrant like Yahya Jammeh, who thinks that he can rule us anyhow he wants. It is our God given right to express ourselves which Jammeh can never take away no matter how much he tries.

Like Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, exile Russian top nuclear physicists once stated in an interview with John Simpson of the BBC: "The desire, the instinct to oppose brutality and repress freedom of though is unquenchable. Of course it can be be force to keept quite at times, when repression gerts worse. Not everyone wants to be a matrtyr but the instincts remains and will always remain. And when circumstances becomes a little favourable, it will raise its head again. You cannot crush the instinct, because its part of us - part of human condition. The desire to be free is one of the fundamental human desire." So Mr. Old man, there you go.

Mr. Halake needs to realise that Jammeh is doing no one a favour by constructing roads or schools. He is doing what he is vote in for. That is why we pay our taxes. Dida has lived in Leeds for many years and never did he write a letter thanking the Leeds Metropolitcan Council for clearing his rubbish bin. Why, this is because they are doing what they are expected to do. If that is the case, does he think we a bunch of dummies who will heap praises on Jammeh for building a hospital in Fatoto, that only have paracetamol?

Dida Halake needs to know that the political situation in the Gambia is getting worse and worse by the day. It can be compared as being in a boat which is being driven by a mad captain in a stormy sea. People are being oppressed left right and centre everyday.

Where was Dida Halake when journalists like Alhagie Mbye of The Independent was arrested and tortured for over a week at the NIA headquarters not for setting Banjul International Airport on fire, but for writing an article seen critical of the regime. Where was Halake when my friend Malick Mboob was detained and tortured for over three months for just writing to the Freedom Newspaper? Where was Dida Halake when over a dozen innocent subcribers of the Freedom Newspapers were rounded up in the country and tortured by the NIA? Where was Dida Halake when armed soldiers set The Independent on fire? Is the closure of The Independent, Citizen FM and Sud FM justifiable? Where was Dida Halake when Deyda Hydara was brutality killed by NIA officers for just being a journalists? Where was Dida Halake when Ebrima Sillah's house was set on fire? Where was Dida when Chief Manneh, a bloke he knew very well at the Observer disappeared from earth after been arrested by the NIA? Why is the government wasting tax payers money in prosecuting Fatou Jaw Manneh? Is Dida not aware of Decree 70/71 and the new criminal procedure code which makes it a crime liable for six months in prison for just caricaturing someone? Well, I will excuse him if he is not aware of it as he might have been busy teaching kids in his Alhassan Madarasa how to support Yahya Jammeh.

Mr. Halake, Gambian journalists are today living in an atrocious political climate and you must have hammered 20 pints of larger if you think that all is well and fine. President Jammeh regards himself as God and wants every living soul in the country to bow down to him. And Dida Halake must be have gone completely crazy to see us as a forces of evil. We will never be cowed.

If there is any force of evil, it is Dida Halake. He is deliberately turning a blind eye while Jammeh is milking us to dry. He is careless about the oppression taking place in the Gambian. He does not care about the sufferings of our people. All he wants is too is to see Gambians been transformed into destitutes while Jammeh gets fatter and brutal.


Mr. Halake, we have seen many of your types and we know that you are only glorifying President Jammeh and his brutal regime for your own selfish desires. You will be on the next plane back to Leeds the very day you get the sack from the Observer.

Dida needs to know that Jammeh has brought nothing but untold sufferrings to the Gambian people. Poverty is increasing everyday with many families living under less than one Pound Sterling a day? While Dida is being paid D10, 000 a month, he needs to know that a large majority of civil servants are earning less than D1,000 a month. They are finding it difficult to survive the hardship which is epitomise by sky rocketing prices of commodity goods, high electric and water bills.
Our farmers are finding it difficult to put food on the table simply because their nuts are still unsold.

Mr. Halake you have been in the Gambia for many years and how many times have you had people losing their jobs just because they oppose Jammeh? How many times have you seen people being abtrararilly arrested and lock up at the stinking Mile Two Prisons for months without standing before any court of law just because they fell out with Jammeh? How many times have you heard of people disappearing from their families just for being opponents of the regime? Would you sit in your cozzy office and rant about forces of evil if your father, brother or uncle was one of these people buried in an unknown grave?

You are just being an ignorant wanker but you knew how unpleasant persecution is. You have witnessed it first hand in your native Ethopia and you have to be so grateful to Kenya for providing a safe heaven for you. While you are glad that those days are over, we in the Gambia are facing it. Yes big time.

Mr. Halake, have you forgotten that I am a signatory to your will and I know all about you. For the time being I let those things to be.
Peace
For comments, write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk

Incompetence - Sort of typical of President Jammeh

by PK Jarju

My attention has been drawn to an article published on the January 3 edition of The Point Newspaper in which President Yahya Abdul Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh, spoke at length about the Gambian civil service, opposition, Nepad, and the West.

In the story, Mr. Jammeh was quoted saying: "The amendment [Local Government Act] was made by the majority of the National Assembly. If you are telling me that National Assembly’s action is illegal then I wonder which authority in this country can make laws which anybody considers constitutional, legal or illegal? If I have to intervene to save Gambians I will do so and who ever does not like it, you can leave the country."

To be honest with you, I have to laugh out aloud after reading the above quotation as it exposes the President's ignorance to the 1997 constitution and his lack of respect to the Gambian people. The President in the above quotation was naive in failing to realize that Section 193 subsection (1) of the 1997 constitution is an entrenched clause, which cannot be amended by the National Assembly. This clause can only be changed through a referendum.

While the President may try to act smart by trying to highlight the importance of the National Assembly, he needs to know that the Gambian National Assembly is nothing but an APRC bureau. It is an unfit for purpose institution dominated by APRC men and women, who like the President, do not have the interest of the Gambian people at heart. They put the President's interest above the country. They have openly manifested their loyalty to the President by blindly and stupidly passing obnoxious laws such as the Local Government Amendment Act, which can be described as a killer bomb to our democracy.

The President got to know that most of these members of the National Assembly are unfit to be in that institution. They are lucky to be in that place simply because many electorates were intimidated to vote for them.

We have all seen the role played by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), police and the electoral commission in wrecking the chances of many opposition and Independent candidates in the National Assembly election.

Furthermore, despite being President of The Gambia, Jammeh got to know that he does not own the country. We are a country and not a village and we have a constitutional right to challenge any obnoxious law passed by the National Assembly.

And by saying that any Gambian who does not like what he is doing can leave the country, shows the contempt with which he holds the Gambian people. Of course, Jammeh is using his Gestapo [NIA] and soldiers to intimidate and torture his opponents there by giving them no choice but to flee the country. His motto is simple. You are either with me or I make life difficult for you. This is working well for him and as a result he has become so big headed and intoxicated with power. He treats us like small kids in kindergarten, swears at us billahi wallahi tallahi and threatens to bury us six-feet deep. This is total lunacy- period!

On Civil Servants

While, I am against lazy civil servants who get paid for doing nothing, I would began by saying that, the gross under performance of the Gambian civil service is encourage by the incompetence of President Yahya Jammeh and his regime.

There are many square pegs in round holes in the civil service as employment into the Gambian civil service is nowadays not determined by merits, but who you know. And as a result, many bright Gambians with good educational background and skills are being sidelined simply because they don't have any relationship with the top echelons. Be a son or daughter of a secretary of state, permanent secretary or an APRC yai compin (party woman patron) and you are guaranteed a job in our civil service upon completion of school.

The Gambian civil service is greatly undermined by favoritism, corruption, bribery, you name it. We have for many years seen many civil servants close to the President who are indicted for corruption being fired only to be reappointed to top positions of public trust. What about the President himself? He should count himself lucky that Gambians don't have a right to sack him. We would have fired him ages ago for incompetence, corruption, and worst of all, the mess which he has put our country into.

Opposition

The Gambian opposition has become less ferocious against President Jammeh simply because of his brutal and oppressive ways of governance. The Gambia is turned into a Nanny State. Jammeh is in control of everything from what we say, what we do and even where we go.

Gambians are arrested, tortured and even killed for no other reason than for opposing the regime. Government refuses to undertake certain development projects in communities that support the opposition. Civil servants suspected of being opposition sympathisers are made jobless. The political terrain is not level and how the hell does Jammeh expect Gambians to continue supporting the opposition?

Nepad

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) is failing due to the lack of support from corrupt presidents like Jammeh. They were too selfish and blind to see the noble objectives of the organisation, which include eradicating poverty; putting African countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development; stopping the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process and enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy and to accelerate the empowerment of women. Nepad was built on the principles of good governance, which it sees as a basic requirement for peace, security and sustainable political and socio-economic development.

Its desired outcomes were to enable Africa to become more effective in conflict prevention and the establishment of enduring peace on the continent; to enable Africa to adopt and implement principles of democracy and good political economic and corporate governance, and the protection of human rights becomes further entrenched in every African country as well as to help the continent to develop and implement effective poverty eradication programmes and accelerates the pace of achieving set African development goals, particularly human development to name but a few. Jammeh should be honest with the Gambian people.

There is nothing wrong with Nepad's principles. It is an organisation for Africa set up by patriotic Africans whose sole interest was to move Africa forward. Africa is sick and tired of corrupt and greedy leaders like Jammeh who turned their country's coffers into their personal accounts. Jammeh got to know that while other selfish and myopic Gambians are willing to blindly buy his cook and bull stories and ridiculous ideas, intelligent Gambians will always stand tall and tell him the unpleasant truth. For the Bible says, Truth shall set ye free and it will surely do.
Peace!
May Allah the most Gracious and Merciful shower His love and protection on our dear Mother Gambia.
For comments, write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk.

Flabbergasted

by PK Jarju
Deyda Hydara must be turning in his grave, wondering what the hell has gone wrong with his friend, Swaebou Conateh, publisher of the Gambia News and Report weekly magazine. The whole idea of Mr. Conateh naming Dictator Yahya Jammeh his 2007 Man of the Year is just a joke.

The blood of Deyda Hydara is still dripping from the hands of President Jammeh and Mr. Conateh's decision to bestow the award on Jammeh can only be described as an act of hypocrisy and an insult to the memory of his late friend.

I must admit that I have for many years been an admirer of Mr. Conateh, but am currently dying of shame after seeing him go so low to honor a man, who brought nothing but hardships, untold sufferings, retrogression as well as made many children orphans, mothers widows, and parents childless.

While Swaebou Conateh may be laughing his way to the bank, he needs to know that Jammeh has not met the criteria for the award in the first place. He has not contributed the most to the public welfare nor has he significantly contributed in enhancing in a direct and tangible form, the social, and economic status of Gambians as a whole.

Old age may have tricked my old friend into believing that Jammeh's HIV/Aids cure was real. Jammeh's AIDS treatment is a hoax, period! If the world scientific community with all modern technology cannot find a cure to the disease, how can a man without even a microscope find a cure to the disease?

I am not having a go at Mr. Conateh, but telling him the unpleasant truth, the very truth he taught me to say even if an AK 47 rifle is pointed at me. And I strongly disagree with Swaebou that Yahya Jammeh helped to bring an end to the stigma attached to the HIV/Aid in Gambian society. For the past four years or so, the National Aids Secretariat and UNDP office in Banjul have done a tremendous job in sponsoring workshops across the country and adverts on our radios and television geared towards sensitizing Gambians on the risks and prevention of HIV/Aids. All Jammeh was seen doing in Kanilai is sprinkling a concoction of leaves on some malnourished people. Is that what we call ending stigmatization?

Jammeh's so-called HIV/Aids treatment programme was a political propaganda and money generating venture. I say this because Jammeh insists on all patience to be filmed by Gambia Television while receiving treatment. He now has a bogus Aids organization, which all government departments and some private enterprises have pumped huge sums of money. Jammeh is the richest Gambian today and if he is really sincere, then he would have used his money to fund the programme. After all, all he uses for the Aids treatment are some local herbs, which are in the bushes of Kanilai.

On Swaebou's claims that Jammeh have brought about rapid developments and improvements in education, health, agriculture, sports, culture, information/communication, and infrastructure, that is just laughable. Yes, the AFPRC/APRC government has built schools and hospitals, Conateh got to know that most of these projects can only be described as white elephant projects. Despite the building of hundreds of new schools which don't even have a library not to talk of a lab, the number of students completing senior secondary school without a single credit in eight subjects is increasing at an alarming rate.

In fact, it is only children from poor backgrounds who attend these schools built under Jammeh. All senior civil servants including Jammeh himself take their children to expensive private schools that are well equipped to arm them with the required education.

On the health services, while government has built hospitals and health centers, yet many of these hospitals and health centers like the schools are not well equipped. They are continuously hit by persistent drug shortages, lack of qualified doctors and ambulances. Many Patients die of preventable diseases like malaria and the infant mortality rate gets higher.

In some cases, patients are asked to buy fuel for ambulances to transport them to major hospitals and due to the poor state of our public health services, many Gambians now prefer to seek medical care in private pharmacies and health centers. And if our hospitals and health centers are well equipped as Swaebou wants to make us believe, why should senior civil servants, including Jammeh, be sending their pregnant wives to deliver abroad in expensive private hospitals? Well, let Swaebou answer that question.

The Gambia's agricultural sector is at its worst state. Cultivation of groundnuts which is the country's main export has declined rapidly due to disastrous trade seasons. The continuous failure of government to put in place effective agricultural policies has severely affected the livelihood of farmers.

Many farmers today struggle to put food on their tables and the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities is causing a lot of suffering in the farming communities.

Despite spending millions of Dalasis on the Jahally Pacharr and Kuntaur rice projects, Gambians are far from being food self-sufficient. The price of rice, Gambia's stable food, increases week in week out. The country continues to import almost everything we eat from neighbouring countries.

Based on misguided and over zealous policies, the government has failed to meet many of its targets. Development is politicised and many of the development projects were embarked upon without taking into consideration the needs of the people.

Another laughable thing is Swaebou's statement that Jammeh has husbanded and safeguarded the country’s finances, thereby bringing inflation and currency depreciation under control and, in the 2008 national budget, turning to a surplus the deficit that had existed previously.

The Gambian economy is in a serious mess due to power government policies. The dalasi is continuing to depreciate sharply against foreign currencies and our national and external debts are near choking points.

How did Jammeh safeguard our finance when he has transformed our Central Bank into his personal treasury?

I could waste my time responding to every point Swaebou Conateh stated on his letter to the President. But rather than waste my time and that of my readers, I will conclude that President Jammeh did not come to power to alleviate the suffering of Gambian people. He is a greedy, and power hungry soldiers who is only interested in becoming wealthy and powerful. He is so intoxicated with power and does not hesitate to come down heavily on his opponents and critics. That is why Deyda Hydara was killed, Imam Karamo Touray and Pa Sallah Jagne were detained at the stinking Mile Two Prisons on trumped-up charges, Justice Hassan Jallow and Pa Sallah Jeng were removed from their positions and Lamin Waa Juwara arrested and tortured. And funnily, these people were previous recipients of this very award Swaebou Conateh shameless bestowed on Jammeh.

And you know what? Jammeh does not even respect Swaebou Conateh's profession which he calls a stinking business and once urged religious leaders not to buy newspapers as a way of starving them financially. And as a result of his hatred to the private media, many journalists have been arrested and tortured by the Gestapo (NIA) while many were left with no choice but to flee the country living behind their families. Other media houses like The Independent, Citizen FM, and Sud FM are arbitrarily shut down.

Swaebou Conateh needs to realise that no matter how much he tries, he can never succeed in rebuilding the battered image of his old friend. And if respectable men like him are willing to compromise their professionalism and ethics, then God help The Gambia.

For comments write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk

A futile excercis

by PK Jarju

Next month's Local Government elections in The Gambia can best be described as an exercise in futility.

The elections are only a mockery to democracy and an insult to the intelligence of the Gambia people, looking at the fact that President Yahya Jammeh has been given sweeping powers by the National Assembly to remove the very people Gambians will be voting for on January 24.

Looking at the new Local Government Amendment Act, it will be correct for me to state that the forthcoming elections amounts to nothing but a waste of time and resources. The democratic rights of the people to have an autonomous local government that will run their affairs at the local level have been brutality taken away from them.

Yes, we can now elect our local representatives but expect them to be fired from their posts whenever the President who is out of touch with the reality on the ground wants to.

Of course, this reminds me of the type of democracy we have in The Gambia; Jammehcracy, where the president is deemed supreme, wiser and more patriotic than any living soul in the country.

And looking at the resentment President Jammeh has for the opposition, I cannot help but laugh at the decision of the UDP and NRP to contest the elections. While their intentions are clear,  their effort is rather too late. Our democracy has died a gruesome death. We are in a dictatorship and elections are nothing but a formality.

The whole terrain is far from level and I am sorry to say that Mr Darboe and Hamat Bah must be living in a dream world if they think that President Jammeh will allow an opposition mayor or chairperson to run the affairs of any local government council.

Lawyer Darboe's own admission that his party is unable to identity candidates to run as councilors in the Fonis, because of the reluctance of the people to run on a UDPticket shows how un-level the political terrain is. My brothers in Foni are reluctant because of the fear of persecution as President and his cronies ensure that those who oppose them live a miserable life.

How many times have we heard President Jammeh calling opposition leaders and their sympathisers names that I will not state in this column for the sake of decency? How many times have we seen civil servants being sacked left, right and centre just because someone has accused them of being opposition sympathisers? How many times have we seen opposition leaders and their sympathisers being rrested, detained, tortured and killed under the direct command of President Jammeh? How many times have we seen the President fired members of the electoral commission who make decision deemed to be in favour of opposition parties?

Jammeh and his cronies are hell bend on transforming The Gambia into a one party state and nothing can stop them in their quest. We are at their mercy. Our councils are not autonomous anymore. The central government is in control of the councils with the President being the CEO. And we should not be surprise if President Jammeh wakes up one morning and decides to abolish Local Government Elections.

Commending Mathew Jallow

Mathew K Jallow's article on the Gambia Echo captioned The Gambia's struggle against a de facto dictatorship is a well written piece.

Mathew Jallow

The political situation in The Gambia is getting worse every day with President Jammeh tightening his grip on power. Our rights and freedoms have been taken by a mighty and brutal regime that has no interest to the welfare of Gambians at heart.

President Jammeh and his cronies are a bundle of terror who are wrecking our hopes and aspirations of a better Gambia. The Gambian people are today living under constant fear and oppression. And the oppression is bound to continue forever as long as we Gambians continue to remain silent and wait for divine intervention. God only give help to those who make an effort.

We need to wake up and say enough is enough to the President and his regime. We should have a desire to be free and the instinct to oppose brutality and repression. Gambians should forget nursing the dream that international organisations like the UN, the Commonwealth among others will solve our problems for us. While they can influence the process, it is left to us to take the leading role as the country as ours.

Well done Mathew!

A prayer to Gambians

O ye the oppressed people of Gambia, as we are about to say goodbye to 2007, I pray that 2008 will be a year that will bring loads of joy, happiness, peace, and prosperity in our lives and country. I also hope and pray that the ever merciful and ever gracious Lord, will end our sufferings and oppression.

May Allah bless The Gambia with a selfless leadership that will strive day and night to create a better and prosperous country for all.
Happy 2008 in advance. Long live the Gambian people, Long live our great country. Amen.

A Derailed Revolution

President Jammeh

by PK Jarju

Fail, fail, and fail is the only word I can use to describe the July 22nd revolution that brought President Yahya Jammeh and his AFPRC/APRC government to power in 1994. I cannot think of any better adjective to describe a regime that despite 13 years in power is unable to provide a good standard of living for the average Gambian.
The regime has failed to live up to its slogan of accountability, transparency and probity. It has become unaccountable, nontransparent and unable to get rid of the ills it claimed were riffed in the previous Jawara regime. This regime is worse than the Jawara regime and the once happy people of The Gambia are today living in a sad and miserable society; where a greater percentage cannot even afford to acquire a decent meal for the day. In other words, the revolution has brought nothing meaningful but retrogression, hardship, and endless suffering to the Gambian people.

What can be described as bad under the erstwhile Jawara regime is at its worst state today. Corruption is at its highest with the president and his cronies hijacking the country's economy which is squandered and diverted into personal use. The president and his associates, who were nowhere near the rich ladder before coming to power, are today the richest and most wealthy people in the country. They own vast assets and properties and businesses both in the country and abroad.

The July 22nd revolution was not brought about to alleviate the suffering of Gambian people. It was conducted by a group of unpatriotic, selfish, greedy, and power hungry soldiers who were only interested in becoming wealthy and powerful. They have become so intoxicated with power that they crush their political opponents and anyone who has the dares stand their way. Never do they intend to exit the corridors of power, for it is a dream come true. The national cake belongs to them alone. All those calling for a fair distribution of the cake are branded enemies and unpatriotic citizens.

In order to protect themselves from any future corruption proceedings, the regime has enacted legislation that immune the president and his cronies from any criminal prosecution for any wrongs they have committed or deemed to have done while in office.

This gives the leadership the carte blanc to do anything it wants as it is not accountable to anyone. All Gambians are accountable to the president, who treats them with utter contempt, like his forbidden children. He swears at them Billahi Wallai Tallai, lock them up at the Mile Two Central Prisons without facing any due process of the law, and even threaten them with death for merely opposing him.

Based on misguided and over zealous policies, the government has failed to meet many of its targets. Development is politicised and many of the development projects were embarked upon without taking into consideration the needs of the people. For example, while thousands of Gambians remain unemployed, the government spent millions of Dalasis in building Arch 22 in Banjul, which neither provides employment opportunities for Gambians nor provide revenue to the government. While Arch 22 has not increased the number of tourists visiting Banjul, thousands of Dalasis are spent on its maintenance while little is being generated from it.

While I welcome the construction of schools especially in the provinces, where I originated from, yet some of the schools can only be seen as white elephant projects. They only have quantity and not quality and do not provide the much needed education to Gambian children. Take for example, while many of the upper basic schools built by the revolution boasts of high enrolment, they lack qualify teachers, libraries and other educational materials. As a result only a small percentage of students get good results to make it to Gambia Senior or St Augustine's Senior or Nustrat Senior Secondary, which are regarded as the best schools in the country. With regard to public senior secondary schools, the number of students graduating with no credits in eight subjects is rising at an alarming rate. These students do not have a bright future. All what they face is a bleak future where they cannot go to university or get any meaningful marketable skills.

Although the government continues to rant about the quality of these schools, government officials prefer to send their kids to private schools like Marina International, Ndows Comprehensive, and other expensive schools that produce good grades. Education in The Gambia today is divided between the rich and the poor. I say this because public schools that produce poor grades are for children from poor backgrounds while private schools are for children from wealthy backgrounds.

On the health services, while government has built hospitals and health centres, yet many of these hospitals and health centres like the schools are not well equipped. They are continuously hit by persistent drug shortages, lack of qualified doctors and ambulances. Many Patients die of preventable diseases like malaria and the infant mortality rate gets higher.

In some cases, patients are asked to buy fuel for ambulances to transport them to major hospitals and due to the poor state of our public health services, many Gambians now prefer to seek medical care in private pharmacies and health centres.

The Gambia's agricultural sector is at its worst state. Cultivation of groundnuts which is the country's main export has declined rapidly due to disastrous trade seasons. The continuous failure of government to put in place effective agricultural policies has severely affected the livelihood of farmers. Many farmers today struggle to put food on their tables and the skyrocketing prices of basic commodities is causing a lot of suffering in the farming communities.

Despite spending millions of Dalasis on the Jahally Pacharr and Kuntaur rice projects, Gambians are far from being food self-sufficient. The price of rice Gambia's stable food increases week in week out. The country continues to import almost everything we eat from neighbouring countries.

With every sector of the Gambian economy failing, Jammeh has to admit his failures as a president and step down.

Good Riddance

by PK Jarju

Major Musa Jammeh

President Yahya Jammeh must be crying himself to sleep at the moment after hearing the death of his personal protector, Major Musa Jammeh. I bet he must be asking himself a thousand times or more why the Angel of Death should turn its attention to Major Musa just a few months after it took away  Major Tumbul Tamba, another loyal servant of his.

These two men were the most trusted men of President Jammeh. He gave them all the immunity and support they needed and as a result, they committed some of the most heinous crimes in our country's history. They saw Jammeh as a Messiah, sent to the Gambian people by Almighty Allah. Jammeh was their saviour and to them, anyone who fails prostrate before the Messiah deserves nothing but to be buried six-feet deep.

To these men, Jammeh is just super perfect for Mama Gambia and those who oppose him are nothing but opportunists, tribalists, and detractors. They were feared by even their colleagues because they are the Big Man's friends. They have no human feelings and they can kill, torture a fellow Gambian without even giving a second thought about their actions.

While Gambians and Africans in general believe that the Angel of Death is a bad reaper who is always after the unripe fruit, in the case of Major Musa and Tumbul Tamba, I will disagree. Don't get me wrong. I am not rejoicing at the death of the two men. I am sad to see them die peaceful on their hospital beds without having the chance to be flown in handcuffs to The Hague for the killings of Gambians and non Gambians.

I am also sad that the Angel of Death have taken them away without giving Gambian journalists and critics of the Jammeh regime the chance to see them pay for the inhumane torture and other brutalities they suffered in their hands.

The death of the two men should send a wake up call to Ousman Sonko, Alagie Martin, Kawsu Camara, Sana Manjang, Malick Jatta and other members of President Jammeh's hit squad that their crimes against the very people they swore to protect will never go unpunished. They may have the immunity today from Jammeh to kill, torture, and rape innocent Gambians, but they should know that nothing is hidden from the sun. If they escape justice in this world, they would still have to face it on the Day of Judgement when all living soul  account for all their deeds.

Let them remember that the things they do will always live after them and they will always reap what they sow.

From where I stand

Over the past few days, I received loads of support from concerned Gambians both at home and abroad regarding the threats I got from one Kebba T Sanneh, believed to be a member of the Jammeh hit squad.

I want to make it clear to Mr Sanneh and those murder happy boys at the NIA and army that I am not shaken by their threats and no amount of blackmail and intimidation will make me abdicate my noble profession. The Gambia belongs to all of us and it is our responsibility to bring the Jammeh regime to its senses anytime it enact laws or does things that are not in the interest of the country and its people.

I have matured into the journalism field seeing my colleagues like Baba Galleh Jallow, Alagi Yorro Jallow, Abdoulie Sey, NB Daffeh, Alhagie Mbye, among others being persecuted left, right, and centre by the NIA for writing nothing but the truth. Kebba and his hit squad may hate me for being the only Jola who have the balls to criticise the brutal Jammeh regime but I don't give a monkey.

This is because I don't regard myself as a Jola. I regard myself as a Gambian and an African who is only interested in the full restoration of democracy and rule of law in our beloved country. And if my calls for the respect for the rights and freedom of the Gambian people is a crime, then I am willing to be a criminal. Listing me among coup plotters and other people wanted in The Gambia does not in anyway scare me.

To the hit squad, do not ever think that my commentaries and articles will ever disappear from the front pages of Gambian newspapers and websites. The ink of my pen shall never dry; neither will my computer keyboard get stuck because my instruments of information shall always be mightier than Jammeh's sword and your machine guns and RPGs.

Your claims that you know my address and what I do will never make move out of my apartment. I will continue to live in the same place and do what I am doing.

And in the event that you succeed in blowing my head up like you did to Deyda Hydara and Chief Ebrima Manneh (may their souls rest in peace), more radical Gambians including my son will stand up and express their thoughts and feelings about the brutal and dictatorial regime in whose name you are committing heinous crimes against the very people you swore to protect.

I rest my case, chi jamma.

Journalist PK Jarju on Life Threaten Alert

An email emerging from one Kebba T Sanneh contains disturbing information threatening the life and personal protection of our colleague Pa Kemo Jarju better know as PK.

All Gambian media establishment is alarmed and concerned by the sender Kebba T Sanneh who claimed to be a soldier in the Gambian Army. We find the email threatening and disturbing in that Sanneh claimed to know everything about PK’s personal life, including his home address. Our sources have it that Sanneh is an active member of Jammeh’s execution squad responsible for the murders of veteran Journalist Deyda Hydara and most recently Chief Ebrima Manneh.

Since Sanneh claimed to know the whereabouts of PK and his family at home and abroad, we at All Gambian take such a claim seriously, knowing fully well the vicious track record of Jammeh’s henchmen against critics. We know that these are the ones responsible for setting fire to media houses as well as attempts on the lives of journalists. It is no secret that Yahya Jammeh’s regime lacks tolerance for independent media and has no desire to observe citizens’ fundamental right to freedom of speech.

Journalist PK Jarju like President Jammeh also belongs to the Jola ethnic group of Gambia. Nonetheless, PK is one of the sharpest critics of Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorial policies and administration. It turns out this does not go well with some Jolas in Jammeh’s camp whose objective is to have a unified Jola support around the administration even to the detriment of national unity and harmony. Jarju, on the other hand chooses not only to distance himself from Jammeh’s maladministration of the nation but expresses his disagreement for it in his writings on many occasions.

This statement is to convey our concern to all democratic governments and organizations having relations with government of Gambia. It is extended to international and domestic human rights institutions, Amnesty International, the Commonwealth Media Unit, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), International Journalists Federation (IFJ), Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Reporters without Borders (RSF), Gambia Press Union (GPU) and its subsidiaries, Gambian online establishments, President’s Office Gambia, British Police, Home Office (UK). We solicit the cooperation and support of all concerned in defense of full safety and security for our colleague Pa Kemo Jarju and his family both in Gambia and wherever they may be.

Media watch group wants Jammeh tried for rights abuses

Accra, Ghana - A media watch group Saturday called for the trial of Gambi an President Yahya Jammeh at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for human ri g hts abuses.

The Accra-based Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) specifically mentioned the July 2005 gruesome murder of some 50 West African nationals, inclu ding 44 Ghanaians, who were arrested in the Gambia while on their way to board a vessel to Europe.

MFWA Executive Directo Kwame Karkari, who read out decisions taken during a two- day meeting in Accra, said the Foundation also took a serious view of media repr e ssion in the Gambia.

He said apart from going to the ICC, the group would also use several means in i ts campaign to apply pressure on President Jammeh.

Karikari said the campaign targeted at President Jammeh and members of his gover nment and families would include a tourist boycott of their businesses, visa and travel ban and cessation of foreign assistance to the military and law enforceme n t agencies.

They also planned to organise protests and rallies against the Gambian authoriti es in their diplomatic missions in West Africa, he said.

The campaign against Jammeh would also be carried out on African Human Rights Da y, International Human Rights Day and other major meetings in sub-regional and i n ternational bodies.

Karikai said MFWA would establish various networks and work with other regional and international human rights organisations for the purpose of implementing its activities.
He urged African Union Chairman, Ghana's President John Kufuor, to step up press ure on Jammeh to respect the rights of his nationals and other Africans living i n Gambia.

He also announced plans by the Foundation to mobilise the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, Authority of the Heads of State and Cou r t of Justice to ensure that the Gambia government is compelled to end human righ t s abuses. Several rights groups have criticized the Gambian leader for his lack of coopera tion to investigate the murders. Several delegations sent by the Ghana government to investigate the murders got cold response to their requests to the Gambia government to respond to the charg es and aid investigations into the matter.

The victims of the 2005 murders were alleged to have been arrested while on thei r way to Europe by sea through Gambia. They were allegedly accused of attempting to overthrow the Jammeh regime and e xecuted in cold blood on the orders of the Gambia leader. One survivor, Ghanaian Kwame Kyere, 28, revealed how his colleagues were murdered.
Accra - 10/11/2007
Panapress

Letter to President Jammeh

PK Jarju

Mr President, on December 16 this year, Gambian and international media organisations will commemorate third anniversary marking the brutal murder of Deyda Hydara, founder and Managing Editor, The Point Newspaper of Gambia.

Three years is not three days and the pain his family is going through is hard-felt by many of us. The fact that up to this day and time no one is arrested for this heinous crime continues to shock the all sound-minded Gambians and the human family at large.

Deyda was a perfect gentleman and good people cannot imagine what crime this generous and loving father and colleague must have committed to prompt his callous killers in such barbaric and brutal murder. Deyda was never a criminal.

He was a journalist, a fully trained one for that matter. His family, colleagues, and friends don’t deserve having him snatched away by the cold hands of death through the hot barrels of trigger-happy bandits operating in the name of state security.

As we count three years since this callous conduct by jealous and irresponsible cowards, lot of questions still beg for genuine responses. You and your government cannot still answer the simple question, “ Who Killed Deyda Hydara?”, a blame hanging over your neck for two years now. Only you and your operatives know the answers and now you keep the whole world waiting far too long since the chilling death of this dear member of a good family, colleagues, and circle of friends.

You told Neneh MacDoul-Gaye (former reporter and now Minister of Information) during one of your interviews over national TV that you and your government were not responsible for Deyda’s murder. In an un-diplomatic tone, the least expected of a President, you bluntly said that you don’t believe in killing people. You rather prefer locking up decent Gambian citizens in stinking Mile Two Prisons referred by uncaring self as Five Star Hotel in mockery of colleagues betrayed by you and now locked up in that dreaded jail, to be feasted on by mosquitoes and bugs.

Following the killing of Deyda, Gambia Police Forces under your manipulation faked an investigation later taken over by the National Intelligence (NIA). That report was directly submitted to you. You refused every call by concerned Gambians and international media organisations to let other professional investigating bodies like the Scotland Yard to carry the investigations. Scotland Yard on many occasions investigated murder cases involving British nationals in Gambia.

After months of silence, your NIA released a so-called “well-investigated”’ dossier to the public that represented an insult to Mr Hydara and his family. It remains an insult because instead of naming and shaming the killers, the report produced an ugly picture of defamation on late Deyda’s private life in a context never part of the reasons why the report was commissioned.

Mr President, we all know how well-organised professionals in a premeditated operation murdered Mr Hydara. It is a fact that Mr Hydara was under NIA surveillance few minutes before he was gunned down along Sankung Sillah Factory Road in Kanifing. Only fools of the lowest mindset will believe that the NIA did not have a hand in it.

If they were not involved, then let them explain how a man under their surveillance was gunned down without them knowing. Were they asleep at the time? The NIA remains prime suspect in this case. Therefore information from their preconceived investigation is open to critical scrutiny and remains doubtful. For them to carry a proper investigation in a case where they stand principal suspects is a mockery to intelligence and total failure of justice. The report by itself prompts more questions to be answered by you and them.

Mr President your hatred for the private media is no secret. Mr Hydara’s continuous criticisms of your undemocratic and brutal regime in his editorials as well as in his column- Good Morning Mr President were thorn in your government’s thick flesh. That was more the reason why you asked Pap Saine- a soft man whose life was torn apart since Mr Hydara’s death- to stop the column few months after Mr Hydara’s cold-blooded murder.

Mr President, Gambian journalists have known nothing but harassment, intimidation and arson attacks since you came to power. It is a shame that while other governments in the sub-region are busy enhancing the work of the private media now regarded as the fourth estate, you and yours are busy making life difficult for private media. There is collective opinion that Deyda Hydara’s murder was conceived to send a clear message for other journalists that their criticisms of your dictatorial regime will not be tolerated by you. For a while that tactic worked.

Take for example, The Independent, which was trying to make your government accountable, is shut down and its publishers repeatedly arrested and threatened with death. Some of the staff fled the country.

The Point after Deyda Hydara’s murder has gone so soft. As a safety cushion for survival the current management fears to throw punches at you and your government. The Daily Observer once a well respected paper has now been transformed into a wrapping paper. To be more diplomatic, it is now a talking drum used to propagate your deceptive messages.

You and your government now make life so difficult for the private media. Countless Gambian journalists today including my humble self are left with no choice but to go into self-exile, living behind our sweet homes and loved ones. Have you ever imagined how it is to leave our sweet homes behind, hard as that may? The pain is unimaginable, but has to be endured. Our duty as journalists demands it and we shall not let ourselves be cowed. Our rights can never be trampled.

Mr President, after taking over the reigns of power through the illegal coup of July 1994, you called on journalists to criticise when you are wrong. That is now a thing of the past. You hate criticism so much so that you openly accused African journalists as the continent's undesirable elements. Worst of all, you told religious leaders in State House not to buy newspapers as a means of keeping private publications out of the market.

Back to the murder of Deyda Hydara, Mr President you knew very well that ordinary Gambians including the police (not the Intervention Unit) do not carry fire arms. Knowing the type of person you are, the NIA under your command would have left no stone unturned in arresting Deyda's murderers if they were not involved. This would have given a Blue Peter badge to you and your government after all the criticisms you have received both at home and abroad.

Today Mr President you and your government want Gambians to forget that such an illustrious son of the country ever lived. As typical of murderers, anyone who mentions Deyda's name is branded an opposition or enemy of you and the criminal regime you presided over.

Take for instance, the police refused at first to issue a permit to the Gambia Press Union to hold a demonstration in Banjul one week after Deyda's murder. Even the though the permit was reluctantly issued at the last minute after the Press Union refused to back down. Despite this the march was disrupted by NIA at Arch 22 the entrance to Banjul. Again last year, armed police together with NIA officers disrupted a march pass by the Press Union. Members of the union were prevented from laying a wreath at the place where Deyda was murdered.
Your government also denied visas to delegates of international media organisations that wanted to grace the occasion.

A sober reflection of what transpired since then Mr President, draws deeper into the ring of suspicion that your government must have had a hand in this senseless killing of Deyda Hydara. Anyone who dares raise this issue on Gambian soil would have been in NIA custody by the publication of this article. Such could have been my fate. That fear will never let us forget Deyda, our able mentor and pacesetter whose blood is now stained on the hands of you and your blood thirsty killer boys.

You lot must also remember that no matter how long it takes, you shall pay for taking the life of such a gentleman whose only crime was tying to keep you accountable to civilised Gambian electorates you now fail to serve. It is time to confess if you still call yourselves men, before it is too late.

Mr President, you must also remember that the Gambian independent media is here to stay. The ink of our pens shall never dry, neither will our computer keyboards get stuck. We will never be cowed. Our instruments of information shall always be mightier than your sword and idol worshipping counting beads.
Have a good day Mr President.
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Another Death Knell for Democracy

by DA Jawo

It is indeed quite hard to understand why, while the rest of the African continent is well on the road to democracy and good governance, this country is moving in the opposite direction, as it is clearly manifested by the unprecedented decision of the National Assembly to abdicate its responsibilities and give such sweeping powers to President Jammeh to take over direct responsibility of the administration of all the municipal councils.

What is even more ridiculous, are the sweeping powers given to him to also remove mayors/chairpersons of councils as well as all other elected representatives of the people. Of course, he did not need the National Assembly to give him such powers, because he had already been exercising them without any legal backing. We can recall that he arbitrarily removed the Mayors of Banjul City Council (BCC) and the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) as well as the Chairman of Brikama Area Council. Therefore, the authorization by the National Assembly was merely to formalize what already existed in practise.

However, by allowing themselves to be used to rubber stamp such undemocratic legislation, members of the National Assembly have clearly shown Gambians that they represent President Jammeh's interests instead of the interests of the people who elected them.

There is absolutely no way that anyone can justify giving President Jammeh the power to remove people directly elected by the people, just like him. I agree with Sidia Jatta that if President Jammeh is given the power to remove at will those directly elected by the people, then there is absolutely no point in anyone seeking election. This is just another additional death knell for democracy in this country.

Of course, this sort of trend has been going on since the very beginning. We have seen the government, using the rubber stamp National Assembly to amend the Constitution and remove the provision that called for the election of chiefs, no doubt after the regime realized from the Sami chieftaincy elections that there was no way they can manipulate the system in their favour.

There is no doubt that the next move would be to abolish local government elections and give him the power to be appointing people to manage all the local government structures.

Therefore, this latest move is just a continuation of the trend to bring the entire local government structure under the direct control of the President so that he can continue to put in only those people he can easily manipulate.

However, with the negative role that the National Assembly has played in helping President Jammeh to consolidate his iron-grip hold of all the democratic institutions, the members have really abdicated their responsibilities to the people of this country and as such, those who voted for that undemocratic law have lost any credibility they ever had in representing the people. It is therefore hard to see how the people can ever re-elect them when they have clearly shown that they have no regard for the welfare of the people of the country and they are ready to rubber stamp anything presented to them by President Jammeh.

It is indeed a shame that while the rest of the continent is consolidating democracy and good governance, we in this country are moving in the opposite direction. With this latest move on the local government structure, it is now hard to see the United Nations system contributing to our local government decentralisation process, because instead of decentralising, we seem to be putting everything in the hands of the president.

In view of this therefore, there is absolutely no way that anyone would now take this country seriously when it comes to democratisation. We have shown them that instead of moving with the tide of democratisation, we are retrogressing to the dark old days.
Culled from Foroyaa Newspaper.

Gambia, Senegal Sign Communiqué

The Gambian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Crispin Grey-Johnson and the Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Cheikh Tidiane Gadio have signed a Joint Communiqué on Saturday, November 3, at the end of the 4th session of the Senegalo-Gambian Joint Ministerial commission held at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

The meeting was in accordance with directives of the two heads of state and issues discussed included trade, customs, transport, the environment, agriculture, forestry, wildlife, fisheries, education, energy, gender, culture, security and defence, immigration, health, tourism and the Senegalo - Gambian Permanent Secretariat.

On trade, the Gambia and Senegal have agreed to exchange information on trade matters and a draft trade agreement between the two countries was submitted by the Gambia to the Senegalese authorities and their reaction will be forthcoming in due course.

The two countries have also agreed and recommended that a meeting be convened between the two customs institutions as soon as possible in order to give adequate response to pertinent matters.

The communiqué reads: "Pertaining to the transport sector, the Gambian side proposed the signing of a new road transport agreement before the end of 2007 given that the agreement signed in 2004 is not adequately implemented. It was agreed that a meeting be held in Dakar on 20th November, 2007 to finalise a new agreement."

The question of the bridge was raised. "It was decided that the matter be referred to the forthcoming Joint Consultative meeting."

On the environment, the delegations indicated their long standing cooperation in sharing information based on the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and remote sensing. "Future collaboration will include coastal and marine environment management, enhancing environmental monitoring systems, and the strengthening of chemical management, including the control of obsolete and/or banned pesticides in the two countries," the communiqué states.

In the area of forestry, delegates of both countries agreed to strengthen collaboration by implementing joint activities and exchange of experiences in fire prevention, protection and monitoring techniques, community forestry, the management of mangroves and mangrove die-back, especially the Bintang Bolong.

"The two countries will strengthen the control of the cross - border movement of forest products; exchange of research, trial results, data and documentations and sharing information on reforestation and afforestation, as well as collaborate on the implementation of regional and international agreements," the communiqué states.

On protected areas and wildlife management, the two governments are implementing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) of 2001 for the trans - frontier management of Niumi National Park and Delta du Saloum National Park.

"In addition to these two areas of cooperation, the delegations of both countries agreed to the establishment of more trans-boundary protected areas, harmonization of regulation on sport hunting, wildlife management and cooperation on illegal poaching," the communiqué reads.

On climate change, the delegates have agreed to develop policies and regulations in implementing joint mitigation and adaptation plans and programmes.

In the agriculture sector, the two sides underscored the need for the implementation of common policies and programmes geared towards poverty alleviation and agreed to cooperate in the harmonization of their regulations on phytosanitary, seeds, genetically modified organisms and movement of pesticides. "They also agreed to prevent invasion of locust and other migratory pests and improve on exchange of research, training and experiences. The countries will endeavour to share experience in research in the agro-sylvo-pastoral area," the communiqué indicated.

The existing reciprocal fisheries agreement between the two countries will be reviewed in January 2008 in Banjul, in accordance with article thirteen of the agreement.

On gender, the Women's Bureau in the Gambia and the Ministry of Family Affairs in Senegal have initiated action for an effective and coordinated collaboration between them, and to that end the two countries are about to sign a bilateral agreement. The two countries agreed to factor and fully integrate children's issues in their respective national policies and programmes. "The Senegalese side has invited children and teachers from the Gambia to attend the 3rd Children's Week Celebration from the 11th - 16th December, 2007. The Senegalese delegation proposes that the Gambia considers the establishment of a "Hut for Children" programme with the logistics, funded by Senegal," the communiqué shows.

In the area of education, they agreed to establish links between the University of the Gambia and other institutions of higher education in Senegal and exchange experiences in vocational training.

Culled from Foroyaa NewsPaper.

The Politics of Appointments

During the coup period, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) had absolute power to make laws and appoint anyone to any post. This enabled it to hire and fire at will. They therefore constituted the councils as they wished.

The return to constitutional rule is proving to be a challenge to the APRC government which appears to have grown accustomed to the absolute powers of the coup period. What is surprising to many is the speed with which the executive has moved to dissolve councils and appoint management teams.

First and foremost, Section 100 subsection 7 of the Constitution states that "no act of the National Assembly shall come into operation until it has been published in the Gazette "

According to the section, when a bill is passed, it has to be assented to by the president and published in the Gazette within 30 days of assent.
The secretary of State for Local Government has recently taken a bill to the national assembly which called for the dissolution of councils three months before an election and the appointment of a management team by the President to run them prior to elections.

The dissolution has already been effected and the appointments of the Management teams have also taken place .Foroyaa will monitor the Gazettes to see whether the provisions of the constitution have been complied with.

What is of greater concern is the constitutionality of the Management teams. Section 193 of the Constitution makes it Mandatory for local Government Administration to be based on a system of democratically elected councils. We repeat - Section 193 reads : "Local Government Administration in the Gambia shall be based on a system of democratically elected councils with a high degree of local autonomy."

There is no room for management teams The provision which creates this management team to replace elected councillors is unconstitutional. Elected councillors should go to court to challenge this under section 5 of the Constitution.
Culled from FOROYAA Newspaper

The End of Decentralisation

Section 101 of the Constitution of the Gambia states categorically that no bill shall be introduced into the National Assembly of the Gambia, unless it is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum setting out in detail the policies and principles of the bill, the defects it is intended to remedy and the necessity for its introduction.

An extra ordinary meeting of the National Assembly was convened to discuss and amend the Local Government Act. The bill which was placed before the National Assembly members was introduced by the Secretary of State for Local Government and Lands and Religious Affairs, Ismaila Sambou.


Let us now examine the original principles governing Local government administration under the 1997 Constitution and weigh the amendments against the principles.

During the early phase of the colonial period power was centralized in the hands of the governor. People paid taxes but had no way of determining who would manage their resources. The governor appointed the members of the executive and legislative councils to serve as advisory bodies for the Governor. It was Edward Francis Small who pioneered the clarion call for 'no taxation without representation'. 87 years have elapsed since the National Congress of British West Africa called on its members to educate the people to know that they are the rates and tax payers and had the right to elect those who are to manage their taxes.

One would have thought by now that the people of our era would be more enlightened than those who lived at the time of Francis Small:
The 1997 Constitution made Section 193 subsection (1) an entrenched clause. This clause cannot be changed without a referendum: The section States:

"Local Government in the Gambia shall be based on a system of democratically elected councils with a high degree of Local Autonomy"
In line with section I93 the constitution further asserted in section 194 paragraphs (a) and (c):

"An Act of the National Assembly by or under which a local government authority is established shall include provision for -
(a) the election of members of the authority from among residents of the area within the authority's jurisdiction at intervals of four years, and the qualifications for election;

(b) the additional representation on the authority of District Seyfolu and representatives of local commercial, occupational or social interests or groups, whether by election or otherwise

(c) the direct election of the mayor or chairman of the authority;"
The Secretary of State started by calling for the amendment of this provision. Section 193 subsection (4) also states the object of the Local Government System as follows:

" It shall be the object of the local government system that as far as possible, issues of local policy and administration shall be decided at a local level and that local government authorities shall cooperate with the Central Government in adopting a policy of decentralization."

On Wednesday 31 October 2007, the Secretary of State for Local Government introduced the following amendments:
"(1) Local Government Council shall stand dissolved ninety days before a Local Government election.

"(2)On the dissolution of a Council, The President shall appoint, for each Local Government Area, an interim Management Team, consisting of such persons as he or she may determine, to perform the functions and exercise the powers of a Council until the day preceding the first meeting of a Council after a Local Government election."

This contravenes the letter and spirit of Section 193 of the constitution and should become null and void.
The amendments further states:

"A Chairperson, other than a Mayor or Mayoress, shall be elected by the Councillors from among the Councillors." This ousts the direct election of the Chairpersons of councils outside of Banjul and the Kanifing Municipality, and thus deprives the people in the rural areas of universal suffrage in electing chairpersons of councils as is reminiscent of the colonial days.

To negate the principle of decentralisation completely, the following amendment empowers the president to remove the elected members of councils and thus reduces them to subjects under the control of the Secretary of state:

"Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, a Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson or other member of a Council may also be removed from office by the President, on the recommendation of the Secretary of state, on any of the grounds set out in subsection (1) of this section."
This is the end result of the APRC revolution: One step forward and Two steps backwards.

The following is part of the explanation given by SoS Sambou as principles for the Amendments:

"In the light of constraints which the Department of State for Local Government and Lands experiences in the exchange and management of information and decisions with Councils, the Department considers it necessary to introduce the concept of the indirect executive chairpersons excluding mayors and mayoresses, where the chairpersons of councils are elected not by universal adult suffrage but by the Councillors from among themselves.

This could not, however, be done without the Constitution being amended. The Constitution having been amended, this Bill seeks to amend the relevant sections of the Local Government Act to give effect to the Constitutional amendment.

In the same vein, with the need for faster decision making in Council and for a more rapid and more responsive implementation of the decentralization process, the Department of State wishes also to propose the amendment of the relevant sections of the Local Government Act 2002 to reflect the need for the President to have the power to remove the Mayor/Chairman, Deputy Mayor/Chairman or other member of Council. And also to have Councillors in the local Government Authorities who can demonstrate a clearer understanding of issues and participate more effectively in chamber debates."

History is recording how the constitution is being butchered to suit the desire of the APRC to centralize power in the hands of its executive. In a democratic society where the electorate are sovereign and enlightened such an issue would be part of an election platform which should warrant MPs being sent packing at the end of their mandate.

Culled from FOROYAA Newspaper