How the Internet is Changing Traditional Journalism

By PK Jarju
Worcestershire, UK

With the coming of the internet, journalism has changed in that the world has become a global village and events happening in remote parts of the world can now be easily reported and accessed by millions of people around the world by the click of a button.

And with a quarter of the world’s population now digitally connected, the media industry has become a multi-platform and the way news is gathered and reported has changed.

The internet has given birth to millions of bloggers and posters whose online postings can be read by anyone, anywhere and at anytime with a lap top, computer or mobile phone.

In the Gambia for example which has restrictive media laws, the net has given birth to many online newspapers like Freedom Newspaper, the Gambia L, Jollof News, the Gambia Echo Maafanta and the Gambia Journal, which publishes critical articles against the government which local media organisations dare not publish due to fear of persecution.

Writing on the topic Net gains and pains for journalism, Bill Thompson an independent journalist and regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet said: “We've seen blogging turn from a curious habit of the self-obsessed into a defining use of the internet for all forms of communication, watched citizen journalism rise and become partly absorbed into the mainstream, and seen news feeds, aggregators and personal recommendations on social network sites replace the front pages of major news providers as the way people find out about breaking news.”

In the world today, almost every major newspaper and television station has a web presence. Even small newspaper businesses in poor countries like the Gambia now post their stories online.

Major media organisations like the Guardian, the Sun, the Daily Telegraph and BBC news online now upload sound, images and video as well as provide links on stories with background and related reports.

The above media organisations now interact with their readers by allowing them to post comments on articles either online or via SMS texts. Readers can also subscribe to websites and get breaking news stories send directly to their mobile phones.

The radio is not also left behind in this digital revolution. Radio stations like Kiss FM, BBC World Service, Paradise FM and Unique FM now streamed live online and can be listened to by people in offices and anywhere in the world.

The increasing use of internet sites like Twitter and Facebook by people to share information and stories is rapidly growing and threatening 24-hours news channels like the BBC and Sky.

For example, in June 2009, US base TMZ.com was the first to break the news of pop star Michael Jackson’s death. The site was also the first to provided up-to-the minute coverage of actor Natasha Richardson's skiing accident, brain swelling and subsequent death in March 2009.



In fact some media commentators like Robert Courtemanche have argued that: “The internet has slowly, but surely taken over the role of “see it here first” journalism. Even 24-hour news stations like CNN, MSNBC and FOX News do not have the ability to show news as it happens anywhere in the world. The internet does. There have been an increasing number of events chronicled on the internet first. The Virginia Tech shootings, the 2004 Indonesia Tsunami and the recent bombings in Mumbai, India were all shown online before television. Printed newspapers don’t even have a chance.”

In March this year, Sky News’ Kat Higgins reported that a poll conducted for the US based Pew Research Centre, has found that online news has moved up to third place in the popularity stakes - ahead of newspapers and radio.

The survey also found 92 per cent of Americans use a range of platforms to get their daily news with 61 per cent using the internet to get some kind of news. Around 37 per cent of internet users said they have contributed to the creation of news, commentary about it, or dissemination of news via social media.

The high number of internet users is attracting a lot of advertisers away from newspapers. Many newspapers such as the London Lite have had to close down while others like the Daily Mail and General Trust had to shed 1,000 jobs at its regional arm Northcliffe Media, which publishes more than 100 newspapers in England and Wales.

Commenting on the decline in advertisement in print newspapers, South African based online PushPrint Newspaper argues that: “Internet advertising is cheaper and the channel itself has spawned a consumer profile that is young, hip, technically savvy, easily bored and remarkably vocal. Instead of just consuming news, they generate it – tweeting, face booking and blogging to challenge the traditional domain of newsrooms.

“This generation views hard copies of newspapers and magazines as “yesterday’s news” and online technology and applications as the new information frontier. Traditional print media has been badly affected on various fronts and the pressure is on to maintain revenue streams while expanding into digital formats.

Although the internet may have succeeded in revolutionising the way news is gathered and presented, many people are critical of online journalist, bloggers and twitters.

As online journalism is not regulated, the accuracy and credibility of its stories is often questioned by some readers and journalists in the print media. And this is one of the reasons why famous journalists like Andrew Marr, presenter of the BBC’s Sunday Morning Show, sees internet bloggers as “inadequate, pimpled and single, and internet journalism as the spewings and rantings of very drunk people late at night. It is fantastic at times but it is not going to replace journalism.”

Gambia Day of Action - Interview with Demba Dem

Deyda Hydara, Chief Manneh Honoured

The African Editors Forum (TAEF) on October 14th honoured the Late Deyda Hydara and disappeared journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh with the “‘Hero of African Journalism Award’ at a Gala Dinner held in Hotel Amitie, Bamako, Mali under the patronage of His Excellency Ahmadou Toumani Toure, President of Mali.

Though bittersweet, the Gambia Press Union (GPU) joined the two families to express its delight, and considers the two heroes privileged to be among five journalists (the late Norbert Zongo, Burkina Faso; Jean Leonard Rugambage, Rwanda; And, Pius Njawe, Camerron) honoured in all of the region.

This recognition also further strengthens our principled belief that the death of Deyda Hydara and the disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh will never dampen our spirits, serve as deterrent for professional journalism or cower us in our determination to seek the truth and to report objectively, without fair or favour.

The fact that colleagues all over the continent deem it necessary to remember them for posterity is heartwarming and encouraging. It should send a strong message to the killers of Deyda Hydara and those behind the disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh that they can run, they can hide, in the short term, but the truth will one day prevail as we, our partners and those with a conscience all over the world will continue to sing their songs and demand that the truth be unearthed.

Deyda and Chief were honoured alongside distinguished and honourable African leaders, considered ‘friends of the media’, Presidents Nelson Mandela, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Thabo Mbeki, John Kuffour and Alpha Oumar Konare for their efforts in building transparent societies, promoting and implementing media friendly policies in their countries, institutions and across Africa.

Speaking earlier at the opening ceremony of the three day TAEF Bi-Annual Conference and Congress on the theme “Media and the Challenge of Peace in Africa”, Ahmadou Toumani Toure, President of Mali and Chief Patron of the event expressed delight that of recent, media institutions have targeted Mali as the host of their organizations and activities because of its friendliness to the media and efforts being made by his government to implement and build on existing positive media laws. “I have personally been involved in the planning of this meeting, which brings together 200 editors and journalists from all over Africa, given orders to the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Communications to ensure the smooth and successful hosting of this meeting. I am pleased to welcome you here in Mali, your home,” he said.

Deyda Hydara’s award was received by his daughter Marie Piere Hydara and Musa Manneh, brother of Chief Ebrima Manneh represented the Manneh family.

No end to Baba Jobe's troubles

As if being jailed for economic crimes and having his assets frozen is not enough, Baba Kajally Jobe, former director of President Yahya Jammeh's New Millennium Airline, is still on the United Nations Security Council travel ban list.

In its latest travel ban list update in pursuant of resolution 1343 (2001) on Liberia, adopted on 7 March 2001, the UN Security Council still described Mr Jobe as an "arms trafficker, who supported former President Charles Taylor’s regime in effort to destabilise Sierra Leone and gain illicit access to diamonds."

It urged all states to take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of Mr Jobe and 58 others, "who constitute a threat to the peace process in Liberia, or who are engaged in activities aimed at undermining peace and stability in Liberia and the sub-region, including those senior members of former President Charles Taylor’s Government and their spouses and members of Liberia’s former armed forces who retain links to former President Charles Taylor, and any other individuals, or individuals associated with entities, providing financial or military support to armed rebel groups in Liberia or in countries in the region."

Mr Jobe, 49, who was majority leader and National Assembly Member for Jarra West, is accused to have conspired with others to run an arms smuggling ring in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1343. And in between January and June 2001, Mr Jobe and the New Millennium Airline were said to have been used as transiting companies for illegal weapons handled by gun running mafias, Samih Osailly and Aziz Nassour who were jailed in Antwerp, Belgium for illegal diamond smuggling and weapons purchases.

Mr Osailly and Nassour, who are cousins from Lebanon, were also reported to have sold blood diamonds and indirectly or directly supported the Taylor regime.

Baba Jobe is also said to have, according to a commercial aviation database, use the New Millennium Airline, a Russian-made passenger jet acquired from Centrafrican Airlines, to cover the operations of Victor Anatoljevitch Bout, one of the world's biggest arms dealers.

A former Russian lieutenant who has acquired the nicknames Merchant of Death and Lord of War, Mr Bout used to fly his ancient Soviet planes into battlefields from Liberia to Afghanistan and some of his clients are said to have included the Taliban and African warlords.

He is said to have transported weapons and minerals in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1343, and have supported former President Taylor’s regime in effort to destabilise Sierra Leone and gain illicit access to diamonds.
>By PK Jarju

Gambian Market Updates

Yield on 91-day bill unchanged

For the second week running, the yield on the 91-day bill remained unchanged at 9.55%although the bill was over subscribed by 32.42%. Its counterpart the 91-day (s/s) was up by 2bps to 10.01%.

The 182- day bill was quoted at 10.39%, up 6bps. The 1-year note was quoted at 13.04%up 14bps. The recent increase in the Rediscount rate to 15% by the Monetary Policy Committee of The Central Bank of The Gambia was a signal for tighter monetary control and we expect interest rates on all tenures to start creeping northwards.

The total amount on offer at next week’s auction has been more than doubled from this weeks figure of D130million to D300million

Currency Market Updates
The Dalasi remained unchanged against all the major currencies in the Parallel market. The Dalasi was exchanged at D28.75 for the Dollar, D46.00 for the pound sterling and D39.25 for the Euro.

The local currency however experiences mixed movements in the Inter-bank market.It gained 50bututs against the Dollar (D29.50), lost 50bututs and 30bututs against the pound sterling (D46.50) and the Euro (D39.25) respectively. It remained unchanged against the CFA (290.00).


Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 29.50
Pound 46.50
Euro 39.25
CFA 290.00


Dalsi Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 28.75
Pound 46.00
Euro 38.85
CFA 290.00

IMF Executive Board Concludes Consultation with Gambia

Press Release
On August 25, 2010, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with the Gambia.1

Background

Despite challenging global, and by extension domestic, conditions, the Gambian economy has performed well in recent years. Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by an average of 6.0 percent a year during 2007-09, up from an average of 3.6 percent during 2004–06. Even during the global economic crisis in 2009, real GDP growth was strong at 5.6 percent led by a continued rebound in agricultural production, which helped cushion the impact of sharp drops in tourism and remittances from Gambians working abroad. Throughout this period, inflation was held to low single-digit rates, as the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) generally exercised monetary restraint. In 2009, inflation fell to 2.8 percent. Inflation edged up marginally in early 2010 (4.1 percent in May), but is expected to remain low (about 5 percent) for the year as a whole.

Despite having received extensive debt relief in late 2007, The Gambia still faces a heavy debt burden. As of end-2009, external debt stood at 34 percent of GDP, while total public sector debt was 54 percent of GDP, reflecting substantial—and costly—domestic borrowing. Interest on debt consumed nearly 20 percent of government revenues in 2009, most of which was paid on domestic debt. Moreover, domestic debt consists almost entirely of short-term T-bills, which poses high roll-over risks.

Since late 2008, fiscal performance has deteriorated, which led to more domestic borrowing and upward pressure on T-bill yields. In 2009, the basic fiscal balance was in deficit by nearly 2 percent of GDP—compared to a small surplus targeted in the budget. Spending overruns, including supplementary expenditures that were not financed by additional revenues or fiscal savings, were the main cause of the fiscal slippage. In the first half of 2010, fiscal performance suffered from revenue shortfalls, while spending was contained within budget limits. In large part, the shortfalls were due to rising world fuel prices that eroded revenues from fuel taxes. In June, fuel prices were raised, which has helped to restore revenues.

The number of banks in The Gambia has doubled to 14 since 2007, contributing to a rapid expansion of much needed financial services. But it has also strained the CBG’s resources for banking supervision. Moreover, competition among the high number of banks in a relatively small market has added to risks to the banking system, especially in the current environment with weaknesses in key sectors of the economy. This is evidenced in a recent weakening of credit quality, profitability, and capital adequacy.

The Gambia’s external current account deficit, excluding official transfers, has widened in recent years. In 2009, a recovery in foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows—in part due to the entry of foreign banks—and increased donor grants, together with the Special Drawing Rights (SDR)allocation more than financed this deficit, allowing a substantial buildup in official reserves to a comfortable level of 6.4 months of imports by end year. In 2010, however, delays in expected disbursements of donors’ budget support has weighed on the overall balance of payments.

The Gambia has made impressive progress implementing structural reforms, particularly in the areas of public financial management, debt management, and financial sector development. Good progress has also been achieved toward meeting several of the Millennium Development Goals, most notably in health and education. However, poverty is still widespread.

The Gambia’s macroeconomic policies have been supported by an arrangement with the IMF under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) since February 2007. The program’s objectives draw on the strategic priorities set out in The Gambia’s second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper which include: (i) macroeconomic stability and effective management of public resources; (ii) pro-poor growth and employment through development of the private sector; and (iii) improved provision of basic services. While the performance under the ECF has been broadly satisfactory, recent fiscal slippages have led to the postponement of the seventh review.

Executive Board Assessment

Executive Directors noted that the Gambian economy has performed well through the global crisis with relatively strong growth and low inflation, despite a sharp drop in tourism and remittance receipts. Directors observed that the outlook for the economy is generally positive provided a sound macroeconomic policy framework is maintained. They also stressed the importance of continued progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and targets on poverty reducing expenditures.

Directors expressed concern about the fiscal slippages over the past year and a half. Further slippages would pose major risks to the economy by increasing the already high cost of domestic debt, especially given the large roll-over needs of the mostly short-term debt. Directors therefore welcomed the recent turnaround in the basic fiscal balance and called for continued strengthening of fiscal performance to anchor macroeconomic stability and reduce the debt burden. This could generate significant fiscal savings which could be directed to other spending priorities.

Directors noted that revenue shortfalls have been the main source of fiscal slippages in 2010. They commended the authorities for recent revenue measures, including the increase in fuel prices, and encouraged them to further widen the tax base. Directors strongly supported tax reform centered around the introduction of a VAT by 2013, which would bolster revenues and improve the business environment over the medium term. To achieve a smooth transition to a VAT, it would be necessary to adopt appropriate tax policy and revenue administration measures in the 2011 budget.

Executive Directors commended the authorities for actively pursuing public financial management reforms. They particularly welcomed the plans for more effective budget procedures and efforts to strengthen execution. Ensuring that the 2011 budget fully covers all ministries and spending agencies would be critical for guarding against spending overruns. Directors supported recent improvements in debt management and stressed the importance of debt sustainability as the guiding principle for future financing options to address infrastructure needs.

Directors emphasized that a healthy central bank balance sheet provides a solid foundation for monetary policy. They welcomed the authorities’ commitment to observe statutory limits on government overdrafts. Directors agreed that a floating exchange rate policy has served The Gambia well. They encouraged the authorities to allow the exchange rate to adjust to ensure sustainable external balances and preserve competitiveness.

Directors observed that rapid expansion of the banking system creates opportunities for the economy, but also carries risks. They supported steps to improve bank soundness, notably the timely increase in the minimum capital requirement, and stressed that building capacity in bank supervision should be given high priority.

Halifa Tells Jammeh the Bitter Truth

Political parties must respond to the dictates of times and circumstances in order to be relevant. What the continent of Africa in general and The Gambia in particular need are a leadership that is an embodiment of magnanimity, sobriety, humility, courtesy, ingenuity, industriousness, resourcefulness and selflessness.

The PDOIS leadership has made a commitment, at its 24 April 2010 Congress, to pioneer a new era of inter-party relationship that would ensure the cultivation of an exemplary political leadership for the Gambia which must come from the opposition, if it cannot come from the ruling party.

Hence, when we gathered that you are going to go on tour for the first time, after the PDOIS Congress, we became most curious to know what type of message you will deliver to the Gambian people during your Nationwide tour. In our view, the content of the speeches we have heard so far falls far short of our expectations, despite the fact that we do recognise that ,you have the right to exercise your freedom of speech.

First and foremost, you are required by section 222 paragraph 15 of the Constitution to undertake a Nationwide tour in order to familiarise yourself with current conditions and the effects of government policies on the people. This is the primary objective of your tour.

Mr President, you may be aware that, as conscientious citizens of the country, we have been investing time and money to monitor the day to day problems of the people and have been conveying our findings to those who are managing the different sectors of your government. We thought that you would dwell on all these issues with a view to addressing them, to the satisfaction of the people.

We have conveyed numerous land disputes to those who manage the affairs of the state. We have reminded your government that the Constitution required a law to be enacted to ensure the establishment of a Land Commission to handle such disputes. We have made it very clear that since the law was enacted your Government has failed to constitute the members of the Land Commission to handle land disputes. In the face of such grave omissions precious buildings are still being demolished and years of hard work is being reduced to rubbles.

We expected you to address such a perennial problem once and for all after 16 years of leadership. Yes, we in PDOIS have studied our land tenure system and have resolved how to handle the problem in our current manifesto. We will share that with the Nation in due course and hope that the ideas will be instructive to your government which has the mandate to manage the affairs of the country. This is how to show exemplary leadership from the outside since we are not given the mandate to govern.

Mr President, we have also followed the trade season in all the nuke and crane of the country. We are aware of the views of the presidents and members of Cooperative Primary Marketing Societies in all the regions. We have monitored the explanation of the authorities and have facilitated access to information on the strengths and weaknesses of the trade season.

It has been made clear to your government that over a Million dalasis is still owed to some farmers. We have even given recommendation that your Government should seek a grant from the European Union to address the plight of the farmers and then constitute a committee to find out the source of the problem.

Mr President we have followed the life of the people in the rural areas. We have indicated the unfinished water projects such as the one that should have covered Kerewan, Suwareh Kunda, Kinteh Kunda and Saaba which required compound owners to deposit 2750 dalasis per compound for a meter which has not materialised for a period of 6 years.

We have referred to the inaccessibility of fertilizer because of the price of 650-to 700 dalasis per bag in the border area. Many farmers are still waiting for the local cost. We have referred to the inaccessible feeder roads which hinder the free movement of goods and people thus making goods from villages to be expensive because of high transportation cost. We have shown how such high transportation cost of perishable goods, the high duties paid at weekly markets, the inadequacy of water and toilet facilities and the low earning capacity of consumers are leading to the reduction of the economic advantages of rural markets and the contraction of rural economies.

We have exposed the shortage of labour saving devices to reduce the drudgery of women and the stagnation of rural productivity thus eroding or fettering the earning capacity of rural youths which encourages rural urban drift and their venturing into the sea in search of greener pasture.

Mr President, we have shown the persistence of electricity outages in major towns such as Farafenni, Soma, Bansang, Basse and so on. You have the mandate to rule and should have explained how to address all these problems. We do not have the mandate to govern. Exemplary leadership dictates that we should point out the shortcomings and include the solutions in our manifesto so that it could inform any other person who has good intentions for the country.

Mr President, you have decided to use the platform of your tour to refer to opposition leaders as ouyou or bandits. Let us make it abundantly clear that the PDOIS leadership has always been an asset to the Gambian society since the days of the Jawara administration.

This leadership inspired many in your generation, the one before it and the one after it. Hence where ever we turn to today we see people yearning for the knowledge, character and values we have always advocated for.

We therefore wish to take exception to your name calling. In fact if it was not for your manner of Government we would have retired from politics by now and spent the rest of our lives in knowledge production for posterity. We are still around because we wish to offer the Gambian people the exemplary leadership they deserve; leadership which exalts them as the sovereign rulers of the land.

Mr President, in reviewing your achievements you gave the impression that the bridge you have built at Janjangbureh could only be done by your government. We wish to defer with you.

In short, the bridge is said to cost 5 Million dollars or approximately 130 Million dalasis. We have highlighted that your Government has authorised the expenditure of over 400 Million dalasis from the funds accumulated by Social Security to purchase and refurbish Ocean Bay Hotel. That could have built three times the number of bridges you built at Janjangbureh.

May be others do not know what sovereign National Wealth is. We know what sovereign National Wealth is. We have followed your government since 1998 and have given clear evidence that you are not committed to building sovereign National wealth in a transparent and sustainable manner. Only a Government which has a clear strategy on how to build sovereign national wealth would be able to develop a pool of national wealth from which to draw finances required to implement projects like the one you inaugurated in Janjangbureh.

Mr President, in 1998 the gross turnover of public enterprises amounted 804 Million dalasis or 18 percent of GDP . In 1999 this increased to 940 Million dalasis or 20 percent of GDP. This was almost equivalent to the Government revenue of 979 Million dalasis in 1999. It goes without saying that the public enterprises could contribute 69 Million and 82 Million dalasis to Government Revenue in 1998 and 1999 respectively.

Mr President we are also told that mining of minerals started in 1999. We can assure you that if we were running the economy we would not have lost track of the sources of sovereign National wealth and would have allowed them to flourish in a sustainable and transparent manner so as to have a permanent pool of local resources to finance infrastructural development in the Gambia.

We would have created a development fund to which sovereign national wealth would be deposited from public enterprises, sales of minerals and royalties to finance infrastructural development on a sustainable basis.

We take exception to your comment that the opposition cannot bring a needle to the people. We maintain that we have a greater capacity to build sovereign National wealth in order to provide infrastructural development at a faster pace. We, the PDOIS leadership do not lack honesty, ingenuity and industriousness. What we lack is a mandate.

In fact our honest opinion is that, Gambia’s potential is being stifled under the APRC and we challenge your party to a debate on National radio and television if you disagree with this view. Allow us to point out these basic truths to confirm our assertions.

It is common knowledge that over 40,000 Million dalasis or 1.6 Billion dollars is traded in foreign currency in our currency market on an annual basis. We are exporting only 300 Million dalasis worth of goods while we import 1.4 billion dalasis worth of food products. Where is the food self sufficiency? We would have introduced basic import substitution strategies to put 1400 million dalasis in the pockets of Gambian producers annually.

Mr President you indicated that the Janjangbureh bridge should have been completed since last year but because ghosts, devils or spirits were offended the work proceeded at a slower pace. You have also said that unless certain curses are removed Janjangbureh will never develop. You have also identified certain areas as no go areas if spirits are not to be offended.

Mr President, Janjangbureh did not develop over the years because of the poverty of the people in the rural areas and the complete stagnation of river transport. We would be able to facilitate development in Janjangbureh by reviving river transport and transforming Janjangbureh to both a hub for trade and an enclave for rice and horticultural production especially the production of Banana and cashew for shipment to Europe.

We would transform it into a hub by ensuring the building of storage facilities for goods coming from CRR south to be transported by river transport to other destinations. Fuel and other imported goods could also be transported by river transport and deposited at Janjangbureh to be further distributed by land to the outlaying areas in CRR South and the URR.

Mr President our knowledge teaches us that the history of human civilisation has been a struggle against the hostile forces of existence. Some human beings became so lost that they used to offer their children as human sacrifice only to preserve transient lives. They killed in the name of appeasing the hostile forces of existence only to die later as mortal human beings which exposed the myths of their invincibility.

Enlightened human beings however saw the need to conquer evil forces instead of appeasing them and thus made themselves the builders of civilisation. They came to realise that human beings are more powerful than all the hostile forces of existence if they seek knowledge; if they are united, if they care and respect each other; if they are committed to ensuring their mutual survival. Organisation and awareness have been the source of the power utilised by human beings to conquer ignorance and evil. Mr President if we had the mandate the no go areas of Janjangbureh would be the citadel of its development and no other force on this earth would be able to stop that.

If France and the UK could allow the building of a tunnel which goes 75 metres deep into the water way or channel that lies between the two countries which allows speed trains to move across the channel through the tunnel, then Gambians have no right to be mesmerized by the building of a bridge across any of our water ways.

Mr President, you also told the people that neither coup d’etat nor elections could remove you from office until you decide to hand over your mantle to your chosen representative. You have said that elections are means to find out who wants development by voting for you or who does not want development by voting for the opposition. You did make it clear that you will bring development to the door steps of those who vote for you and deprive those who do not vote for you.

Mr President your remarks are alien to the Constitution which states under section 1 subsection (2) that, “The sovereignty of the Gambia resides in the people of the Gambia from whom all organs of government derive their authority and in whose name and for whose welfare and prosperity the powers of government are to be exercised.” Mr President unlike you we are telling the Gambian people that in 2011 they should elect a government that will last only for five years and the incumbent should preside over free and fair elections and leave office like Nelson Mandela.

Let us remind you that Modern South Africa is also 16 years old. Apartheid was put to an end in 1994 when Nelson took over. Now South Africa is proud to display three Presidents whose assumption of office is peaceful and has not led to any erosion of national integrity or the development potential of the country. We would not take pride in claiming that we have ruled Gambia for 30 years. What we will take pride in is to claim that we were part of these growing number of leaders who have contributed their quota to the building of a developed, democratic, free and prosperous Gambia.

Mr President as we move towards an election year your government does not give assurance of a free and fair election to ECOWAS, The AU, The International Community by making remarks that you could not be removed through democratic means. This is time to send the right signals. We would have thought by now that you would exercise your prerogative of mercy to release Femi Peters who aimed to exercise basic democratic rights, refrain from demonizing the opposition, show tolerance to divergent views in the state media and submit to the will of the people. You should not equate coups d’etat with electoral processes and trivialize both. It is democracy that makes coups d’etat unthinkable. Under a democracy a coup d’etat is an assault on the sovereignty of the people since they have the full mandate to retain or change Governments. Gambians would want to be assured that they would have free and fair elections in 2011.

Mr President 2011 is just round the corner. It is an election year. A code of conduct exists for political parties. There is no need for insults or intolerance. Tell the people the truth as you see it. We will also tell them the truth as we see it. Leave them to elect their representatives without intimidation or inducement. This is the dictate of democracy, peace and justice. This is the dictate that an exemplary political leadership should heed.

To conclude allow me to defer with the Head of the Civil Service. Politics is not a wrestling match. It is a competition for the hearts and minds of the people. It requires people who truly love and respect their people to emerge to seek their mandate in a climate characterised by mutual respect and tolerance of diversity.

While anticipating that all Gambian political figures will display exemplary leadership as we prepare for 2011

We remain

Yours in the service of the nation

Halifa Sallah

For the PDOIS Central Committee

In Guinea, media hopeful with democratic transition

By Mariama Keita and Mohamed Keita/CPJ Africa Program

Transitional leader Sekouba Konaté casts his vote in June's historic elections in Guinea. (Reuters)Guinea’s historic presidential elections and new constitution are changing the media landscape in the West African country. Since last month, the military-led Transitional National Council has passed two new laws decriminalizing defamation and created a new media regulatory body.

This country’s progression toward embracing democracy makes it hard to believe that the “Guinean Massacre” occurred less than a year ago. On September 28, 2009, military soldiers violently dispersed a banned opposition rally at a stadium in the capital Conakry, killing dozens of people and assaulting at least a dozen journalists covering the gathering. Nasser Diallo, a reporter with Conakry private station Radio Nostalgie, managed to escape death on that tragic day and has continued broadcasting from exile. “This new law is a huge relief for me,” said Diallo, who broadcasts a radio show on Blogtalkradio from a mini studio in his Brooklyn home. “Its entry into force will give us a hope of having an independent press.”

The new press laws replaces a 1991 press code that infamously allowed, among other things, dead people to be plaintiffs in defamation lawsuits against journalists accused of causing outrage to their memory.

In lieu of prison sentences, journalists now face fines, ranging from 500,000 to 20 million Guinean francs (US$100 to US$4,000). “The paradox is that the fines are so high that journalists think they prefer prison,” said Boubacar Algassimou Diallo, political editor of the private weekly Le Lynx, the largest circulation newspaper in the country. He explained that printing costs could account for as much as 67 percent of the budget of producing a newspaper, let alone pay a fine.

“When you say 5 million Guinean francs (US$975), a journalist prefers to go to prison for three days. He knows that once in prison, with the pressure of Media Foundation of West Africa, CPJ, and Reporters Without Borders, he will be released,” he added.

In a special report released this week—“Guinea: Journalists are the Forgotten Victims of Violence”—London-based anticensorship organization Article 19 expressed concern that the new law upholds “a number of restrictions incompatible with international standards and good practice” such as “offenses of libel against the Head of State, slander and false report.”

Notwithstanding, for the first time, the press law includes provisions recognizing the country’s growing electronic media: More than 20 news websites (often based abroad) have correspondents in Guinea. “Online media is filling the gap of information resulting from the absence of private dailies. They are inevitable,” according to Diallo of Le Lynx. Under the new law, online journalists will be entitled to press cards so long as they can show a master’s diploma in journalism or two years of professional experience, explained Amadou Tham Camara, who heads the Guinean Association of Online Press (AGUIPEL).

The new law requires all news sites to register with the new media regulatory agency and identify their local correspondents, who will act as their legal representatives, he told CPJ. The agency will have the power to order the suspension or ban of websites after repeated offenses.

Abdoulaye Diallo, New York bureau chief of Guinéenews, a leading independent news site based in Canada, participated in the drafting of the new legislation, welcomed the law creating a new media regulatory agency known as HAC. “It essentially provides guarantees for the body to become more independent from state/government control by providing more representation and control over media and press to private news organizations and corporations,” he wrote in an e-mail.

The online platforms have opened the doors for Guineans all over the world to participate in the electoral process and influence the debates at home. On Election Day in New York for instance, the nonprofit organization Alliance Guinea enlisted volunteers at Columbia University to sift through thousands of text and e-mail messages reporting voting incidents in Guinea. The reports were collected through crisis reporting platform Ushahidi. Alliance Guinea co-founder Jennifer Swift-Morgan, told CPJ via e-mail that their efforts included regular TV and radio spots “encouraging everyday people to be active in monitoring the elections themselves and texting in what they see” before, during, and after the polls.

In Conakry, Diallo of Le Lynx pointed out that the Ushahidi citizen reporting initiative faced the challenge of verifying the credibility of the reports it received. Swift-Morgan said they collected several hundred useful messages that were mapped and shared with the electoral commission CENI as well as national and international media tracking the elections.

As the international community praises Guinea for having a successful democratic election, the country awaits a scheduled runoff on July 18. The Supreme Court has to make a decision regarding recent allegations of politicians manipulating the counting of votes to confirm the accuracy of the numbers of the two leading candidates. Earlier this month, AGUIPEL suspended the membership of Guinee24 news website on the grounds that it violated electoral regulations by publishing undocumented polls favoring candidate Alpha Condé, Camara told CPJ.

Mariama Keita is an intern in CPJ’s Africa program. Mohamed Keita is CPJ’s Africa advocacy coordinator.

President Jammeh, Where is Chief Manneh?

My dear brother, Sheikh, Professor, Doctor Yahya Abdul Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh, president of the Second Republic of the Gambia, greetings in the name of the most Beneficent, Merciful and Gracious Lord, our Cherisher and Sustainer, Who has created man out of a clot and has taught [man] the use of the pen.

by PK Jarju

Mr Jammeh, July 7 marked the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of my friend and former colleague, Chief Ebrima Manneh. And as we mark his continuous disappearance, your government cannot still give us a satisfactorily explanation about his whereabouts. For years now, we have asked you only one simple question: “Where is Chief Manneh?” but it is taking you eternity to give us an answer.

Mr Jammeh, Chief Manneh and I both worked for the Daily Observer. He was friendly and hardworking man with a great sense of humor, which captivated everyone who had the privilege of meeting him.

Chief Manneh was a perfect gentleman, who could not even hurt a fly let alone someone. He was the breadwinner in his family. He was kind, honest, respectful and peaceful loving gentleman, who was planning to marry and start a family. It is therefore very hard to understand what evil crime he must have committed to warrant his arrest and disappearance from the surface of the earth.

Mr Jammeh, on July 7, 2006, Chief Manneh was in the newsroom of the Daily Observer, working on the next issue of the paper, when two NIA officers visited the newspaper and asked him to go with them to the Bakau Police Station for questioning.

According to Mr Manneh’s colleagues who were with him at the time, he left the newspaper premises with the two NIA officers one of whom is identified as Corporal Sey. Since then, nothing has been heard from him.

Although no explanation was given by the two NIA officers for his arrest, it is believed that it was in connection with a BBC story he culled from the internet about the AU summit you proudly hosted in Banjul http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5127830.stm.

The story which was never republished in the Observer is not critical of you or your government but it was said to have upset Saja Taal, managing director of the Daily Observer at the time, who promised to teach Chief Manneh a lesson.

Mr Taal himself has been quoted many times of admitting to have reported Chief Manneh to Momodou Sanyang, board chairman of the Daily Observer when he saw the BBC story Chief Manneh wanted to republish in the Observer.

Reports added that, you went completely bananas when the matter was later reported to you by Momodou Sanyang, who is one of your trusted advisers. It is said that you personally ordered the NIA, which directly reports to you, to arrest and discipline Chief Manneh.

Mr Jammeh, for two years, your government refused to investigate or comment on the arrest and disappearance of Mr Manneh despite his numerous sightings at various police stations and detention centres across the country.

It was said that within the first four weeks of his arrest by the two NIA officers, Chief Manneh was moved from the Bakau Police Station to the NIA headquarters in Banjul, to Mile Two Central Prison, and then back to the NIA. By September 2006, he was said to have been transferred to Sibanor only to be transferred to Fatoto Police Station.

In mid-December 2006, Yaya Dampha, a reporter with Foroyaa Newspaper, saw Chief Manneh briefly in Fatoto Prison. After Foroyaa reported the sighting, Chief Manneh was said to have been moved yet again, back to Mile Two, then to Sare Ngai Police Station.
Chief Manneh was also sighted in July 2007 Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital, where he was being treated for suspected high blood pressure.

In 2008, a former NIA detainee told local journalists that he saw Chief Manneh at the NIA centre near the Jammeh Foundation for Peace Hospital in Bundungka Kunda.
Mr Jammeh, as a parent, you will understand the frustrations and hardships that Chief Manneh’s parents and family are going through. They last saw their son on July 7, 2006 without saying goodbye to him.

Last year, Chief Manneh’s father, Sarjo Camara told local reporters that during his search for Mr Manneh, he had visited the Daily Observer newspaper, but was told by Saja Taal to go to the NIA headquarters as the Observer was not the right place to search for his son.

Mr Manneh, who is in his 80s, further added he had met with the then-Director General of the NIA, Harry Sambou and Ousman Sonko, secretary of state for the interior, but was told that your government was not holding his son. Mr Manneh has since lost hope that his son will ever return home alive.

After several failed efforts by the Gambia Press Union, the media establishments and family members to trace Chief Manneh’s whereabouts, the Media Foundation for West Africa eventually took up the matter for his release before the Ecowas Court.

Following a year-long protracted court case in which your government was served many notices and five security officials subpoenaed to appear before the courts, Chief Manneh continued to languish in detention without any attempt by your government to conduct any investigation or appear before the Ecowas Court to clear any doubts.

In an apparent rage, you were quoted saying in the Freedom Newspaper that the Ecowas Court should go to hell.

The Ecowas had to rely on uncontroverted testimonies given by witnesses, in its landmark judgment in which it maintained that Chief Ebrima Manneh was indeed arrested by NIA officers and must be unconditionally released. The court also awarded him compensation amounting to US$100,000.

Mr Jammeh, your government remained mute over the matter until March 2009, almost two years after his disappearance and a ten-month silence following the Ecowas Court verdict to make public mention of your stance on the issue of Chief Ebrima Manneh’s disappearance.

Your former disgraced Justice Minister, Marie Saine Firdaus, declared that your government did not have Chief Manneh in your custody and that “the State can only release a person from custody, if he or she is in fact in the custody of the State.”
However, a month later, a senior police source told AFP that Chief Manneh has been killed. The officer whose identity was not disclosed said he last saw Chief Manneh at the Mile Two Prison sometime in 2008 when he was taken away by a plain clothed officer in the middle of the night.

"That was the last day I set my eyes on him and to the best of my knowledge, Chief Manneh is not alive," he told AFP.

Mr Jammeh the continuous disappearance of Chief Manneh is a cause for concern and your government’s remarks that he was never arrested and detained cannot be taken seriously. This is because so many people were present at the time of his arrest. So many Gambians have also seen him at the various places he was detained.

Looking at your government’s human rights record and your threats to bury your critics six feet deep, I have no doubt that you personally had a hand in his arrest and disappearance and it is time you tell the Gambian people what have happened to him.

You have always claimed to be a devoted servant of Allah and have sworn on His holy scripture, the Qur’an to protect the rights and freedoms of the Gambian people. So fulfill your oath to Allah.

Mr Jammeh, we are not at war with you in our clamor for Chief Manneh’s release. Chief Manneh was never a threat to your regime. Releasing Chief Manneh now will not in any way weaken your government.

Your refusal to acknowledge the truth will continue to give you a dark stain as a dictator, callous murderer and an enemy of free Gambia.

Mr Jammeh, please bury your pride and tell Chief Manneh’s family where their son is. Chief Manneh’s father is crying himself to sleep every day. Have pity on him in the name of the Lord you serve. Pity him.

Have a good day my dear brother from another mother.
Peace.
For comments, write to papak196@yahoo.co.uk

Gambia's Guantanamo Bay

The year 2010 has now gone half way, yet some Gambian families continue to live in distress due to the long detention and disappearance of their loved ones and family heads. Most of these victims of disappearance and detention have not been seen or heard about by their families.

According to the affected families, these loved ones who have disappeared were taken away by unknown men in plain clothes some years ago. The following are the people who are not seen or heard by their families:

Mr. Jasarja Kujabi, a native of Dobong village in the Foni Kansala District went missing since the summer of 2005. The family said he was taken away while working at his farm with some of his family members.

Corporal Alfusainey Jammeh, a Prison Officer and a native of Kanilai village, went missing since the summer of 2005. His family said he was posted at the compound of the Director of Prisons at Kanilai and from where he was called to answer at the Police Headquarters in Banjul after which he never returned home to this day.
Mr. Haruna Jammeh and Madam Marcie Jammeh, both natives of Kanilai village, went missing at the same time in the summer of 2005 from their village. Their families cannot trace them up to now.

The former District Chief of Foni Kansala, Alagie Momodou Lamin Nyassi, Alagie Buba Sanyang (alias Bubai Sanyang) and Ndongo Mboob, all natives of Foni Bwiam, went missing since 2006. Their families said since the three men were picked up by three men in plain clothes on board a pickup vehicle on the evening of 4 April 2006 they have not seen or heard from.

Journalist Ebrima Manneh (alias Chief Manneh) went missing since 7th July 2006, after reporting to work and never returned home. His colleagues at work said he was picked up by men in plain clothes at their office in Bakau. Family and friends said they have searched for him throughout the entire country and have also visited all the known places of detention e.g. police stations, NIA and prisons but without any trace of him. The Gambia government has always denied having him in their custody.

The Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA) took the matter to the Regional ECOWAS Court in Abuja for The Gambia government to release him. The court made an order for The Gambian authorities to release and compensate him an amount of US 100,000.
Mr. Kanyiba Kanyi, an employee of the Christian Children Fund (CCF), and said to be an opposition supporter, went missing since 18th September 2006. His family said he was arrested by men in plain clothes at his house in Bonto village in Kombo East. His younger brother was also arrested on the same evening but later released after spending a night in detention at the Serious Crime Unit at Police Headquarters in Banjul.

The family said Mr. Kanyi was taken away on board a taxi with three men while they looked on. His family took Lawyer Ousainou Darboe who filed a "Habeas Corpus" at the High Court for the state produced him. The matter was heard by several judges, most of whom ordered for Kanyiba be released by the state but to no avail. Last year, the third judge sent the case file back to the office of the Chief Justice. Since then things are stagnant.

The following people have been in detention for years and months without any trial known to their families.

Mr. Alieu Lowe and Abdoulie Njie, both residents of Fagi Kunda, who were arrested shortly after the 21 March 2006 coup plot. Their families said they are currently being detained at Mile 2 Central Prison. The families said they have access to them.

Mr. Ebou Jarju, a native of Kombo Dasilameh and a former Steward at State House, was arrested in the presence of his family on 20th March 2008. He was then released on 11 January 2009, only to be re-arrested a week later and put under detention. His family said he is currently being detained at Mile 2 Prison. They said they do not have access to him in prison.

Mr Nema Ceesay and Jankeydinding Samateh, a cousin and sister to Mr Sillaba Samateh, respectively, were arrested about three weeks ago after Sillaba, a witness in the criminal trial of the former Inspector General of Police Ensa Badjie, was said to have absconded. The family said the two are currently being held at the NIA Headquarters in Banjul.

Culled from Foroyaa Newspaper, The Gambia.

FOUR YEARS ON, CHIEF MANNEH WHEREABOUTS STILL UNKNOWN

Today, July 7, 2010 marks four years since the disappearance Journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh. At the time of his disappearance, Chief Ebrima Manneh was a senior reporter with the Daily Observer newspaper.

In June 2008, the ECOWAS Community Court ordered the Gambia Government to immediately release and compensate him with US$100,000. The Gambia Government remained mute over the matter until March 2009, almost two years after his disappearance and a ten-month silence following the ECOWAS Court verdict to make public mention of their stance on the issue of Chief Ebrima Manneh’s disappearance.

The then Justice Minister Marie Saine Firdaus declared that the State did not have Chief Manneh in their custody and that “the State can only release a person from custody, if he or she is in fact in the custody of the State”.

Nonetheless, today, we again take the opportunity of the 4th anniversary of Chief Manneh’s disappearance to remind the Gambia Government and its relevant security apparatus that it is the responsibility of the State to ensure the protection of life and property, thus the disappearance of any Gambian should be an issue of paramount concern. We therefore urge the relevant authorities to do everything within their power to ensure that investigations into the disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh commence forthwith.

The Union also calls on its membership at home and in the Diaspora to help sustain the campaign on the disappearance of Chief Ebrima Manneh.

So far, all efforts by the Union, the Media Foundation for West Africa who took the case to the ECOWAS Community Court, friends of the Gambian media and the Manneh family has borne little or no fruition.

We once again call on the global media community, human rights groups and concerned individuals and institutions to join us in our quest for justice for Chief Manneh. JUSTICE IS LONG OVERDUE.

Gambian Market Updates

Dalasi continues to Appreciate

The local currency continues to appreciate in the currency markets. In the interbank market, the Dalasi was up by 125bututs against the Dollar, 75bututs against the Pound and was unchanged at D36.00 against the Euro. In the parallel market the Dalasi gained 370bututs against the Dollar.

This was the first reversal in the downward trend in the value of the local currency against the Dollar since the end of May 2010. Also in the parallel market, the Dalasi gained 262bututs against the Pound and 150bututs against the Euro.

Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 26.50
Pound 41.50
Euro 36.00
CFA 280.00

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 27.63
Pound 42.88
Euro 36.50
CFA 279.00

Yield on 91-day bill up

For the second week running, the yield on the 91-day bill moved northwards. It was up by 13bps to close the week at 9.58%. Its counterpart the 91-day (s/s) bill was however down by 2bps to 10.03%. The 182- day shaved off 1bps to 10.49%. The 182-day bill was massively over-subscribed by 112%. The 1-year note closed the week at 13.03%, up 19bps. The total amount on offer at next week’s auction is approximately a third less than what was offered this week.

Gambian Market Updates

Dalasi Appreciates

The currency market seems to have reacted to the stern warning issued by the Government last week to “speculator and hoarders of foreign currency”. In the Interbank Market, the local currency gained on all the major currencies.

It appreciated by 150butus against the Dollar to D27.75, was unchanged against the Pound Sterling at D42.25 and gained 25bututs against Euro to D36.00. In the Parallel market, the Dalasi was down 8bututs against the Dollar to D31.33.

This is the Dalasi’s smallest weekly drop against the Dollar over the last 6weeks. The local currency remained unchanged against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at D45.50 and D38.00 respectively.

Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 27.75
Pound 42.25
Euro 36.00
CFA 280.00

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 31.33
Pound 45.50
Euro 38.00
CFA 280.00

Yields Rise Marginally

With the exception of the 91-day (s/s) which experienced a 7bps drop in its yield to 10.05%, interest rates on all other government debt in the Money Market, edged up this week.

The 91-day bill was up 8bps to 9.45%, the 182-day bill was up 5bps to 10.50% and the 1year note inched up 4bps to 12.84%. We anticipate yields to continue their upward trend for the next couple of weeks.

Threats Made against Reporter for AP and Jollof News in The Gambia

IPI Calls for Police to Bring Perpetrators to Justice


By Naomi Hunt , Press Freedom Adviser for Africa & the Middle East


VIENNA 22 June 2010: Gambian journalist Abdoulie John has received threats from unnamed callers over the past few weeks, he told IPI in a phone interview today.

John is a correspondent for the Associated Press news agency and an editor of online news outlet Jollof News. He told IPI he fears the threats are coming from Gambian security operatives.

Over the past month, John has received several threatening late-night calls. On 12 June, he received a call at three or four o'clock in the morning from an unknown number. He tried to call the number the next day, but the man who answered denied having made the threat.

The latest phone call came on Sunday, and was followed by a text message that read: "Today is the last day you will insult people," John said.

The threats are thought to be linked to his work at Jollof News online, where John covers various Gambian political issues.

"I will try and look into security means, because I do not take this lightly," John told IPI.

Although numerous Gambian journalists have left the country as a result of death threats, John said he has no intention of fleeing. "I'm not going to leave. Every time a journalist receives a threat and leaves, I think, who is going to report here? Every job comes with risks and this is my responsibility," he said.

John believes he is at greater risk than other journalists who report for Gambian online media, many of which are based outside the country. "I'm down here, but I'm using my byline," he said.

John reported the incidents to police in the town of Serrekunda. They require a printed call history from John's telephone service provider for their investigation, but when John returned to the station today to pick up a letter from the police requesting the documents, he was told that the Serrekunda station no longer provides this service, and that he had to go to police headquarters in the capital, Banjul.

"We are gravely concerned about reports of threats against Gambian journalist Abdoulie John," said IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills, "particularly since journalists in Gambia operate under fear of death, harassment and physical harm. The police must immediately and thoroughly investigate this matter, and bring to justice those responsible for making these threats, no matter who they are."

Abdoulie John is the former deputy editor-in-chief and production manager of the government-controlled Daily Observer in Banjul, where he worked until August 2009.

John began working for the government mouthpiece in 2006, but was fired in October 2007 after he received a warning from the then-managing director, who told him to stop filing for Agence-France Presse and the Associated Press agency, John said. He was reinstated a few days after, although he did not stop filing for the agencies.

According to John, he was fired again from the Daily Observer in August 2009 because he attempted to switch the newspaper's printers - which turned out to be a political mistake. Shortly after John was forced out, the Daily Observer's managing director and ruling party member Pa Malick Faye allegedly pushed to have John detained by the Inspector General of the Gambian police, John said. He was forced to sign a handing-over note, and was released several hours later, he told IPI. That Inspector General of Police is now standing trial on charges of cocaine trafficking, according to media reports.

Jollof News, for which John reports, is an online newspaper based in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom and was founded in January 2010 by Yusupha Cham. Yusupha is the brother of Kemo Cham, who was the editor-in-chief of the government-controlled Daily Observer in Banjul until he left the country in August 2009, at the same time that John was let go.
Press Release

Gambian market updates

Artificial Shortage of Foreign Exchange Hits Gambia

The Government this week issued a stern warning to speculators and unscrupulous businesses for creating an artificial shortage of foreign currency, especially the United States Dollar thereby causing its unprecedented appreciation against the Dalasi.

As a first step, a moratorium has been placed on shipping of US Dollars out of the country with possible exception for essential importation. The local currency over the last few weeks has been under severe pressure.

The Dalasi which hitherto had been relatively stable has “year-to-date” depreciated by 11.04% against the Dollar in the parallel market.


Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 29.25
Pound 42.25
Euro 36.25
CFA 280.00

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 31.25
Pound 45.50
Euro 38.00
CFA 285.00

Yields move in different directions

This week saw a reversal of the downward trend in the yields of the 91-day and 182-day bills experienced by over the last six weeks.

Dropping to low of 8.82% at last week’s auction, the 91-day bill was up by 55bps to close the week at 9.37%. The 182-day bill was up 25bps to 10.45%.

The 91-day (s/s) and the 1year note were however down 18bps and 6bps to close at 10.12% and 12.80% respectively. We anticipate yields to edge northwards at next week’s auction. The amount on offer D270million next week is more than double what was offered this week.

Gambian Market Update

Treasury bill fell below 9 per cent

Yield on the 91day bill fell below 9 per cent touching lows not seen since November 2006. The bill dropped by 37bps to 8.82 per cent, and was over– subscribed by 21.80 per cent.

The 91-day (s/s) which shaved off 11bps to 10.30 per cent was over-subscribed by a massive 120 per cent. The 182-day bill lost 4bps to 10.20 per cent and was the only tenure under-subscribed at the auction. The 1-year note shed 14bps to 12.86 per cent.

Dalasi continues its decline

We remarked last week that we were surprised that the local currency appreciated in the Interbank market whilst it continued to depreciate in the Parallel market.

This week, apart from gaining 50bututs against the Euro to D37.00 in the Parallel market, the Dalasi depreciated against all the other currencies in both markets.

In the Interbank market, it lost 225bututs against the Dollar to D29.25, 275bututs against the Pound Sterling to D42.50 and 140bututs against the Euro to D36.65. The rate of depreciation was less marked in the parallel market.

The Dalasi lost 38bututs and 88bututs against Dollar and Sterling to D30.88 and D44.13 respectively.

Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 29.25
Pound 42.50
Euro 36.65
CFA 280.00

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 30.88
Pound 44.13
Euro 37.00
CFA 280.00

Gambia Hosts EBID Meeting

The Gambia this week played host to the 8th Annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Ecowas Bank for Investment and Development (Ebid).

The one day Banjul meeting availed delegates the opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues as well as chart a course to make Ebid a more effective vehicle for financing the investment requirements of countries in the sub-region. Mr. Momodou S. Foon, The Gambia minister of Finance was elected as the new Chairman of the Board of Governors.

Gambian remanded over ex-wife’s killing

A Gambian national, Sheihk Saine, has been remanded by a Scottish court after been charged with murdering his wife in a Glasgow newsagents.

Sheikh Saine is accused of stabbing 33-year-old Fatou Saine to death in the McColl's shop in St Enoch Square on 1 June.

Mr Saine, 43, is alleged to have punched and bit Miss Saine and held his rucksack over her face and mouth.

Appearing in court, Sheikh Saine made no plea or declaration at Glasgow Sheriff Court and was remanded in custody.

The court heard that Mr Saine, from Greenock, Inverclyde, was on bail from Greenock Sheriff Court at the time of the incident.

He was also charged with breaching a bail condition not to approach his wife.

Gambian charged for killing ex-wife

A Gambian national, Sheikh Saine, has been charged in Scotland in connection with the death of a Greenock woman who was found dead in a city centre shop.

Fatou Saine, 33, died following an incident within McColl's newsagents, in St Enoch's Square, Glasgow, a week ago.

Law student Fatou Saine, 33, who worked in the shop and was originally from Gambia, died last week in the RS McColl store in St Enoch Square, Glasgow.

Her husband Sheikh Saine, 43, was charged yesterday in connection with her death.

As police issued the first picture of Fatou, it emerged the mum-of-one had started at Glasgow University last September, around the time she is thought to have split up with her husband.

She was working at the newsagent to support her studies.

Dr Kevin Francis, who is in charge of access courses at university, said she had been studying law and philosophy and had been offered places on full law degrees at two universities.

Fatou, originally from Gambia, was described by tutors as bright, popular and hardworking.

On her application for the course, written last summer, she wrote:

"I have a seven-year-old son and want him to see that giving up in life is not always an option and that you can always do what you set your heart to do."

Dr Francis said: "Fatou clearly held true to this vision of how a life should be lived. We send our sympathies to her son, family and friends."

Fatou and her husband lived in Greenock. She moved to Glasgow's south side after they split.
Her son is being cared for by family in the Gambia.

Sheikh Saine was taken to hospital after allegedly harming himself after the attack last Tuesday and had appeared before Glasgow Sheriff Court today.
Yesterday, a policespokesman said: "A full report will be sent to the procurator fiscal."

Gambian Market Update

Economic outlook remains positive but....
The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of The Gambia in a press release on 3rd June 2010 maintained the rediscount rate at 14.0 percent. The committee stated that the outlook of The Gambian economy for the remainder of 2010 remains positive and that although inflation has began to pick up slightly, it was expected to remain in single digits. As at the end of April 2010, gross international reserves including the SDR allocations stood at US$177.63million equivalent to 7months of import cover.

Dollar Breaks Through
The Dalasi continued to depreciate in the Parallel Market although it surprisingly strengthened in the Interbank Market. In the parallel market this week, the Dalasi depreciated by 100bututs against the Dollar and was quoted at D30.50. It depreciated by 125bututs against the Pound to D43.25 and lost 50bututs to the Euro. In the Interbank Market the local currency appreciated by 188bututs against the Dollar to D27.00, up 275bututs against the Pound to D39.75 and up 75bututs against the Euro to D35.25.


Dalasi Interbank Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 27.00
Pound 39.75
Euro 35.25
CFA 285

Parallel Mid Exchange Rates

Dollar 30.50
Pound 43.25
Euro 37.50
CFA 280

91-day (SS) yield unchanged
Yield on the 91day (SS) remained unchanged at 10.41% whilst the yields on all the other instruments in the money market declined when compared to last week’s close. The 91-day bill declined by 26bps to 9.19%. The 182-day bill was down 47bps to 10.24%. The 1-year note was down 21bps to 13%. For the first time in a couple of years we have an inverted yield curve with the yield on the 91-day (SS) being higher than that of the 182-day bill. The yield on the benchmark 91-day bill is touching lows not seen since the second half of year 2008. The amount on offer at next week’s tender is D150million (D55million

DPP Chenge should resign

Here we go again. When General Lang Tombong Tamba and others were arrested last November and charged for plotting to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh, I was expecting the state to produce concrete material evidences and facts linking the accused persons with the alleged coup plot.

However, I was disappointed. It’s been over a month since the treason trial began and no single shred of evidence is yet to be produced in court which implicates the accused persons. What we have seen so far is testimonies of state witnesses whose characters are very very questionable.

And instead of dropping all the charges against the accused persons, the state led by the director of public prosecution, Richard Chenge, is stubbornly continuing with the case. And the techniques being employed by DPP Chenge goes further to confirm the public’s fear that the whole allegations against the accused persons are nothing but a cock and bull story.

Looking at the ongoing treason trial, it is evident that the DPP in a bid to gain more recognition and promotions from President Jammeh like his predecessor Akomaye Agim, (now Chief Justice of the Gambia) have wrongly advised the state into prosecuting General Lang Tombong Tamba despite knowing fully well that the whole coup story was a figment of imagination.

Being another Nigerian smartass in our justice system, he have connived with a self-confessed drug dealer and mercenary from Guinea Bissau, Rui Jabbi Gassama, who is currently living a luxurious life at the expense of the poor Gambian tax payers to say anything that will make the whole ridiculous story about the coup look credible.

This is very shameful and unfortunate as it shows that DPP Chenge and the state are only interested in securing a conviction for the accused and not seeing justice done contrary to the principles of justice.

General Lang Tombong Tamba and his co accused

I don’t know what led to General Tamba’s removal as Chief of Defence Staff, but it is completely unfair to  detain him incommunicado at the Mile Two Prisons for seven months just because some idiots without any iota of evidence, had accused him of plotting a coup.

DPP Chenge has exposed himself as another greener pasture seeking locust in our country that is ready to manipulate every little opportunity to attract attention and recognition from President Jammeh.

General Lang Tombong Tamba is said to be the brain behind the alleged coup and I was expecting DPP Chenge to grill him extensively on the testimonies of the state witnesses. However, the DPP in his fishing expedition question General Tamba about the  March 2006 alleged coup plot. He even went further to invite one of the alleged March 2006 coupist, Captain Bunja Darboe from the Mile Two Prisons to his office just to get anything that will keep Lang Tombong and his co-accused behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Let me remind DPP Chenge that the matter before the court is a plot to overthrow the government of Yahya Jammeh in November 2009 and not March 2006. And if General Tamba was indeed involved in that plot, why was he rewarded by the state with the rank of General and Chief of the Gambia’s Armed Forces? Why is DPP Chenge trying to implicate General Tamba in a coup plot, which none of the accused persons currently serving life jail terms for their part have never implicated him in their statements to the NIA or court testimonies? Why was General Tamba not charged with offences relating to the March 2006 coup plot?

Another interesting question is why did DPP Chenge insisted in charging OB Mbye with the alleged November 2009 coup plot despite the fact that he was released by the NIA and military investigators on the grounds that there was no case against him?

If the DPP indeed had a case, why did he want to use General Tamba, the alleged chief architect of the alleged coup as a state witness?

The answer to all the above questions is simple. The DPP does not have a case against the accused persons. As a promotion seeking bastard with knowledge about the unfairness of our justice system, the DPP is only interested in getting General Tamba and others convicted for personal gains.

DPP Chenge has compromised his position and should not continue to be the chief state prosecutor. His position has become untenable.

Treason is a serious offence, and it quite unbelievable to see many people languishing in jail in the Gambia today just because someone have accused them of plotting a coup without producing any material evidence.

To conclude, I urged DPP Chenge to immediately drop all the charges against the accused persons. The accused persons have suffered immensely. Keeping them away from their families without any prove of their involvement in an alleged coup plot is nothing but criminal.

By the way, the case against General Tamba and others reminds me of the Dumo Sarho and co treason case. Mr Sarho and others were accused by Francesco Caso, an Italian Mafia in the country in June 2000 of plotting a coup.

Without having any evidence, the state led my DPP Chenge’s predecessor, Akomaye Agim (now Chief Justice) charged the accused persons with treason.

While the accused persons were suffering and being lock up in their Mile Two Prison cells for 23 hours a day, Mr Caso, who was financially bankrupt at the time after his restaurant business in Gambia failed, was rewarded with the position of training the Junglers Unit of the State Guards. He was also allocated at the tax payer’s expense, a well furnished compound in Yundum, a flashy car and an office at State House and Kanilai.

After nearly two years of sufferings, Mr Sarho and his colleagues were found not guilty by Justice Ahmed Belgore, one of the bravest, honest and hardworking judges our country has ever had. Unsurprising, Justice Belgore was never retained by the state after the expiry of his contract.


A reader’s response

A few weeks ago, I got the letter below from a Gambian living in the United Kingdom in response to my article on the Kanilai International Festival.

In the letter, the Gambian who preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of persecution back home wrote: Hello my brother, thank you for speaking the mind of Gambians. I wish we have Gambian like you and I think is time for us to put our hands on desk and help the helpless. So that God will bless our country and our loved one who are suffering in poverty. Let God touch our heart to be stewards of our nation and prepare to do what it can take to make that lovely country and community back to where it use to be.. To put the nation interest first before our own so that our grandchildren and their children will not suffer like us. Thanks and I wish you well in your endeavour.
Your fellow citizen.

By PK Jarju