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Unique Solutions & Unique Energy getsD30.6m Ecowas energy project

Ebrima Dampha
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Unique Solutions & Unique Energy getsD30.6m Ecowas energy project

The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency-ECREEE has presented a cheque amounting to $282,902.00 to Unique Solutions & Unique Energy under the Unique Group of Companies. The presentation was made at the closing ceremony of the third annual ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum held in Accra, Ghana from the 22nd to the 24th October 2019. The Executive Director of ECREEE, Mahama Kappiah presented the cheque to the CEO of the Unique Group of Companies, Papa Yusupha Njie at a colorful ceremony witnessed by energy experts in the ECOWAS region and beyond.

The Third ECOWAS Renewable Energy Facility (EREF 3), is a highly competitive co-funding grant, designed to serve as a game changer in the quest to harness the full potentials of mini-grids in communities not connected to the national grid in a bid to enhance socio-economic development.
Winners of the highly competitive co-funding grant included sixother companies in countries such as Nigeria, Togo, Cabo Verde, Mali, and Ghana also received cheques ranging from various amounts funded by USAID. This is the first ever award by ECREEE to a Gambian company designed to usher in the Gambia’s first Solar Green Mini Grid Electrification project.

As part of its contractual and funding obligations,Unique Solutions & Unique Energy has committed the sum of $316,961.56 towards the project. This D30.6 million project will provide electricity to homes and businesses in the Sara-Pateh Jamwelly area of the West Coast Region of the Gambia and its environs as part of the initial phase.

Commenting on the D30.6 million dalasi project, PapaYusupha Njie said that his company has made significant contributions in the energy sector over the past few years. He noted that as the company prepares to celebrate its 20th Anniversary in business, he would like to see more Gambian owned companies play a greater role in the key economic sectors of the country. Mr. Njie said the focus should be providing affordable, reliable and clean energy to Gambians across the length and breadth of the country. He hoped that working with the Ministry of Energy, the Regulators, NAWEC and other stakeholders, the country’s first Green Mini-grid project would open doors for many opportunities such as jobs for young people as well as impacting thousands of ordinary Gambians in taking advantage of clean renewable energy sources.

Mr. Njie also thanked the Gambian Minister of Energy and his entire team, USAID and the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency – ECREEE, for entrusting his company with this opportunity and enabling them to change many lives

African Economic Congress closes in Abuja

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African Economic Congress closes in Abuja

By Awa Ceesay

A three-day forum of the African Economic Congress, AEC, ended in Abuja, Nigeria last week.

he AEC convened brain boxes of the African economy, to share knowledge and practices in various fields under the theme building the Africa we want.

The congress brought together key leaders from Africa, the EU, Ecowas, private sector, academia, and civil society organisations to boost the dynamism of Africa to attain its growth. The deputy president of Kenya, William K Rutor, was also in attendance.

The programme addressed African Continental Free Trade, challenges and opportunities of doing business in Africa, building the knowledge economy for prosperity, agricultural revolution, energy independence in Africa, the role of the parliament, role of civil society in holding government accountable, changing the African narrative and empowering women in building the Africa we want.

African businesses currently face higher tariffs when trading within Africa. The AU said it is committed to eliminating tariffs as well as non-tariff barriers to intra African trade through agreements which will make it easier for African businesses to trade within African markets.
The former Speaker of the National Assembly, former deputy speaker of Ecowas Parliament and now an international consultant on gender, parliament and governance, Dr Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay, spoke on the role of parliament, women empowerment and the youth in building the Africa we want.

She told the delegates: “Issues related to democracy and good governance around the world are fast-growing. Democracy and good governance are not a luxury but a fundamental requirement for socio-economic progress. Parliament as one key of the institutions in a democratic system of governance has a vital role in providing democracy in Africa and the people have their roles in ensuring that parliament performs to address the gaps between the policy formulation and implementation to ensure no country is left behind as we embark on the task of building the Africa we want.”
She also addressed the issue of women, saying they have long suffered stigmatisation and marginalisation globally.

“Women make enormous contributions to the economy through businesses of different shapes and sizes. Research shows that it could take 202 years for women to earn as much as men, and 108 years to close the global gender gap at the current rate. Closing the gap is vital if African countries wish to be able to be competitive in a fast-changing world,” she posited.

She further observed that African countries need to adopt and implement regional and national plans, legislations, policies, strategies, budgets and justice mechanisms in order to strengthen women’s economic empowerment.

A trained journalist, Jahumpa said Africa has undergone several socio–economic changes over the past decades, which continues to impact demands for accountability and transparency across the continent.

“The language of transparency and accountability has gained a new moment in a continent where secrecy and impunity have traditionally dominated the political system. The success of development and democratic governance depend on an active, capable and healthy civil society which is why we need to educate and expose the youth for the future development of Africa,” she stated.

The former presidential;l spokeswoman and press secretary said the role of CSOs is to play a watchdog role in the development process and ensure that governments perform their primary responsibility.”

AG Says Gambia Will Not Decriminalise Homosexuality

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AG Says Gambia Will Not Decriminalise Homosexuality

By Omar Bah

The Gambia Government has categorically stated in its submission to the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group that it has no plan to decriminalise same-sex marriage, LGBTQ.

The Universal Periodic Review is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council, responsible for periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN member states.
Several human rights groups including the National Human Rights Commission and the Gambia Press Union have made submissions to the UN body over the human rights situation in the country. Among the concerns The Gambia has been facing is the criminalisation of same-sex marriages.

But according to the government, homosexuality is not largely accepted in The Gambia and it does not plan to decriminalise it. However, the government said the “aggravated homosexuality law” is only “partially implemented”.

In 2014, the former president, Yahya Jammeh, signed a bill into law that called for life imprisonment for some homosexual acts.

However, the government said through the transitional justice process, all repressive and discriminatory laws will be reviewed and repealed, thereby creating an enabling environment for human right defenders.

Prisons
In its submissions on prison conditions in the country, the government said the “Prisons Act, Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Codes are under review to align them with best practices”.

The government also revealed its plans to relocate Mile II Central Prison from its present location to Jambur, Kombo South in the West Coast Region.
According to the government, a skills training centre has been established at the Mile 2 prisons where electrical installation, sewing, information technology and carpentry courses are taught.

“There is also a library for prisoners at Mile II and Janjangbureh prisons. Recreational facilities such as volleyball and football areas are available to prisoners at Mile II and Janjangbureh prison, enabling prisoners to engage in leisure activities,” the government said.

The government further stated in the report that a Prison Visiting Committee under the auspices of the Ministry for the Interior has been constituted and, among others, to monitor the feeding, health and sanitation facilities at the prisons.

“All prisoners are entitled to three meals daily. There is a system for isolation of persons with communicable diseases. There is a clinic facility and a nurse within the prison for the treatment of minor ailments of prisoners,” the report stated.

The government said despite the above measures to improve conditions, more needed to be done to effectively address conditions in the penitentiaries.
On inter-state cooperation and development assistance, the government said it is making all efforts through its engagement with development partners to make sure that life-saving treatment and drugs are provided to the people in need of such services.

Torture
The government said it takes all allegations of torture “very seriously” and had employed a series of measures proportionate to allegations of torture such as disciplinary proceedings and criminal prosecution. The government said the National Mechanism for Reporting and Follow-up (Inter-Ministerial Taskforce), the National Human Rights Commission and the Transitional Justice Process are challenges requiring the support of international communities.

With regard to the Faraba incident, the government only said “a commission of inquiry was established to investigate the loss of lives and causes of incident and it has submitted its report for consideration by the Government.

Critics have accused the government of being silent on a number of alleged violations in its submissions. These include the shooting of Haruna Jatta in Kanilai by Ecomig soldiers; the killing of Kebba Secka, a UTG student; the alleged torture and death of Ousman Darboe by Anti-Crime Unit personnel and allegations of police brutality.

Seasonal tourism contributing factor to poverty in Gambia-EU

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Seasonal tourism contributing factor to poverty in Gambia-EU

By Momodou Torp

The head of Cooperation of EU Delegation to The Gambia Stephene Meert said seasonal tourism is not doing the country much good, and that it is a contributing factor to poverty in The Gambia.

He called for ways to end the practice, saying every year the sector is forced to lay off half of its staff and thereby creating poverty and lack of jobs in the country.
“This means during six months, most of the hotel rooms are empty. How can they be competitive?” he asked.

He called on the sector to diversify its products and services to create better means of improving the economy. He stressed that foods that are consumed in our restaurants and hotels come from abroad. He said Gambian farmers should be the generators or suppliers of those provisions for these businesses.

Reactions
Tourism workers have also been airing their frustrations about seasonal tourism and its impacts on their lives and livelihood.

Alhagie Jobe, a waiter at the Senegambia Beach hotel, lamented that “as a family man, to sit for six months without work, is very frustrating. It would have been better if the season is adjusted to just two months break or even no break at all.”

“Because of this seasonal tourism, I am always forced to take loans which to be honest is quite a burden,” Isatou Jallow, also a waitress, stated.
“I am not able to save anything for the family,” she added.

Alieu Camara also talked about how seasonal tourism continues to affect his children’s education, calling for immediate action to change the status quo.

UN body recommends for national dialogue in Gambia

Ebrima Dampha
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UN body recommends for national dialogue in Gambia

By Omar Bah

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) has stressed the importance of national dialogue and the involvement of different ethnic groups, non-governmental organisations and relatives of forcibly disappeared persons in the pursuit of truth, justice, reparations and recollection.

The recommendations were entailed in the UNHCHR Report at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council Working Group which is being held in Geneva, Switzerland.
The report is a compilation of information contained in reports of treaty bodies and special procedures and other relevant UN documents, presented in a summarised manner owing to word-limit constraints.

The Human Rights Committee expressed its concern at the high incidence of excessive use of force by law enforcement officials and members of security forces, including the incident on 18 June, 2018 during a protest in Faraba Banta, which resulted in two deaths and eight injuries.

The committee also raised concern that Article 18 of the Constitution and Sections 15 (A) and 72 of the Criminal Code allowed for wide discretion in the use of force by law enforcement officials, and that Section 2 (a) and (b) of the Indemnity Act (as amended in 2001) exonerated all public officials from civil or criminal liability for the exercise of their duties with respect to unlawful assemblies, riotous situations or public emergencies.

The committee said all allegations of excessive use of force should be investigated.
The UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions urged The Gambia to ensure that all norms and regulations on the use of force by law enforcement officials comply with international standards and ensure that any use of force by law enforcement officials is proportionate and necessary in view of the threat posed, and that lethal force is used only when absolutely necessary in order to protect life against an immediate threat.
The committee also expressed its concern that child marriage and female genital mutilation remain widespread, despite the criminalisation of those practices.

It called on The Gambia to strengthen the enforcement of the Children’s (Amendment) Act of 2016 and the Women’s (Amendment) Act of 2015, which criminalised child marriage and FGM, respectively, and to enhance public awareness, particularly among traditional and religious leaders, of the lifelong negative consequences of such practices.

The committee also expressed its concern about the “harsh and life-threatening conditions” in prisons, particularly overcrowding, the poor food, living conditions, sanitation and medical care, and numerous reports of deaths in custody.

According to the report, the Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions had received reports of cases of excessive use of force and cases of denial of medical care by prison officials.

On the administration of justice, including impunity, and the rule of law, the committee noted that the independence of the judiciary had been seriously eroded.
It stated that The Gambia should intensify its efforts to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and to prevent the executive and the legislature from interfering in its work.
The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances also recommended strengthening the independence and impartiality of the judiciary.

Basse NAM calls 3 Years Jotna activists ‘coup plotters’

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Basse NAM calls 3 Years Jotna activists ‘coup plotters’

By Mafugi Ceesay

Muhammed Magassy, the National Assembly Member for Basse, has told a press conference last evening that those advocating for President Adama Barrow to step down after serving three years are comparable to coup plotters.

He declared his support for President Barrow to serve a full five-year term, arguing that other accords of the 2016 Coalition including the National Assembly Members and local government election candidates to be selected on independent tickets were disregarded.
“So I am seeing President Barrow as a constitutional president and not as a coalition president since the agreements were not adhered to, and as a NAM, I swore to uphold the Constitution and it is that constitution that gives the five-year mandate to Barrow. Therefore I am supporting Barrow for five years,” he declared.

Magassy says he is a key stakeholder of Coalition 2016. “I support President Barrow’s initiative, ideas and agenda. I am part of the people who nominated Adama Barrow, campaigned for Barrow, and who have succeeded in making Adama Barrow the third president of this nation, The Gambia. So His Excellency, Adama Barrow is my president and he is the one that I am following, and he is the one I am giving my support.”

He said Gambians should not forget that Adama Barrow accepted to put his hat in the ring “at a critical moment when the Gambian people needed change most and sacrifice to lead.
“We campaigned for him and during the campaign, we told the people this is the man who is capable, this is the man who can unite us and the man who can bring development in the country, and due to these, the citizens believed in us and voted him in power. Barrow bear [sic] our flag because he had trust and confidence in us that we will not push him and get back, that we will not elect him and leave him alone, so I see it as honesty, to follow that man so that the agenda that we had will be realised.”

Wife sentenced for stealing husband’s vehicles, documents

Ebrima Dampha
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Wife sentenced for stealing husband’s vehicles, documents

By Bruce Asemota

Magistrate AB Faal of the Brikama court has convicted and sentenced one Kumba Sanneh of Mandinary village. Kumba was found guilty of stealing two vehicles, two D30,000 solar panels, five passports, a Gambian identity card and two compound documents belonging to her husband, Babucarr Jallow.

She pleaded not guilty to the charge. During the trial, the prosecution led by Inspector Bobo Jarju called four witnesses and tendered exhibits to prove the charge against her.
At the end of the trial, she was found guilty of the offences of stealing and theft and was sentenced to a fine of D3,000 in default to serve six months imprisonment for stealing two vehicles belonging to her husband, Babucarr Jallow, who resides in Sweden.

She was further sentenced to a fine of D2,000 in default to serve four months imprisonment for stealing her husband’s solar panels, two compound papers and some household materials.
The magistrate also ordered her to compensate her husband with the sum of D415,000.00 for damages caused him.

Ecowas gives new Bissau gov’t 48 hours to resign

Ebrima Dampha
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Ecowas gives new Bissau gov’t 48 hours to resign

The West African regional bloc has given Guinea-Bissau’s “illegal government” named by President Jose Mario Vaz a 48-hour ultimatum to resign or face sanctions, a representative said Wednesday, amid a tense standoff between the country’s leader and sacked ministers.
Vaz, appointed as president in 2014, has come under fire from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) for sacking his cabinet in October ahead of an election scheduled for November 24.

Vaz dismissed Prime Minister Aristides Gomes and his government on 29th October, in a shock move described as an “attempted coup” by the premier who has refused to step down.

He replaced the outgoing ministers with Faustino Imbali as the new head of government and a team of 17 ministers and 14 secretaries of state.
Ecowas appealed “to all those who have been improperly installed in the illegal government of Mr Faustino Imbali to resign,” Blaise Diplo, the Ecowas representative of Guinea Bissau told reporters on Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening Vaz convened the National Defence Council and ordered it to form a joint taskforce to “facilitate access to government institutions” by Imbali and his colleagues, according to a statement released Wednesday.
Vaz “gives the government of Aristide Gomes 24 hours”, it added, raising fears of further tensions.

Gomes told reporters on Wednesday that the national defence meeting was “illegal” because his government was excluded.
“Everything done to overthrow the current government stems from an attempted coup,” he said.

Diplo, of Ecowas, warned current ministers should “distance themselves from all initiatives to undermine the next presidential elections” and said they have “48 hours to make their decision to resign”.

He said they would face heavy sanctions after November 7 if they failed to step down.
On Sunday, Ecowas reiterated its support for Gomes and asked Vaz to reconsider the dismissals. But Vaz defended his actions later Sunday, telling a campaign rally: “I will never reconsider my decision.”

The UN Security Council last Friday called for the authorities to respect the November 24 presidential election date and rejected Vaz’s appointment of the new government. The African Union and European Union have also criticised Vaz.

The EU said in a statement last week that the “illegal attempt” to dismiss the government “threatens to derail the ongoing electoral process in Guinea-Bissau”.

Karpowership donates to Banjul fishermen

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Karpowership donates to Banjul fishermen

Karpowership, a Turkish power-production company has reached out to the Gambian fishing community in Banjul and donated fishing nets, hooks, life jackets and floaters said to be worth $6000.

Yankuba Mamburay, project manager, Karpowership, said the donation is part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, and disclosed that the company has since donated bags of rice, sugar, Tobaski rams, supported NEA during international coastal clean-up day and rehabilitated the new-born baby unit of the children’s wing of the EFSTH.
“With our operations in The Gambia, the company will continue to engage in social responsibility projects that will help with the growth of the local people as well as providing educational tools. As a strategic partner, we are committed to The Gambia’s development and will continue to provide all Gambians sustainable, reliable, and affordable electricity for many years to come,” he promised.

He said the company is of the view that the items will benefit the beneficiaries immensely, and would create quite an impact in the fishing industry.
“We urge the beneficiaries to put [the donated items] to best use and take the greatest care of them. I would want to thank the government of the Gambia and Nawec for granting us the opportunity to serve the Gambian people,” he noted.

He said Karpowership is currently operating 22 power ships with an installed capacity exceeding 3, 500 MW and another 5, 000 MW under construction or in the pipeline.
The company, he added, employs 2, 500 people globally and operates in Indonesia, Lebanon, Mozambique, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and the Caribbean.

Mr Mamburay also rubbished the grapevine that Karpowership is currently having a breakdown, arguing that the current power shortage is due to ongoing maintenance at Nawec. “We want to make it clear that Karpowership is operational and there is no problem,” he said.

Abdoulie Ibra Bah who spoke on behalf of the fishing community of Banjul, thanked the donors for their benevolence and assured that the items will be put to good use.
“The gesture will not only benefit us but will also strengthen our partnership with the Karpowership,” he added.

Ecowas targets central electricity grid control by 2020

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Ecowas targets central electricity grid control by 2020

By Okechukwu Nnodim

A central control centre that will be used to manage and operate all electricity grids in West Africa shall begin operations by 2020, the West African Power Pool, (Wapp) announced on Wednesday.

Wapp is an agency of the Economic Community of West African States and is made up of 14-member countries in the sub-region. The agency is currently holding its 14th General Assembly in Abuja.

The secretary-general of Wapp, Siengui Appollinaire, told journalists on the sidelines of the executive board meeting of the agency that there had been many remarkable feats by the group.

“The most important progress of the region is to complete the full interconnection of the 14-member countries of Wapp in West Africa. Two projects are currently ongoing to make this happen as fast as possible,” he said.

Appollinaire added, “The first one is the interconnection between Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. This one is ongoing and we will start the operation of this line in December.

“The second one is an interconnection between Senegal, Guinea, The Gambia and Guinea Bissau and when this one is finished, we would have interconnected the 14-member West African countries in the Wapp. This will be a great achievement.”

On the central system that would control the grids, he said, “We are completing the control centre, which is the place where all the electricity grids of West Africa will be monitored and from where the electricity market of West Africa will be managed.”

When asked to speak on timelines for the projects, Appollinaire replied, “We intend to complete all of these by next year; that is, by the end of 2020, everything should be operational.”

Nigeria chairs the board of Wapp and the executive board chairman of the agency, who doubles as the managing director, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Usman Mohammed, said the intention of the body was to increase energy access across the continent.
Mohammed said: “It is not only West Africa that has power pool. Most other continents of the world including America and Europe have it. The intention is to allow energy to move from where the cost of generation is low to places where it is demanded.

“This is to ultimately reduce the cost of energy across West Africa and Wapp has been working tirelessly to achieve this. It is also important to note that although Wapp is an agency of Ecowas, it is the utilities that finance Wapp.”

Mohammed stated that the general assembly had recorded tremendous progress and expressed optimism that the ongoing projects being executed by the agency would be completed as planned.

Gambian beach ball African champions to attend World Tour

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Gambian beach ball African champions to attend World Tour

Press release

Sainey Jawo and Mbye Babou Jarra are preparing to represent Gambia in their first ever world beach volleyball appearance when the FIVB (Federation of International Volleyball) World Tour, commonly call Aspire beach volleyball cup,starts off from November 12, through November 15th in Doha, Qatar. The duo are the African champions which they won in Morocco at the African Games some months ago.

With a whopping $5,000 in prize money, the Gambians will face stiff competition, from one of the top class beach volleyball kings around the world.

Qatar’s Cherif Younousse Samba and Ahmed Tijan will be the top-seeded team in this Aspire Beach Volleyball Cup and the pair is currently ranked 13th on the FIVB World Tour and ninth on the provisional Olympic ranking lists.

However, this big names do not trouble the Gambian captain Sainey Jawo who believe they can shock the world as they did in Rabat. ”We have trained so hard for this and we want to make another history,,”Jawo said.

After the World Tour, the pair will also represent Gambia in the 2020 Olympics beach volleyball qualifiers when Banjul host the Pool B of Zone II qualifications later this month.

Toufah speaks to us. About us. For us. Women, men, boys and girls. And this is why.

Ebrima Dampha
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Toufah speaks to us. About us. For us. Women, men, boys and girls. And this is why.

With Rohey Samba

“I felt offended. ‘Parce que man dema yakarr dress bow bu’…” this innocuous statement by sexual assault survivor of former president Yahya Jammeh, Toufah Jallow, made me laugh amidst tears for a harrowing testimony that stirred the conscience of our nation. She was addressing the sheer intrepidity of Jammeh’s alleged pimp, Jimbeh Jammeh, who had cautiously recommended that she change her mode of dressing to suit the Jammeh’s predatory orgies. In fact, she said without saying; that timeless trick women use on women as a cruel form of control.

Jimbeh was utilising to full effect, the young woman’s inexperience and her inability to respond to threats, real and perceived. By constantly fawning over her and making her feel good about herself, yet, once in a while, putting across a purposeful, targeted, not-too-nice-you-need-to-obey-me message, Jimbeh was carefully luring the prey to its predator. And what a cruel end it came to…

Every young woman is reminded of the affinity to that dress, that particular dress you feel so highly for, and find it inexcusable that others don’t feel the same way about it too. I guess this is one sensitive phase of life that some of us humans have to go through. The pride and frustration for ‘the dress…’ Ugh!

I’m 37 this year, and I’m just beginning to realise all the interesting emotional challenges being a young woman have produced in me. You set a goal for yourself and made a plan. You were really determined to succeed. But then something happened. What do you do? Well, some of the answers were given by Toufah in her actions following her violent rape by Jammeh and her powerful testimony made on 30thOctober, 2019 at the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. I was impressed, pleased and awed by the intelligence of Toufah, as were many Gambians on that day.

So Yahya Jammeh lured her to the lion’s den. The gaslighting former president did everything to woo the innocent girl much to her nescience. The mindless invitations to State House, of a student who had no need to be awake at those ungodly hours, the innocuous hugs, the irrelevant comments, the silly conversations, so on and so forth, and worse, him pretending to forget her name in public were all typical gaslighting moments that should have sent alarm bells ringing in her head. The precocious, solitary young woman was too innocent to notice.

It was not by virtue of her age. I mean, I, in particular, married at 19. And I have no regrets whatsoever about it. Moreover, I know nineteen-year-olds who act and think fifty due to their life’s experiences. Thus age and maturity had nothing to do with it. She fell into the trap because she was blindsided by her sense of purpose. Full Stop. But aren’t we all, at one point in our lives?

Toufah wanted a scholarship to further her education. She was determined to get that scholarship. It was her goal. Her plan. She fully comprehended what it meant for her future aspirations. She knew in order to obtain the scholarship, she needed to comply with the Presidency, after all the president was the chief patron of the Miss 22nd July pageant. Patronage is deeply embedded into our culture, it was extended to her understanding, to include everything else she was required to do when it served their ends, that is the Presidency.

Moreover, her inability to respond to the looming threat of Yahya’s childish gambits was directly linked to her purpose and because she chose to trust in him wholeheartedly as a fatherly figure. Therein lied her mistake. Even in moments when her mind chose to align with the reality of the moment, she tricked herself into believing otherwise. This happened on a couple of occasions when she met with Yahya in person. On both occasions, once the former president got a call from his wife to bid him good night, she would reassure herself that she was doing nothing wrong. Her guilt for being with another woman’s husband in her living room was muted by the reassurance she gave herself that nothing was going on between the two of them. After all, he was just a fatherly figure to her.

Now, the human mind is very powerful. We choose to believe what we want to believe because our minds can afford us that luxury. It is no different from the woman whose husband is a philanderer, who chooses not to see, hear or discuss her husband’s womanising just because she chooses not to. The same applies for men too. Now, this is a bit far-fetched but it is essentially the same thing. I am simply stating the fact that self-abnegation is the worse form of selective amnesia that we choose to affect ourselves with supreme ease, when it suits us just fine. It is a human thing.

Yahya Jammeh as we have heard from numerous testimonies made about him at the TRRC so far, was a disturbed young man who accidentally came into power with the wounds of his depraved childhood too broken to be healed by power, fame or even wealth. He had absolutely no social clues. He was abusive, manipulative and vindictive, with a high proclivity for making up mighty fibs here and there. It’s hard to develop a decent gage for the difference between constructive criticism and emotional abuse when it came to him. For Toufah, the first form of abuse came when he asked whether she lied about her age. A self-assured Toufah, well brought up and groomed, who was actually used to being judged by her ‘big bones’ did not feel slighted the least bit.

But that was just one of the things that the former president was unable to break in her; things she was not even aware of at that time, but those personality traits that made her survive and thrive in the heat of serious human rights violations meted against her by the former president of The Gambia. I will outline two of the traits and leave it at that, because I am no psychologist.

1. Her self-worth
Self-worth is something that is built in a child. When a child is properly loved and cared for, it is the most favourable environment to build that child’s self-esteem. When children aren’t absolutely sure if their parent will be there for them, then that positive self-esteem can’t be built. It’s like trying to build a house with shifting sand. Toufah’s parents gave her the proper materials to build her self worth. First, by her dad giving her the choice to attend Arabic school and buying in her decision later on when she decided that she wanted to change to an English school among other things. This is instrumental. Many parents would coerce, control and subdue their children into acceptance of their own decisions in the name of parenting. Sometimes, kids must be left to make their own decisions in life. This will help them to own their mistakes in the process of growing up in the cycle of life. Beyond that, it will also shape their future relationships. Thus Toufah, did not struggle with self-worth.

2. Her sense of self
People who grow up in close, supportive families such as Toufah did, have a better sense of who they are and where they came from. Children of bad upbringing aren’t allowed to be themselves. Rather, their job as the child is an exhausting job of constantly trying to please their parents, and put them in the best light. As such, they may struggle with knowing who they are, what they value and that they are worthy of love and respect. So when Jammeh proposed to Toufah in the hope that she would jump to the idea of getting married to the most powerful man in The Gambia, he was greatly crushed. Well, guess what, she did not feel romantically inclined as the president had not previously given away any signs of being in love with her. Toufah knew what it meant to be loved, and what trying to use someone smells like. She held him as a fatherly figure. FULL STOP.

We can go on and on about the strengths of Toufah, compared to say, Binta Jamba, who also suffered a battery of heinous sexual violations from another powerful man in the government of Yahya Jammeh. But that is not the purpose of this write-up. The reason for this article is in alignment with the purpose of my column, Sister Speak, which is to forge transformative responses to relational, specific and natural processes that influence women’s responses to the social problems that they are faced with every given day.
The fact of the matter is, when we talk about what women and children need in order to escape abusive husbands, fathers, brothers, leaders and so forth, the word we use is “resources.” Now, resources — whether they take the form of food, clothing, shelter, counseling, or support groups — are undeniably important. Yet what we mean when we talk about resources is the one important resource that actually counts, because it can get all the other resources, which is money. So let’s just call a spade a spade.

I wrote again after a long break. This of course is directly linked to my busy schedule in my new role in the Security Sector Reform process of The Gambia. However, I could not comment following the conclusion of the 9th session of TRRC’s public hearings dealing with sexual and gender-based violence, for I believe women who have been in the trenches and borne the brunt of violence, be it sexual, structural and other forms of violence continuously over centuries are far better prepared to understand what’s happening and how to confront it than the gaggle of people talking over them. Not recognising this and refusing to allow them to lead in this moment are the things that make me the most pessimistic about The Gambia’s future.

In essence, violence is a tool of power. The one who wields it, comports himself like a tyrant, and cloaking it in condescending benevolence doesn’t take the stench off of it. Sexual assault is no laughing matter. Any woman, at any age would lose their mojo from this despicable act and rightly so. This just about lifts the bar off the ground.

While I understand fully that the TRRC is more devoted to “truth” than to retribution; and that it is intended to achieve a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice, at least for the moment, or may I say until the recommendations are made, my analysis is what Martin Luther King drew of the white moderate when he stated, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

We often think of movements as starting with a call to action. In fact, we are good at replicating slogans such as “Never Again,” to define our ideals while still claiming to be perfectly original. But research suggests that movements actually start with emotion — a widespread discontent with the status quo and a broad sense that the current institutions and power structures of the society will not address the problem. This brewing dissatisfaction turns into a movement when a voice arises that provides a positive vision and a path forward that’s within the power of the crowd. This is what we did with ‘#GambiaHasDecided’ and succeeded in ousting Yahya Jammeh. For me this is what Toufah and women like Toufah, who sat at the purgatory of conservative Gambia’s culture to narrate their sexual ordeals to the commission task us to do.
Toufah speaks to us. About us. For us. Women, men, boys and girls. So what do we do about it?

A storm in a teacup

Ebrima Dampha
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A storm in a teacup

With Talib Gibran

Now that the dust has settled; no, now that the tornado has settled on what was arguably the most controversial headline in the so-called New Gambia, I had a couple of days to myself to ponder over what exactly caused so much fuss about a headline.
If you missed Thursday’s edition of The Standard, and the subsequent undue barrage of harsh assessment and reassessment of the paper’s ethical standards, here is the MIGHTY headline: BARROW SAYS HE IS A MANDINKA.

Starting off on a lighter note, I don’t think The Standard has managed to write any headline as clear and precise as this in my five-year stint with the paper. There was nothing ambiguous about it. In fact, having taken almost a litre of my Foni bungaab stocked for the last two months, I think the better headline would have been “BARROW: I AM A MANDINKA”. No reported speech, just direct and in first person. But, hey, the same guns would have blazed anyway.

By now you probably have seen two pictures in this article. Two screenshots of the same topic expressed in totally opposing words. The first one, which was published in February 2019, was also a Standard lead story. In this story, The Standard quoted Imam Baba Leigh as saying that Barrow is a Fula. Now, since I find it hard to paraphrase quotes, I would just give you the whole thing, for I don’t want to misquote the venerable imam:“Each of you can support any political party of your choice but you must all recognise and respect your culture and tribe as Fulas. You cannot change that. Adama Barrow is a typical Fula; if anyone wants to make him something that will be just to use him but even his parents, grandparents are all Fulas from Barrow Kunda in Futa Toro.” Oops! Those are not my words, I dare not say them, I would have been hanged on Facebook.

If you look at the top right corner of the picture, you would see that 4,930 site visitors have viewed this story (whether they have actually read it is totally up to them). Let’s assume only half of that number actually read it, that would be 2,460; help me here, I failed mathematics.

Now look at the other screenshot, you recognise it? Of course you do, it has been shared more times than royal baby Archie’s birth. And I don’t need to bring you any quotes from Barrow because you have read the story. Wait, you didn’t read it? If you check for the number of views you would see 1,557, for now at least, because people are still telling each other—and their unborn children as well—about how ‘irrelevant and insensitive’ the story is; so we might end up having 1.9 million views. But, what this means is that, the number of people who took a screenshot of the front page, ‘analysed’ and shared, didn’t actually read it. So how can you conclude that a whole front page lead story was insensitive and irrelevant when you didn’t read it? If the first story caused the same outrage that the second one has, then maybe there wouldn’t have been any second story because even Barrow wouldn’t dare touch on ethnicity. But if you compare the two lead stories, in both views and reactions, they are as different as apples and oranges. The first one, which was a huge claim at Tabital Pulaagu meeting, passed as if it didn’t happen despite having more views. The second one, which was a clarification at a Tabital Pulaagu meeting with the president, refused to pass into the past. The only thing I was surprised about is that The Standard was not set on fire. Wait, it’s a bit early, maybe it will be once the whole country manage to read the story.

The point is, Barrow speaks Serahuleh well but no one ever argued he is Serahuleh. He is fluent in Wolof; again, no one ever suggested he is Wolof. And if he wishes, he can speak all the other local languages in the country; Jola, Aku, Serere, Manjago, and he will only be considered a local polyglot, nothing else. But like it or not, admit it or not, there has always been a contention about Barrow’s true ethnic identity since he took over. Despite bearing a Barrow surname, many people have said it times without number that he is a Fula, just a bit diluted along the way. And from December 2016 to around early 2019, when Barrow was proudly called ‘Our Barrow’, a lot of Mandinkolu in the country simply didn’t argue about his ethnicity. To them he is a Mandinka who happens to speak Fula because he has a Fula mother. Plain and simple. But when the relationship got soured over the last months, the same people who always believed that Barrow was a Mandinka are the same people who constantly peddled around that he is actually a Fula. Baba Leigh said Barrow is a Fula, you think that is relevant and sensitive. Barrow said he is a Mandinka, but you think that is irrelevant and insensitive. How hypocritical! If you say it is sensitive, yes it is, ethnic issues are always sensitive. You are not telling us what we don’t already know. But it has to be reported.

Now let’s softly touch on The Standard’s role in this. When Imam Baba Leigh claimed Barrow is a Fula during a meeting with the same Tabital Pulaagu, we carried it. Why? Because we believed it would either reignite the conversation for clarity or just bring clarity at once. So, if Barrow comes out and tells the same Tabital Pulaagu that he is not a Fula but a Mandinka, well, come on that is newstritious, like Sheriff Bojang would say.
I must admit I was hugely disappointed in a lot of people who I thought don’t just run with the ever active social media crowd.

I have always thought that they have critical minds. But I was wrong, my bad. To be honest, rate and slate Standard newspaper on social media, I wouldn’t care because those who have been constantly questioning the paper’s ethical standards or grammar on Facebook cannot even teach a kindergarten English. So I refuse to let social media determine what I publish or not. If I publish anything and you don’t like it, fair enough but to say it was irrelevant is laughable, when all you do in the morning is to look for fake news that feeds your political ego and share it. In fact, pick any country of your choice where you believe journalism is practised with high ethical standards, and I can assure you that if their president identifies with any tribe for the first time, it would be a front-page lead on all the newspapers and run on news bars for a week.

Now let’s talk about the elephant in the room: TRIBE. I’ve been saying this for a long time and I would write it now: This country is TRIBAL. It’s foolish to believe you can have at least nine ethnic groups in the country and none of them is conscious of their ethnicity. And once you’re conscious of such, then superiority or inferiority kicks in. But our biggest problem is we don’t want to admit that we have an ethnic problem; we just want to pretend that we don’t have any ethnic problems. And those who want us to have frank discussions about our little ethnic problems are branded tribalists or inciters. I will give you an example, if you start a radio programme that is exclusively Fula or Mandinka or Wolof, et cetera, that is fine because you cannot be on air speaking a language most of your listeners don’t understand. However, if you establish any association or any group that is exclusively Fula or Mandinka or Serahuleh or Jola, et cetera,, then that has all the markings of tribalism. You cannot pioneer an organisation of such character under the pretext of promoting culture and tradition, and then you expect no tribal sentiments along the way.

Why do you even need such associations to promote culture and tradition? All you need to promote your ethnic group is wear your traditional apparels, do the plaiting on your kids growing up, speak your language at home, cook the food, et cetera,, that is how you promote culture, not establishing exclusive ethnic associations. If you ask anyone why they think there is no tribalism in this country, the first thing they would say is that ‘well, we intermarry and coexist’. So? You think if we don’t intermarry we would have up to nine ethnic groups here? Hell no, we would have been condemned into regions with tension all over. But that doesn’t mean there is no tribalism here. I know potential marriages that didn’t happen because of ethnic differences. Even in politics, mostly, our dominant default instinct is to follow that which is our tribesman or tribeswoman. Now start counting how many associations we have in this country that are exclusive to particular tribes…and then drink cold water.

Now back to the outrage. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, all flooded with The Standard’s front-page on Tuesday, calling for heads to roll. Some even demanded all the editors be sacked. So Barrow said he is a Mandinka and he continues to be in State House. Standard reported Barrow’s declaration, and we should all lose our jobs. That is the height of hypocrisy!
And a bit of reminder front-page screenshooters, if you think you have the power as citizens to demand the president step down because you voted him in, well for your information, you don’t have any such power to ask for anyone’s resignation at The Standard because you didn’t choose or vote for anyone here. Why are you even angry at The Standard? Is it because the president identifies with a tribe or because we conveyed it to the public? If it is the former, then why didn’t you direct your anger toward him? But if it is the latter, then why did you, yes you, share it on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp? Are you also not extending it to more people? I am very unapologetic about my views and once I gather the courage to write or speak, I would write or speak what I feel no matter whose ox is gored. So if you want to keep sharing the front-page and misleading more people, please frame it and paste it on your wall for the next generation. Maybe with a little more awareness than you, they would realise how low their ancestors thought.

STFU!

Ebrima Dampha
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By Sheriff Baba Bojang

On a brisk Thursday morning on January 10th 2017, I drove my former cabinet colleague and friend Alieu Jammeh to a nondescript building housing The Gambia Embassy in Dakar in a cul-de-sac in the area called Yoff Toundoup Rya. He was going to witness Barrow’s “historic” swearing-in. I wished him good luck and sped off. From that moment, I pledged to grant one(which I did to my high school mate and journalist friend Fatou Camara) and maintain a silence de morton public political matters for the next three years.

You see, I am my worst critic. I am tougher on myself than even Nderry Mbye of the so-called Freedom newssite with all his sulphuric ehems. Gambians had rejected us, the APRC and Yahya Jammeh, in the most unclouded voice. And since we do not engage in hara-kiri – dying by falling on your sword from dishonour –we can at the least take a chill pill and literally vamoose for a time. It is not about being caged; it is about being gaged.

So like the Trappist monks, I took a vow of silence. For whatever sins that may have issued from my mouth or uncircumcised pen over the two years I served at the pleasure of His Excellency, Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh, Nasirrudin, Babili Mansa Baa, as Minister of Information and Communication Infrastructure I was going to lose my voice for the next 36 months.

And impressively, I had pretty much stuck to it. Over the period, I had been approached to take up high public office, join political parties or even actively re-engage with my former party the APRC. I declined everything. The period of my imposed abstinence ends end of December, and here I am breaking it!
Silence is beautiful. When I was sacked as the managing director of Daily Observer in 2004, I went to college in London and refused to speak for years and was given the name ‘The Silent Londoner’ by my old pals Foday Samateh and Dida Halake. The brilliant American Trappist monk, writer, mystic and poet, Thomas Merton, wrote in The Asian Journalabout silence: “I am able to approach the Buddhas barefoot and undisturbed, my feet in wet grass, wet sand. Then the silence of the extraordinary faces. Great smiles. Huge and yet subtle. Filled with every possibility, questioning nothing, knowing everything, rejecting nothing, the peace not of emotional resignation but of Madhyamika, of sunyata, that has seen through every question without trying to discredit anyone or anything — without refutation — without establishing some other argument. For the doctrinaire, the mind that needs well-established positions, such peace, such silence, can be frightening.”
*****

So what matter of great importance must have occurred to make me break my pledge? Actually nothing. On Tuesday, The Standard came with a banner headline ‘BARROW SAYS HE IS A MANDINKA’ and it is like standing in the middle of the damel’scourt and telling the people of Cayor and Kabrousse in Senegal that the Yacine Boubou and Aline Sitoe Diatta were hermaphrodites because they were so ballsy! The Interneteratti went unhinged. It trended on Gambian Twitter the whole day and snapshots of The Standard front page were all over Facebook. As Peter Gomez wryly told the editor Lamin Cham, if it was the UK, it would have won the Headline of The Year at the British Press or National Journalism awards!
One reason I do not engage in public debates on the Internet, notably Facebook, is that it is like a very cracked mirror. Most people do not see the whole picture. One cursory look and they have their own skewed views and they fly with it, their own truth. And they try to outdo each other in nastiness and meanness;acting all Moe Ebrahim Seckha and Abs Ceesay even with an upper arm circumference of 10 inches! People you teach in the classroom – not even among the brightest – would want to lecture you and those not even fit enough to untie the lace of your shoes would curse your mother. Since I consider it beneath me to engage in tittle-tattle or as Mandinkas say jali kunda song ko, with faceless idiots and idiottes, I stay away. Let them hang themselves with their own petards in their idiocy.

The Standard is promoting tribalism. Journalism in The Gambia is dead! Sheriff Bojang is a bad journalist. The editor of Standard is a UDP supporter. Mbojo mbojo journalism. Sensationalism. This story is insensitive. It is irrelevant. This story could bring about Rwanda in Gambia.All the editors should be sacked! And blah blah, the comments go on. I was a tad pissed that even people I considered serious journalists in The Gambia would serve as echo chambers for these bland statements. Just in case you have missed it, this isThe Standard story:

Barrow Says He Is A Mandinka

By Omar Bah
President Adama Barrow has strongly dismissed claims that he was playing tribal politics by accepting to meet an exclusively Fula Association.
Addressing the audience from the Tabital Pulaagu, whose leaders split over the planned meeting with him, President Barrow categorically stated that he is a Mandinka. “My father is a Mandinka and my mother is Fula and the Sarahules are my uncles. I think my this connection with all these tribes is what is driving fear in some people about me,” Barrow said. Mr Barrow said the meeting was not in any way inspired or motivated to mobilise the Fulas to support him, arguing that his connection with Fulas, Mandinkas and Sarahules was destined by God.
He reminded his audience that the Sarehule community visited him but there was no outcry about that. “Why should they be worried about the Fulas’ visit? This is purely political and hypocritical,” he explained.

The Gambian leader reminded the group that Fulas, Mandinkas, Wolofs, Jolas and all the other tribes are equal in the country. “I am the president and I love you all and you are all my family. The Fulas who are here today should understand that they are part of The Gambia. I want you to join me we work together and develop this country because I cannot do it alone. Wherever you maybe if you want to progress you have to speak the same language with government,” he told the visiting Fula group.

There is a saying in journalism that it is not what you write but what you highlight. But what is so bad or genocidal about the president of The Gambia saying he is a Mandinka? And why would any journalist worth his salt contend that is an irrelevant piece of information in the country today given the recent contemporary historical context and the political calculus? If you do, you are in the wrong job, my friend.

In its Question of The Day column, of November 4, 2019 Foroyaa, my favourite Gambian paper (after The Standard of course), wrote:
“It is common these days for President Barrow to be accused of building the support base among the Fula ethno-linguistic group. However, the leader of the NRP and GDC are also accused of doing the same.
The leader of the GDC stood against Barrow in Jimara Constituency and won, but stood against Barrow as a presidential candidate and lost. What role did tribe play to make either person a winner or loser?
During the first Republic Mr Dibba was painted by many of his ethnolinguistically inclined opponents as a tribalist and Jawara was referred to by most of his ethnolinguistically inclined opponents as a sell out to other ethnolinguistic groups. But Jawara continued to win elections until he was removed through a coup d’etat. Jammeh who was considered to be from a smaller ethnolinguistic group continued to win elections against UDP whose leader Mr Ousainu Darboe and Deputy leader Mr Yahya Jallow, were considered by those who were ethnolinguistically inclined as belonging to the most populous ethnolinguistic groups in The Gambia, the Mandinka and Fula ethnolinguistic groups, respectively.

Now, some who are ethnolinguistically inclined are saying Barrow is not a pure Mandinka, because his mother belongs to the Fula ethnolinguistic group while others are saying he is not pure Fula because his father belongs to the Mandinka ethnolinguistic group.

If one takes the ethnolinguistic characterisation of Gambian politics a bit farther, one would discover that the leaders of the NRP and GDC are classified as belonging to the Fula ethnolinguistic group. The leader of the UDP and GMC are classified as belonging to the Mandinka ethnolinguistic group. The leaders of PPP and GAP are classified under the Serahule ethnolinguistic group.

Hence if the people vote purely on ethnolinguistic lines who would they vote for?
It is therefore not proven by empirical evidence that one could win presidential elections by solely relying on ethnolinguistic loyalties.
In fact, the more one drums up ethnolinguistic loyalties the more other ethnolinguistic groups feel threatened and thus congregate around a winnable candidate on the other side. This is how Jammeh survived for 22 years…”

We have entered the season of ‘idlepolitics’ what Alex Ferguson calls in British football, ‘squeaky bum time”. As politicians and their surrogates strategise on how to maintain their stranglehold on to power or wrest it from the incumbent, they will use everything at their disposal, overtly or covertly to politically neuter their opponents. And unedifying as it may appeal to your higher sense, one of key issues will be the “ethnolinguistic” bearings of the protagonists since a greater percentage of our people are not interested in the retail politics of issues but wholesale politics of identity – of kith and kinship in its many forms.
The issue of Barrow’s identity is interesting in many ways.

I was sitting front row at that meeting in Tallinding on 6th June, 2016 when my boss wrote his political obituary. In the poem The Masque of Pandora by Longfellow, Prometheus said when the gods wish to destroy a person, they first make him mad. It was Jammeh’s moment de folie. Utter madness.He stated in his all hail thou omniscience that till the end of times, The Gambia will never be ruled by a Mandinka government and a Mandinka will never sit on the seat of the presidency. That if so were to happen, let him die and burn in hell. Remember, some of us believe in AJJ’s omnipotence, and it might interest us in knowing whether the real Omnipotent One has answered his hauteur by replacing him, right after with a Mandinka, a very average Joe one, at that!
What is even more beguiling is that on 13th February 2019, the same Standard in the same position published a story in which the good imam Baba Leigh made a public declaration: “Each of you can support any political party of your choice but you must all recognise and respect your culture and tribe as Fulas. You cannot change that. Adama Barrow is a typical Fula; if anyone wants to make him something that will be just to use him but even his parents, grandparents are all Fulas from Barrow Kunda in Futa Toro.”And apart from a couple of barbed comments on the story link on standard.gm, I didn’t see an outrage!
Barrow is many things to many people. He’s a cracked mirror personified. People make of him what they want. A Moses one day, Judas the next. A Mandinka one day, Fula the next. Adama Humble one day, Narcissus the next. One of us today, one of them tomorrow. And these labels have expensive political costs, for Barrow and for those who make them. He has every right to define his identity. You have every right in your jaundiced view to say it is insensitive or irrelevant. Go shout it out on the top of the hill. And we at The Standard have every right to publish all we deemed fit for publication. So take a chill pill. No hara-kiri this crisp Thursday morning.

Dr Ismaila Ceesay Political Science lecturer

Ebrima Dampha
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Dr Ismaila Ceesay Political Science lecturer

With Alagie Manneh

In this edition of Bantaba, anchor Alagie Manneh talks to the popular young university lecturer Dr Ismaila Ceesay, about his life and politics.
Tell us about yourself
I am from Brikama. I did my high school education in Sierra Leone – form one to form five – after which I returned to The Gambia. I was supposed to do my sixth form in Sierra Leone but because of the civil war that wasn’t possible. So when I came home after my GCE O’levels, it was in the mid ’90s and job opportunities were very scarce and migration at the time was very central to the aspirations of young Gambians. We thought that the future in this country was bleak and that if you want to make it, you have to travel. It was the trend at the time. There were of course the push and the pull factors. The push factors were the hard economic condition at the time and the pull factors were at the time, when holiday returnees – those who are in the Diaspora when they return home, here we call them ‘semesters’ – when they come with wealth, the impression they gave was that life was better in Europe and if you want to climb the social ladder in this country you have to travel to Europe. So I also wanted to go and educate myself.

Your father was a veteran forestry officer who had many children, what was it like growing up in a big traditional family?
Of course I came from a very humble background. My father was a forestry officer, and they were the ones who started the Gambia Forestry Department and built Nyambai and other forests around the country. My mother was a school teacher who worked and served The Gambia government for over 30 years, ending up being headmistress in many schools. Obviously like you said, I grew up in a polygamous setting, which was very popular at that time. It was lovely, even though I and my mom and my siblings were living in a separate compound as opposed to the rest of the family but it was lovely growing up around that time in Brikama. The harmony was there in the family. We were all young and didn’t know what a stepmother was. What we know is we call everybody our mom. I wouldn’t even know who my mother was because everybody was taking care of us. Our dad, I think he was a very lucky man that he was able to preside over a very harmonious family where we didn’t see those differences in terms of whether we are from the same mom or the same dad. For my dad, I give him a big, big credit for that.

Are you a Mandinka?
[Laughs]. I am Gambian obviously, first and foremost. If you ask me my ethnicity, yes I am Mandinka. I don’t think ethnicity issues are really key in determining how we behave. I think what is important is how you behave and how you relate with other people. Your ethnicity doesn’t determine your life, it doesn’t determine the type of person you are, it doesn’t determine your success, and it doesn’t determine anything. It’s just an identity and identity is everywhere. First and foremost, we are all human beings, that is the common denominator. When I meet you, Alagie, I don’t see a Mandinka in you, I don’t see a Muslim in you, or man, what I see is a human being and I treat you accordingly. Yes, everybody would want to identify themselves with a particular group, it’s something that we found here, it’s something that we cannot avoid but it’s not something that should determine how we live our lives and how we treat other people. The most important thing is we are all human beings and we should treat each other accordingly, that’s how I think, broadly.

You showed signs of promise at an early age when you became head of the Gambian Association in Sweden. Why do you feel the need to serve your community?
I have always been someone who likes to engage in public service. For me, there is no better service than public service. When I moved to Sweden in the mid-90s, there was a vibrant Gambian organisation there; OPS, Organisation of Gambians in Sweden, which was established in 1975. The association was very active; nonetheless I also got engaged in community life in Sweden. How? I was the one who was organising African football tournaments in Stockholm. I would bring a team from Guinea, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal, The Gambia, Nigeria, six teams. We would bring Africans in Sweden together through football. Later on I expanded this tournament to include teams from Latin America from Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela, so it became a big tournament. By organising these tournaments, and at the same time I started to play some kind of social leadership role in Sweden, where many people would always gravitate towards me and whenever they have issues would consult me. So my guys had a meeting one time and I wasn’t present. I was watching football at the time, they asked me to come over to the meeting place. They had already decided they wanted me to be the president of the association and said they had all voted for me. I wanted to reject it but they had confidence in me. We organised the most successful Gambian Cultural Week to have ever been organised in Sweden.

Why did you choose to read politics at university?
I have always loved politics. I have always been thrilled by political issues. I have always been interested in ways in terms of how to develop our society. For me, politics is development. I want to live in a good society.I want to be part of a team that can create a good society for our country, and that is politics; how do we organise ourselves, how do we ensure everybody around us lives in dignity, how do we ensure that we provide for ourselves our own needs and also prepare our country for the next generation to come so they can also live in dignity? These questions have been questions that I have been playing with since when I was in primary school. I have always been a type who wanted everybody around me to be satisfied. Because of that, I have been active since I was young. Because of that I said look, I want to be someone who wants to work with these issues. Then I have interest in politics. That is why I studied politics.

You could have stayed in Europe, worked and got more money. Why did you decide to return?
I have been in Europe for many years. I have travelled all over Europe and every country I go to, I got amazed at how they were able to build their country, how they were able to build a nation that is prosperous and successful, a nation where every child has a good school to go to, and every child goes to bed with a full stomach. I look at those countries and say, these countries are not richer than us The Gambia, yet we are poorer. Why? Since then I had decided that my education will be worthless if it doesn’t help improve the condition of not only my people in The Gambia but the entire African continent. That is why I decided to come back to improve the conditions of Gambians. I went to school to educate and prepare myself for the jihad ahead, because I knew that there will be a time when our generation will have to be the one to change the trajectory of this country. So I had to prepare myself and learn the art of war. That is why I went to educate myself to equip myself with those skills to get ready for that day, and that day has arrived now.

You were arrested by the police for telling a local newspaperthat the presence of Ecomig soldiers in The Gambia will not prevent long-term security risk if Barrow does not win the trust of the members of The Gambia Armed Forces. Exactly what do you mean?
What I was trying to say is what I observed as an expert on security issues from my extensive reading of the literature and also from observing some empirical data in security issues on the African continent. The army had played a certain role under dictatorship. The whole concept of security has also changed since after the Cold War. Now, I am a researcher, when we do research, we collect data and speak with the relevant people. And I see a trend that you cannot rely on external forces for the longer term. Ecomig was supposed to come as a stabilisation force, to ensure that this transition from authoritarianism to democracy, is safeguarded, and delivered and with no destruction. That was the purpose of Ecomig. I saw a trend where there was a lack of trust between the army and the president. The army was feeling alienated and my point of view was that yes, Ecomig is here, but in the long term, if you want stability in The Gambia, you must gain the trust of your army because they will be the ones ready to die defending this country, so gain their trust. Go visit them, have a word with them that will give them some confidence. That was what I was saying. I wasn’t speaking to incite violence; I was just speaking as an expert. I was advising Barrow that our men and women in uniform want to serve and be loyal to him, but he should also reach out to them.

Despite widespread condemnation following those comments, a prominent US based professor Abdoulaye Saine said you should have been applauded, and tapped for a senior security advisory position in State House, rather than getting arrested for raising a national security dilemma that is apparent. Do you agree?
He was right. I tell you something, when Jammeh was in power, I used to criticise him a lot, whether you know it or not. I was using my platform at the university to criticise Jammeh. I was the only university professor, during the dictatorship to organise seminars and symposiums and conferences at the university to talk about Jammeh’s human rights abuses, but Jammeh would never arrest me. You think he didn’t know? I had NIA personnel in my class, in my Introduction To Politics class. Jammeh wanted to know what I was teaching… The first batch of students dropped the course material after I gave it to them because the materials I was using were considered to be seditious at the time and included Amnesty International’s condemnation of Jammeh. But he would never arrest a popular university professor.

After you were released from police detention, you took to your Twitter handle and wrote “the fight to consolidate our democracy has begun, we won’t be u-turned into dictatorship.” Are we losing our democracy?
Our democracy is fragile I can tell you. It’s a young democracy. You see, the transition from authoritarianism to democracy is fraught with difficulties. Democracy is a process. We are yet to achieve a consolidated democracy. Therefore, we must handle it with care. It’s still young and delicate and needs to be fed and we must be very vigilant but, you have to understand one thing; the structures, the processes, the social institutions, the laws that created authoritarian system, the dictatorship of Jammeh, are still intact. They are not disintegrated yet totally. That is why we say reforms come up with new laws, new electoral laws, new media laws, doing civic education, the social institutions, the hypocrisy, the sycophancy. The idea was to not only remove a dictator, but the conditions that created that dictatorship must also be dismantled through the reforms. If we don’t destroy those structures that created dictatorship, we would just revert back to another dictatorship. That is what they call democratic back sliding or democratic recession. Even though it’s not a brutal dictatorship, even though it can be a benign dictatorship, nonetheless it is a dictatorship.
To be continued next Friday

Nobel’s peace prize 2019

Ebrima Dampha
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0
Nobel’s peace prize 2019

Amazing news spread over the world:

Abiy Ahmed Ali won the Nobel Peace Prize 2019!
Mr Ali is Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.
Here is the prize motivation:
”for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.”
What is then the Nobel peace prize?
Alfred Nobel, 1833 – 1896 was a Swedish businessman, chemist, engineer, inventor, and philanthropist.
Known for inventing dynamite , Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other military equipment. With time he got criticized for
manufacturing ”killing-machines”, to benefit on other’s death. Alfred Nobel decided to let his wealth work for something good instead and instituted the Nobel prizes. The prizes are prominent, well known over the world, and it is a great honour to be a Nobel prize winner. There are Nobel prizes in several and different areas. They are given for outstanding contributions for humanity in chemistry, literature, peace, physics and physiology or medicine.
This is not the first time an African has won this illustrious prize. Last year it was divided between two people; Dr Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, a human rights activist from Irac.
Dr Denis Mukwege is a world-renowned gynaecologist, human rights activist and Nobel Peace winner from east Congo. He has become the world’s leading specialist in the treatment of wartime sexual violence and a global campaigner against the use of rape as a weapon of war.
The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet
This is a group of four civil society organizations that were central mediators in the effort to consolidate democratic gains to form a lasting constitutional settlement in Tunisia following the unrest and historic regime change of the 2011, the Jasmine revolution. The quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 following a political crisis that halted the constitutional process. As a result of the Quartet’s success in bringing the Ennahda-led government to see negotiations through and producing a historic constitution, on 9 October 2015, the quartet was awarded the 2015 the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ellen Jonson Sirleaf and Leymah Roberta Gbowee
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from Liberia.
She won the 2005 presidential election, took office on 16 January 2006. She was re-elected in 2011. She was the first woman in Africa elected as president of her country. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, in recognition of her efforts to bring women into the peacekeeping process. She has received numerous other awards for her leadership.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Leymah Roberta Gbowee, a Liberian human rights activist. Leymah Roberta Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women’s nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace. This movement helped bring an end to the Second Liberian civil war in 2003.
 
Barack Obama
The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to United States, to president Barack Obama for his “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people. The Nobel committe announced the award on October 9, 2009, citing Obama’s promotion of a nuclear proliferation and a “new climate” in international relations fostered by Obama, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world.
(nuclear proliferation = preventing an increasing number of countries possessing of nuclear weapons)
 
Wangarĩ Muta Maathai was a renowned Kenyan social, environmental and political activist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was educated in the US as well as in Nairobi, Kenya.
In 1977 Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement. This is an environmental, non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation and women’s rights.
Kofi Annan and the U.N.
The Nobel Peace Prize 2001 was awarded jointly to United Nations (U.N.) and Kofi Annan “for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world.”
Nelson Mandela and president Willem de Klerk
Prize motivation: “for their work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.”Nelson Mandela shared the Peace Prize with the man who had released him, President Frederik Willem de Klerk, because they had agreed on a peaceful transition to majority rule.
 
Desmond Tutu is one of South Africa’s most well-known human rights activists, winning the 1984Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in resolving and ending apartheid. Born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal, South Africa, he became the first Black Anglican Archbishop of both Cape Town and Johannesburg.
This is an impressing list of African Nobel Peace Prize winners, don’t you think?
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 100 times to 134 Nobel Laureates between 1901 and 2019, 107 individuals and 27 organizations.
(Laureates = a latin word for those who are honoured with this prize)
The prize is a great honour to recieve, but it is also includes a great deal of money; mr Ali got US $ 1.03 million. It is up to the winners how they spend the prize money; some have donated it for scientific research, others for personal purposes. Anyhow, the prize is awarded to those who has done considerable deeds for the humanity.
Let’s go back to mr Abiy Ahmed Ali, the winner of Nobel Peace Prize 2019. What has he done to deserve to be a winner and why is that so important?
The conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea over disputed border territory came at a huge financial and humanitarian cost for both countries. As Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed has sought to promote reconciliation, solidarity and social justice.
However, many challenges remain unresolved. Ethnic strife continues to escalate, and we have seen troubling examples of this in recent weeks and months.
There is definitely a lot achieved already in reforming Ethiopia to a democracy but there’s also a long way to go. Rome was not made in a day and neither will peace or democratic development be achieved in a short period of time.
Why do I wish to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize? Well, There are several reasons; it is founded in Sweden, it is a great honour to recieve it as it it is famous all over the world. I cherry picked the African winners as I thought it was more interesting for you to hear about them than all the others. If you are curious of the others it is very easy to find information online. I find it important to not only verbally whip some political behinds, but also praise those who deserves that. So much is said about Africa that could fill you with depression both night and day for the rest of your life. Too little is said about the positive tendencies that also happen. I don’t know the reason for it, maybe it’s only a bad habit.
Disasters sell newspapers, bold letters scream out to the public and want us to but and read. Many times there is not much substance behind the headlines. They want to get our attention, human beings are curious creatures. There is a market for news like that, but we must be aware of all the good things that actually happen. The narrative we get in the Western world, about Africa, is war, starving children, deforestation, deserts spreading and so on. Not enough is said about the progress that is done. Look at Wangari Maathai from Kenya, for example. She founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977. This was long before anyone was aware of the climate change and almost no one spoke about environmental issues.
 
This is cut from the Green Belt Movement’s website:
”Founded in 1977 by Professor Wangari Maathai, the Green Belt Movement (GBM) has planted over 51 million trees in Kenya. GBM works at the grassroots, national, and international levels to promote environmental conservation; to build climate resilience and empower communities, especially women and girls; to foster democratic space and sustainable livelihoods.”
Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in Kenya to address the challenges of deforestation, soil erosion and lack of water by the simple act of planting trees. By empowering rural women who struggle daily with these challenges, the Green Belt Movement grew into a nationwide grassroots effort to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy.
If you got inspired by this; please watch a short video on Youtube. The video is called ” I will be a humming-bird” and tells us that we can do whatever we can do, even if it’s little.
If you don’t have access to the internet, I can tell you a little about the video ”I will be a humming-bird. There was a huge fire in the forest and all the animals froze in panic. They didn’t know what to do to put out the fire, so they just looked at it in despair. The tiny humming-bird came flying, looked at the fire and flew back to the river where it filled its little beak with water. Drop after drop was thrown on the fire, but the other animals questioned the use of it. ”You have such a small beak, and you can only get one drop of water at the time” the animals said. There were all kinds of animals standing there to look at the fire, even an elephant with a big trunk who could have taken a lot of water in it.
The humming-bird kept on flying with its drops of water and it said ” I’m doing the best I can.”
From this little story we can learn that it is not only a matter making great achievements, where you can become rewarded with medals and large sums of money. If all of us do the best we can, we can achieve a lot and change the world to a better place.
I’m sure you are familiar with the saying: ”If there is a will, there is a way.” All the great achievements has started with an idea or a need. Some people have a lot of connections and that can make it easier to begin a project. Some others have to do it on their own, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that all of us are willing to do something useful, not only for ourselves but for our fellow human beings.
For myself, I have decided to do something useful every day. It might sound like I am normally lazy, but that is not true. I work full time as a musicteacher, I read a lot during my free time – mostly for making research for my next article. No, what I mean is that I have decided to not only do my routine chores but something else too. I want to stretch my limits further and not only go on, day by day the same. I alone can’t change the world, but I can be as the humming-bird and do the best I can.

Gambia’s Wafu U-20 Title Defence Heats Up

Ebrima Dampha
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Gambia’s Wafu U-20 Title Defence Heats Up

Later this month, the Young Scorpions will travel to Guinea, the venue for this year’s Wafu Under 20 championship, to surrender or defend the crown they won in Liberia two years ago.

The Gambia will start her title defense in Group B which also features Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Mali.

Group A comprises Senegal, host Guinea Conakry, Mauritania and Sierra Leone.
Already, coach Matar Mboge who guided the Young Scorpions to that title has gathered his troops and is fine tuning them.

There are even talks about a possible friendly trip to Qatar.
Mboge himself is reported to have been taken off his assistant post with the national team, allowing him to concentrate on the Under 20 assignments in Guinea which began on November 28 and ends early December.

Udp Advises Barrow To Quit After 3 Years

Ebrima Dampha
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0
Udp Advises Barrow To Quit After 3 Years

By Omar Bah

The United Democratic Party has finally made its stance on the much talked about 3 years agreement of the Coalition 2016. Under the agreement, President Barrow should serve only three years and quit and must not contest the election coming immediately after.

However, few months after the coalition government came into office, Ousainu Darboe the leader of the main partner UDP, declared that Mr Barrow should not be forced to respect the 3-year mandate because it is two years short of the constitutional mandate of 5 and that he would challenge anyone who wants to force it on the president.
Mr Darboe had maintained that view but his party had said that was an individual viewpoint and the stance of the party would come later.

It came yesterday night when at a press conference the UDP stated that President Barrow should respect the agreement and leave office at the end of this year when it will expire.
According to party officials, this position was reached after three executive meetings on the matter.

“If 3 years was not part of the agreement, there would have been no coalition. The UDP urges all the parties to the coalition agreement and particularly the principal beneficiary of the coalition agreement, President Adama Barrow to be faithful to the agreement and his promises to the electorate that if he is elected president, he will serve a term of 3-years, step down, supervise elections and hand over the office of the president to whoever is elected,” UDP leader Ousainu Darboe said at the news conference in Manjai.

The UDP leader further said: “One good character of a leader is adhering and respecting promises you made. That is one character of a good leader. So, for me any leader that doesn’t respect promises he made is deceitful and certainly I don’t think Gambians want leaders that are deceitful”.

He said President Barrow’s claim that his promise to serve a 3-year term was just a campaign rhetoric clearly signals that he cannot be trusted.

“So, if he refuses to step down after 3-years that will show that he is not a man of honour and he doesn’t deserve a second term,” Darboe charged.
He said Barrow’s promise to the electorate formed the basis why they voted for him.

‘3 years Jotna’
However, the UDP leader said his party is not supporting the “3 years Jotna” movement, a group which said they will protest against President Barrow’s decision not to obey the agreement.

“We are not calling on any member of the UDP to protest. We are asking President Barrow to be faithful to the agreement that led to his election. We are asking him to fulfil the promises that he had made to the Gambian electorate. We are not asking anybody to protest and we don’t believe we should ask anybody to go out and protest,” Darboe said.

“The undertone of the 3-years jotna has some ramifications and certainly the UDP is not coming up to support them. As at now we are not ready to protest. Our position is let his (Barrow’s) conscience guide his actions because his promise to the electorate is even more important than the agreement because it even gives the agreement a very robust character,” he added.

He said the UDP is still open to a national dialogue on the issue, adding that there cannot be any meaningful development without peace.

‘APRC will never rule again’

Ebrima Dampha
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0
‘APRC will never rule again’

By Mafugi Ceesay

Basiru Gassama, a former APRC Kanifing Municipality divisional youth adviser, has told The Standard that the former ruling party will never regain power.

Mr. Gassama, who is also a former Sanchaba Ward Chairman and vocal APRC supporter, said: “I do apologise to all Gambians for supporting something that I don’t know but I have regretted it and I am asking Almighty Allah to forgive me.”

However Mr. Gassama said things are not going well either in the new dispensation. “But I think our best solution to salvation is to support Barrow to complete his five years.
“This 3-year issue is an insult because it was just an agreement not backed by a referendum or something. Peace is power and we cannot take it for granted. In fact I think if Barrow chooses to resign now it will only create chaos in the country because everyone is hungry for power,” Gassama warned.

Gassama further observed that any demonstration to bring down the government will get Yahya Jammeh on the dance floor and laughing.
“We can avoid all that,” he said.

Gassama also said the volume and frequent use of foul language on social media against one another is a very worrying trend.

Presidential adviser says UDP’s position meaningless

Ebrima Dampha
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0
Presidential adviser says UDP’s position meaningless

Saihou Mballow, a deputy political adviser on youth matters has reacted to the UDP’s call for President Barrow to respect the 3 years Coalition MoU.

Mr Mballow called it a reneging of the party leader’s earlier position.
He said: “I learnt with great dismay reports that the leader of the United Democratic Party, Lawyer Ousainu Darboe has reneged on his principled position of support for the five-year constitutional mandate of President Adama Barrow. Just as it is disappointing, the decision is meaningless and cannot stand even the slightest constitutional scrutiny and rigors.
As far as we are concerned, President Adama Barrow was duly elected and mandated by the Gambian people to serve for a period of five years based on the 1997 Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land.

We recognized the 2016 Coalition agreement as a legitimate friendly agreement; however, where it comes in conflict with the law, the supremacy of the law takes precedence. Therefore, we are calling on all and sundry, particularly genuine politicians to do the right thing and stand in support of the constitution of the country.”

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