Folks, forwarded is another Forayaa newsletter for your consumption.


>From: "Amie Sillah" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>CC: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: FOROYAA ISSUE
>Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 20:50:07 +0000
>
>FOROYAA NEWSPAPER
>ISSUE NO. 79
>Publish   (16 October 2003)
>
>EDITORIAL
>
>A NATION WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY GENERAL AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUSTICE
>
>Since the AFPRC/APRC came to office 9 persons have occupied the post of
>Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice.  When they took over
>Mrs. Amie Bensouda was Solicitor General and Legal Secretary.  When the PPP
>Cabinet was dissolved Mrs. Amie Bensouda was asked to act briefly as
>Attorney General and Minister of Justice.  She was later replaced by Mr.
>Fafa Mbye.  The list then continued as follows: Mr. Mustapha Marong, Mrs.
>Hawa Sisay Sabally, Mr. Musa Bittaye, Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, Pap Cheyassin
>Secka and Mr. Joseph Henry Joof.  Who is next?  That is the question.
>The situation is very critical as the country undergoes its most unsettling
>economic and governance environment as the executive adopts measures that
>can only result in general confusion of the source of the current economic
>crisis.
>Readers would recall that the Secretary of State for Finance and Economic
>Affairs had introduced new tax measures in his budget speech, which stated
>among other things that foreign exchange bureaus would pay 30,000 Dalasis
>per annum.  Organized Foreign Exchange dealers would pay 15,000 Dalasis,
>Mobile Foreign Exchange Dealers would pay 5,000 Dalasis annually.  By this
>act the executive legitimized the paralleled market.  Now the same
>government is claiming that the major cause of the depreciation of the
>Dalasi is the Mobile Foreign Exchange dealers and the price hikes are
>attributed to insensitive Gambian vendors.  Arbitrary decisions are taken
>to control vital prices without controlling wholesale prices.  Contrary to
>their claim that prices are going down what is happening is the reduction
>of investment in the retail trade.  This will ultimately result in scarcity
>of goods, poor marketing outlets and greater poverty.  Government needs to
>mediate between wholesalers and retailers and between the retailers and the
>consumers in order to come up with the best possible compromise.  Instead
>of the fascist and militant programme of “Operation No Compromise”, what we
>need is the democratic programme called “Agenda: The Best Possible
>Compromise”.
>The most tragic aspect of all this is that the government is without the
>constitutionally required legal adviser.   Section 72 Subsection (2) states
>categorically that: “The Attorney General shall be the principal legal
>adviser to the government and shall have the right of audience in all
>courts in the Gambia”.  The country is entering the fourth week without an
>Attorney General and Secretary of State for Justice.
>In our view, the position of Attorney should be separated from that of
>Secretary of State for Justice.  The position should be freed from its
>partisan trappings so that professionalism shall be the basis for being
>appointed Attorney General and not the tendency towards sycophancy.
>
>DEVELOPMENTS ON MR. LAMIN WAA JUWARA
>
>As the government confirms to the Gambian people that it has no respect for
>the Constitution by continuing to detain Mr. Lamin Waa Juwara with
>impunity, a broad base consultation is taking place on how to put an end to
>impunity once and for all, and have civil society control of the exercise
>of political authority.  Detention without trial is the hallmark of every
>despotic government.  It signifies the usurping of judicial powers by the
>executive.
>The Effort to get Judicial Intervention
>Where the executive defies the judiciary can step in to protect the law.
>On Friday 10th October 2003, Mr. Borry Touray, Counsel for Mr. Juwara
>appeared in court before Justice Belghore at the High Court to argue for
>Mr. Juwara to be granted Bail.  Justice Belghore held the proceedings in
>Chambers, which prevented journalists in particular and the public in
>general from witnessing the case.
>Foroyaa has been reliably informed that before the application for bail
>could be heard the Prosecution made a preliminary objection on the grounds
>that the applicant, that is NDAM’s Youth Wing Leader has no Locus Standi to
>act on behalf of Juwara’s family.  The court agreed to this position and
>dismisses the application.  Mr. Borry Touray made another application on
>Wednesday.
>It was made abundantly clear that one has no authority to detain a person
>for more than 72 hours without bringing him/her before a court.  The state
>was trying to defend that Waa is likely to commit a crime if released.  The
>Judge will make a decision after going to Press.
>
>Remarks After Publication
>In fact Waa Juwara was granted bail by the high court on the 16th October,
>2003 after the Newspaper was already out. He has since been released.
>
>CENTRAL BANK IN FOCUS
>
>The Audit exercise, which was in progress at the Central Bank, is now
>completed.  The Board of Directors are supposed to have held an emergency
>meeting to review the report.  After much speculation the government needs
>to make the findings public. If it fails to do so Foroyaa urges the
>National Assembly to pursue the matter.  The Constitution has made it a
>requirement for the Central Bank to issue Annual Reports to the National
>Assembly.  Once this happens the National Assembly can set up a Special
>Select Committee to look into the report.  This however has never happened
>since the Constitution came into force in 1997.
>If the Government is truly interested in Transparency and Accountability,
>the back log of reports by the Central Bank to the National Assembly should
>be cleared and published.
>
>
>On the Mobile Currency Dealers
>On The True State Of The Economy
>Part IV
>What Confirms that the Government is engaged in economic adventurism is the
>fact that in the 2002 budget speech the Secretary of State for Finance and
>Economic Affairs has made it abundantly clear that Foreign Exchange Bureaus
>will pay a sum of D30,000 per annum, the Organized Foreign Exchange Dealers
>were to pay D15,000 per annum, the Mobile Foreign Exchange Dealers were to
>pay D5,000 per annum.  There are revenue measures to be applied in 2003.
>Now, the government claims that the Mobile Foreign Exchange Dealers have
>been responsible for the depreciation of the Dalasi and the rise in the
>value of the CFA.  No study has been conducted to know the role the CFA or
>the Mobile Foreign Exchange Dealers have been playing in the economy.
>A review of economic indicators reveals that the Gambian Economy is more
>integrated in the sub-regional economy than any other.  Let us go a bit
>back to show the trends of the Gambian economy.  Imports from Ivory Coast
>increased from 4.10% in 1999 to 11.02% of total imports in 2000.  This is
>second only to Germany.  Imports from Senegal in 2000 were about 2.77% of
>total imports.  This does no reflect the smuggling ring.  On the other hand
>exports to Senegal amounts to 39.4% of total exports while Guinea-Bissau
>received 9.6% of total exports from the Gambia in 2000 Guinea received
>2.1%.  In short 54.9% of total exports go to our sub-region.  The earnings
>are mostly in CFA.  The government however is saying that people should not
>have CFA in their possession. If one goes to many shops in the Gambia we
>find yam, coconuts, kolanuts etc from the sub-region.   Many people who
>trade in these goods would also purchase other items from the Gambia to
>take it to the sub-region to earn more CFA.  This has become a lucrative
>Sub-regional trade, which went on outside the banking system.  This is what
>has fueled the parallel market, which was at the centre of the movement of
>goods and currencies.
>It is this informal economy, which has been the backbone of the Gambian
>economy.  This is what the APRC regime is dismantling without giving any
>credible replacement.
>

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