Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 016/2007, 9-11 February,  2007

Editorial
WHO CHOSE THE SPEAKER, 
THE PRESIDENT OR THE NATIONAL  ASSEMBLY?

Separation Of Powers Is The Casualty 
If one were to ask The Gambian  people who selected the Speaker of the 
National Assembly many would indicate  that it is President Jammeh who did the 
selection as announced over GRTS.
The  actual constitutional position however is that, it is the National 
Assembly who  should elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
Once new deputies are elected  and the National Assembly convened for the 1st 
time, Section 93 Subsection (5)  of the constitution states that “No business 
shall be transacted in the National  Assembly other than the election of 
Speaker or Deputy Speaker when either of  those offices is vacant.” Hence when the 
newly elected members to the National  Assembly first met on Thursday 8th 
February 2007 their first task was to elect a  Speaker and Deputy Speaker and 
then take their oath.
The Chief Justice  appeared precisely to preside at the election of Speaker. 
This is confirmed by  Section 93 Subsection (2) of the constitution. It states 
that “the Chief Justice  shall preside at the election of a Speaker.”
The unfortunate thing about The  Gambia is that before the National Assembly 
members met to elect a Speaker the  announcement had already been made as to 
who the occupier of the seat would  be.
The members finally discovered that they were there just to endorse what  had 
been announced.
This is the dilemma of the National Assembly of The  Gambia. It has been 
systematically accused of being under the grip of the  Executive. Will it succeed 
in redeeming its image? The future will tell.  Notwithstanding this what it 
should be is clearly stipulated in the  Constitution. The preamble of the 
Constitution of the Republic states that “The  functions of the arms of the 
government have been clearly defined, their  independence amply secured with adequate 
checks and balances to ensure that they  work harmoniously together toward our 
common good.”
The Executive, the  National Assembly and the Judiciary are expected to 
function as separate  branches of the state. They should be independent of each 
other.
The Gambia  has a constituency system instead of a system based on 
proportional  representation. Since all members are representing constituencies the  
constitution created the possibility of nominating people to parliament so that  
a Speaker and Deputy Speaker could be elected form the ranks of the nominated  
members. The issue of nominating members to the National Assembly should 
infact  be a matter of National debate. It is a colonial legacy which was retained 
in  the First Republic and is still retained in the Second Republic. While, 
it  appears reasonable to have a Speaker and Deputy Speaker who are not 
representing  constituencies, how nominated members are to be selected to prevent 
them from  being partisan is of fundamental importance. In short, no executive 
should have  the power to control 5 members of parliament which is equivalent to 
the  representation of the whole of the Kanifing Administrative Area.
Those who  have retained this system of nominating members to parliament 
utilize it to  involve federation of trade unions, federation of youth 
organisations,  federation of women organisations, federation of employers organisations 
and  other heads of professional associations.
As we focus on the beginning of a  new term for the National Assembly, the 
Executive should realise that the  National Assembly is the oversight 
institution that should exercise scrutiny on  how the Nation is managed. A state without 
a legislature that is empowered to  criticize, scrutinize and restrain the 
executive to bar violation of the  Constitution, misappropriation of public 
funds and general misconduct is a  failed state.  

HALIFA INTERVIEWED
ON THE QUESTION OF  THE INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES,
THE UNOPPOSED SEATS AND THE RELEVANCE OF  NADD
Foroyaa: Can you explain what happened to many of the independent  candidates 
NADD aimed to support and why they did not simply stand as NADD  candidates?
Halifa: NADD had the strategic objective of facilitating an  elected majority 
of Non APRC members in the National Assembly. Initially, we had  the motive 
to form a tactical alliance between NADD, the other opposition  parties and 
independent candidates. However when this failed we decided to  employ our 
tactics unilaterally. We therefore put up candidates where NADD  committees meet and 
put up their choice. We gave support to independent  candidates where it 
appeared that they could win. We tried not to put up  candidates where they could 
spoil the chance of other opposition parties.  
Foroyaa: Why did you not condition the Independent Candidates to stand under  
a NADD platform?
Halifa: No person could stand as a NADD candidate without  being selected by 
a NADD constituency committee. Notwithstanding, we recognised  that in The 
Gambia some vote for parties irrespective of candidates or for  individuals 
irrespective of parties. Those individuals who could win without  being under the 
umbrella of a party stood as Independent Candidates.
Foroyaa:  You initially mentioned 13 Independent Candidates but many did not 
complete the  race. What happened?
Halifa: Three were late in submitting their nomination  papers, one fell 
short of the standards for qualification. Two were discouraged  by the APRC 
election machine to continue. Two reconsidered their position and  decided to 
support the opposition candidate in their constituencies. One  withdrew to increase 
the chances of another Independent Candidate.   
Foroyaa: Which Independent Candidates survived? 
Halifa: The Independent  Candidates for Jokadu, Niamina East, Serrekunda 
East, Kiang West. We also called  our supporters to give support to the 
independent candidates for Kombo South and  Niani.
Foroyaa: How do you assess the success of your tactics?
Halifa: It  worked very well. In Niamina East the candidate lost by 185 
votes. If UDP/NRP  supported him he would have won. In Jokadu, the 600 votes 
acquired by the UDP  Candidate if added to the votes of the Independent Candidate 
the later would  have won. The same goes for Kombo South. If the votes of the 
UDP Candidate were  added to that of the Independent Candidate he could have 
won. Hence it was only  in two constituencies that the independent candidate did 
not get their deposits,  that are in Serrekunda East and Kiang West.
Foroyaa: How many votes do you  need to get your deposit?
Halifa: One has to have 20% of the votes cast for  the elected candidate. 
Hence you can see that the elections  were keenly  contested
Foroyaa: How did NADD perform?
Halifa: Out of the five seats, we  won Wuli West. In Sandu the APRC election 
machine was so destabilised that the  Chief decided to break the windscreen of 
the vehicle of the NADD candidate. He  is currently considering whether to 
proceed with legal action or result to  administrative action to reprimand him. 
In Wuli East and Serrekunda Central, few  people felt that NADD could lose.
In short, in both constituencies people  voted with their mouths and euphoria 
and not with real tokens. It was only in  Central Baddibu that the result was 
not considerable.
Foroyaa: Why did you  put up a candidate?
Halifa: The candidate was asked to review the situation.  We in the executive 
felt that NADD did not have a reasonable base in Central  Baddibu. We 
anticipated that at best the candidate will stand as an independent  candidate. His 
committee wrote to suggest that he stand as a NADD candidate.  Personally, I 
was very uncomfortable and had imagined that once the UDP come up  with a 
candidate he would have withdrawn. I understand that what initially  motivated the 
candidate is the information that the APRC had rejected the  sitting MP who is 
from the same village. Anyway, we stuck up with the candidate  up to the end. 
He has also gained new lessons in the politics of voting in The  Gambia. 
Popularity does not easily transform into votes in The Gambia.  
Foroyaa: What about Serrekunda East?
Halifa: We received information that  in both Serrekunda East and Serrekunda 
West the sitting MPs were facing massive  opposition but that the electorate 
were also not willing to shift their support  to the UDP. Many people gave 
support by mouth to the independent candidate in  Serrekunda East. Here again 
words did not translate into deeds. There is voter  apathy everywhere. Something 
is needed to wake Gambians from their political  slumber.
Foroyaa: What is needed?
Halifa: This is what the NADD Executive  will soon take up to discuss. Other 
parties would have to do the same. This is a  period for serious reflection. 
Foroyaa: Some people have been asking why the  opposition did not put up 
candidates in Kantora and the other four unopposed  constituencies in Foni?
Halifa: NADD put up candidates in Wuli East, Wuli  West and Sandu in the URD. 
We decided to leave Kantora, Tumana, Basse and Jimara  to the UDP, NRP or 
Independent Candidates. We have a very strong activist by the  name of Ansu Saho 
in Kantora. He could have at least stood as an Independent  candidate. There 
was no consultation. We also did not get any application for  the 
constituencies in Foni. Anyway, this is the last time that any constituency  will ever go 
unopposed in the Gambia. 
Foroyaa: Is it because the opposition  considers Foni to be APRC territory 
because of tribe?
Halifa: Foni is  inhabited by all the tribes you find in the Gambia. The fact 
that an Independent  candidate could win in Foni confirms that no part of the 
Gambia is immune to  change once the right candidates are found.
Foroyaa: How do you see NADD’s  performance. Does it have a future in Gambian 
politics?
Halifa: We should  draw lessons from the past. Just compare the results of 
the NADD candidates  during the by elections in 2005 and that of the UDP, NRP 
and NADD candidates  during this National Assembly elections. This confirms that 
NADD was the  alternative.
In short, in Nianija there was a by election in 2005. The same  candidate who 
now stands for the NRP in 2007 stood for NADD in 2005. In the by  election, 
he had 1554 votes but as NRP in 2007 he had 693 votes.
In  2005 Hamat stood as NADD and had 2454 votes. However as an NRP candidate 
in 2007  he received 3298.
In 2005 Kemeseng stood as NADD candidate and received  3444 votes. He won the 
seat. In 2007 he stood as UDP candidate and received 2760  votes. He lost the 
seat. 
In 2005, I stood as a NADD candidate and got 5911  votes. In 2007 I stood as 
NADD candidate and had 4302 votes while UDP had 1548.  This confirms that the 
opposition had more to gain by remaining as NADD than  splitting.
Foroyaa: Now can you tell us what you expect of the opposition, in  the new 
National Assembly?
TO BE CONTINUED

UDP CANDIDATE  RELEASED
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
Alagie Fatty, the defeated UDP candidate for  Serrekunda Central Constituency 
in the recent legislative elections has been  released from police custody.
Speaking to Foroyaa on Thursday, Fatty said he  was released last week Friday 
after a three day detention at the Yundum Police  Station.
He also said that he was not charged and nothing happened to  him.

TREASON TRIAL DRAGS
By Bubacarr K.Sowe
The treason trial  involving Tamsir Jasseh, Alieu Jobe, Omar Faal Keita and 
Demba Dem could not  proceed on Wednesday at the High Court, as defence lawyers 
are out of  town.
The prosecution team, involving Mr. Umar and Mrs. Marie Saine Firdaus  
applied for an adjournment since their learned defence colleagues are in Basse,  
where the High Court is sitting this week. 
The prosecution told the trial  judge, Justice Avril Anin-Yeboah that they 
understand that one of the accused  persons Demba Dem was sick. Sergeant Colley, 
a Prison Warden told the court that  Dem is currently receiving medical 
attention at the Central Prison at Mile  Two.
Justice Yeboah adjourned the trial to the 14th of February. The four  accused 
persons are standing trial for their alleged role in the March 21  abortive 
coup plot. 

FATOUMATA JAHUMPA CEESAY
ELECTED  SPEAKER
The newly elected National Assembly Members, on Thursday 8th February  2007, 
elected Hon. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker of the National Assembly  and 
Abdoulie Bojang as Deputy Speaker. 
The Chief Justice, Abdoukarim Savage,  indicated to Deputies that his role is 
to preside over the election of Speaker  and Deputy Speaker and then called 
on Members of the Assembly to make  nominations. 
At this stage, Hon. Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Member for  Serrekunda East, 
proceeded to nominate Hon. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker.  The member for 
Wuli West Hon. Sidia Jatta indicated that according to the  standing orders, 
Section 2(3) “A member addressing himself or herself to the  Chief Justice shall 
propose a Nominated Member to the Assembly then present for  the position of 
Speaker or Deputy Speaker and move that (naming the nominated  member) do take 
the chair of the Assembly as Speaker or Deputy Speaker.” The  Chief Justice 
thanked Sidia for calling their attention to that. At this stage,  Hon. Adama 
Cham seconded the nomination of Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker.  There was 
no other nomination and therefore the Chief Justice declared Hon.  Fatoumata 
Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker. 
As for the office of Deputy Speaker,  Hon. Momodou Sellu Bah member for 
Basse, nominated Abdoulie Bojang as deputy  speaker, seconded by Hon. Abdoulie 
Kanaji Jawla. There was no other nominee,  therefore Hon. Abdoulie Bojang was 
declared Deputy Speaker. After the election  of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, all 
the forty-eight elected members and five  nominated members swore to be faithful 
and bear true allegiance to the Republic  of The Gambia as by law established 
and that they will execute the function of  members of the National Assembly 
without fear or favour, affection or ill-will  according to the constitution 
and other laws of The Gambia. 
After thanking  the president, the newly elected Speaker called on her 
colleagues from both  sides of the house to put partisan politics aside and work 
together to move The  Gambia forward. She pointed out that the new dispensation 
henceforth shall put  emphasis on noble values, challenges, opportunities and 
shortcomings of the  Honourable Assembly. “We are to put emphasis on taking 
stock of our own  shortcomings as representatives of the people,” she said. Hon. 
FJC indicated  that they will set, uphold, and cherish standards, ethics and 
privileges that  are equitable, responsive and responsible enough for 
themselves. She said their  in house codes of conduct and practice shall henceforth be 
second to none and  they will firmly put in place mechanisms to regulate the 
conduct of Hon. Members  in both their private and public capacities. FJC 
indicated that it is their  collective resolve and believe that they will only have 
the moral authority to  scrutinize and perform oversight role over public 
life, public service and  public officers if they themselves are to live by good  
examples. 

HOME IS WHERE THE MUSIC IS
This is a  continuation of Ousman Sillah’s interview with the renowned 
Gambian  International Music Promoter, Momodou Oko Drammeh. As Oko reminisces the 
past  glory days of music in The Gambia, he was asked about how to revive 
Gambian  music to become a force to be reckoned with. 
We hope readers are enjoying  Oko’s account of “those days” which is so 
interesting and can have the effect of  nostalgia in some of those who witnessed 
the period.
We stopped at where Oko  Drammeh was saying that the Radio and Television 
have the responsibility to set  the tone for our collective national efforts and 
endeavours to revive Gambian  music.
Foroyaa: How can the Radio and Television set the tone? What do you  mean?
Oko Drammeh: The Radio and Television have to set the stage for the  exposure 
of the talents, both educated and non-educated. With TV, the education  of 
music and its familiarity and presentation of news flash items will integrate  
our artists in the economic and cultural prosperity. Through TV programmes,  
musical education for schools can be presented and contest, called ‘Talent  
Search’ could also be encouraged.
TV should also encourage senior talents to  take part in programmes whereby 
the nation will be involved in the voting and  selection of the stars of 
tomorrow.
The music that the Gambians listen to  nowadays is coming from only one 
country which is the United States. That music  talks about American life and 
culture and it goes along with violence, extreme  abusive conditions and the 
manifestation of jail life in both image and outfit.  This stereotype does not match 
the Gambian character of art and music. You see  every society has a 
character and it is this character that defines your music  and art. As Haile Selassie 
put it: “A people without culture is like a tree  without roots”. And you 
know a tree without roots cannot bear fruits.
This is  exactly what I mean by imitation music.
In American Rap music there is not  much cultural expression and depth of 
history and empires, as well as, holy  sites and sacred grounds. And yet they 
want to conduct the spiritual anthem of  the planet.
The fact that we consume too much of American news from CNN, MTV,  VOA etc, 
does not necessarily mean that we have to change our music and our  culture to 
replace them with theirs.
Foroyaa: How can you fit in the Super  Eagles in this wider cultural realm 
and amidst these external cultural  influences?
Oko Drammeh: the Super Eagles have been there before and that’s  how they 
decided to call themselves the ‘Ifang Bond; meaning in Mandinka ‘Bring  out your 
true self. The concern was to showcase or project our true cultural  identity.
The art of poetry writing and music making is an interesting  subject and 
hobby that have transformed into art form music. Many Rap artists  have carved 
out a lifestyle that is either backed by the record companies and  fashion 
houses. It is the fashion icons who will endorse these artists and  create these 
rap stars as daily items of consumption.
The way you cannot deny  the existence of Coca cola is the same way you 
cannot deny the existence of Rap  music. Rap artist are identified, coached and 
projected within a framework of  money that guarantee immediate success which is 
manipulated through  Television.
This is what makes success an illusion.
Oko Drammeh: The  question I was talking about is whether the music can be 
revived to spark in the  society. I said that this is not possible unless this 
generation continues for  at least ten or fifteen years. Because when Youssou 
Ndour started, the songs he  used to sing like: “woy na la” or I sing about 
you is different from what he  says about Nelson Mandela because he has a 
succession and had developed layers  and layers of experience. He knows how to use 
the words, he knows how to be  political, how to be diplomatic, and how to 
reach a diverse and wide spectrum of  society with ease and discipline. So these 
are all that made his success  formidable. He’s not just a voice, but through 
experience he can maneuver his  way through the child, the woman, the man, the 
marabout, the bishop, etc. We do  not have the foundation anymore for this.
It was only Super Eagles,  like I told you, when they used to travel abroad 
or would return from these  trips when you see everybody standing in the 
streets welcoming or bidding them  farewell. That was the time when they were 
singing “Ya Marie tagu negn la ah nyu  nga wori rew” a farewell song. Every Gambian 
was involved and when they returned  from England the whole town was out to 
either cheer up or be part of the,  somewhat, caravan like procession. My own 
late mother could not even understand  why I had to take my new dress and paint 
“Welcome Super Eagles Band” on it.  Every child, every young woman was out 
even if they don’t understand the music  that these great guys were playing.
So you wanna tell me: can we bring this  back again? Of course I can help 
bring this back again. I have the formula. I  have been coached by the people who 
had this success. They taught me what they  did; they taught me how they did 
it. Sadly, many of them died, but I am still  left with some few people whom 
together we can do the trick! Badou Jobe, Seneme  Taylor, Abdel Kabirr-Lie 
Ngrm, Musa Ngum, Bai Janha, Ousu Njie Senor, some,  members of “ Maga Dan Band” 
are all here. These are professional musicians who  can teach, who can bring 
back the glory in the music and take Gambian music to  again ascend and reach 
the stage of international acclaim.
But remember 1981  was the big turning point. 
Music was abandoned in The Gambia. Like I told  you, when the coup d’etat 
occurred, youths were out in the streets jumping which  made the authorities of 
the day to think that they were behind it. They arrested  people like Pa Touray 
because he used to sing songs like “Prices are rising”.  Infact, before this 
event, the Ifang Bondi used to sing songs that made the  government very edgy 
and which led to the withdrawal of the land they gave them  to build a 
recording studio at Tobacco road in Banjul.
The government started  to break up with the band which was not loyal to it.
They were singing  radical songs, freedom and Pan –Africanist songs, songs 
like ‘Change the System’  which, although, came very lately.
They were in conflict with the police very  often, because they say their 
attitude is this and that, that they smoke  explicit substances, and stuff like 
that. They would be arrested here and there  that would evoke public outcry. 
Hence 1981 marked the crackdown. They stopped  the music and even the football. 
The bars, discos and night clubs were all  closed. My disco at ‘Tropical’ 
called the ‘Japala’ was even damaged by the  police and I was locked in jail ha 
ha ha——I was locked in jail with Nyang’a  Sallah, a famous footballer, who 
was with me the night before playing DJ at my  discoteque. Unfortunately, he 
died in jail together with many of my friends. I  was even announced dead but 
fortunately, I survived. But when I came out from  jail I saw that everybody 
scattered, but we did not call it running away. We  made a retreat. Guelewarr went 
to Ivory Coast with Bai Janha there and they took  Albert along.
Ifang Bondi didn’t have much money then so only four of them  could escape at 
one time. They came to Holland with me and I continued my  management. 
Very sincerely and humbly they started to direct me again, their  Manager, by 
telling me: ‘Oko do this, Oko do that!’ so they directed me to do a  
festival like the ‘Hawarehs’ or Evening Jams that I used to organise back in The  
Gambia at the Tropical Night Club. They told me to bring back the ‘Hawareh’  
again. So I brought back the ‘Hawareh’ but this time round it was on an  
international level. I brought Manu Dibango, the biggest African star. Later  Alpha 
Blondy, Lucky Dube, Mory Kanteh, all these stars are my friends, and have  all 
been part of these festivals.
I am the only African in the music world  who organises professional African 
music festivals and I can organise them cheap  with quality and extensive 
media coverage.
I was the first one who invited  Youssou Ndour to perform in the paradis 
which is the biggest concert hall in  Holland. 
Paradis is where Leg Zaplia and the Rolling Stones play when to  come to 
Amsterdam. I took Youssou Ndour there, wow! From there he went to  England where 
he got connected straight with Peter Gabriel. This is all my  connection. 
Now during the rebellion, Pa Touray and myself were locked up in  jail and 
this made him so distraught as he felt humiliated. We were charged with  treason 
but later pardoned by former president Jawara and were released the same  day.
After the release, I realised that I have to use Ifang Bondi as my job  
because I almost lost my life in it and I believed what they stood for. They  were 
almost the newspaper of the ghetto. They were loved by people who have no  
jobs, loved by all ethnic groups because they played in every major town and had  
songs in all the major languages in the country.
Infact, Banjul was difficult  for them as they lost their land and houses. We 
all moved out of  Banjul  except Paps Touray.
People may recall the ‘Kaylebase Kunda’, the  ‘Nyepeto Kunda,’ in Bakau.
In those glory days, the Ifang Bondi used to fill  stadiums in Senegal. At 
one time we played for the ‘Armee’ National du Senegal’  or Senegalese National 
Army. They came to collect us with a Bus from Barra and  escorted to Dakar. 
Interestingly, the Army colonel came and say: I want to know  the members of 
the band who smoke weed! we didn’t know that he had something for  us because he 
told us nothing. We thought that he wanted to trap us. So we told  him ‘we 
never heard this word’, we told him ‘we are all Muslims’. Ha ha ha.. I  saw 
Paps Touray with his heavy voice” No, we don’t know that’, You know his  voice. 
Then the officer told us that I am just telling you this because we’ve  
brought something for you so that you’ll not be going around town looking for  it”. 
He said “then I’m sitting in front of the bus, now if you need it let me  
know’ (laughter)We were sitting on the bus  to Dakar but I know they’ll ask  
him, they are brave. We were sitting, we were sitting going to Dakar and as soon 
 as we got near to Dakar, Pa Njie Base intervened and perfected the story. He 
 said “Commissaire, I do smoke that but only when I mixed it with  cigarette”
.  The officer understood but kept silent.
Later Paps, you  know he was dignified, chipped in and said, “yeah, with 
cigarettes, with  cigarettes”. (laughter).
Our Success was held at bay by the 1981 events as Pa  Njie ‘bass’ was gunned 
down and few years later Ali Warb ‘Alberr’ was  dead.
But with all these setbacks, the individual successes they achieved  were so 
high that one of them Malang Gassama, the drummer, was in Hollywood.  Malando 
did not only play with ABBA but with Rolling Stones and Aljaru, as well.  He 
was more known with the famous Jazz Artist, Aljaru.
Paps Touray’s  compositions with the Sotokoto Band were also widely 
acclaimed. Sotokoto hires  the top musicians in Hollywood because its partners are rich 
people and are  always there to support because they love Gambian music. 
We are even  planning something for the next year.
I’ve just stopped recording for the  moment because I am busy with other 
things. I just stopped doing the heavy  things to be successful. Now I’m tired of 
seeing success.
I’m more relaxed  now and down to earth and trying to experience the details 
which were missed  when one is growing fast.
I said there is no place in the world than where  one was born.
Foroyaa: Do you know how the Super Eagles  learned playing  this imitation 
music?
Oko Drammeh: Super Eagles was formed playing musical  skills and chords like 
the European Pop artists. You remember Gambia was a  British colony and the 
Ocean going vessel called Apapa used to come from London  to the West African 
colony ports of Bathurst, Freetown, Accra Lagos and back. So  this made The 
Gambia as the first and last Port of call and we got all these  music from the 
seamen. We also used to get the magazines called the ‘Fabulous  208’ or the’ Fab,
’ the books of the Beatles and also a group called the Monkeys.  We would 
study and copy the songs and sell them to other people to make  money.
The knowledge of music education was here. The Banjul of those days  was well 
organised. The tailors were thriving as the Super Eagles and their fans  were 
always coming up new dress styles and outfits that match the times. Men  
treat there women partners with respect and dignity. There was real social  
harmony and cohesion.
Follow us in our next Foroyaa issue for the last part  of the interview.

POLITICS
INTERVIEW WITH SUWAIBOU TOURAY ON  NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN WULI EAST
By Musa Barrow
The Candidate of  the National Alliance for democracy and Development (NADD) 
in Wuli East in the  just concluded National Assembly Elections, Mr. Suwaibou 
Touray has attributed  his defeat to what he called ethnic sentiments 
orchestrated by his opponents  during their campaign and not based on genuine national 
or local issues.
Mr.  Touray said he has polled far more votes than the APRC in all other 
areas but  when it comes to Baja Kunda, he had noticed that all those who are 
opposed to  the APRC did not vote at all and those who did voted for his opponent 
Bekai  Camara who is himself a Serahule by ethnicity.
Speaking to Foroyaa in an  exclusive interview Mr. Touray pointed out that 
the central element in this  ethnic message was the appeal for Serahules to 
either vote for a person from own  ethnic group or abstain rather than vote for 
someone who is not one of  them.
Touray further added that although NADD had approached the Serahule  
communities and presented its programmes before them, that could not prevent  them 
from voting the way they did. He cited an example by saying that in the  largest 
Serahule village, Bajakunda, out of over 2600 registered votes NADD  managed 
to score only 28 votes. Touray said Serahules who were opposition  sympathisers 
told him they were threatened and warned to abstain from voting to  avoid 
being ostracized in the Serahule community.
This he opined, clearly  reflected in Baja Kunda where out of over 2600 
registered voters only a little  over 1200 actually took part in the voting 
exercise. Touray went further to  state that apart from the propagation of ethnic 
sentiments, intimidation and  harassment were also employed during the campaign. 
He noted that the APRC’s  campaign team threatened his supporters of arrest 
and the dismantting of public  structures such as schools and boreholes during 
their rallies if they should  lose the election. He also said that the APRC 
went on threatening the people of  Sutukoba that they would block the 
philanthropists who are helping them with  their rice field project if they do not vote 
for them.
He also indicated that  several Secretaries of State, notable among them SoS 
Edward Singhateh ,were on  the campaign trail telling people that development 
will not come if they should  vote for him(Touray) because government cannot 
work with the opposition.  
Touray also noted that the Chief embarked on a clandestine campaign  
characterised by threats, mainly directed at the Fula community that their herds  
would physically be counted one by one which would increase their annual cattle  
rates that they pay to the Area Council. This has an impact because it has been 
 raised by the people on several occasions during the campaign.
When it was  put to Mr. Touray what methods his party utilised to counter 
this intimidation  and threat based campaign employed by his opponents, Touray 
said his party,  being an organisation that sensitise the people, continued to 
enlighten the  electorate on their rights and responsibilities. This he said 
has been their  tactic against disinformation. Asked what he had to offer the 
electorate of Wuli  East, if he was elected; Suwaibou Touray said he had made it 
extremely clear  that if he was given the mandate, he would have created a 
constituency fund for  the people of Wuli East geared towards aiding development 
in the area. This  proposed fund, he said, would have come from his salary as 
he promised to give  out three thousand dalasis every month.
However, Mr. Touray stressed that the  setting up of this fund would have 
been utilized to help communities and could  have enabled them to attract 
contributions even from NGOs to acquire e.g.,  Milling Machines, etc or to help the 
youth with sporting materials or any other  development related undertaking. 
Asked about what he thinks would rid the  electorate of the ethnic sentiments in 
politics Mr. Touray said this is not an  easy task; that what is required is 
to undertake extensive civic education that  will fully sensitise the people 
on the issues of sovereignty which helps them to  make informed choice for 
competent, dedicated and committed representatives.  Finally, he said ‘as long as 
opportunist politicians continue to miseducate the  masses, the process of 
liberating the people to own themselves will have to be a  protracted one’.

GAMTEL’S RECENT POOR SERVICE DELIVERY:
By Bijou  Peters
The article captioned’ Share up at GAMTEL, GAMCEL’ in the Daily  Observer of 
Tuesday 9th January was appropriate and timely. A share up was  necessary 
indeed because in the past few months since GAMTEL announced a change  in their 
telecommunications system, the consumer has been greatly inconvenienced  and 
dissatisfied by the poor service meted out to them.
The article reported  a complete change of the senior members of staff of the 
corporation. The  termination of the services of so many staff members is an 
indication that these  employees were not performing their work efficiently or 
conscientiously. This  unsavory situation has created disappointment and 
despondency for the consumer,  especially, as GAMTEL used to be one of the leading 
telecommunications companies  in the country and within the sub-region and 
had been acclaimed the best  telecommunications center in West Africa. We recall 
that the managerial sector  has changed frequently in recent months and new 
managers appointed, a situation  which does not auqur satisfactorily for 
progress or meaningful development for  the company. What is more, the public is 
informed of some major financial  mismanagement within the company which has 
caused GAMTEL the loss of a great  deal of money to the tune of millions of 
dollars and Euros. These discrepancies  are inexcusable and unacceptabl., They have 
resulted in all their recent  dismissals of officers involved in these 
demeaning practise dealing with the  finances of GAMTEL.
In the past months the public has endured a number of  shortcomings in GAMTEL’
s general performance which has affected most telephones  and caused the 
public a great deal of difficulties and inconveniences resulting  in numerous 
complaints from the consumer. These shortcomings include the  following:
1. GAMTEL’s billing system has gone haywire and is chaotic, Bills  are not 
distributed monthly or regularly as they should, they are accumulated  for 
reasons unknown and then huge bills are distributed which many people are  unable 
to pay and they risk disconnection of their  telephones.
2.         Telephones are  adversely affected recently, causing the public no 
end of problems. Many people  complain that they cannot make local calls 
easily. Telephone conversations have  often been interrupted, both locally and 
internationally. The latter being  disconcerting and infuriating, particularly 
when one is speaking to a loved one  or a business partner  overseas.
3.         Overseas callers  are known to be unable to get through to the 
Gambia and some have reported that  several attempts have to be made before a 
call to the Gambia can come through,  or the caller has had to give up calling in 
 disgust.
4.         The lines to  Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the U.K and U.S are 
generally bad and it is  difficult or almost impossible to hear each others 
voice at the other end of the  telephone line. Most people have experienced these 
shortcomings enumerated from  time to time and we wonder whether GAMTEL is 
aware of all these discrepancies  being endured by the consumer?
The public is completely disenchanted by these  inadequacies of GAMTEL. As 
for the billing system it has become chaotic. Urgent  measures must be taken to 
deal with these grave problems of telecommunications  molesting the consumer 
at the present time.

ARMED ROBBERS HIT  BRIKAMA
By Modou Jonga
Reports have it that six men armed with machetes,  on Sunday 4th February, 
2007 attacked and broke into shops located around the  main Brikama Garage. 
According to sources, the six armed men came late in the  night on the said date. 
It added that a watchman in the affected area fought  with the armed robbers 
but he was subsequently overpowered. 
According to a  victim of the armed robbery, one Muktarr Faal, a Mauritanian 
National, the armed  robbers went away with cash amounting to D3,600 (Three 
Thousand Six hundred),  four hundred CFA Franc and twenty rolls of cloth.
“I was surprised to found  the door of my shop broken in the morning with the 
watchman waiting,” lamented  the Mauritanian businessman. He explained that 
before the arrival of the Police  Intervention Unit to the scene, the robbers 
had disappeared.
In a  related incident earlier in January, another Mauritanian businessman 
Seedy  Muhammed reported that the robbers made away with a cheque amounting to 
one  thousand dalasi, ten thousand dalasi worth of commodities and a cell  
phone.
The Mauritanian businessman expressed shock over such criminal acts  and 
noted his fear for the spread of armed robbery in the country. According to  the 
same businessman, another group of armed robbers also earlier on, in  January, 
broke and entered into another one of their shops close to the Brikama  Police 
Station.
However, when contacted to shed light on the purported armed  robbery, the 
officer commanding the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at  Western 
Region, Mr. Biran Salieu Jobe, directed this reporter to contact the  police PRO. 
Meanwhile, an insider at the Brikama police station (name withheld)  said 
investigation into the said armed robbery is at an advanced stage and  stated that 
the robbers have made away with commodities, valuables and  monies.
 

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