Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 39/07, 4th – 5th April 2007
Editorial
ALERT! ALERT!! ALERT!!!
A SOCIAL TIME BOMB
(CRISIS OF THE STATELESS IN THE GAMBIA)
The problem is being ignored as a non issue. However, it is the key to Gambia
’s future stability. We ignore it at our own peril.
The problem became very glaring some years ago when the parents of a
prominent Gambian journalist were subjected to investigation regarding their
citizenship status. We will not mention who this journalist is but we are almost
convinced that this may be the very reason why he chose to operate from abroad.
The problem knocked the doors of minds again some days ago when a school boy
stood crying as his parents were being arrested because of failure to
acquire alien ID cards. The boy called on the Immigration personnel to look at his
uniform and pleaded “Yes, my parents came from Guinea but I was born here, I
am a Gambian and they should not be arrested. Little did the young man know
that he is now a stateless person and that if the law on citizenship was not
selectively applied, he himself may have been arrested and asked to acquire an
alien I.D Card. It also means that there are many people today in all works
of life with families and homes who could equally be arrested and asked to
acquire alien I.D Cards.
Why is this the case? The answer is simple. The present laws on citizenship
has excluded tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people who
currently see themselves as Gambians.
Foroyaa would want each reader to subject him/herself to the following test
by answering the following questions:
Those Born Before 18 February 1965
If you were born before 18 February 1965 you should answer the following
questions to know whether you are a citizen or not
1. Were you born in The Gambia
2. Was any of your parents born in The Gambia?
3. Was any of your grandparents born in The Gambia
4. Was any of your parents naturalized in The Gambia to be a British
subject before independence?
5. Did you fill an application form to be registered as a Gambian before
18 February 1967, if you were born in The Gambia of parents and grand parents
who were not born in The Gambia?
6. If you were born outside The Gambia, was your father a citizen of The
Gambia?
7. If you were named to a Gambian citizen, did you apply for registration
to be a Gambian citizen? If your answers to the first and six questions are
in the negative, then you are not considered a citizen of The Gambia. In
short, if you were born outside of The Gambia before 1965 and your father was not
a Gambian citizen, then you are not considered a citizen of The Gambia.
Secondly if your answer to the first question is in the positive but all the
answers to the other question stand as “No” then you are still not a
citizen of The Gambia. If your answers to all the other questions are no, then you
are not a citizen of The Gambia. This is the first point. Let us go to the
second point which concerns those born after 18th February 1965.
Question To Be Answered by Those Born After 18th February 1965
1. Were you born in Gambia after 17th February 1965?
2. Was any of your parents a citizen of The Gambia?
3. If married to a Gambian citizen have you applied for citizenship?
4. Did you naturalize to be a citizen?
5. If born outside of the country is your father a citizen of The Gambia?
If your answers to the first and the fifth questions are in the negative
then you are not a Gambian citizen. Secondly, even if you were born in the
Gambia but none of your parents is a citizen of The Gambia, one is not considered
a citizen. It is good to point out that while the law on citizenship requires
one of the parents of the person to be born in The Gambia or to naturalize
if the person was born before 1955, the same law requires one of the parents
of the person to be a citizen of the Gambia before he/she can acquire
citizenship if he/she was born after 17th February 1965. This means that one can have
a parent who was born in The Gambia before 1965 whose parents were not born
in The Gambia. In that regard both child and parent would not be considered
citizens of The Gambia.
Now may we ask: How many Gambians are now citizens if the law on citizenship
is strictly applied?
This issue therefore needs urgent treatment if we are to avoid the type of
problems which had occurred in Cote d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast.
First and foremost, the country needs to put in place an effective system of
Nation wide registration of births as of 2008.
Secondly, indemnities need to be given to all those people who have had
children and homes in The Gambia before July 1994 and who have acquired their
documents illegally to make honest declaration’s and apply for naturalization
which should not be denied if adequate evidence is given on residence and
compliance with local government and other tax obligations.
Those who entered The Gambia after 1994 be required to maintain receipts of
payment of residential permits which can be backdated to the day of entry if
sufficient evidence is shown to back claims. Naturalization could be
considered if 15 years of lawful residence may be proven as currently required by the
constitution. In our view, this is the way to address the question of
statelessness and the trauma it is causing to many.
JOURNALIST FATOU JAW MANNEH
CHARGED WITH SEDITION
By Fabakary B. Ceesay
Fatou Jaw Manneh, a Gambian practising journalism in the US, appeared before
Magistrate Pa Harry Jammeh yesterday. She did not take a plea, when the
first charge was read to her. She told the court that she could not take her plea
without her lawyer being present in the court. She also told the court that
she had been detained at the NIA for six days. Magistrate Jammeh told her
that he cannot grant her bail due to the fact that her lawyer was absent. “If
your lawyer is here, you will be granted bail.” She also asked the court to
allow her to contact her lawyer, which was granted. But the lawyer Lamin S.
Jobarteh came when the court had already risen. He went to the chambers to
announced his arrival. The case is to be heard today Wednesday at midday. Fatou Jaw
Manneh is standing trial for allegedly acting with seditious intention,
contrary to section 52 subsection (1) of the Criminal Code. According to the
particulars of the offence, Fatou Jaw Manneh is charged with granting an
interview to a newspaper indicating that Jammeh is stupid and is a betrayer. The
purported interview noted that it was time to speak out against this tendency of
President Jammeh. It also noted that Gambia is desperately in need of change
and supported the replacement of President Jammeh.
It could be recalled that Fatou Jaw Manneh was arrested at the airport upon
her arrival from USA on Wednesday 25 March 2007.
For the benefit of the reader, the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2005
spells out the penalty created by section 52(1) of the Criminal Code. It indicates
that any person guilty of the offence is “liable to a fine of not less than
fifty thousand dalasis and not more than two hundred and fifty thousand
dalasis or imprisonment for a term not less than one year, or to both such fine
and imprisonment…”
On Monday, media personnel visited the NIA to enquire about Fatou Jaw
Manneh. They were GPU President, Madi Ceesay, Swaebou Conateh of News and Report,
Pap Saine of The Point, Sam Obi of Daily Express and Sam Sarr of Foroyaa. The
media personnel were assured by the NIA Spokespersons that there would be no
delay in either charging Fatou Jaw Manneh and taking her to court or
releasing her.
“MAIMUNA TAAL WAS PROFESSIONAL,”
Says Witness
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
A prosecution witness, Hassan Jallow, ex-Director of Finance at The Gambia
Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) on Monday testified in the economic crimes
trial of Maimuna Taal, ex-Director General of GCAA, saying, during
cross-examination, that she was professional and did her work well.
Jallow told the court that procurement of goods or services at GCAA is done
according to The Gambia Public Procurement Authority (GPPA) guidelines. He
said when the supply or contract exceeds one million dalasi GPPA’s approval
must be sought. He added that responsibility to execute the procurement lies
within the whole authority.
Jallow said that there are various departments at the GCAA, among which is
his own department of finance. He admitted being directly responsible of
financial matters at the GCAA. He agreed with the defence counsel that sound
financial practice is what is required. Jallow also said that the Civil Aviation
was more profitable under Taal’s tenure, adding, “though it has always been
profitable”.
The former Finance Director acknowledged that they achieved a performance
indicator of 0.9% in the same period, which was three times more than what
Government expected – 0.3%.
During re-examination by the prosecutor, Marie Saine-Firdaus, on Tuesday,
Jallow told the court that the Chairman of the Contract Committee at the GCAA
is directly answerable to the Director General, who is also a member of the
Contract Committee.
The accused person is being represented in court by Antouman Gaye and Co.
FORMER GAMTEL MANAGING DIRECTOR IN COURT
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
Omar Ndow, Former Managing Director of Gamtel, was, on Tuesday April 3,
taken to court by the state.
It is not clear what Mr. Ndow has been charged with but he is expected to
re-appear in the High Court to take a plea.
Mr. Ndow told the court that he had not been in touch with his lawyer,
Sheriff Tambedou, due to his detention at the State Central Prison at Mile 2.
He applied for bail which was eventually granted by Justice S.M Monageng.
The prosecutor, Marie Saine-Firdaus, did not object to the accused person’s
application. The bail bond was in the sum of five million dalasi, and his
surety must be a Gambian national or resident of The Gambia who must own landed
property.
IN THE TRIAL OF PA SALLAH JENG
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
Marie Dalliah, Councilor for Soldier Town ward in Banjul, on Monday,
finished her testimony in the ongoing economic crimes trial of Mr. Pa Sallah Jeng,
Mayor of Banjul.
Under cross examination with defence counsel, Lamin S. Camara, Dalliah said
there is no contract committee at Banjul City Council (BCC). She said that
they are also having other committees such as finance and establishment and
collection of refuse committees.
Dalliah said that they, the councillors, wrote the petition to impeach Mr.
Jeng which most of the councillors signed and handed to the deputy mayor who
forwarded it to the Department of State for Lands..
She later on went on to say that councillors, such as Seringe Babou Nyang,
Ramatoulie Batchilly, and Mbye Bobb did not sign the petition. She argued that
councillors Nyang and Batchilly are nominated members and as such do not
have voting rights, and that councillor Bobb, who is elected, was not
functional. She added that she is testifying on behalf of all councillors, but later
admitted that she is in court to say just what she personally knows.
In a re-examination with the prosecution, Marie Saine-Firdaus, Dalliah said
all those who signed the petition were those councillors present at a
meeting.
LETTER TO NADD EXECUTIVE BY EX-FLAG BEARER, HALIFA SALLAH
The campaign was conducted at three fronts, that is, the media, the rallies
and the community.
Focusing on the APRC campaign platform, I must say that it played host to
many interesting tendencies. The first tendency which has been given prominence
in the victory celebrations of the APRC in the KMC area, is the role played
by SOS Nenneh Macdouall Gaye. I need to explain very clearly what is
responsible for the results of the elections. Hence, the role the Secretary of State
played in Serrekunda Central should be put in its proper perspective, since
the APRC deemed it to be decisive. I am fully convinced that her presence is
not what is responsible for the results just as Aziz Tamba’s presence was not
responsible for the transfer of the seats to the APRC in the bye election of
2005. If the presence of Aziz Tamba was the key factor in the transfer of the
seat then the APRC would not have held on to the Saloum seat in the 2007
National Assembly elections. Hence there is more to the capacity to influence
events than mere personality traits. Political science teaches that influence
is derived from the marriage between interest and power. In politics the
closer one is to the centre of power the greater the potential to serve one’s
interest.
At this very moment, President Jammeh is the centre of power. Many Gambians
who have not attained a high degree of self reliance, self actualization or
mental liberation still revere and worship power. They still want close
proximity to power. Hence those who want to get closer to power to serve a
particular interest perceive that a particular person can be their conduit, they
would allow such a person to have great influence over them. In short, Aziz Tamba
was once feared by heads of departments, security forces and even
Secretaries of State because of his perceived proximity to the Head of State. With such
perceived proximity to power one can become a unifying factor of different
interest groups. In Serrekunda Central, the influence of the SoS began to
creep during the registration exercise when some APRC supporters decided to
protest when the IEC stopped registration because of the shortage of registration
materials. Interestingly enough a government which has a zero tolerance for
protests had its T.V cameras on these protestors condemning the IEC Chairman.
The SoS had to appear many times at the registration centres to assure the
women leaders of the APRC that their people will be registered. It was
therefore no surprise that when Ndondi Njie was removed, the women leaders at the
polling stations jubilated.
The influence increased as more women groups held the SoS as the mother of
their societies. The route is known to us all. We can count the number of
people that had paved their own way. What all those who pass through this route
should to do is to know that they posses no power of their own; that they are
mere transmission belts of the interests of youth groups, women groups,
religious groups and other social groups to the centre of power for recharging.
One must never believe that one is indispensable in that you are the maker of
the power. At least, Aziz Tamba, among others, would not entertain such a
notion at this moment. Now, let’s move back to the question: what role did the
SoS play in Serrekunda Central? The answer is simple.
Being perceived to be a person who can help all interest groups to get close
to the citadel of power, those who believed that their interest could be
served fell under her influence. Hence, those who wanted sponsorship for their
football tournaments, aspirants of the seat who were not selected by the APRC
selection team, the women leaders who were opposed to the candidate could all
be drawn together by the hope that one influential person could get them
close to the centre of power and have their interest served.
Suffice it to say, as hopes are dashed such influences become as light as
feather. This is the verdict of political science and it is irrevocable.
Infact, after the presidential elections the women near the People’s Centre who
used to draw water from our tap stopped to do so, claiming that another outlet
for water had been provided by the APRC.
It did not take long for them to be asked to pay 2 dalasi per container.
However because of the National Assembly elections they did not push the agenda
of payment vigorously. Immediately after the National Assembly elections they
have been asked to pay 80 dalasis each or have the tap closed. They failed
to pay and the tap was closed. I would like to inform the current National
Assembly Member that I used to give community services of different sorts not
because of vain generosity but because of my realization that I was being paid
tax payers’ money and my conscience could not permit me to live in luxury on
national assembly income while neighbourly needs were there to be satisfied.
I hope the SoS whose family home is a stone throw from the People’s Centre
will open the doors for the women to get water or influence the KMC to open a
tap for those close to the centre. This will restore their crumbling hopes and
make them forget that I was ever their National Assembly Member, otherwise
the lean initiative of their campaign team after the curtains of the drama of
the elections have been closed would enable my campaign team to draw renewed
vigour from my record and help this force that you deem to have vanquished
to rise again and become more gigantic than it had ever been before. The price
of complacency after victory is eternal demise. This is the verdict of
historical experience and it is incontrovertible.
Allow me to move to the second tendency which characterized the APRC
campaign team. The second tendency constitutes the role of the once acknowledged
leaders of the National and parliamentary opposition during the first Republic.
Having been pushed aside to pass out of existence both inside and outside the
National Assembly, the NCP stalwarts, like Mr. Gibou Jagne, have been trying
to lay a bridge between the annihilation of their party and its existence by
succumbing to the whims and caprices of the APRC campaign team, during
rallies they gave the impression that they were faithful members of an alliance
which would leave nothing undone in taking the seat back from the Halifa Sallah.
In private, the members of the NCP would give the impression to their
members that Sainey Jaiteh was an NCP candidate; that voting for him would restore
NCP to its past glory. In short, they will give the impression that the
alliance is just a survival tactic.
Needles to say, when they are with the party stalwarts, they would indicate
that the party leader had given word that all those loyal to him should
support the APRC candidates.
The irony of the NCP strategy is that the APRC keeps on swallowing their
members and the seats keep on going to the APRC to the point that now the NCP
has no political personality of its own inside or outside of the National
Assembly.
Since the 2001 presidential election, it has not contested any seats. This
type of survival tactic is indeed a very strange one. It is actuating
opposition. The APRC owes a lot to these people and should give them their share of
the cake. At least no one would then say that they have presided over the
death of their party in vain. Seldom does a major opposition party disappear from
the political scene like chaff in the wind without at least a trace of its
attempt to struggle for a space under the sun. The tendency is exhibited by
those who had initiated projects to be financed by schemes established by Baba
Jobe, but could not succeed. An example could be found in the case of one of
the ladies who was prominent on T.V during the campaign. I will not mention
her name but will explain our encounter so that the APRC will give them the
assistance they deserve. In short, in the early part of 2005, I examined the
project proposals submitted by this particular woman at the People’s Centre. It
was a very viable one. She appears to be a hardworking woman with ideas. I
promised to incorporate the project so that it can be run on a partnership
basis to enable the centre to benefit and generate employment for some women.
To expand the support base of the centre, her son enrolled in the computer
class to develop his skills and he received periodic counselling on career
options. Unfortunately, our seats were declared vacant and we had to go through
an expensive by election. This was followed by arrests and preparation for
presidential and National Assembly elections.
I recognized that the financial omnipotence of the APRC makes it the last
port of call for all those whose material interests have been imperiled. I,
therefore, fully understand the source of the criticism of many of those who
appeared on the APRC platforms, especially those Chairwomen, village development
committee activists, councillors, green boys and girls who benefited from
our services.
The fourth tendency deals with the group of elders led by the Alkalo of
Serrekunda. I am still trying to understand the open declaration by the Alkali or
village head at registration centres, group meetings and public gatherings
that they will work tooth and nail to unseat me. Interestingly enough, the
battle started with the avalanche of attestation forms which he issued to his
brother, in particular, and the women leaders, in general, to help them in
their mobilization exercise to help register voters. It became evident that the
attestation forms were being issued selectively by the brother whose table had
to be moved many times so that he would not appear to be part of the
registration team. Of course, the presence of the Alkali and his brother in the
campaign team of the APRC again raised questions regarding our system of
determination of citizenship and residence. How relevant is this system of relying on
a village head or a National Assembly member etc, to validate application
for ID cards and other documents. How impartial are such people who stand on
election platforms to denounce candidates of opposition parties. These are
questions of vital importance in raising the issue of electoral reform. Now let
me proceed to the campaign issues.
The campaign issues raised by the APRC campaign team were informed in
content.
They maintained that governmental authority in the hands of the president
should be backed by an APRC parliamentary majority. Let me mention in passing
that The Gambian National Assembly elections did follow the heels of the US
congressional elections which has confirmed to the whole world that the
Executive can be made to govern more prudently if it is twinned with an assembly or
congress that is capable of scrutinizing, criticizing and restraining the
exercise of executive authority.
On APRC platform, they were trumpeting the slogan that “No development for a
constituency without an APRC assembly member. They claimed that Serrekunda
Central lacked development because of their choice of Mr. Sallah; that the
President wants to bring development but cannot work with Halifa Sallah because
Halifa is constantly saying bad things about the government in and outside
the national assembly. Some claimed that Halifa Sallah’s whole role in the
National Assembly is to show that he is knowledgeable; that he has not brought
development to Serrekunda, that only President Jammeh can bring development to
Serrekunda Central. The long and short of the message delivered by the APRC
campaign team did not go beyond this.
At the community level they visited homes and gave promises to football
teams by organizing a football tournament.
LOUM AND JAITEH PLEAD NOT GUILTY
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
Dr. Badara Loum and Suruwa B.W Jaiteh, former Permanent Secretaries at the
Department of state for Agriculture, on Monday, pleaded not guilty to an
economic crime charge.
The two were dragged to court for allegedly mishandling 47,775 metric tonnes
of NPK fertilizer and 2,229 metric tonnes of urea fertilizer valued at D51,
480,100.00 (fifty one million four hundred and eighty thousand hundred
dalasis) thereby causing losses to Government of The Gambia to the tune of D6,
340,845.00 (six million three hundred and forty thousand eight hundred and
forty-five dalasis).
The defence submitted that the charge was duplication.
In a ruling on Monday on the application Justice Monageng dismissed the
application by the defence team.
Both men are to appear again at the High Court on April 9 2007.
TREASON TRIAL DEFERRED
AS COUNSELS WERE ABSENT
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
The treason and murder trial of Abdoulie Sonko could not proceed on Monday
at the High Court due to the absence of both the prosecution and the defence
counsels.
Mr. Sonko is on trial for his alleged role in the military assault against
the Farafenni Army Camp in November 1996.
The prosecutor, Merley Wood, was reported to have travelled while the
defence counsel, Mai Fatty, was not in court.
The matter has been adjourned to a later date.
FORMER PS GRANTED BAIL
After 5 Months Detention
By Fabakary B. Ceesay
The former Permanent Secretary at the Department of Works and
Infrastructure, Mr. Lamin Sanneh, was granted bail by Magistrate Pa Harry Jammeh of the
Kanifing Magistrates Court on the 3rd April, 2007.
Mr. Sanneh is charged and taken to court. Mr. Sanneh is charged with
negligence of official duties contrary to section 113 of the Criminal Code. The
particulars of offence indicates that on the 8th and 9th November 2006 Mr. Sanneh
neglected to report to the office as he was required to do. Mr. Sanneh
pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him. He told the court that he
had not yet accessed a lawyer due to the fact that he was in detention for
almost 5 months. He said he had been “remanded” for 4 months and 2 weeks. He
added that he is a family man and that all his family were staying in the
country. He was granted bail in the sum of D15,000.00. Hearing continues on 17
April 2007.
OPINION
THEY ARE NOT ALIENS, THEY ARE NEIGHBOURS
Dear Editor,
Please allow me space in your widely read newspaper. In your issue No. 37,
2007, your reporter succinctly captured what some immigration personnel do to
foreigners or people they like to call aliens. To call people alien is to
alienate them or to reject them all together.
This is a shame and no Gambian should support what they are doing to non
Gambians. It is also very sad because what it depicts is the fact that our
security personnel are badly trained. If a security officer has reasonable ground
to believe that a person has committed an offence he may arrest him/her. He
may also arrest him/her without a warrant depending on the circumstance and
the nature of the offence. All that the officer needs to do is to inform the
suspect by word or actually touch or confine his/her body. There is need to
manhandle the suspect. This is the lawful way of going about things and it is
also the civilized way of doing law enforcement.
If, on the other hand, a law enforcement officer wants to effect arrest and
the suspect wants to resist, then the law enforcer has a legal right to use
what is called “reasonable” force to effect an arrest. But once the person is
arrested, there is no more need to use force against him/her such as
slapping or kicking or even using foul language against the person. After all, a
suspect is just a suspect until he or she has pleaded guilty in a court of law
or is proved guilty by such a court.
In many instances law enforcers could be seen shouting at suspects or
insulting them during investigation. In some instances also, they do not
investigate with a view to ascertaining the truth. For example, when two people have a
problem, the first person who reports to the police is usually accepted as
the one on the side of the truth. Law enforcement officers should take reports
and investigate them with impartiality, effect arrest only when it is
absolutely necessary; otherwise they could engage in unlawful arrests. Sometimes the
police do take a long time investigating a case before effecting arrest but
many a time, the police will arrest someone, waste his/her valuable time, give
him/her and his/her family unnecessary stress only to find out that the
person has not committed an offence. But if they apply knowledge and skills in
crime investigation and detecting crime, such unnecessary arrests could be
avoided.
I have travelled in West Africa to such places as Ghana, Guinea,
Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Senegal, but I have never experienced immigration officers
treating me as an alien. How can an African, let alone a West African be an alien
in The Gambia? This is an insult to our intelligence when all the countries
in Africa are clamouring for African unity, especially a country like the
Gambia which has last hosted the African Union Summit, less than a year ago.
All law enforcement officers including the immigration personnel should see
civilians as compatriots who are engaged in other endeavours to enable them
to pay tax which is utilized to pay them (law enforcers) which in turn creates
peace. We are not enemies to non Gambians who are mostly our neighbours.
They are human beings too who deserve justice. Brutalizing people is not the
just way of creating peace in a decent, democratic and civilized society.
Thank you very much
Yours Sincerely
Mawdo S. Touray
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