Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issues 
Issue No. 90/05, 24-27 Novermber, 2005

Editorial

A CATALOGUE OF UNLAWFUL BEHAVIOUR

Arrests and detention of political opponents, whether within or outside the ruling party has become so common that many Gambians nowadays hardly believe that wrong has been done when the arrests of such persons have been reported. It is not rare to think that the arrestees are nothing but victims of a government that has no commitment to the rule of law and the defence of human rights.

As characteristic of the rule of tyrants, the arrests are characterized by a catalogue of unlawful behaviour. No one dares to sneeze lest he/she be labelled a subversive trying to destabilize the country. We are all suppose to sing praises to the lord and master (a president transformed into a monarch) to get a tap on the back. But even praise singing does not make you secure because the president can arrest anybody at any time, even his closest ally, as in the case of Baba Jobe. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay knows very well that she has no security and she can be picked up tomorrow.

If president Jammeh would like to instil fear in the minds of the people so that they would not dare to stand up against his misrule, then he is misleading himself. All that the spate of arrests and detention has achieved so far is increased discontentment for his regime and increased support for the opposition. The unwarranted arrests of respectable sons of this nation have hurt even APRC supporters.

It goes without saying that an arrest is effected upon reasonable suspicion that an offence has been committed or is about to be committed. This is not the style of the Jammeh regime. It is not uncommon for security agents to start fishing for charges after they effected arrest. It is not therefore uncommon for the allegations made against the detainees at the time of their arrest to differ from the charges they later prefer against them. 

At the time of the arrest of the three NADD leaders a press release from the Department of State for the Interior alleged subversion, but the charge sheet alleged sedition, false utterance and unauthorized retention of official document. These allegations are also different from those of the President on Koriteh day relating to passing information to the President of Senegal. This does not show good faith.

It is also important to note that at the time of his arrest, Haifa Sallah was not shown any warrant of his arrest nor was he told why he was arrested. The officers who arrested him were driving a vehicle with a numberless plate, another unlawful act. When they were remanded in custody by the high court, they were denied visits by family members for several days because the Director General of Prisons was waiting for the green light from an unknown authority. 

We can go on and on to catalogue all sorts of unlawful behaviour by the Jammeh leadership which emphasises the need to vote him out of power if there is to be a positive change. 




JUSTICE PAUL UNDER INVESTIGATION

The claim by the Bar Association that Justice Paul is being investigated should be taken very seriously.

A source at the state law office has informed this paper that a file dealing with the investigation on Justice Paul was brought to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions about three weeks ago. It is purported that the investigation relates to the sale of twelve plots of land by the Assets Management and Recovery Corporation (AMRC) during the period Justice Paul served as the aforesaid institution's legal adviser.

The investigations on Justice Paul are preceded by the setting up of a parliamentary commission on the AMRC, and the collating of a report by the said commission. The report of the said commission found Justice Paul liable and ordered him to pay over two hundred thousand dalasis by the state. The said commission was provided with relevant information by the former National Assembly Member for Upper Saloum, Hamat N. K Bah.

Members of the Bar Association (Lawyers) have decided to boycott Justice Paul's court because they felt that he is being investigated and therefore he should not preside over cases.




FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT TO DECLINE

Momodou Bamba Saho, the General Manager of the Central Bank of The Gambia has indicated that the latest balance of payment data showed that net Foreign Direct Investment rose significantly to D1.5 billion in 2004 and projections are that it may decline to D1.3 billion in 2005.

Saho remarked: "Notwithstanding, The Gambia needs to dramatically increase investment capital to achieve sustained economic growth necessary for poverty reduction. A substantial body of research suggests that there is a correlation between private capital, particularly Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic growth. Private flows bring more than financial resources, they engender transfer of knowledge, create jobs, boost overall productivity and enhance competitiveness and entrepreneurship." 

Mr. Sao made these remarks during the awareness and sensitization workshop on private capital flow. The workshop was organised by the Balance of Payments Technical Committee (BOPTC) comprising the Department of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment (DOSTIE), Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG), Gambia Investment Promotion and Free Zones Agency (GIPFZA), Central Statistics Department (CSD), Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Gambia Divestiture Agency (GDA),the Registrar of Companies, Development Finance International (DFI) and the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM).

"The flow of private capital to the Gambia has been on the increase in the recent past. The 2002 census results indicated that private inflows was D127 million in 2000. Foreign Direct Investment was estimated to be the most important foreign in flow in the Gambia. The stock of private capital was D777 million (18.0 percent of GDP) in 1999 with foreign direct investment accounting for 84.7 percent of the stock. In 2000, the stock of private capital rose to D904 million (21.0 percent of the GDP), or an increase of 16.3 percent from 1999. The share of FDI related liabilities was a robust 78.1 percent," Saho remarked.

Given the competitive international investment environment, Saho said there is a growing awareness of the need for dialogue business and government to create an enabling investment policy framework necessary, if the Gambia is to significantly scale up FDI. According to him, the need to make businesses and the public aware of the necessity to report capital flows informed the decision to hold the workshop as a prelude to the countrywide private capital flows census to be carried out in mid January 2006. 

"Private capital flows comprise mainly of foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investment and private sector external debt. Africa has not done well in attracting FDI relative to other regions of the world and the facts are sobering. In 2000, global flows of FDI rose to a record of US$1.3 trillion, but decline by 43.0 percent to US$735 billion in 2001. During this period, FDI flows to Africa increased modestly from US$9 billion in 2000 to US$17 billion in 2001, but still accounted for less than 3.0 percent of global flows," he said. 

The Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs said private capital flows to developing countries is on the increase, but very little is understood about the source, scale, type, cause, composition, sustainability and economic effect. He said monitoring private capital flows is important for the following reasons;

a) Availability of accurate data on private capital flow is important in the formulation of appropriate macro economic policies.

b) The data gathered could be used to improve balance of payment statistics as well as provide international investment position; that is, stock of external assets and external liabilities required by the IMF and the World Bank.

c) The information generated could also be used to promote and facilitate investment as well as asses investor confidence. For instance, information on scale, source, type etc, and on investor perception would assist agencies such as GPFZA better understand who is investing in the Gambia, problems faced by investors and hence enable them to provide more effective assistance and support.

d) Last, monitoring private flows and perceptions would strengthen public private sector dialogue on investment policy and factors affecting the investment climate in the Gambia. 

HAMAT BAH'S ELECTION PETITION

The election petition case involving the former National Assembly Member for Upper Saloum, Hamat N.K Bah and the following respondents, Sainey Mbye and the Independent Electoral Commission has been deferred to the 8th of December by the Banjul High Court.

Judicial sources have it that the adjournment was spurred by the fact that the Independent Electoral Commission was not served with the notice for hearing. Sainey Mbye was in Court, but the plaintiff, Hamat Bah was not present. However, constituents from Upper Saloum were seen at the Court's premises.



MAYOR CONTEH ARRESTED

Information reaching this paper indicated that the mayor of the Kanifing Municipality Council, Lai Conteh, was arrested by members of the Gambia Police Force on Tuesday 22nd November 2005 at the Banjul International Airport. According to our source, Mayor Conteh arrived at the Airport around 16.00pm on board the Monarch Air. As the plane landed he was approached by three police officers in uniform to arrest him. Our source revealed that this resulted to a scuffle between Mayor Conteh and the Police. An eyewitness told this reporter that shortly after the scuffle; Mayor Conteh was held by two officers at the armpits and taken to the Station. The eyewitness pointed out that Mayor Conteh was detained behind the Police counter (not in a cell) at the Airport Police Station. Police sources confirmed the arrest, but declined to comment on the issue. When contacted by this reporter over the phone, Police PRO, Aziz Bojang, declined to comment and told this reporter to meet him in his office. 

This reporter went to the Police Headquarters on Wednesday to meet the Police Spokesperson. However, PRO Aziz Bojang could not be reached because he was part of the officers screening the contingent to Darfur. This reporter met the wife of Lai Conteh who told him that she was in the Police Headquarters since in the morning but she could not have access to her husband. 

WEAK INTER-MINISTERIAL COORDINATION RESTRICTS TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

Sulayman Samba, the Permanent Secretary at the Department of State for Trade Industry and Employment has pointed out that the Gambia's participation in multilateral trade negotiations has been restricted by weak inter-ministerial coordination and lack of capacity. He said the Gambia should make commitments in response to request that are compatible with its development, trade and financial needs and scope. Going further, Mr. Samba said we should be able to articulate our priorities and overall development agenda in the negotiation process. 

Mr. Samba made these remarks on Monday during the opening ceremony of a five day workshop on trade negotiation skills organised by the Department of State for Trade, Industry and Employment in partnership with the WTO Secretariat and UNDP/EMCBP 111.

The intensive course is designed to provide participations with skills and knowledge concerning appropriate strategies and tactics for the conduct of trade negotiations, as well as techniques of systematic decision analysis for monitoring and managing the negotiation process. The training provides instructions in pre-negotiation planning, effective negotiation strategies and tactics, and the management of negotiation process that leads to a "win-win" outcome for all parties. 

"The importance of trade services for least developed countries goes beyond pure economic significance due to the major role services play for achieving social development objectives and as a means of addressing poverty, upgrading welfare, improving universal availability and access to basic services, and ensuring sustainable development. The Gambia with its narrow export base and small domestic market heavily relies on the multilateral trading system for the orderly promotion of its trade. The service sector can play a very important role and this needs institutional and human capacities to analyze and respond to offers and request under GATs." Mr. Samba said.

Dr. Dickson Yeboah, Counsellor at the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (WTO), said various negotiation proposals have to date been submitted by WTO members or groups. He said if modalities on agriculture and industrial products were to be achieved by the Hong Kong ministerial conference, members must demonstrate flexibility and a greater willingness to accommodate the interests of others. 

HALIFA'S WIFE WRITES TO PRESIDENT JAMMEH

Your Excellency,

The respect of the letter and the spirit of the rule of law is not only paramount but it is a compulsory common duty as it engenders common interest by ensuring peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, political and socioeconomic stability and development. In other words, we are all bound, without exception, to adhere to this principle in order to be different from an inhuman society where might rules. This is one of the reasons why it is a constitutional requirement for a citizen to take oaths before holding a public office. The holding of the Koran, the Bible or, some other sacred as supporting documents does not only affirm one's sincerity and commitment but gives hope and assurance to people that one's actions will be always guided by humanism and sense of morality which call for the reign of justice, impartiality and tolerance. Moreover, one would become more assured when he or she sees his or her country being the host of the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights and constantly hears the holder of the highest office of the land and his immediate subordinate authorities make strong emphasis on the respect for the rule of law. But, your Excellency, the arrest and detention of my husband, Halifa Sallah, and his colleagues, Omar Jallow and Hamat NK Bah, proves the very opposite of all these. Their rights are grossly being violated. Allow me, your Excellency, to draw your attention to the illegal actions perpetrated by the government authorities supposedly known as the protectors of human and democratic rights of all the Gambian people:

1. On 15th November 2005 around 7.30 pm, Halifa was arrested in my presence in his office at the People's Centre in Churchill's town by four plain clothed NIA (National Intelligence Agency) officials without serving him any arrest warrant attesting to their authority to carry out such act.

2. Halifa was then taking by the NIA officials in a red Mercedes Benz without number plates.

3. In the presence of the NIA officials some standing and some seated, like Mr Dampha, near his office desk, Halifa was talking to Radio Gambia on the untruthfulness of the press release which says that he was at large. The clarification made by Halifa did not deter GRTS from reading again the same press release at 8. pm news, 30 minutes after his arrest. 11hours 30 minutes after his arrest and detention, the same press release was again broadcast. How can one be arrested and detained and still be declared as being at large? Is this act legal or illegal? Are these media officers acting according to their terms of reference or to command? If the latter stands, what was really the motive behind this act? Your Excellency, no matter the degree of contempt one holds for another, is it rational, decent and human for an authority to order such an illegal action against his fellow human being, particularly against someone who has so immensely participated in the national development in all spheres of life of our motherland, The Gambia? Unfortunately for that authority, the news did not serve its purpose instead, it has created more sympathy for Halifa and has consolidated the love and respect that the Gambians have for him. Being with him throughout that day, from home to the offices (the bureau and the People's Centre), I am one of the right persons who can testify to the untruthfulness of the press release. From home and the bureau, Halifa was in his office serving the people. No matter how, Halifa will never run away from anybody because he is a law abiding citizen who does not only urges others to obey the law but even teaches them the reasons why they should do so. His high sense of patriotism, morality, decency and humility are indisputable. He is a man of conscience who means whatever he says and does. His image can never be tarnished by anybody. The mind that pays tribute to the past and honours the present will never turn a blind eye, or pay deaf ears, to the good work and sacrifice that Halifa has done for his country.

4. Even though they are remanded, according to the ruling of the presiding Judge, Justice Paul, normal access to them by their families, as guaranteed by standard procedures, is denied to them. The normal visiting days and hours of the remand prisoners are as follows. 9 am to 11.30 am and 2 pm to 3.30 pm from Monday to Saturday. As for Halifa, Omar and Hamat, we encountered lot of difficulties before we were given access to them. Despite all the struggle, a friend who went to visit Halifa Wednesday 23rd November 2005, was told that visits to these three people are limited to only two days (Monday and Thursday) instead of six days in the week. Efforts have been made to get the Director General of Prisons for clarification but to no avail. Does the nature of the charges warrant this situation? 

Your Excellency, are the prison officers working according to procedures or command? If the latter stands, who is giving that command? If the principles of good governance are being respected, is that person entitled to give such command? Where do we stand or what future could we envisage in a society where authorities are vehemently violating the laws that guard our individual and common interests and human rights? Where are we heading to? Are we paving the way for the past to regenerate its roots for a society where oppression, indifference, intolerance, contempt and vengeance will be the order of the day? Where might determines the rule of law and Justice, democracy, freedom of _expression mourn for lack of respect? Where one's self defense is considered to be sedition and when the mighty utters insults and threats, and justice becomes a captive? 

Your Excellency, the 21st century does not call for this type of society. Rather, it calls for a society where the exercise of a high sense of decency, morality, maturity will guide our actions. It calls for liberty, freedom, fairness, impartiality and transparency of state institutions in the execution of their duties in accordance with constitutional procedures or their terms of reference, since they constitute the key to good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, development and stability. Your Excellency, history has its noble pages widely open but jealously guarded by the pillars of wisdom. They only absolve those who answer to this call, those who accept and respect the rule of law and the will of the people. 

Your Excellency, the arrest and detention of Halifa and his colleagues Omar Jallow and Hamat NK Bah, has indeed revealed illegal practice in the functioning of the state machinery? Are they the norm or are they intentional acts? Whatever it may be, bear with me that the image of our country is nationally and internationally at stake. The integrity and the credibility of our nation are being questioned. So then, what do we do as citizens of The Gambia? Do we have to close our eyes on it and accept to be victims of isolation? Or is it the duty and the democratic right of every citizen to give his or her contribution for lessons to be drawn? If "Yes", is it an offense, or rather an act of patriotism if one makes such a move? Ideas are food for thoughts whether we accept or not.

Your Excellency, for your information, the arrest and detention of these three people is a big shock to the nation. Sorrow has since invaded the hearts of the Gambian people. The situation does not give credit to Your Government as it is unexpected and unwelcome, The Gambian people want peace and this is what they expect from the Government and the opposition. Whoever does the opposite will sooner or later account for it. All hands should, therefore, be put together to save our nation from commotion and instability as they constitute the enemies of development and prosperity.

To end this letter your Excellency, it is not a weakness or a shame for the perpetrators of the illegal practice to repent, rather it is an act of patriotism, love and respect that they hold for their people who believe in forgiveness for peace, tranquility and stability to be the eternal wealth of our dear motherland, The Gambia. Let our actions be guided by the observance of the collective interest. As we come to this world empty handed and we'll depart from it empty handed, our only treasure will be the noble place we secure in history. For our deeds to become a treasure, maturity, patience, tolerance, mutual respect, justice and impartiality must guide our actions and we leave the rule of law and the will of the people to determine the faith of our nation. 


Your Excellency, while hoping that this letter will be given due consideration, I remain


Yours truly,

Ida J. Sallah




Wrongful Arrest and Detention


Dear Editor, 

Kindly allow me to express my opinion concerning the arrest and detention of the three executive members of NADD and other arrests and detention that are taking place on daily basis in this country. 

The constitution of The Gambia is a marvelous document that gives the citizens all kinds of rights and freedoms but yet the people are not free. Anyone who tries to exercise his constitutional rights is called all sorts of negative names, arrested, detained or murdered. 

The Gambia is well known as the peaceful and smiling coast of West Africa. But the smiling coast is becoming the frowning coast. Almost ninety percent of the people are dissatisfied, angry and stressed about what is going on in this country, yet they are silent and living in distress, panic and fear. Did the government really have time to go through the pages of history and draw lessons from other sister countries and governments who were once peaceful and powerful but have lost all of that because of injustice? 

Where are our religious leaders and scholars (Muslims and Christians)? Who will speak to the government with a serious and fearless voice? Where are the true followers of Prophet Muhammad and the Great Jesus? Is there anyone left? 

I am a Muslim but I thank God for Bishop Michael Clearey for his courage. If you want to see a true follower of Jesus Christ, look at Bishop Clearey. 

My appeal to the authorities is that you do justice while justice is in your hands. If you want everlasting peace, then treat the people fairly. Free those detained and open a new chapter. Gambians are not difficult people to deal with. Failing to do so will result into dire consequences. 

I am also appealing to my peaceful, smiling, beautiful and wonderful Gambians to maintain the peace. God will intervene in our affairs in many forms to uproot injustice. A real Gambian will not do certain injustices and brutalities to his or her fellow citizens. But when you take brutes and integrate them into civilize and peaceful society, then the civilized and peaceful people are in trouble. This is exactly what we are facing today. 

Free Halifa Sallah, Free OJ, Free Hamat Bah and others who are wrongly detained.


From the Voice of the Oppressed 

Serrekunda 




IN WHOSE INTEREST.

The Arrest of NADD Leaders


One of Afrika's great thinkers, Kwame Ture (formally known as Stokely Carmichael of SNCC and Black Panther Party) once said that Afrikan leaders (presidents) constitute the scumbags (trash) of the African race because of their insatiable hunger for power and corruption while the vast majority of their people wallow in excruciating poverty and oppression. This statement was made about a decade ago. Today the situation is no different. A survey across Africa will show that the leading purveyors of violence and corruption and the primary violators of the rule of law in each and every country are the leaders and their governments. It is our presidents who refuse to accept what is in our constitutions that ironically they themselves tailored. Currently in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Burkina Faso among others the second term limit is under threat by Obasanjo, Kibaki, Campoare, and Museveni who had initially demanded this rule themselves. Our presidents and their governments are violating all aspects of the rule of law by arbitrarily arresting bonafide citizens on trumped up charges, dismissing longstanding employees with impunity, imprisoning citizens without charge, and summarily executing patriotic citizens and refusing to investigate the crimes. They flout and deny citizens the four fundamental freedoms of speech, movement, assembly and press with impunity. All across Africa when citizens legitimately show their disapproval about government actions or decisions, these presidents will unleash the police and army against citizens who would shoot indiscriminately as has just happened in Ethiopia or the Gambia in 2000 and argue that they are protecting national security. A cursory look at the wars that have ravaged through African since independence one can clearly see that almost all of them where instigated by our presidents and governments because of their refusal to accept democratic change while their governments are not delivering the services for which they are elected. This is the basis of the wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, and Uganda among others.

Leadership makes or breaks a society. A leadership that is patriotic, visionary, civilized and democratic will bring development, peace and security to the country. But a leadership that is undemocratic, myopic and paranoid, greedy and dishonest will only bring doom and oppression on its country. This is the type of leadership that Africa is laden with, and this is why we have a monopoly of corruption, coup d'etat, wars, diseases, ignorance and all their attendant vices. While other leaders and governments in the world are following the interest of the general public, ours in Africa want the general public to follow their interest by any means. How on earth can that be?

The problem of Afrika is further compounded by the connivance of an expanded leadership in which the social, economic, political, religious, and the military leaderships, which constitute the elite all connive against the people. In addition we have a host of civil society organizations that ignorantly have removed themselves from the politics of the country on the basis that they are a 'non-political' entity. Politics runs the individual, the group and the society as a whole. Politics empowers you to decide your destiny and control your resources. Politics gives you the voice and the right to be what you want to be. This is why society may have all forms of problems but the solution always lies in politics. Health workers do not solve the problem of health. The problem of education is not solved by educators. The problem of agriculture is not solved by agriculturalists. All of these problems are solved by the politicians who determine and give authority to the health worker, the educationists and the agriculturists to do what is to be done. In this case how can therefore any sane human being, much more an organisation claim to be non-political? Politics decides everything.

This brings me to the crux of this piece, which is about the Gambia. The current political situation in the Gambia is a typical situation in Africa. It is a case of another dishonest and undemocratic president, abetted by the religious leaders, the community leaders, the economic leaders and the military leaders and the elite to exploit and oppress innocent citizens in the name of national security. All of these leaders are ready to sell themselves for a mess of pottage so that they can be pawns in the hands of Yaya Jammeh. The Gambia under president Yaya Jammeh is a replica of Liberia under Sergeant Samuel K. Doe, or Congo under Mobutu Sese Seko. The end result of the Gambia therefore as long as the Jammeh regime remains will be no different from Liberia or the Congo! It is all a matter of time.

Why did the Jammeh regime arrest the NADD leaders? Why is the National Assembly silent about these arrests, which are unjust and undemocratic, and a violation of the rule of law? Why is the Judiciary silent about this case rather to go ahead to give its blessing by appointing a judge to hear the case, who incidentally turns out to be under a parliamentary investigation for corruption! Why are the civil society groups silent about it knowing fully well that when the country disintegrates they can no longer operate and serve the people? Why are the general public silent knowing fully well that when hell breaks lose it is the ordinary man, woman and child who will be the first and last victims.

The people of the Gambia need to ask themselves the question, 'who loses in the final analysis?' Yaya Jammeh (an individual) or the whole nation? For example who has lost out in the Liberia war? Doe or the Liberians?

Who has lost in the Congolese war? Mobutu or the Congolese? Who has lost in the Chad tyranny? Hissen Habre or the Chadians? In all of these cases it is the people, who lost and are still losing. The fact that Doe was killed is still not equal to the number of lives of Liberians lost, or the amount of their resources wasted and the retrogression that the country is plunged into. Similarly to jail Habre for one million years cannot still account for the damage he and his government has caused in Chad in terms of the lives they terminated and the waste of the precious resources of the country. This is the fundamental question that Gambians should ask themselves in these times as one man abetted by fellow intellectuals and elites attempts to dismantle our lives and future. Should we allow oppression and exploitation that end up in violence and the deterioration of our lives for many decades to come in the interest of one man? Liberia may be holding elections today and the war may be said to be over but does it have to come to this in the first place. The elections do not in anyway bring Liberia close to what it was in 1989, and should the Gambia also have to go through this same experience only to end up with a broken down country with elections under a candle light!? In whose interest should we allow that to happen or against whose interest should we not allow that to happen? Doe is gone, but did it give Liberians any good today when they could have stood up to Doe and refuse him to disintegrate their country. Gambia is peaceful today and in tact, so why should we allow one man and a bunch of dishonest compatriots disintegrate the Gambia only for us to end up as refugees in other countries with our children and parents.

Complacency, silence, dormancy, dishonesty and indifference are what have made Liberia and the rest of those other places what they are today. Should we also allow complacency, indifference and bask in dishonesty and self-denial just to create a misleadership in Yaya Jammeh, which only brings poverty, oppression and exploitation and then graduate into a decade of self-destruction? In whose interest?

Gambians wake up! And take charge of your destiny. We have come far since independence and we definitely enjoy relative peace and the country is in one piece. Why should we allow it to be dismantled in the interest of one man who we all know is not honest, but corrupt, uncultured and unpatriotic. 

The arrest of the NADD leaders has nothing to do with national security or subversion. 

It has all to do with the fact that Yaya Jammeh has began a project of dynasty in the Gambia which is being fed by dishonesty, corruption and violence. Anyone who has been following his style will realize that he wants to be KING FOR LIFE! And he wants to achieve that by any means even unnecessary. How can a person who may or may not be elected every five years engage in building castles and behaving like the way Yaya Jammeh does. It simply means that he has no intention to leave office as long as he is alive! He sees in NADD the first steps towards the dismantling of his dynasty and he has vowed to leave no stone or pot unturned until NADD and any opposition to his project is killed. Incredibly he has in place fellow Gambians and non-Gambians who are ready to assist him to destroy their own people and future for the sole interest of Yaya Jammeh. The people of the Gambia must not allow that to happen. Yaya's project will not succeed anyway and it is a pity that a young man like him and his cohorts are failing or refusing to read the signs of the time. There is no escape for them as the current Hissen Habre case in Senegal is a testimony. However we should not be complacent or silent. Freedom has never come free and oppressors have never freed slaves for free. Freedom has a price and the highest price is death. So let it be paid if it has to so that future generations can enjoy the freedom we claim today for which someone else was also killed a long time ago.

By The Patriot


PA SALLAH JENG'S CASE DEFERRED


The civil suit involving the mayor of Banjul, Pa Sallah Jeng (Plaintiff) and the Secretary of State for Local Government and Lands (first respondent), and the Attorney General (second respondent) has been deferred by the Banjul High Court. Judicial sources informed this paper that the adjournment of the matter is precipitated by the fact that the trial judge (Justice Ahmed Belgore) is out of the jurisdiction. However, Justice Belgoreh is expected to return from Nigeria this week.

Pa Sallah Jeng is seeking the following prayers from the court;

(A) A declaration that the suspension of Pa Sallah Jeng as mayor of Banjul by the Secretary of State for Local Government and Land is null, void and contrary to the Local Government Act 2002 as amended.

(B) A declaration that the no notice or resolution was signed or passed by the councilors of Banjul City Council for the removal of Pa Sallah Jeng as mayor of Banjul.

(C) An order directing the first respondent the Secretary of State for Local Government and Land to reinstate Pa Sallah Jeng as mayor of Banjul.

(D) An order prohibiting the Secretary of State for Local Government and Land and the Attorney General from lawful interference with the office of the mayor.

(E) An order directing the Secretary of State for Land to revoke the appointment of the Acting mayoress of Banjul.

(F) Such further orders

The case touches on section 20 of the Local Government Act of 2004. The matter also touches on Section 37 of the constitution of the Republic of the Gambia.

Corrigendum: Pa Sallah Jeng is mistakenly referred to an accused in our last edition. He is the plaintiff in this matter.

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