By Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment, Hon Baboucarr Ousmaila Joof, 11th March 2024 Firstly, I would like to thank all of you for honoring our invitation to attend this important press briefing which aims at updating the general public through the media on the current situation of the stocks and price levels of essential food commodities as we start the holy Month of Ramadan. We also want to share with the general public some of the factors contributing to the current price hikes and the measures adopted by the government through my Ministry to ensure that we…
Author: Gainako
By Central Bank of The Gambia, Monetary Policy Committee, 27th February 2024 The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of The Gambia (CBG) convened on February 26 and 27, 2024. The Committee decided to maintain the Monetary Policy Rate at 17 per cent. The decision is aimed at sustaining the declining trend in domestic inflation. The following is an overview of deliberations that informed the Committee’s decision. 1. Prospects in the global economy have improved since the last MPC, thanks to the strength of the United States economy and some large emerging market economies, supported by both demand…
By Amadou Barry reporting from Senegal Senegal, the election date has been set for 2nd June 2024 as a proposal from the national dialogue handed over today. This will allow the country to go to the polls before the rainy season. The dialogue has proposed also to maintain the incumbent President (Macky Sall) in power till the election of his successor. President Macky Sall’s term is ending on 2nd April 2024. Editor’s note: After the Constitutional Council ruled some weeks back to hold elections as soon as possible and before the end of President Macky Sall’s term, the incumbent President…
By State House of The Gambia, Statement by President Adama Barrow at the 8th National Business Council Meeting on 10th February 2024. I thank you all for your presence and warmly welcome you to the first 2024 meeting of the National Business Council and the 8th since its establishment. As a form of reassurance to you, let me stress that my government is duly committed to the Council’s schedules and processes of holding regular dialogue with the private sector on all matters relating to the business environment, reforms, and private sector development in The Gambia. To keep me abreast of…
By State House of The Gambia Statement of President Adama Barrow at the National Launch of the Recovery-Focused National Development Plan (RF-NDP) 2023-2027 on 9th February 2024. It is an honour to welcome you to this momentous occasion, marking the national launch of the Recovery-Focused National Development Plan (RF-NDP) 2023-2027, branded as “YIRIWAA”. This Plan succeeds the last Development Plan, 2018-2021, and is the second National Plan during my Presidency. YIRIWAA marks a transformative journey towards sustainable and resilient development. Its successful implementation will not only fulfil our medium-term development aspirations but also contribute significantly towards the achievement of the…
By TANGO Gambia Civil Society Statement on the Current Political Situation in Senegal In Solidarity with the People of Senegal for Democracy Banjul, the Gambia. 5th February 2024 The Gambian Civil Society has received with grave concern the announcement by Senegalese President Macky Sall on February 3rd, 2024 suspending the forthcoming Presidential Elections indefinitely. In his address to the Senegalese people, President Sall noted the dispute involving the National Assembly and the Constitutional Council on allegations of corruption of judges relating to the disqualification of Presidential candidate Karim Wade, and the emerging information regarding the dual citizenship of another Presidential…
By FLAG The Female Lawyers’ Association of The Gambia (FLAG) expresses profound concern in response to recent news reports of presidential pardons granted to inmates convicted of rape and other SGBV-related offences. FLAG recognises that the power to pardon inmates is vested in the President of the Republic of The Gambia through section 82 Prerogative of Mercy of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia 1997. Section 82 (1) (a) empowers the President to, among other things, “grant to any person convicted of any offence a pardon either free or subject to lawful conditions” after consulting with the Committee…
By CHILD PROTECTION ALLIANCE (CPA) CPA REACTS TO THE PARDONING OF CONVICT ON RAPE CHARGES BY PRESIDENT BARROW The Child Protection Alliance has learnt with grave concern that President Adama Barrow has given clemency to four convicted pedophiles among thirty-seven prisoners by the powers vested in him under Section 82 (1) (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia, 1997. These four pedophiles were all charged and convicted of rape and sexual abuse of children between the ages of 4 and 14. As a body dedicated to child protection, we wish to express our total rejection of the…
SUMMARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 1ST WEEK OF THE TRIAL OF OUSMAN SONKO (8-12 JANUARY 2024, FEDERAL CRIMINAL COURT, BELLINZONA, SWITZERLAND) The trial of Ousman Sonko opened on 8 January 2024 before the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC). A panel of three judges is examining the former Gambian Minister of Interior’s responsibility over the numerous crimes against humanity that he is accused of having committed between 2000 and 2016, under the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh. During the three-week trial, Ousman Sonko will be represented by a defence team of four. Nine plaintiffs are heard over two weeks.…
Njaboute Foundation in collaboration with Future in Our Hands engages the community of Sinchang Alagie Gai on HIV and AIDs. Story by Fatou Sanyang The Community of Sinchang Alagie Gai were engaged in HIV and AIDs by the Njaboute Foundation at Sinchang in the West Coast District over the weekend on the 6th of January 2024. Njaboute Foundation is a newly established foundation which was registered in 2021 with volunteers both in The Gambia and Sweden. Njaboute is a non-profit foundation which focuses on health education and promotion as well as emphasis on Social Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC). The foundation…