MINNEAPOLIS — Every other Saturday evening, the coup-plotters excused themselves from their wives and kids to join a conference call. The half- dozen dissidents — all middle-aged men, most with military experience — dialed in from their suburban homes scattered across the South and Midwest. There were operational details to discuss, logistical hurdles to overcome. How would they smuggle rifles and night-vision goggles to Gambia, the tiny West African country from which they were exiled? Was their $221,000 budget enough to topple the brutal strongman who had ruled Gambia for two decades? In the predawn hours of Dec.…
Author: Gainako
Madison Alder-Elect Samba Baldeh Expresses Warm Gratitude. By Yero Jallow At the thank-you Party commemorating his victory to the Alder in Madison’s common Council District 17, Alder-Elect Samba Baldeh on Saturday May 30th 2015 acknowledged the great work done by his Campaign Manager Fatou Ceesay, Treasurer Sue, long time business partner Jerreh Kujabi, a long list of door-to-door knockers during his campaign and the residents of Madison at large. Baldeh, a Community Activist and Software Engineer with American Family, is a first-time contestant to the Alder position of Madison’s District 17, where he succeeded in defeating the incumbent…
By Momodou Ndow They say “there is nothing new under the sun”, but I dispute that! Thione Seck’s claim that he was contracted by a Gambian promoter for 100 million euros, to do an international tour in five continents with over 100 dates is new under the sun. Gambia as a country does not have 100 million euros to her name, and I don’t believe any Gambian promoter has a quarter of that in their name. Jammeh is said to have a net worth of 1.8 billion dollars, which is more than 100 million euros, but he is a…
Reveal Whereabouts of People Arrested After December Coup Attempt (Dakar, May 27, 2015) – Gambian authorities have detained incommunicado, depriving them of all contact with the outside world, dozens of friends and relatives of people accused of involvement in a coup attempt since January 2015, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. Those detained include women, elderly people, and a child, and many are believed to be in ill-health. The government has refused to acknowledge the whereabouts or even the detention of many of them, effectively holding them outside of the protection of the law. This amounts to enforced…
A traumatic ten months later, the end of a journey that should never have commenced. But having started, it should not have lasted even a month. And how admirably His Worship, Magistrate Ebrima Jaiteh (His Worship Jaiteh) ended the shame that engulfed the Brikama Magistrates’ Court in the case of Inspector General of Police v Caliph General of Darsilami Sangajor, Sheikh Muhideen Hydara, and Buyeh Touray! Congratulations are in order for the courage and technical competence demonstrated by His Worship Jaiteh in acquitting the accused persons of baseless criminal charges. In a courtroom packed to capacity, he delivered a…
Rivalry Brewing at the State House in Banjul By Gainako’s Banjul Correspondent “Hamga mom dui Declu Ken” Highly confidential reports reaching Gainako indicates that the Vice President of the Gambia Isatou Njie-Saidy who was delegated to represent the Gambian leader at the 47th ECOWAS summit in Ghana held May 19, 2015 may have dropped the ultimate bomb on the embattled Gambian leader. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) consist of 16 member states and have been a powerful regional block overseeing elections; conflict resolutions and promotion of trade, economic intergration and good governance within…
By Mathew K Jallow In a somewhat canted way, the Economic Community of West African States, almost always acts like an organization ruled by an oligarchy. In a way, it is. For, ECOWAS is under the thumbs of a cabal of sixteen heads of the states that constitute the institution. It is clear from decades of anecdotal evidence that Africa’s notoriously weak institutions lack a grasp of both the issues and commitment to confront the challenges that have paralyzed the continent for the better part of five decades. At the national levels, most Africans manifest an unflattering lack of…
By Foday Samateh This regards your visit to Jali and related matters. For starters, I’ve long since decided never to address you by the office you occupy. And all Gambians should renounce glorifying the abomination of calling you president. You don’t have the dignity or the character for such a distinguished honor. Instead, you should only be called what you truly are: a despot or other variant of such ignoble meaning. The visit evoked a multiplicity of reactions, none of which was heartening. The comparison that comes to mind is a sacrilegious trampling on a blessed ground, and the only…
BY PA NDERRY M’BAI Gambia’s controversial dictator Yahya Jammeh has not only threatened to pull out The Gambia from the African Union, after blaming the body for being “western stooges and puppets” over the AU’S apparent silence to denounce the genocide taking place at the Mediterranean Sea, Jammeh also vowed that his government is going to institute legal action against the European Union for the death of Gambian migrants, who lost their lives in the sea few weeks ago, while trying to illegally resettle to the West through the back way, the Freedom Newspaper can…
The Gambian economy requires strong corrective actions and comprehensive reforms to neutralize its current challenges and set it on a path to sustainable higher growth rate, the International Monetary Fund has said in a report. The IMF Country Report on The Gambia, which x-rayed the country’s economy based on different indicators, states that “extended period of poor economic performance has left The Gambia facing serious economic difficulties”. The report noted that the government’s public debt had risen to 100 per cent of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP) by end-2014. The continuous domestic borrowing by government…