Gainako Newspaper

A book entitled, "Treatise on Founding The Federation of African Republics,"
referred to by some as an encyclopedia on Pan Africanism, and by others
as a handbook for African Unity, democracy and development is due to
be launched on May 25, 2008 at the Paradise Suites Hotel at 3pm.

The book according to the author, Mr. Halifa Sallah, a Gambian politician
and sociologist and Pan Africanist, is currently being subjected to scrutiny
in The Gambia and abroad. Mr.Sallah who addressed a press at his office
said the objective was to give feedback on the book.

He informed journalists that the book has been launched in the Diaspora. "In UK the book was
launched at the Afro-African-Caribbean Centre in Leicester on February 23, 2008, and the launch
was attended by Gambians and other Africans in the Diaspora, among others.

Mr. Sallah told the press that following the UK launching, the Female Wing of the Swedish
Democratic Party also sponsored the launching of the book in Sweden from 10 to 17 March 2008.
"There were tremendous responses by Swedish people and Africans in the Diaspora, including
Gambians," he stressed.

He stated that copies of the book have been given to the executive, the legislature and the judiciary as
well as to many key institutions such as the University of The Gambia and revealed that the Office of
the President has acknowledged receipt of the book and has indicated that it is pertinent.

Sallah opined that the launching of the book avails opportunities to academics, policymakers and
members of civil society to critically review the book.
Mr. Sallah went on to observe that Africa is at a cross roads, and determining the way forward is the
fundamental question confronting every single African in particular and any human being in the world.

"Africa is considered to be the paradox. It is potentially the richest continent on earth, but it is
currently harbouring the poorest people in the world. 40 percent of the continent's population is living
on one dollar a day and currently one out of every ten African are potentially on the move from their
place of origin because of conflict or poverty. It is considered an achievement to many Africans to
enter into Europe which is increasingly becoming alienated from the rest of humanity, and its
immigration budgets are also increasing to keep away those in search of greener pastures," he
asserted.

He also observed that most African leaders are aiming to be defensive. "They are merely protesting
against the excesses of the dominant powers of the world. Impression is given that the future of the
continent is a hopeless one, as it contributes only 2 percent of the world trade and attracts only 1
(one) percent of foreign direct investment. He said some claim that Africa's place in the world is a
hopeless one. And that its contribution to the world economy is insignificant.

"Others compare Ghana and South Korea at independence and argued that the gap between the two
then and today is due to policy focus and development priorities. The impression given is that the only
option available is to beg others to forgive us for the debts we owe and beg them to invest on the
continent. Africa has become an object of pity or an object of mockery and laughter to others," Sallah
further observed.

Mr. Sallah further opined that redeeming Africa from what he calls, this despicable predicament,
requires an intellectual response, adding that his book falsifies claims that the African economy are
insignificant to the world economy and opined that Korea is ahead of Ghana because of its policy
initiative are all proven to be false by the book.

Mr. Sallah explained that the launching in the Diaspora was done because Pan-Africanism started in
the Diaspora. He noted that the book among others contains basic facts about Pan-Africanism,
African Unity and also touches on all other international instruments and an in-depth of the history of
Africa.

He said the people in the Diaspora attended in large numbers for different purposes, and the book
explores the different purposes by relying on Pan-African scholars who searched human history and
discovered that Africa's place in the world before colonialism was a glorious place, and the book
explored that position of Africa, and quoted scholars like Aristotle to justify what the Pan-Africanism
have concluded, that compared to other civilizations Africa had equal level of civilization or more
advanced civilization than other parts of the would. And the book is a documentary evidence of that
assertion. The book traces the history of African nationalism and exposed the fact that Africans who
were transported from different parts of the continent, states and communities did not leave a united
continent. There was no Africa as we conceive today.

"Those people who left the continent were deprived of homelands; eventually they obliterated their
own consciousness of belonging to a people belonging to a nation so that they would see themselves
as animals, as donkeys, as horses, so that they can be used in the field to toil from morning to sunset in
the service of their slave masters" Sallah said.

"But in the process of their struggle for freedom, many of them wanted to go back to the continent but
they did not know where they came from. So they saw the whole land of Africa as their homeland and
therefore began to refer their origin to Africa as a continent. Thus emerged the whole concept of an
African nation and African Nationalism.

"The book explored the whole concept of slavery. It quoted the struggles in the continent against
slavery because people in the Diaspora may blame the Africans in Africa for their predicament if they
do not fully understand what had happened.

The book therefore explains about those who were in for slavery and those who were fighting against
slave trade on the continent", Mr. Sallah stated.

Further explaining the reasons for launching the book in the Diaspora, the veteran politician, cum
sociologist highlighted that, "his book explains about slavery and the abolition of slave trade, and
struggles taken in the Caribbean against slavery making it impossible for the slave masters to benefit
from slavery. After the abolition of slavery the slave masters needed commodities for the
manufacturing houses and therefore slavery was replaced by colonialism.

So the Africans in the Diaspora who were struggling to return to the continent, all of a sudden
discovered that they don't have a homeland to return to because their lands had been taken. This is
what gave rise to their struggle to make so that Africa is liberated. They began to hold congresses
towards liberating Africa.

"The struggle for African liberation of the African continent, self-determination and independence
started in the Diaspora. This is why the book was launched in the Diaspora out of that struggle
emerged independent nations," Mr. Sallah stated, adding that the book tries to address the question
why Africa is still in the stage we are.

"It shows the thinking of the Pan-Africanists at the beginning and their suggestions and proposals; how
they shaped the universal declaration of human rights; how they shaped the United Nations charters;
how they shaped many instruments in the world without many people knowing; said Mr. Sallah.

Further explaining about his book and Pan-Africanism, Mr. Sallah also highlighted that the book
shows that the whole concept of democracy has been perpetuated by the Pan-Africanists while the
colonialists were opposing it, and documentations were given. So as he suggests, democracy also has
a weapon of empowering the people and should not be seen as a product imported from Europe by
the Pan-Africanists.

"It is important to reflect on what happened immediately after independence and why people like
Nkrumah started calling for the total unification of the continent so that our resources will be put
together; so that we can have an African central Bank, African investment Bank, an African Monetary
Fund so that we can have powerful African institutions which can combat the dominant positions of
the trading blocks and the currency blocks of other continents. But all that could not be realize, he
said.

"The book also he said, has explained all efforts that were made up to the founding of the OAU and
explains all the policies and programmes that emanated from that, and showed how Africa because of
its division, because of its micro-states, began to move backward, instead of addressing the issues of
liberty, dignity and prosperity.

"The book has shown that what Nkrumah has said is what is happening right now," he asserted.
Everywhere in Africa, our economies are crumbling, our treasuries are getting empty, we are
becoming client states, and none of us can stand alone. We will remain in that condition until we take
the economy and political destiny in our own hands" Mr. Sallah said, quoting Nkrumah.

He further said the book falsifies people who are trying to say that Nkrumah said the political kingdom
and everything else will come", but that he (Nkrumah) did not take into consideration the economies
and all other issues of that nature. He however argued that perhaps they did not read African history
and they have not read what had happened immediately after independence.

Mr. Sallah further quoted Nkrumah as saying, "we will remain in that condition until we take the
political and economic condition of Africa in our own hands."
Africa has common market of 300 million and now the total population of Africa is 800 million
producers and consumers he said should have the productivity, purchasing and bargaining power
equal to any of those trading and currency blocks which now rule the commerce of the world.

"Who is there to oppose or frustrate us if we have all the courage to form an All-African union
congress? Can the industrialized nations do without our coppers, uranium? Iron, bauxite, cotton,
groundnuts, coffee etc, or will they come running to us as we have been running to them for trade on
equitable terms? He asked.

"So what this is emphasizing is that we have answers to Africa's problems, and in the launching, those
answers will be given, he promised. He argued that the book is not simply lamenting or protesting
against the West, or simply blaming the colonialists, but that it explains the role that colonialism has
played and has also shown the failure of African countries to unite, contributing to the current
predicament. It goes to show the various programmes; that every time Africa is faced with a crisis they
come with programmes, such as the Lagos programme, the Abuja treaty, ultimately the creation of the
African union, with NEPAD's creation, the limitation of NEPAD as a programma tic document to
address Africa's problems and proposed concretely what should be done in order to be able to have
a programme that can be able to address the needs and aspirations of the people.

"The book does not only highlight problems but also gave solutions, and it goes stage by stage to
show that if we are really serious about African unity and development, the stages that should be
followed to achieve it," Sallah posited.

He explained that the purpose of the press conference was not to go in detail regarding what is in the
book but that the book was launched in Europe and it was well received, not only by Africans but
also by people who understand that the world is a common bond; that economies are tied together;
Europe depends on Africa for many of its goods they consume daily on their family table." Therefore if
our farmers cannot produce, then what happens to the world prices?" He asked.

He further added, "So there is absolutely no doubt that the world is interlinked and production by the
farmers are very crucial for food consumption, for food prices, and for the survival of people, not only
for people in Africa, Asia, but also in Europe".
"So it is fundamentally necessary for these people to realize that on their side, if we become poorer
and poorer and cannot consume their goods, their industries will not be able to have markets and they
will close down and their banks will not be able to have interest and they will close down.

"So in that regard poverty will visit Europe just as it is haunting Africa on the current circumstances.
So it is a common destiny and they realized that. They realized that the same policies that were
adopted on the continent in moving from solutions to problem and simply allowing the market to
control everything is creating a problem on that side of the World just as it is creating problem on our
side. So we have a common destiny and they appreciate the contribution of this book towards
understanding their own problems. And the book is opposing International Conferences where we
look at the currency blocks, the trading blocks and the cause of the problems that we are now, in
terms of international trade, finance, and look for a common solution that will create equitable relations
between Africa and the rest of the world that will reposition the African continent."

"The book emphasizes the need for Africans to put aside ideologies and make so we remove it from
the ring of systems, and transform it to a practical systems for articulating relevant policies,
programmes and projects to ensure and enhance democracy, liberty, dignity and prosperity in the
continent.

He emphasizes that the fundamental issue raised by the book teaches on the first, second and third
phases of Pan-Africanism and the Third phase comes with the sober assertions of the sovereignty of
the people. That is the phase we are in now, where the people must take control of the destiny of the
third nation, and therefore create the possibility of governments uniting to serve the common interest of
the people. He concluded that the book has therefore emphasized that any generation which fails to
build a society which its children are proud to inherit is a failed generation and as he argued it is duty
of every generation to hand over to its children, and grand children a better society than it has
inherited, he stressed.

.........A Cloud of Hope
....................................By Yero Jallow....................May 1st, 2008
Over the distant horizon skies
Appeared a mighty cloud of hope -unity
Ever the darkest promising cloud to form
With loud echoing thunder claps ablaze
And lightening that rainbows across skies
At a time when draught
Wilted mighty trees
And thirst killed humans
All but not the God to blame.

The sky lookers gathered around curious
The crippled crawled with hope of shine
The blind groped the glamour of love
In jubilation of the true cloud of hope
Not like the desert mirages of the oases
But optimism of true rains alas
That would shine the flowers of unity
Sway left, right �in fresh floating air
Attracting the nectar bees at buzz

With a louder echo
We heard in one chorus voice
"God is great! God is great!"
Resembling the mosque singers
Or that Obama wisdom
"Yes we can! Yes we can!"
At that point, all in one
Embraced the rains of unity
At once change began to shine.

..Is the UDP's E-mail Hacked?
....................................................May 1st, 2008
In the wee hours of the morning, there was an unusual trend in e-mails
coming from the Movement for Democracy based in NY, USA.

When we contacted Mr. Mballow, one of its active leaders, he
volunteered the following statement:

Friends,
we have just been alerted about someone criminally using our UDP email account through hacking.
Right now we are unable to use the account because the person has managed to change the
password. But we are working with the Yahoo group to solve the problem therefore, we urge you to
disregard all postings coming from the said account until when things are back to normal.

At the moment we are not accusing any body for the act until when we receive our investigation.

We thank you all for your understanding.

Regards,
Saihou Mballow

......................................POEM
.........The Black Gold
...............................By Saladin Ibnu Ablie��April 30th, 2008
Powerless man solely depending on his intellectual mind
Claiming rulers of the earth so they are known to be mankind
Created so humble a nature not that they are meant to stay behind
But to properly use the endowed wisdom to lead the creation line
So please take what is yours and give me what is rightfully mine
The Black Gold must have to glitter under the bright sunshine

His mighty eloquence challenges intelligence
Cautiously thinking in the midst of negligence
Protecting his own kinds from this pestilence
Believing in something that one and all are feeling
Divine love is life's only pure and true meaning
Wrap your heart with it if you want to be winning
Else you loose and would be balefully sinning

On the lands of love descends this blessing from above
Keeping the souls of her population as humble as a dove
Giving and receiving knowing the blest life is living in love
And love life is for us to learn to care and share the love
Costing nothing and worth more than everything
The power of creation and chosen way of inspiring
Acknowledging to the fullest the blessings of the King
Songs of thanks and praises thou shall be singing
In the Name of the God of gods will be the rejoicing
Proud of thy King the King of all kings
God and Creator of the Black Gold

Spiritually cometh to this world in the cloth of blood
The offspring of the spirit of the molded black mud
Ordained to teach and preach the Divine Word of God
But all that most of thee want is to get the Black Gold
Because thy heart desire is to be someone big and bold
Thee compel to make thy own the strong to have hold
But know for thee never shall all 'tis be under one fold
For it's truly revealed clearly and has already been told

................................................................OPINION
........Fight At State House
...Yahya Jammeh & First Lady Fight Over Fatou Jaw Manneh
..............................By The Watchman��..April 29th, 2008
Intimacy levels between Dr. Yahya Jammeh, Chief Oppressor
of Gambian citizens, and his spouse First Lady Zainab Jammeh
are at an all time low due to Fatou Jow Manneh. In a sign that
even those close to the corridors of power have a conscience,
First Lady Zainab Jammeh has been harshly criticizing the
President's foolish insistence that the beleaguered and heroic
Fatou Jow Manneh be taught " a lesson". As the dynamic of
Hillary Clinton's fight for the Democratic nomination shows,
women tend to close ranks when they get the impression one
of their kind is being piled on and the first lady's instincts are
no different from any other female's. She is utterly disgusted and
wants her husband to bring the journalist's fate to a dignified end.

State House contacts have observed that the First Lady cannot hide her contempt for the President's
infantile exhibition of power. She treats him condescendingly in the privacy of their quarters and
although well mannered and polite to all staff, there is no hiding the fact that the relationship is severely
hampered by the president's stubbornness. What is even more outrageous about the president's
behavior towards the first lady is how he has been telling anyone who would listen that his wife is
"moody" nowadays due to post-partum depression in the wake of their son's birth. This not only
shows Yahya Jammeh for the callous individual that he is but also reflects his social perspective on
women.

The first lady is aware that even if Jammeh's pathetic courts hand him a victory, it'd be a hollow one at
best and a pyrrhic debacle at worst. Every single day that goes by without a judicial and objective
finality to Fatou Jow Manneh's case increases her reputation as a symbol of resistance to the Jammeh
regime of shame. It also reduces his assiduously earned reputation as a swift punisher of enemies and
rivals. Ms. Manneh is not rotting in jail like the less fortunate victims of the APRC. In fact, Yahya
Jammeh secretly admires her guts and has been telling confidantes that Ms. Manneh would have made
a perfect member of his government if only she had chosen the right side. In prolonging the farce of
charges that his hack lawyers have ginned up against a brilliant and courageous journalist and not
dealing a coup de grace to her credentials as a pe rson and respectable human being, Yahya Jammeh
has allowed his reputation to sink into an irredeemable abyss.

It is this sophisticated fight between hard power (Yahya Jammeh) and soft power (Fatou Jow
Manneh) that the first lady shrewdly observed a long time ago and came to the conclusion that it will
do her husband's already tattered image no good. Soft power is like jujitsu. It takes whatever hard
power throws at it, absorbs it and adapts to counter it without changing the basic nature of resistance.
This is the gist and lynchpin of the struggle between journalist Manneh and the APRC prosecutors.
Her soft power will inflict a lot of damage to the Jammeh legacy before the case is mercifully closed.
Even more damaging to President Jammeh is the fact that the first lady's relatives are worried about
the fate of their daughter in the hands of someone who has been far from chivalrous in dealing with a
woman he despises.

First Lady Zainab Jammeh is pleading to end the Fatou Jow Manneh's case not only because she is a
woman but also because every time Jammeh pulls a trick to delay justice being served, her own family
dreads what will happen to her if Jammeh finds fault with their already dysfunctional and symbiotic
union.

The Watchman had not commented on the Fatou Jow Manneh case before because whatever the
outcome, Yahya Jammeh loses and Fatou Jow Manneh wins. While Yahya Jammeh is operating on a
justification of keeping power at all costs and pillaging and looting to do so, first lady Zainab Jammeh
functions on a more humane plateau of respecting the rights of others and simply being fed up with the
jarring visual effect of a woman constantly being dragged to jail like a common criminal. It should be
noted that first lady Zainab Jammeh detests the negative influence Isatou Njie Saidy (the hippo)
wields over her husband. The first lady believes, rightly or wrongly, that President Jammeh respects
what the hippo has to say but barely acknowledges her when she tries to give input on matters of
state. "You are my wife and Dr. Njie Saidy is my minister!" Jammeh says to his wife every time she
tries to give sensible advice. One can only imagine the frustrat ion of The Gambia's first lady who had
she been married to a more decent individual could have enjoyed the natural goodwill and love of The
Gambian nation.

The most potent force responsible for first Lady Zainab Jammeh's secret advocacy for Fatou Jow
Manneh's release from state torment is envy. While Fatou Jow Manneh has shown a knack to defy
power, terror and wealth, Gambia's first lady has been seduced by the luxury and aphrodisiac that
residing at the pinnacle of provides. Like her caricature of a husband, she grudgingly respects Fatou
Jow Manneh's indomitable attitude in the face of the Jammeh regime's hounds and wish she could
muster the courage to free herself from the shackles and stench of a stagnant "government".

Alas, she knows, like all of the cowardly ministers of the APRC, that she's in a mortal Catch 22: she
realizes she cannot imagine what it means to be courageous, she has to act on that conviction. But is
she prepared to pay the price at the hands of a retarded dictator?

The author can be reached at Gambiaswatchman@gmail.com

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