By Gibril Saine The advent of social media instant connections in the world has transformed our lives in so many ways than one. Conversely, technology has however come at a great cost, even loss, to society in various ways than I care to divulge. The disintegration of society for one, its social fabric that is, continues to cause friction separating families, maiming lives, and even taking lives along its destructive path. In politics & tricks of the trade, I observe in sheer desperation the collision of politics & social media on amplifier radiating fake news or even blatant lies masqueraded…
Author: Gainako
By Yusef Taylor and Alieu Ceesay The Gambia’s Minister of Justice, Hon Dawda A. Jallow presided over the launch of the Government’s White Paper on the implementation of the Truth, Reparations and Reconciliation Commission (TRRC) Recommendations and announced that it rejected the Commission’s recommendation to grant Sanna Sabally amnesty and to categorise certain Foreign Judges as “Mercenary Judges”. The Government also rejected the Commission’s recommendations to ban the current State Intelligence Services (SIS) Director-General for 10 years for his role in destroying evidence at the former National Intelligence Agency where torture and other human rights violations occured. The rejection was…
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) facilitates over 193 Gambians who were stranded in Niger and Libya. According to the press release 143 Gambians were stranded in Libya while 45 were stranded in Niger. By IOM IOM Facilitates Voluntary Return of 148 Gambians from Libya, 45 from Niger Banjul – On 19 May, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) facilitated the voluntary humanitarian return of 148 Gambian migrants stranded in Libya through a return flight, and another 45 through a commercial flight from Niger. This represents the highest number of Gambian migrants assisted with voluntary return in a single day, since…
By Team Gom Sa Bopa The Pan-African Network for Artistic Freedom (PANAF) initiative will be launched in The Gambia on 18th June 2022. PANAF was established in November 2021 in response to the need for an active and inclusive regional voice in the creative sector that could raise awareness of incidents of artistic freedom violations and collaborate with artistic rights advocates in regional and national advocacy efforts. In The Gambia SELAM has partnered with Team Gom Sa Bopa. This partnership will allow the two organisations to work together to develop a unified voice for artists, and cultural producers advocating for…
OEC Secretary-General has urged the Gambia Government to utilize technology to improve systemic Governance and transform education in Post-COVID learning environment By Patience Loum The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MoBSE) through the partnership of the African Union, the African Curriculum of Association, the Organization of Educational Cooperation, and the UNESCO International Bureau of Education launched a five-day international conference and training program in the Gambia to mark the 3rd African Continental Curriculum Conference on Education Technology and Curriculum Alignment. E. Sheikh Manssour Bin Mussallam, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Educational Cooperation (OEC) said in as much as…
By Patience Loum The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in collaboration with the American Bar Association Rule of Law (ABA) concluded its three-day national dialogue with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), victims and families of victims who were affected during the 22 years of the former dictatorship of President Yahya Jammeh. The engagement aims at sharing ideas on the implementation of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) recommendations. This dialogue will look into recommendations and measures of restitution, satisfaction and rehabilitation to be highlighted in the Victims’ Reparations proposed bill. In December 2017, the TRRC was established by an Act of…
By Patience Loum The World Bank Group in partnership with the Gambia Government launched a five-year development strategy on Wednesday, 17th May 2022 through a new Country Partnership Framework (CPF) to aid in the country’s development priorities including infrastructure and economic growth under the theme “Galvanizing towards accelerated growth, productivity, and resilience”. The CPF, which works in line with the National Development Plan (NDP) consists of a series of areas of focus, key amongst them is the E-Government Strategy 2020-2022. In his speech, the former Minister of Information, Ebrima Sillah welcomed the partnership which he believes will significantly aid in the…
By Edrissa Jallow This is the maiden edition of the Gambia Parliamentary Newsletter (GPN), a monthly newsletter on the activities of the Gambia’s National Assembly. It aims to increase awareness and understanding of Parliamentary proceedings and engagements through publications from journalists that report directly from Parliament. The first edition is written and produced by three journalists; one from Foroyaa in the person of Kebba AF Touray and two from Gainako Online News in the persons of Edrissa Jallow and Yusef Taylor. The newsletter is designed by Alieu Bobb and printed with support from R&A Designs. It is the intention of…
By Alieu Ceesay Almost one month after the 9th April 2022 Parliamentary Elections, two political parties and one organisation held a press conference at the People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) political bureau in Churchill’s Town about the December 2021 and April 2022 Elections. The press conference held on 8th May 2022 featured the PDOIS, the All-Peoples Party (APP) and Gambia Youth 4 Change headed by Independent Aspirant Mamadi Kurang. PDOIS managed to qualify 18 candidates at the Parliamentary Elections, however, only two candidates managed to win in Hon Suwaibou Touray for Wulli East and Hon Musa Cham…
The Gambia Government is set to publish its White Paper on the implementation of the TRRC Recommendations by the end of May 2022. In anticipation of the Government’s White Paper 16 Gambian and International Human Rights Organisations including Amnesty International have written a joint open letter putting forward their hopes and concerns. Below is the letter. Dear Honourable Minister Jallow, When the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) was launched in 2018, Gambians and the international community celebrated the government’s decision to establish a record of the crimes and abuses of the Yahya Jammeh period. The TRRC provided an opportunity…