Alimatou S Bajinka The Ministry of Health (MoH) held a media briefing on Friday 17th December 2021 announcing the start of its nationwide house to house COVID-19 vaccination Campaign. The press conference focused on updates on the mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign and how it would be implemented. The campaign started on the 18th of December 2021 and is due to conclude on 24th December 2021. Speaking on behalf of the Director of Health Promotions (Mr Modou Njie) Mr Gabriel Gando informed the media that the MoH is “about to roll out a COVID-19 campaign vaccination from Banjul to Kanilai. The reason…
Author: Gainako
Alimatou S Bajinka “The government should take center stage in the lives of special needs children,” said Pa Modou Bojang the Founder of an organisation named Love By Force Awareness. According to the founder, the organisation was created to integrate children with special needs into society, introduce them to people from different walks of life and venture into activities they dream of and don’t have the means to. The government’s efforts should be altered to meet the needs of the differently able people, Mr Bojang believes that one of the ways to achieve that is to strengthen the capacity of…
By Ousman Saidykhan The Gambia’s Supreme Court commenced the hearing into an Election Petition filed by the United Democratic Party (UDP) on Friday 17th December 2021. In reaction to the Petition, the lawyers of the first respondent, President Adama Barrow, moved a motion for the court to dismiss the petition on grounds that President Barrow enjoys constitutional immunity as the sitting President. The lawyer for the petitioner, Borry S. Touray, argued that they were served with a motion on notice, filed on behalf of the first respondent (President Barrow). Lawyer Touray noted that they have filed an “ex-pate application”, to…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan and Fatou Ceesay The Gambia’s Inter-Party Committee (IPC) held a “post-election” press conference on 16th December 2021 at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara conference centre, where Co-Chair of the IPC, Hon Nyassi noted that “there was a violation of the Peace Accord” signed by the six Presidential candidates. The press conference comes almost 12 days after the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced the results of the 4th December 2021 Presidential Election. According to Hon Amul Nyassi who is also the National Assembly member for Foni Kansala, the 4th December 2021 election was “generally — free, fair…
By Ousman Saidykhan Claim: Price of rice has not increased since Yahya Jammeh left the country in 2017 Source: Adama Barrow at Fajikunda rally On Sunday 28th November 2021, then-incumbent and now President-elect, Adama Barrow was addressing his supporters at a rally in Faji Kunda, a town within the Latrikunda Sabiji constituency. Barely one week before the 4th December 2021 Presidential Election, President Barrow claimed that a price of a bag of rice had not increased since former President Yahya Jammeh fled the Gambia and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea in January 2017. Between 4:08:55 and 4:09:43, President Barrow, speaking in Wolof, claimed (that…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Gambian Artists Chipa Yi, real name Mr Sheriff Camara, has reported a case of “Police Brutality” to the Gambia Police Force yesterday, 13th December 2021 and to the Gambia’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) today 14th December 2021. The popular Banjulian rapper took to social media on Sunday 12th December 2021, to raise attention to alleged Police Brutality meted out on him by Officers of the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) the same day at 1:56 am in the morning at Louvel Square in Banjul. Chipa Yi’s statement commences when he went “to buy dinner, some PIU…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Ahead of Gambia’s presidential election, President Adama Barrow and the five other contesting candidates signed a code of conduct to guide their campaigns and address eventualities after the polls. Following the refusal of 3 of the presidential hopefuls to accept the outcome of the polls as announced by the Independent Electoral Commission and the ensuing tension, the commitment of the candidates to the code of conduct has been brought into sharp focus. On 11th November 2021, four out of the six Presidential Candidates; Hon ANM Ousainu Darboe of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Independent Candidate Essa Mbye…
By Ousman Saidykhan & Alimatou S Bajinka Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Gambia Participates (GP) has unveiled its Final Election Observation Report highlighting some electoral irregularities which they believe did not influence the integrity of the electoral process. The preliminary report was issued on Monday 6th December 2021 to the press less than twenty-four hours after the Independent Electoral Commission announced that incumbent Adama Barrow had won the 4th December 2021 Presidential election. During GP’s Election Observation mission, they collaborated with the Gambia Bar Association, the University of The Gambia and the Transitional Justice Working Group and dispatched over four hundred…
By the Gambia Press Union (GPU) The Gambia Press Union has received official reports that on 6th December 2021, freelance photojournalist Lamin Dumbuya was physically assaulted by supporters of the United Democratic Party (UDP) at the residence of the party leader Ousainou ANM Darboe in Pipeline. The supporters who assaulted Dumbuya also confiscated and damaged a number of his equipment including two cameras. UDP supporters and sympathisers gathered at the residence of Mr Darboe to supposedly show their dissatisfaction with the result of the 4th December presidential election as announced by the Independent Electoral Commission. As a photojournalist, Dumbuya was…
The Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) published its Preliminary Report on its Election Observation Mission to the 4th December 2021 Presidential Election in the Gambia. Below is the entire report as received. Preliminary Statement 1. Introduction At the invitation of the government of the Republic of The Gambia, EISA deployed a short-term election observer (STO) mission to the 04 December 2021 Presidential election in The Gambia. The mission was composed of 15 international observers from 13 African countries, drawn from Election Management Bodies (EMBs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and academia. The EISA IEOM is led by His…