Historically dictators tend to portray a false image of bravery and power strength internally and externally. They would often bark at and crack down on their weak citizens and put forward a public face pretending to defend the rights and interests of the nation against external powers and subversive groups. They neutralize any civil society groups and render them ineffective to prevent any form of resistance to their autocratic rule. Their main strategy if you may for their long term survival is to incite fear, divide and conquer where they plant seeds of mistrust between citizens especially the…
Author: Gainako
By Mamina Ibrahim Sonko U.S.A Uncle L.J was more like a father to me. He was such a great human being – so strong, bold, brilliant a rare larger-than-life kind of character – a pillar that supported our whole family! Such a huge loss to our family, friends and the entire country Honorable Landing Jallow Sonko was an educator prior to joining politics, he taught at several schools before he became a career politician and a civil servant. He represented Upper Niumi in the parliament of the first Republic from (1972 to 1994), He served as a Minister of…
The Spotlight: The Gambia’s Opposition By Yero Jallow “It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership” (Nelson Mandela -The Great Madiba, Apartheid hero and South African former President). To every situation we have, be it pain, pleasure, success, failure, disease, ease, love, hate, and you think of the long list of opposite pairs in life, that there is something responsible. Yes, the higher power God Almighty is intact…
By Sarjo Bayang To validate the firm position that genuine critics of junta leader Yaya Jammeh have good reasons flagging up, it emerged in social media post by courtesy of Bamba Mass how during his first press interview soon after 22 July 1994 coup Yaya Jammeh lied to the nation. From some of the selected questions below and the response by angry armed bandit Yaya Jammeh it came out clear how he lied from the beginning. Yaya never has any justification for staging a coup but just to loot the nation and setting up a killer regime of wicked…
The former minister of Local Government and Lands in the first Republic Hon. Alhagie Landing Jallow Sonko has been laid to rest. Mr. Sonko died a few days ago in a Dakar hospital while undergoing treatment from a tragic road accident. The elderly Sonko was hit by a car last week in front of his home while coming from Fagri prayers at the Pipeline Mosque. He suffered multiple injuries and was flown to Dakar Senegal for medical treatment where he passed away surrounded by family and friends. The late Hon. Sonko was a prominent politician in the…
Reports reaching Gainako this evening indicates that the recently fired deputy minister of Agriculture Ousman Jammeh has been picked up by an unmarked vehicle from his residence in Kanifing. Mr. Jammeh a seasoned civil servant was appointed by President Jammeh as Deputy minister to head the embattled but most important ministry to Yahya Jammeh and his unrealistic visions for food self sufficiency. Ousman’s appointment was short lived when on October 15th, he was fired without an explanation after returning on a nationwide tour of the country. An anonymous reliable source reaching our editor indicated that Mr. Jammeh’s family reported…
Our conscience is the inner guide that stays in constant communication with us, enabling us to distinguish between right and wrong. It creates a sense of uneasiness when we encounter a bad or wrong situation. This uneasiness exist and increases as long as the bad condition prevails, often resulting to guilt when we condone or do bad things, or fail to take action in matters that require moral intervention. The conscience also creates a sense of joy and satisfaction when a good situation is encountered, leading to the fostering of the good. It allows us to perceieve the…
By Baba Galleh Jallow Moments after I shared my article “Looking Beyond the Power-Grab” on one of the Gambian community list serves, a critic hit the reply button and called it “cowardly academic crap.” After contemplating his “cowardly academic crap” for a while, I hit the reply button and sent him an empty response. So unreasonably uncivil was the intervention that another member of the list serve could not help observing that while he respected the critic’s free speech, he was “also free to conclude that his interventions are rude and negative without adding anything of value” and that “Incivility…
The Spotlight: The Gambia Youths for Unity, GYU. By Yeo Jallow “The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker” (Helen Keller, Activist and Educator). The Youths are the cream of society, those that for accuracy constitute the greater part of the population in any nation. The particular group is in fact the future leaders of any country. In traditional Gambia, children are source of insurance for old age. In nation development, the youths are in the forefront, as they…
HISTORICAL FACT FIVE years ago, on 17th September 2010, pupils from St. John Vianney’s School, Bulock, took part at GPI in a live television link with London. They were part of a programme in which Pope Benedict XVI, then visiting Britain, addressed 3,000 school children at St Mary’s University in london, watched on television by every Catholic school in Britain. The Pope wore a blue and white stole sent to him from The Gambia. The boys and girls from Bulock were the only ones outside the United Kingdom to take part in the program. Source; Gambia Pastoral Institute Newsletter, Catholic Diocese of Banjul Editor’s Note: Without a doubt…