Presentation By Edward Harris, Head of Communications, Africa Progress Panel Thank you for the introduction, Peter, and for this opportunity to talk. I am going to focus my comments on oil, gas, and minerals in Africa, which, by some estimates, holds about a third of the world’s mineral reserves, and even higher proportions of the world’s deposits of cobalt, platinum, and diamonds. If managed and traded correctly, these and other natural resources – including oil – could transform the continent. Natural resources could provide governments with precious revenues to spend on, say, health, education, energy, and infrastructure. They…
Author: Gainako
Countries around the world has signaled that they are paying more attention to Gambia’s two decades of dismal human rights records and governing issues than articulated. This strong message was sent to Gambian authorities when they appeared before the United Nations Period Review on Human Rights and good governance in Geneva Switzerland. The Jammeh government appeared before the world body to defend its numerous Human Rights records and failures in adhering to international treaties and conventions that the country is a signatory or party to as part of the global community of nations. Though a small nation and mostly…
As The Gambia goes through its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the UN Human Rights Council, ARTICLE 19 calls for concerted regional and international efforts to stop the violent repression against free voices and end impunity. “ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned about the lack of public space for citizens and the media in The Gambia. Opportunities for freedom of expression, including through the internet, are shrinking by the day. Repression and fear have reached an alarming level, inhibiting Gambians from having a say in the country’s public affairs,” says Fatou Jagne Senghor, Regional Director of ARTICLE 19 West Africa.…
Fatou Jaw Manneh’s Interview with the Norwegian Olso Times Political Activist and Gambian journalist Fatou Jaw Manneh, in conversation with the Editor-in-Chief of The Oslo Times International News Network,Hatef Mokhtar, at the Oslo Freedom Forum, on 22 October. Fatou Jaw Manneh is a refugee, currently living in Arizona, USA. She has lived in America for more than 10 years. During her early years, she worked as a journalist in her home Country Gambia. Gambia which was once called the, ‘Smiling coast of Africa,’ today is going through an unspeakably dark phase at the hands of its brutal dictator Yahya Jammeh who seized power…
By Lawrence Jabang Kindness and weakness are never the same and will never be the same. Unfortunately, they are too often confused. It’s a known fact that there always comes a time when each would need to paddle his/her own canoe. Therefore, it is long overdue for Gambian Christians to demonstrate that their ‘kindness’ as far as domestic politics and social issues are concerned, is never a weakness on their part. So time is ripe for us to send President Jammeh a clear, concrete message that games are over with and we are ready for mouth for an ‘eye for…
By Mathew K Jallow This week, Gambia’s military regime is mandated to appear before the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to perform an absolutely impossible tap dance; defend its less than stellar; in fact, downright horrendous human rights record. Ideally, the plethora of Gambian civil society organizations, speaking in one voice, ought to have presence at the UN in order to turn the military regime’s elaborate schemes of lies and deception on its head by providing UPR with conclusive evidence, including former participants in the regimes atrocities, to contradict Yahya Jammeh’s penchant for downplaying his shocking twenty…
Sad news reaching Gainako from our sister network the American Street News (ASN) has it that former NCP strongman Hon Foday Makalo has died. Mr. Makalo was 67 and reportedly died in Dakar today Sunday October 26th after a brief illness. Mr. Makalo’s demise came more than 10 years after his controversial disappearance in the Gambia. He was allegedly killed by members of the Jammeh security forces after falling apart with the administration. He served as the A(F)PRC Party administrative secretary round about the same time the leader of the National Convention Party the late Sheriff Mustapha Dibba also…
By Fatou Jaw Manneh I am a refugee, currently living in Arizona, USA. I have lived in America for more than 10 years. Earlier in my life, I was a reporter in my country Gambia, once called the “smiling coast of Africa.” In 1994, my peaceful country descended into a brutal dictatorship when Yahya Jammeh seized power through a military coup. For 20 long years, Gambia has been defined by fear and violence. Before Jammeh, tourists would come from all over Europe to enjoy our sun, our beaches, and the welcoming smiles from Gambian citizens. But that Gambia is…
Sarjo Bayang seeks to raise the bar higher Where systematic dispensation is lacking there human capital capability, efficiency and effectiveness can be seriously undermined. Optimal utilisation of policy instruments and good governance are key requirements for sustainable organisational development and institution building. Efficiency and effectiveness cannot be properly determined without having systems and performance measuring instruments in place to ensure maintenance of orderly dispensation. Dismantling the structures and abolishing systematic dispensation is the most visible evidence of failure when assessing proper governance for organisations, institutions, and businesses. This relates to the situation of governance in Gambia. The same instruments…
In the name of Allah, the …beneficent, the merciful… For 40 years, or was it longer, I can’t remember, I did all I could to give people houses, hospitals, schools, and when they were hungry, I gave them food. I even made Benghazi into farmland from the desert, I stood up to attacks from that cowboy Ronald Reagan, when he killed my adopted orphaned daughter, he was trying to kill me, instead he killed that poor innocent child. Then I helped my brothers and sisters from Africa with money for the African Union. I did all I could to help…