We learned today that one of Jammeh’s multitude of former Foreign Ministers, Mambury Njie, has been charged with “neglect of office” and hauled before a magistrate at the Banjul Magistrate’s Court. Mr. Njie, who has been out of a job for a couple of years and cannot travel out of the country because his travel documents have been seized, is being accused of negligence of duty. According to the charge sheet, the regime of Yaya Jammeh has finally come to realize, after 13 years, that Mambury Njie was a negligent officer for failing to advise government properly before a…
Author: Gainako
Stop The Illegal Arrests of UDP Activists!!!! It has been brought to CORDEG’s attention that UDP Youth activists were recently arrested in the village of Madiana in Kombo South. The following among others were arrested: Fatty, Fakeba Kolly, Falang Sonko, Baby Sonko, Maimuna Darboe, Lang Marong. Their crime? Peacefully engaging in party activities – a perfectly legal behavior. These latest arrests took place against the backdrop of numerous prior blatant violations of the rights of UDP members by the regime, actions meant to cripple the party and stifle its ability to mount a formidable challenge against the Yaya…
Independence, dual citizenship, and some routes to status regularisation in the UK (As a Keynote speaker at the Gambian Association Coventry 22/2/2014 Independence Celebration) – By Lamin J Darboe Independence If it was of widespread importance, perhaps controversial, and of an international character, actually and potentially, there is a good chance it is in the United Nations Charter (UN Charter), if only tangentially, or a Resolution of the General Assembly would have dealt with it in some way. Self determination, popularly known as “independence”, is still hugely important to the UN system. This is by no means accidental…
By Papa Kumba Loum There has been much speculation about the near end of the reign of President Yahya Jammeh. During the months of May/June of 2013 there were extensive rumors regarding the celebrated Senegalaise clairvoyant lady Selbey Ndom who it was claimed had put an ultimatum of 90 days to Jammeh’s rule. This rumor was however quickly dispelled by Selbey herself in a TV interview. Most recently, we have been bombarded by the online newspapers about Jammeh’s failing health. First we were told it was bipolar disease, and then quickly followed by rumor of brain tumor and now we…
Report on London Workshop on UPR Submission & Advocacy Tour to Brussels February 10-19, 2014 A workshop on human rights in London and discussions with officials of the European Union in Brussels recently highlighted a 10-day flurry of activities by Gambian diaspora-based civil society organizations. Representatives from Coalition for Change – The Gambia (CCG), UK Campaign for Human Rights in the Gambia (CHRG), and Human Rights for All (HUMRA) among others, participated in the workshop organized by Amnesty International from February 10-12, 2014 aimed at building their capacity to engage with the United Nations’ human rights mechanisms. The event was…
Alhagie Ceesay and Ebou Jobe They were best friends in high school and came to America together to attend the University of Washington in Seattle. Alhaji Mamut Ceesay and Ebou Jobe are from The Gambia in Western Africa, and after more than a decade working in the states, and naturalizing as U.S. citizens, they decided to return to their home and start a business. Alhaji, who has two children and worked as an infrastructure systems analyst for Chevron and Texaco in Houston, had just obtained his MBA. His friend Ebou, a father of three, was an operations manager at…
By Yero Jallow Why is it that you come? with your stealthy and cold hands you come to take us away from the beautiful family and friends you come to take us away from all the dreams of this world from the life projects we started you cut us short by our necks Off our spirits fly to thy Lord leaving scars and gaps unfilled.
Gainako has received further information that Gambia’s embattled leader, Yaya Jammeh is still allegedly in a Moroccan hospital responding to treatment. This is a rejoinder to the earlier media reportage that Jammeh was possibly flown to France for further medical treatment. The authorities in Banjul are not updating on Jammeh’s health status. What remains very clear is that Jammeh remains sick and is battling an ailment undisclosed to Gambians. The press faces dilemma in disclosing accurate information to our readers. In a situation where authorities will not disclose any information regarding the President’s situation, reporters can only rely on speculation until…
By Demba Baldeh The Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in the Gambia (CORDEG) held it’s first press conference Friday February 21st 2014. Two weeks ago CORDEG elected a new executive to fulfill a pledge to form a broad representative body to coordinate political activities of all Gambians that came out of a National conference that was held in Raleigh North Carolina in May 2013. After a lengthy and difficult process that left many Gambians wondering if another conference has dissipated into thin air, CORDEG emerged with a stronger and more credible leadership than expected. The election of…
By Sidi Sanneh We wrote a piece last January that asked, rhetorically, whether Raleigh was dead. By Raleigh, we were referring, of course, to the political gathering of Gambian political parties and civic societies in the North Carolinian city of the same name which took place last May. The reason for the question was there was little movement is establishing the Steering Committee mandated by the Raleigh Process. We wrote a follow-up piece entitled “Is Raleigh dead? : The sequel” in February asking whether Raleigh, the process, was dead. The response came a week later announcing that the Steering…