By Yero Jallow, USA Look from up in the skies to earth Look from Katong to Koina Look from North America to Africa Yet still, Asia to South America And you take the whole world as you desire. Take the world and carry it on your head Take it and carry it all by yourself I only hope it fits your luggage’s capacity And that you will be honest to deliver it To the different stakeholders of time.
Author: Gainako
By Baba G. Jallow, Creighton University In a strange piece published on the Stratfor website on October 16, 2013, Robert D. Kaplan tried to make a case that not all dictatorships are bad; that there are in fact “good” dictators. Why? Because some dictators, while having murdered tens of thousands of their own people through tortures, disappearances, extrajudicial executions and mass massacres, still managed to create a degree of economic prosperity for their countries. Mr. Kaplan makes the case that calling all dictators dictators over-simplifies complex realities; he confidently argues that some dictators are actually good dictators. But they are…
Gambia is unserious and it shows. It is both embarrassing and inexplicable for an entire nation to close shop from Thursday to Sunday every week while the rest of the world toils to make life better for mankind. Not to work is unproductive, and an impediment to the development of both the human spirit and the human welfare. Indeed, all major religions of the world see virtue in work. There’s a local proverb which roughly translate “work” is an integral part of your belief in, and worship of, Allah/God The Almighty.
IPI Blog: Former senior government official and TV anchor accused of passing information to journalist. It is tragic but hardly surprising when journalists or news organisations in Africa face subversion charges. Tanzania’s Ministry of Information recently employed laws against sedition and publishing state secrets to temporarily halt publication of two widely-read newspapers. Several Zambian journalists were hauled into court earlier this year, initially accused of sedition. Six Ethiopian journalists are serving prison sentences, purportedly for threatening the state. Now from Gambia comes news that President Yahya Jammeh’s former press and public relations chief has been charged with sedition for passing…
DC Supreme court judge has freed three Gambian Diaspora activists who were arrested and detained overnight last week for illegally taking over the Gambian Embassy in protest against the Gambian government who has been accused of gross human rights violations, extra judicial killings and disappearance of its citizens. The trio Pa Samba Jow (Coach), Sohna Sallah and Ousainou Mbemga were arraigned before judge Morison last week who adjourned their hearing to Tuesday October 15, 2013. The judge showed high interest in the case as she was reported to have said that this was the first time they have had…
By Burama Jammeh Yahya Is Truly A Bad Guy – Him Staying/Leaving Is No Good Goal Of Our Struggle Yahya is a real bad guy! After 20 years we know he will not preside over a functioning democratic republic of The Gambia. In fact the nation is moving towards a constitutional monarchy as opposed a sovereign republic. Yahya arbitrarily seizing private power for personal gains and putting citizens into force-labor in his so-called farms including civil servants who at the time are on the clock at the expense of tax paying Gambians. Yet Yahya staying and/or leaving is not…
The Arab Spring was widely seen as providing the necessary springboard for democratic governance and a galvanizing factor for the rest of Africa to emulate. Tunisia, Egypt and Libya were seen as the templates for African democratic resurgence. Instead, the overthrow of dictatorships across northern Africa unleashed al Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) which led to the temporary occupation of half of the territory of Mali until the French military recaptures lost territory but not before the local populations were traumatized, holy places vandalized and the historic city of Timbuktu ravaged.
By Baba Galleh Jallow It is sometimes hard to avoid reacting to the words of people who make statements not out of any particular knowledge beyond their narrow professional occupations, not out of reasonable familiarity with the situations they address, but simply as a consequence of their ideological positions and within their narrow political contexts. Moreover, the fight against injustice necessarily entails a corresponding fight against those who, wittingly or unwittingly, aid and abet injustice. The recent statement to the Iran-based Press TV by Bill Jones of the UK-based Executive Intelligence Review that Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh spoke “truth…
By D. A. Jawo Delayed Democracy: How the Press Collapsed in The Gambia, is quite an appropriate title for a book that talks about the state of the Gambian media, particularly since the advent of the AFPRC/APRC regime of President Yahya Jammeh. The author; Alagi Yorro Jallow, is no doubt very much qualified to talk about the Gambian media. He had been an all-round journalist who has had quite a wealth of experience of the Gambian media scene. Apart from being co-founder and Managing Editor of The Independent newspaper, which was by all accounts one of the most vocal newspapers the Gambia has ever…
Momodou Lamin Shyngle Nyassi who has been described in many quarters as the face of the opposition struggle in the Gambia has finally been laid to Rest. Mr. Nyassi’s funeral was held in Brikama where thousands of people converged to pay their last respect to the political hero who died of an apparent heart attack in New York while on a visit to the United States. Mr. Nyassi’s burial was attended by high profile dignitaries from the opposition, community leaders including the ruling APRC government. He was once again described by the leader of the UDP as “our brother lion…