By Yusef Taylor and Edrissa Jallow Bakeries around the Greater Banjul Area including Tallingding, Coastal Road and Bijilo have experienced a hike in the price of flour causing a shortage of bread today 12th January 2022. The bread shortage comes only three weeks after the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Regional Integration intervened to announce that an “agreement has been reached with Nessim Trading Company Limited for the price of Ferry brand to be restored to D1,425 per bag, Bridge brand at D1,385 and Golden Brown maintained at D1,350 with immediate effect.” The Government’s press release was published on the…
Author: Yusef Taylor
Yusef Taylor
Yusef Taylor, commonly known as Flex Dan is an editor and practising journalist based in the Gambia with a keen interest in human rights, the economy and good governance among many others. He continues to break news on the economy, human rights violations and is highly engaged in security sector reforms, constitutional reform and the transition of the Gambia from dictatorship to a democracy, the NewGambia. Yusef has been working with Gainako as a media practitioner from 2015 to date. He has a degree in Civil Engineering with 5 years of Design Consultancy experience.
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Ministry of Lands, Regional Government and Religious Affairs has written a letter dated 4th January 2022 to the Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) notifying them of a “Commission of Inquiry into allegations of fraud and malpractice at the KMC from April 2018 to date”. According to the letter the Commission of Inquiry is constituted “in accordance with section 151 (1) (a) of the Local Government Act, 2002″ will also look “at other connected matters as reported to his office by the Lord Mayor, the CEO and the special inspection report”. UDP Petition Indicts Lands…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT A claim being widely circulated on social media platforms including WhatsApp and Facebook is suggesting “300K votes obtained by Jammeh in 2011 but lost in 2016 [were] re-added to the register in 2021”. The claim is raising concerns about the credibility of the 2021 presidential election which has already been disputed by some opposition parties – the Gambian Supreme Court recently dismissed a legal challenge to President Adama Barrow’s recent election victory. FactCheck: The data used in this Fact Check starts with the 1996 Presidential Election and ends with the 2021 Presidential Elections. The IEC…
By Yusef Taylor A widely circulated claim that “two German nationals believed to be mercenaries” have been arrested in the Gambia is being shared on multiple social media platforms including WhatsApp and Facebook. Screenshots of the claim originally made by a Gambian social media blogger on Facebook alleges that “two German nationals [who were] heavily armed” were captured at sea by the naval forces of the Gambian army around Denton Bridge. This comes a few weeks after some opposition parties in the Gambia rejected the outcome of the Presidential election that included some six (6) contesting candidates including incumbent Adama…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has approved the financing of US$ 21 million for two of The Gambia’s development projects. In total, the IsDB has approved a total of US$ 1.6 billion for 24 new projects in 19 member countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. Other West African countries which will benefit from the latest IsDB fund include Senegal (EUR 100.00 million and US$5 million), Guinea (EUR 159.56 million and EUR 23 million), Cote d’Ivoire (US$ 47 million and EUR 115 million), Burkina Faso (EUR 17.39 million), Nigeria (US$ 29.75 million and US$ 150.52 million) and…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT A screenshot purportedly from a Facebook page named “UDP TV& MEDIA” calling for a boycott of QTV and QCell has been making the rounds. The post, which was shared 17 times from 14th December, 2021, states “To all our supporters we boycott QTv and QCell .Unsubscribe now” and is purportedly signed by “UDP Media communication Dr. Amadou Scatter Janneh”. The post has been shared here, here, here and here Fact Check: A counter post by Amadou Scattred Janneh debunked the boycott claims, saying “This is fake. I have never called for any boycott in my personal capacity or as chair of UDP’s Media…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Ms Awa Njie, a female victim representative urged the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to deliver justice to victims of human rights violations during the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh. Ms Njie was speaking at the launch of the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) report on opportunities for reparations for survivors of SGBV on November 23rd 2021, just days before the submission of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) to President Adama Barrow. The report is written in collaboration with the Women’s Association for Victims’ Empowerment (WAVE) and the Civil Society Gender Platform. Ms…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The UEFA Champions League draw for the round of 16 was cancelled due to a technical problem and had to be re-drawn for the second time on Monday 14th December 2021. This unprecedented administrative error has brought the competition under intense scrutiny after Manchester United drew Paris Saint Germain in a mouth-watering fixture which would have seen multiple Ballon d’Or winners Lionel Messi face Cristiano Ronaldo, however, that draw was cancelled and replaced. A tweet from the UEFA Champions League Official Twitter account shocked the footballing world when they announced that “a technical problem with the…
Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT On popular radio show “Straight Talk” aired on West Coast Radio at 7 pm on Wednesday 8th December 2021, Gambian Police PRO ASP Lamin Njie lifted the lid on a viral video showing two PIU Officers boasting of tear-gassing supporters of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the tear-gas incident at the residence of UDP Leader, Ousainu ANM Darboe. Straight Talk anchor, Mr John Charles Njie put it to Police PRO ASP Lamin Njie that the Police “can do 100 good things but one bad thing can bring the whole Police Force into disrepute. Two things happened…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Gambian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Women’s Association for Victims’ Empowerment (WAVE) and Fantanka visited the SOS Children’s Village on 11th December 2021 to commemorate International Human Rights Day and mark the end of 16 days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. WAVE and Fantanka are women-based organisations focused on victim empowerment and alleviating the impact of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence [SGBV] in The Gambia. Fantanka is Mandinka word meaning to prevent/protect yourself. The two organisations partnered to support grassroots sensitisation in schools. On 11th December 2021, the two organisations visited SOS Children’s Village where a drama was…