By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The former Hon Member for Serrekunda, Hon Halifa Sallah who is the current party leader of the People’s Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) has published a 14-page supplement on Foroyaa Newspaper focused on the Draft Constitution. Published on 29th August 2023 the introduction highlights that “the objective of this publication is to situate the reader on how the constitution building process started and where it stumbled”. With the catchy headline “Dead as a Draft Constitution but Alive as a Working Document,” Hon Sallah gave his perspective on the Constitution building process where he also…
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 On Tuesday 5th September 2023, both The Gambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister and the Minister for Defence withdrew their Bills from Parliament cutting the National Assembly’s business shorter than expected. During his motion to withdraw, Foreign Affairs Minister Hon Mamadou Tangara stated “Hon Speaker, I want to inform this August Assembly that my Ministry did not seek for the ratification of The Gambia-Swiss Agreement. The Office of the Clerk requested from my Ministry signed agreements relating to immigration which was shared following which we received an agenda with three items to be ratified including this agreement”. However,…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Five Acts have been passed and assented to in 2023 in addition to the Appropriation Act, of 2023. The Appropriation Act, 2023 should make it six acts in total, however, it’s important to note that it was passed by Parliament on 6th December 2022 and assented to by the President on 22nd December 2022. The Appropriation Act forms part of the Annual Budget and was tabled by the Hon Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Seedy Keita. Out of the five acts passed and assented in 2023, two were tabled by the Hon Attorney General and…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Two Cabinet Ministers have withdrawn two motions from the National Assembly within a period of two days, cutting Parliamentary proceedings short for Tuesday 5th September 2023. The two motions which have been withdrawn are for the ratification of the “Arms Trade Treaty Agreement” (ATT) and the “Agreement between The Gambia Government and the Swiss Federal Council on Cooperation in Migration Matters”. Speaking to Parliamentarians on Monday 4th September 2023, the Hon Minister for Defence Sering Modou Njie, tabled the ATT Agreement for The Gambia “to join the global efforts to control the illegal proliferation of conventional…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The National Assembly member for Banjul North, Hon Momodou Lamin Biram Bah donated D50,000 to nine qualified Nawettan teams from Banjul North and an Under-15 football tournament at the July 22nd Arch (Never Again Arch) on Friday 1st September 2023. Hon Bah who won his first seat as a Parliamentarian in April 2022 said that supporting the youth “is a commitment from myself as a National Assembly member”. The event was graced by the Lord Mayoress of Banjul Rohey Malick Lowe, the Banjul Central Representative, the Banjul Sports Committee President, the Gambia Press Union President, leaders…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT According to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs (MoFEA) January to end of June 2023 Expenditure Brief, the country has spent 53% of the 2023 Approved Budget by the end of the first six months. The expenditure brief details government expenditure on all Government Local Funds (GLF) which means it “does not factor [in] any donor-sourced funding including external loans and donor project grants”. In the 2023 Approved Budget, the total GLF approved for Government Expenditure was D22.06 billion while the total of GLF, Loans and Grants came to D38.8 billion. This means all loans…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT This brand-new edition of the Gambia Parliamentary Newsletter (GPN) features one of the most talked about Bills in the Gambian Parliament for over four years now, the Anti-Corruption Bill. This special edition highlights the journey of the Anti-Corruption Bill, some of the setbacks it faced since it was tabled in 2019 and why we need it in the first place. Our insightful publications highlight gross corruption in the country as well as the sole conviction for corruption by the current government. Any anti-corruption enthusiast will keep this edition handy on their phones, or computers and pick…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Leaders of Gambia’s Civil Society Organisations (CSO) met with the imminent persons of the International IDEA delegation to discuss reviving the Draft Constitution on Tuesday 15th August 2023. The meeting featured speeches from members of the panel which included religious leaders from the Muslim and Christian faith and other representatives. After speeches from eminent persons, some CSO leaders also made some comments for their consideration. During the speeches delivered by the representative of the Chairperson of the Gambia Christian Council (GCC) Bishop Bannie Manga, he urged stakeholders to be honest, and put aside selfishness and greed…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT After filing a complaint to the Police about four members of the victim community, former Chairperson Mr Sheriff Mohammed Kijera confirmed that he withdrew his complaint on Monday, 7th August 2023. The U-turn comes only five days after Mr Kijera filed a complaint at the Police Headquarters against some of his former colleagues on 2nd August 2023. Last week Gainako published an article highlighting that the former Chairperson of the Victims Center for Human Rights Violations in The Gambia (Victim Center), Mr Sheriff Mohammed Kijera, had lodged a Police complaint against Ms Ayesha Jammeh, Ms Zainab…
By Yusef Taylor and Edward Francis Dalliah After the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued a seven days ultimatum to Niger coup plotters on Sunday 30th July 2023, it instructed its Chief of Defense to meet immediately. The following week an ECOWAS delegation failed to meet Niger coup leader, General Abdourahamane Tchiani on Thursday 3rd August 2023. The following day, ECOWAS Defense Chiefs met on Friday 4th August 2023. According to Africa News, an ECOWAS delegation travelled to meet Niger coup leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani on Thursday 3rd August 2023, but left a few hours later without meeting…