By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Speaker of the Gambia’s Sixth Legislature has ruled that unfinished Bills of the Fifth Legislature may be reintroduced by the persons in charge and continue from their previous stage in Parliament. Speaker of the House Hon Fabakary Tombong Jatta made this ruling on 12th September 2022 after a Point of Order was raised by the Deputy Majority Leader and member for Old Yundum, Hon Abdoulie Ceesay. Hon Ceesay is also the Chairperson of the Standing Orders Committee of the National Assembly who should advise Parliament on procedural matters. Making reference to Standing Orders 18 and…
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 and Sainey Sanyang This is the second publication by Gainako on one of the settlements in Sanneh Mentereng Constituency following the first publication on Bijilo. Brufut is right after Brusubi heading from Turntable towards Tanji. For this publication, our reporter engaged the Public Relations Officer / Spokesperson of Brufut Village Development Committee (VDC) Mr Momodou Bah. The Alkalo for Brufut is Ma Lamin Manneh who echoed the words of Spokesperson Bah that they are available to engage the public. However, Spokesperson Bah noted that they prefer to fix appointments. Explaining how the VDC is set up Mr…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT and Sainey Sanyang As part of Gainako’s efforts to engage local communities, our reporter visited the Village Development Committee (VDC) Chairperson to engage them and discover some of the challenges they are trying to address in the local community. Our findings have revealed that the Bijilo Nursery School and the Mariama Jammeh Clinic both need significant support to provide consistent education and medical services to the required level. Bijilo is within Kombo North which falls under Brikama Area Council which is in turn under the West Coast Region. At the level of Parliamentary Constituencies, Bijilo is…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT All candidates who contested at the Gambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) Board Elections on 2nd September 2022 were declared unopposed winners after the only position to be contested was also declared unopposed. Current President Mr Edrissa Mass Jobe won his second and last term as President of the GCCI after one candidate was declared illegible to contest in the 2022 GCCI Elections held after the GCCI Annual General Meeting at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre. Two other candidates were also declared ineligible to contest with one other rescinding their decision to…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Day One – Jangjangbureh Gambian Civil Society Organisation Women’s Association for Victim Empowerment (WAVE) started a three-day engagement with victims of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) and authorities on the Kerr Mott Ali saga which has seen numerous members of the Ndiggal Sect deported from their home town. The first engagement took place at the Governor’s Office in Janjanbureh with the second engagement to take place in the next two days at Nyaw and Panchang. Since 2009, during the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, various religious sects such as the Ahmadiyya and Ndiggal…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT A three-day “Peace Talks for Peace Building” initiative concluded over the weekend of 28th August 2022 saw representatives of Gambians “deported” from Kerr Mott Ali Gambia in 2009 engage the Government, Chiefs, Local and Religious Leaders as well as the local community of Njau and Panchang about returning to their home town. Currently seeking refuge in Kerr Mott Ali Senegal which is just across the border, the Gambia Government has upheld the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission’s (TRRC) recommendation that “the members of the Ndiggal Sect still living in exile in Senegal should be returned to…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Two loan agreements were ratified by the Gambia’s National Assembly in late July 2022 from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (BADEA) for the widening of the Bertil-Harding Road Project and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Loan for the development of the University of the Gambia’s Faraba Campus. Gainako Online News has accessed both of the loan agreements which total a whopping US$27 million. This is equivalent to D1.431 billion at a rate of D53 to US$1. According to the loan agreement document the Kuwait Fund for Arab Development Loan amounts to a total of…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Barely two weeks after the flash floods which affected numerous Gambian residents on the 31st of July and 5th of August 2022, Food Bank Gambia has supported 20 families in the Old Yundum area. Working with the National Assembly member for Old Yundum, Hon Abdoulie Ceesay the team of Food Bank Volunteers handed out 20 bags of rice to some 168 flash flood victims on 14th August 2022. One of the beneficiaries welcomed the support which they referred to as comforting during a time of difficulties. One unnamed female beneficiary had these words to say: “thank…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The fourth situation report published by the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) highlights that at least 43,984 people have been affected by flash floods with at least 11 deaths and over 3,000 households completely destroyed in late July and early August 2022. The NDMA held a press conference on Friday 19th August 2022 to update the media on a technical visit by a delegation from the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination – OCHA to support operations relating to the flash floods. Meanwhile, just last week the European Union Commission in the Gambia pledged D11 million (EUR…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) started a two-day training retreat for staff of the National Assembly on Thursday 19th August 2022 at Baobab Hotel in Bijilo. August is usually reserved for Parliament to go on recess, meaning that most Parliamentary Staff goes on leave. This meant that a number of Parliamentary Staff decided to attend the session despite being on annual leave. At least twenty (20) Parliamentary Staff were in attendance for the training. The opening session was moderated by the Deputy Clerk for Legal and Procedural Matters Mr Kalipha MM Mbye who introduced the…