By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT During the 64th Sumit of the Heads of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) earlier this week The Gambia’s President Adama Barrow thanked ECOWAS for the continued stay of ECOMIG Forces and insisted that the implementation of the TRRC Recommendations is on course. The final communique of the ECOWAS summit details that it was held on Sunday 10th December 2023 in Abuja, Nigeria, led by President Bola Tinubu. Amongst those in attendance were the Presidents of Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo. Meanwhile, the Vice President of Ivory Coast, the Prime Minister…
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.
Gambian National Assembly members for Banjul have secured a Nomination and an Award from International Organisations this week starting 11th December 2023. ECOWAS Parliament’s Media Team awarded Hon Fatoumatta Njai of Banjul South for her role in championing women’s rights and was also elected as the Secretary General of ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians. Meanwhile, Hon Momodou Lamin B Bah of Banjul North was nominated as the President of the Global Youth Mental Health Forum. Both stories are featured in this article. ECOWAS Female Parliamentarians Association Elects Hon Fatoumatta Njai as Secretary-General By Edrissa Jallow Banjul South Lawmaker, Hon Fatoumatta Njai was…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Parliamentarians approved the 2024 Appropriation Bill on Tuesday 12th December 2023 which included cuts and reallocations to budget lines of various government institutions. According to the Consolidated report of the Finance and Public Accounts Committee (FPAC) “Committees were guided by the resolution adopted by the National Assembly during its pre-budget retreat i.e., to consider reducing the budget deficit of D4.45 billion — and savings made should not be reallocated to sectors”. Unfortunately, this was not reflected in the 2024 Approved Appropriation. The same report “cautioned not to reduce budget lines that could have a negative impact…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT During the Finance Minister’s 2024 Budget Speech, he highlighted that Inflation reached a record high of 18.5% in September 2023 and noted some of the steps the government took to bring down the cost of fuel and food in particular in an attempt to curb inflation and price increases. Speaking in Parliament on 8th December 2023 Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs Hon Seedy S Keita informed members that “tighter global financial conditions in response to multi-decade highs in global inflation rate is adversely affecting the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals, generating foreign exchange shortages, weighing on forex…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Minister of Justice notified Parliament that he intends to establish the Victims Commission in the first Quarter of 2024 and also plans to progress plans to table the Special Prosecutors Office and Special Accountability Mechanism Bills in Parliament soon. The Attorney General and Minister for Justice Hon Dawda A Jallow was responding to Parliamentary questions posed by the Hon Member for Busumbala and the Hon Member for Banjul North on the stages of implementation of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission’s (TRRC’s) recommendations and the Reparations component on 6th December 2023. The TRRC is a…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Gambia’s Justice Minister informed Parliament that the Government is currently pursuing diplomatic channels with the Indian Government to pursue legal action against the Indian company responsible for manufacturing tainted medicines which took the lives of over 73 children in The Gambia from mid-2022 to early 2023. Back in December 2022 Parliament instructed the Government to commence legal proceedings against Indian company Maiden Pharmaceuticals and this was followed up with another recommendation from the President’s AKI Task Force for the government to file legal proceedings against the same company back in July 2023. However, to date,…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT International human rights advocate dubbed the “Dictator Hunter” Reed Brody, has called on The Gambia Government to implement the TRRC’s Recommendations on Criminal Prosecutions in The Gambia to ensure that victims get Justice in the country where the human rights violations occurred. The TRRC is a defunct Commission which investigated the human rights violations which occurred during the 22-year rule of former President Yahya A J J Jammeh. The Commission submitted its report and recommendations which the government mostly accepted. Some of the recommendations include the prosecution of those who bear the most responsibility, including former…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT Yesterday, 30th November 2023 a German court in Celle convicted former Jungler Driver Bai Lowe for the killing of two people and the attempted assassination of one person after a trial which started back in 2022. German courts convicted Bai Lowe for the murder of journalist Deyda Hydara in 2004, former soldier Dawda Nyassi in 2006 and the attempted murder of lawyer Ousman Sillah in 2003. Bai Lowe was a soldier who joined the second batch of Junglers after undergoing training. The Junglers were a private para-military assassination squad that reported directly to former President Jammeh…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT The Minister of Justice, Hon Dawda A Jallow has informed delegates at the Gambia Bar Association’s event today, 28th November 2023 that he anticipates that the Special Prosecutor will commence work by mid-2024. In addition to this Minister Jallow added that he anticipates that the Special Prosecutor’s Office Bill will be tabled in Parliament in January 2024 during an extra-ordinary session. The Special Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) is essential to commence the prosecution of perpetrators who bear the most responsibility for human rights violations that occurred during the regime of former President Yahya A J J Jammeh…
By Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT According to the 2024 Executive Budget Proposal tabled in Parliament last week the newly created offices for Executive Coordinators for Banjul and Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) will cost the government over D1 Million in basic salaries and allowances. Meanwhile, Governors’ Offices in five other regions will cost Taxpayers over D1 million each per region. Combined, the five governor offices in the regions and the two newly established offices in Banjul and KMC will cost taxpayers over D7.92 million in 2024 as opposed to D6.86 million in 2023. Looking at the Workforce Budget it can be seen…