Editorial: We prefer civility and goodwill to acrimony and vengeance

We first publish this editorial on 26th December, 2016
which we wish to share with our new readers.
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Sidi Sanneh 

At this critical point in our politics, persons wishing to join the progressive forces of positive political change must be encouraged.  In particular, former APRC officials, supporters and ordinary citizens ready and willing to add their voices to those of us asking Jammeh to step down must be embraced.  We must bring as many of them into the fold as we possibly can prior to the 18th January deadline.  Jammeh's refusal will inevitably lead to the loss of life, as well as destruction of property which we must try to avoid.

Our immediate goal as a country, therefore, should be to do everything humanly possible to avert military intervention that can only set us back even further than necessary.

The 22-year record the Jammeh regime will be bequeathing the next generation of Gambians is a challenge of herculean proportion that will require a conducive business and political environment to successfully address these difficult challenges.  Peaceful and orderly transfer of power must, therefore, be the main preoccupation of not only the incoming administration but of every Gambian.  And Jammeh is the main obstacle to achieving this goal.

We can only measure up to the challenges confronting us in these consequential moments if our parochial and/or partisan instincts are in check to prevent them from clouding our judgment. Jammeh's 22-year presidency has so negatively and profoundly transformed Gambian society that nearly every aspect of the social fabric holding our communities together is fractured and can disentangle, threatening the social cohesion Jammeh inherited when he seized power in 1994.

If we fail, it will be catastrophic for a country that once prides itself of having pulled itself by the bootstrap from the status of an "improbable nation" to one that held great hope and promise among the community of nations.  We must restore our lost national pride by first coming to terms with the magnitude of the problem we will be inheriting from the 22-year dictatorship of Yaya Jammeh.

In moving forward, we must do so in civility and goodwill and not in acrimony and vengeance.  We fought Yaya Jammeh to return the rule of law and the reestablishment of our civil liberties guaranteed under law.  These guaranteed rights etched in our Constitution apply to every Gambian and non-Gambian alike, without exemption,

While appealing to our compassionate senses of fair play, we want to make clear that we are not advocating immunity from the law for anyone because no one is above the law and that applies to Amadou Samba and any other Gambian businessman or businesswoman who've had business dealings with Yaya Jammeh.  In an environment where the rule of law prevails, every Gambian is entitled to his or her day in a regular court of law and Mr. Samba is no exception.

Jammeh admits Solo Sandeng died in his custody and said let Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty International "go to hell."

Re-publication of a blog post first published
on May 30th, 2016
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Jammeh during the 2011 presidential elections day 

Yaya Jammeh has admitted in a Jeune Afrique magazine interview that Solo Sandeng, the opposition United Democratic Party's youth leader, died while in the custody of his notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA).

After weeks of denials from his ministers and supporters, both at home and abroad, while accusing his opponents of falsely reporting Mr. Sandeng's death to tarnish the image of his regime.

Reacting to both the United Nations Office of Human Rights and Amnesty International's call for an impartial and thorough investigation of the death in custody of all those thought to have been tortured to death while in the custody of the NIA, Jammeh was quoted as saying " I don;t see the point", referring to the calls for independent investigations.  He continued "people die in custody or during interrogations, its really common."

The callousness of one of Africa's most brutal tyrant was in full display when he wonder why all the fuss from the international community, particularly from the United Nation's and Amnesty International, when, in Jammeh's deranged mind " [T]his time, there is only one dead and they want an investigation?  I will not," declared Jammeh.   In fact, according to Jeune Afrique, Jammeh was quoted as saying "both Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty International can go to hell."

Amnesty International is expected t release its report on the human rights condition in the Gambia on the eve of the Summit of the ECOWAS Heads of State scheduled to take place in Dakar this weekend. Human rights activists are also converging in Dakar for an International Civil Society Forum on The Gambia to create a common framework and to project a common position in promoting human rights and the rule of law in The Gambia.

What is behind Darboe's bail appeal adjournment - Re-publication

This is a re-publication of an issue first published
on 30th May, 2016.
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Ousainou Darboe 

It has not been a good year for Yaya Jammeh so far.  The borders between The Gambia and Senegal have been closed from mid-February to last week, bringing to a close what ended up being a three-month stand-off.

To add to Jammeh's woes, the month-long protest demonstrations by the opposition United Democratic Party of Ousainou Darboe that threatened Jammeh's faltering regime.

The death in custody of Solo Sandeng which the regime denied but later admitted by Jammeh in a Jeune Afrique interview, led Ousinadou Darboe to lead his own protest against the deaths, tortures and the arrests of dozens of members f the opposition and its supporters.  The recently passed electoral laws designed to render many political parties ineffective to compete agisnt the ruling APRC have been the main reason for the demonstrations which were quelled by excessive use of force which led to a world-wide condemnation from the United States, the United Nations and European Union.

The violence against unarmed and peaceful demonstrators led the European Parliament to pass a strong resolution not only condemning the regime of Yaya Jammeh for excessive use of force but also proposed to its members state to consider targeted sanctions against key personnel of Jammeh's administration.  Other non-humanitarian sanctions were also recommended.

Jammeh also suffered defeat at the hands of ECOWAS when it decided to throw out Jammeh's complaint against Senegal over the birder closure when it was cited for non-observance of the regional body's protocol.  Jammeh failed to complete the process that would have rendered effective the transit protocol between Senegal and The Gambia.

The Jammeh regime has come under tremendous pressure and had opened itself to further international ridicule and outright scorn as a result of the unforced errors his incompetent regime has committed in the first half of the year.  Therefore, Jammeh needs some positive news to counter-balance all the negative and humiliating publicity that threatens his grip on power.  Enters the Ousianou Darbor case.

Jammeh has been heavily criticized, albeit privately, from his own judiciary that the case involving Ousianou Darboe and co is a one of heavy-handedness.   His Solicitor General advised that the state doesn't have a case against them, he ended up being fired.  The Chief Justice expressed similar sentiments, he was also fired only for his Attorney General and Minister of Justice to convince his to rescind the letter of dismissal - at least temporarily.   The last we heard, the Chief Justice has gone to his native Nigeria leaving the entire judiciary is more disarray.

Jammeh news some good news and he finds it in Ousainou Darboe case whose bail appeal was adjourned until 26th June to buy the dictator time.  What he plans on doing is to drag it up until the end of the Month of Ramadan when he will convene a big meeting of the Banjul Mullahs and the Supreme Islamic Council hypocrites when he will announce the "pardoning" of Ousainou and his supporters as a gesture of reconciliation.

This grandiose plan will sit well with his supporters but not with Ousainou or his supporters because the bigger problem - electoral reform - would not have been addressed by "pardoning" someone who should not have been arrested in the first place. 

An Open Letter to President Adama Barrow: Show political will and act on the OCCRP Report

His Excellency President Adama Barrow

President of the Republic of The Gambia

No 1 Anne Marie Javouhey Ave

State House

Banjul

10 April, 2018                                                                                                   

Open Letter to President Adama Barrow: Show political will and act on the OCCRP report

Your Excellency, Mr President:

The Right 2 Know Coalition-Gambia extends its greetings and compliments to you and your entire government. We write in the true spirit of partnership, with the aim of assisting your administration better deploy its mandate, promised to the electorate, at this critical time, when the country is still emerging from a post-tyrannical regime. 

Mr President, we wish to draw your attention to a recently released report detailing the shocking and unacceptable conspiracies by ex-president Jammeh and his accomplices, some of whom are still in your administration, to extort the country and loot its meagre resources.  These acts of criminality, which spanned two decades, have resulted in the country losing one billion dollars to the rampant, unbridled and attendant corruption under ex-president Jammeh.    The report, which was released last week by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global network of investigative journalists, presents irrefutable evidence of how the country was captured and eventually stolen.  It details how state owned enterprises, public finances, pensioners’ monies, donor aid, were all misappropriated to the tune of at least $975 million. Among the accomplices biggest targets and scores were:

$363.9 million from the state-run telecoms company GAMTEL;

$325.5 million in illicit timber revenue from the Casamance, Southern Senegal;

more than $100 million in foreign aid and soft loans from Taiwan;

$71.2 million from the Central Bank of The Gambia;

$60 million from the Social Security and Housing Finance Corp., which manages disability, housing, and pension payments; and

$55.2 million from the state-run oil company- GNPC.

Your Excellency, these figures are staggering for any country, especially for a small and impoverished nation like The Gambia, which you now lead.  The acts were so audacious, that to ignore them would not only be seen to be irresponsible, morally reprehensible and complicit, but possibly illegal.  This is precisely so because the least that your government should do is to react to the report, especially as the facts show, that it was your very administration that encouraged such an undertaking to investigate corruption under ex-president Jammeh.  Your administration has publicly called for information on any acts of illegality and corruption to be ventilated, whether through the process of the established Janneh Commission and or, in other fora including the media and other public spaces.  This report has responded to those requests made by your administration in the most deliberate and thorough manner.   

We are however, saddened and extremely alarmed at the loud silence from your good self and the government you lead, over these startling revelations.  We are further disappointed that despite the evidence presented in this report, and by extension the Janneh Commission itself, whereby individuals admitted to taking part in looting of state coffers and enterprises; individuals who admitted to committing crimes of theft and conspiring to commit acts of corruption, are not only left to shamelessly gloat with impunity over their escapades, but are still under the employs of your government; and some have been elevated to higher public office. This does not inspire confidence.

Mr. President, we urge you to show political will and act on the OCCRP report, by at the very least, suspending those that were at the helm of these entities when the corrupt practices took place and commence investigations as a matter of urgency.  Anything short of decisive action will undermine your credibility, weaken your administration, and blemish any legacy that follows you during and beyond your presidency. 

Mr President, Gambians that placed their trust in your leadership by voting for the 2016 coalition are becoming disillusioned, so is the regional community that placed a major premium in your ascendancy to the highest office, by affording you their support and security in times of uncertainty; and the international community that demonstrated their magnanimity and supporting our collective developmental aspirations to want to be a better people, and a shining example of a country reformed.

Sincerely,

R2K Coalition - Gambia

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Who:  Right 2 Know- (R2K) Gambia, started its work in October 2016, focusing on elections integrity around the then, now famed, 2016 Presidential elections, when Jammeh was ousted from power.   Our membership/following has since grown to 4,800 people.  The founders are a grouping of individuals with professional backgrounds ranging from geology, demographics, economics, international relations and law, communications, and academia.  All members are human rights activists.  We are located in The Gambia, US, UK, West and Southern Africa. We are a non-partisan entity that focuses on rule of law and democracy, good governance, human rights and the principles of access to information and freedom of expression. 

Organizations in solidarity with this Open Letter:

The Democratic Union of Gambian Activists (DUGA)- is an umbrella movement to unite Gambians in North America (US and Canada), Europe and Africa, mobilizing citizens to achieving the goal a sustainable democracy in The Gambia.

Gambia Participates- promotes accountability policies and institutions that will prevent the occurrence of corruption. The organization also work on budget transparency, elections and participatory democracy by engaging community and policy makers.

Team Gom Sa Borpa-is a youth movement dedicated to raising awareness and participation among young people through Art and supporting their interest in the development of The Gambia.

The Victims’ Centre- provides support to victims and families that underwent untold suffering of torture, kidnapping, forced evictions, illegal seizure of property, and murder under the Jammeh regime.

Institutions and Diplomatic Missions to which this Open letter is copied:

AU Advisory Board on Corruption - Hon. Begoto Miarom

African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights - Commissioner Jasmina Essie King

British High Commissioner to The Gambia - H.E. Sharon Wardle

ECOWAS Commission - H.E. Jean-Claude Brou

EU Delegation to The Gambia- H.E. Stephane Meet

IMF Resident Representative for The Gambia -  H.E. Ruby E. M. Randall

US Ambassador to the Republic of The Gambia - H.E. Richard Paschal

A Gambia House and Nordic Artists Event in Oslo

Add caption

The Gambia House, in collaboration with the talented Gambian artists in the Nordic countries, will be launching the launching The Historical Nordic Artists Residency Scheme in Oslo, Norway, April 19 - 21, 2019.

The Artist Residency is a space for reflection, planning and a way forward to promote Gambian Music.

The event will be documented by Mamos Media.

IGP exonerates Abubakar Jawara of GACH of all criminal liability.

Inspector General of Police

The Inspector General of Police of The Gambia has exonerated Mr. Abubakar Jawara, the proprietor of the Gambia Angola China (GACH) of all criminal liability after a consignment of rifles was interdicted at the Gambia Port Authority facility.  

The imported guns were characterized as hunting guns at the port of entry and upon inspection, according to the account of the IGP, only 13 of the 1,200 guns, plus 60 pump action attachments, "were suspected of being conventional weapons of warfare beyond the limits of the legally acquired hunting gun license."  

In short, 13 of the guns were found to be military grade, according to the IGP, after, he said, his office conducted a 2-month investigation employing the expertise of the various branches of the security establishment.

The press release issued by the IGP is silent on the End User Certificate (EUC) which is the official certification normally issued by the authorizing agency, in our case, the Gambia Police Force as provided for under the Guns and Ammunition Act of 1924.  The IGP must authenticate the End User Certificate which has the stamp of the importer with a signature, assumed to be authentic.   

This omission is significant because the EUC provides vital details such as the end user or importer (A. Jawara), exporter (Afrimex, Turkey), description of the goods (1,200 Br-32s and BR-33s and 50 pump action*).  The purpose of these weapons, according to the EUC, is for commercial sale and 'distribution for the purpose of recreational hunting.  

Mr. Jawara certify in the EUC that the rifles will be used for the purposes stated.  The release did not mention the brand name of the 13 military-grade and how are they going to be disposed of, if at all.  The general public would like to know from the IGP as part of the overall effort to allay the fears of a very nervous population. 

Since the stated purpose of these weapons is for commercial sale, there most be a method of accounting for them through documented sales receipts that will be subject to strict inspection by state authorities.  The public must also be able to access this information.  It is imperative that the IGP authenticate all of the articles that has been publicly displayed including but not limited to the End User Certificate, including the stamp of the Gambia Angola and China Company and the appended signature. 

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Military-grade weapons in civilian hands are a threat to the peace and stability of the country

Abubakar Jawara, Proprietor of GACH 

When a consignment of imported semiautomatic military-grade rifles was interdicted at the Banjul Port facilities a few months ago, public alarm reached pitched levels, forcing the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to issue a press release reassuring a nervous population still recovering from 22-years of one of Africa's most brutal dictatorship.

The IGP's January 12th press release confirmed that the Gambia Angola China Company, known locally by its acronym CAGH applied for a license to "import single barrel rifles for hunting and recreational purposes in The Gambia."

The IGP claimed that it was during routine security inspection that they discovered that "38 of the guns were not the type authorized" for importation and were thus impounded and an investigation team from the various branches of the security establishment impaneled "to look into the matter as to whether these (presumably the 38 guns) are categories of hunting guns, as claimed by the importer."

By conveniently omitting the total number of guns clearly shown on the "packing list", the IGP is deliberately, and by implication, limiting its investigations to the 38 rifles when the packing list is showing that there were a total of 1,200 semiautomatic rifles and an additional 50 units of pump action BR-18s to allow for conversation of the weapons.

The End User Certificate (EUC) which is issued by the Gambia Police Force headed by the IGP and signed by the importer i.e. CAGH with the company stamped lists the exact same figures of 1,200 BR-32s and 33s and 50 pump action attachments.  Where are all the weapons?

During the National Assembly debate this week, the Interior Minister was asked by a parliamentarian whether "government intends to prosecute the owner of the company called CAGH who imported guns into the country without any authorization."

In response, the minister revealed that the Inspector General of Police approved the license that allowed Mr. Jawara of GACH to import hunting rifles. However, GACH took the liberty of including "two (2) pieces magazine-fed, semiautomatic guns, three (3) cross-fire magazine-fed guns and eight (8) pieces sentient F99T blank pistols"...not covered by the license."

Despite this, the Interior Minister didn't see any contradiction in his claim that an unidentified ballistics expert confirmed that these arms were meant for hunting.  Nothing short of an independent investigation by an outside group will suffice in help shed light on this murky deal that has all the hallmarks of a regional security threat.

The debate revealed two important developments i.e. the National Assembly's Select Committee on Security is investigating the matter and that the same issue is before the courts.  While the former is welcomed, the latter has left us wondering why the matter is in court in the first instance and what is being litigated.

Whatever the case, this issue will not be laid to rest until the Gambian people's concerns are addressed.  Military-grade weapons such as the ones listed in the End User Certificate (BR-32 and BR-33) have no place in our country.  They are a threat to both the military and the civilian population.  Therefore, as we have said in the past, they must be confiscated, publicly destroyed and appropriate legal action taken against all those who have broken the law or committed an administrative error.

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