What is behind Darboe's bail appeal adjournment

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.  

Senegal and ECOWAS must act to prevent bloodbath in The Gambia

Sall and Jammeh

It is becoming increasingly evident that human rights abuses in the smallest country on the African continent are increasing in frequency and brutality with more ordinary Gambians being tortured to death and raped because they oppose the regime of Yaya Jammeh.

The recent protest demonstrations against the draconian electoral laws passed last year that ensues the continued dominance of the Jammeh-led ruling APRC party that has been in power since 1994 led to the arrest and subsequent death in custody of Mr. Solo Sandeng, an opposition youth leader.  Others who were arrested with Mr. Sandeng were reportedly raped while others have still not been accounted for.

When the United Nations and Amnesty International calls for a full and independent investigations by the Jammeh regime, the request was met with belligerent and defiant reaction from the Gambian dictator by asking Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty to "go to hell."  After all, there was only one death and therefore doesn't warrant an investigation, according to Jammeh.

As a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Jammeh is expected to adhere to and respect international laws and norms, and that includes ECOWAS protocols.  Instead he flouts them with impunity.  In the wake of the recent and rare protest demonstrations against the Jammeh regime, the human rights abuses have increased both in severity and scope.  Dozens of protesters have been arrested, several killed and raped while others gone unaccounted for.

Amnesty International (AI) has been sounding the alarm against the brutal regime of Yaya Jammeh that the Head of Amnesty, Salil Shetty, now characterizes the regime as a "murderous" one by blasting neighboring states of ECOWAS for staying mute and not coming out to condemn the atrocities being meted out to defenseless Gambians.

Salil Shetty is quoted as saying the "things are going from bad to worse" and that "journalists and civil society are under attack."  The electoral system, including the recently passed Electoral Reform Act of 2015, is rigged in favor of Jammeh. leading Mr. Shetty to conclude that the results of the upcoming presidential polls were "known in advance," an observation which should serve as notice to those opposition leaders on the ground insisting on going to the polls come hell or high water.

Unless there is drastic overhaul of the electoral laws and the dissolving of the corrupt and partisan Independent Electoral Commission, the exercise will be a futile one with Jammeh returning to power, more embolden and more brutal.

In meeting with the Senegalese president recently, Shetty urged him and his ECOWAS counterparts to speak out and "take their responsibilities."  Not to do so would be "shameful."  We join Salil Shetty and Amnesty International in demanding a more aggressive approach to dealing with what has now amounted to a scourge or a cancer that is threatening the peace and stability of the region.   It is the responsibility of President Macky Sall and ECOWAS to act against the tyrannical regime in The Gambia.

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

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.

Senegal's decision to re-open its borders allows Jammeh to resume illegal timber exports

Gambian trucks of smuggled timber seized in Senegal in 2015

Senegal's remaining forest cover can be found in the Casamance region, an area estimated to be 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) that, according to the former Senegalese Environment, Haida El Ali, may be depleted in two years, because of the illegal logging and the smuggling of the products across the border into The Gambia.

The redwood is smuggled from Casamance to Gambia via Yaya Jammeh's home village of Kanilai which is then exported through the port of Banjul to China where the demand is extremely high.

"This unacceptable trafficking is devastating for our forests and it has to stop," the former Environment Minister who served in the early part of Macky Sall's government.

According to Haida, traffickers have copped down 1 million trees or 10,000 hectares since 2010.  At this rate, Casamance will lose all of its forest cover by 2018.  Northern Senegal has lost all of its forest cover as the Sahara Desert advances southward.

By contrast, Gambia has earned $ 238.5 million from the illegal export of redwood to China, the second highest in West Africa after Nigeria.  Gambia has only 4,000 hectares of forests according to Mr. Haida.

According to report, Senegal's Environment Minister has not offered its comments to Mr. Haida's claims which should be a cause for concern, especially when Senegal's decided a few days ago to re-open its border on short notice after closing it for over three months, causing significant disruption in the illegal timber trade.

The cashew trade was equally affected during the closure most of which is exported to India, resulting in both China and India applying pressure on the government of Macky Sall to reopen the border allowing the illegal loggers and smugglers to resume their illegal activities at the expense of the environment and the Senegalese economy.  

Border closure : Any lessons learned?

Gambia - Senegal border

It was Kofi Annan who, in admitting that national interest still often trumps the boarder interest, said what governments and people don't realize is that sometimes the collective interest - international interest - is also the national interest.  He was reflecting on his 50-year U.N. career which culminated in the Iraq War when he famously declared publicly that the war was illegal and the barrage of criticism that ensued from the United States and Bush's allies.

Of course, we are in no way equating the 3-month border standoff between The Gambia and Senegal with the Iraq war.  But all the elements sited by Mr. Annan, particularly the competing interests, (national and international) are at play here with the regional and international interests trumping the narrower national interest of Senegal.

We have come to learn that the effects of the 3-month border closure was being felt well beyond the borders of the two countries further confirming the importance of the bridge project in promoting regional trade and development.  Nigeria, Ghana and India - let me add China to the list -  were being affected by the closure and thus brought pressure to bear on Senegal.

It is public knowledge that there is lucrative but illicit trade in cashew and timber between Yaya Jammeh-controlled companies and India and China.  With the borders closed, shipments were halted threatening the trade. One of the explicit goals of the Senegalese Transport Union's boycott of the TransGambia route was to put the squeeze on Jammeh's finances for as long as possible.  An unintended consequence of such a union strategy was Jammeh's trading partners applied pressure on the government of Senegal to open the borders.

ECOWAS members states also got into the act and, by all indications, prevailed eventually upon the President Macky Sall of Senegal who is also the current Chairman of the regional body and who is about to host its Summit of Heads of State on June 4th.  It would be odd for the host to shut his borders to one of his guest - however petulant a character Jammeh happens to be.  Ultimately, Senegal succeeded in dictating the narrative, the pace and, in the process, reminded Jammeh who is in charge which is a triumph in Senegalese diplomacy, for now, at least.

Because Jammeh was desperate to have the borders reopened, he instructed the Gambian delegation to readily concede to all of the 11-point Senegalese demands at great risk to the future relations with Senegal.  The Gambia River, the greatest natural endowment of the country that gives its name to the country, may also be at risk if the bridge design limits its natural capacity as a great transportation system.  The question remains as to whether the idiosyncratic and mercurial dictator will honor his word.  He has failed to honor bilateral agreements and ECOWAS protocols before. There is no reason to believe he will start honoring them now. Only time will tell.

Trans-Gambia Bridge Project design is a legitimate concern of Gambians

Example of a cantilever bridge 

The Gambia River, one of the most navigable and important rivers on the African continent, is the single most important natural resource of one of the world's poorest countries - The Gambia.

The Gambia exists because of the river that it took its name from.  The River Gambia is The Gambia and The Gambia is River Gambia.  It is, therefore, a natural resource that must be protected at all cost and to be preserved for generations yet unborn.  To protect and reserve it is to protect and preserve Gambia's national identity.

Source of the River Gambia

The bridge over River Gambia has always been central to Senegal's, as well as the regional's, interest that will connect northern and southern Senegal, as well as to connect a critical link of the ECOWAS highway system linking Abuja to capitals along the west African corridor.

The original project, under the purview of the OMVG was first mooted in the late 1970s.  The project included a barrage component (Bridge - Barrage Project) to provide irrigation water for rice production, a component that was proven to be environmentally unsustainable, according to a USAID-funded University of Michigan study.  Gambia's interest which centered on the barrage for irrigation fell when it proved an unsustainable proposition.

Senegal managed to keep the bridge project alive for over three decades until fairly recently when the project was reconstituted as a Bridge Project.  It is important, at this stage of the negotiations, for Gambians to familiarize themselves with the history of the project to appreciate the geopolitical importance as well as the implications of the outcome of the negotiations that is taking place in Dakar.

During negotiations, the Gambian Foreign Minister, Mrs. Neneh MacDouall-Gaye, raised the design issue of the bridge which, according to her, obstructs or impedes the navigability of River Gambia. The fact that Gambia is raising fundamental design objections, albeit late in the project cycle, is extremely important an issue that MUST be satisfactorily addressed by both parties and the donor community, including the AfDB.

The late objection should not be an excuse to proceed without satisfactorily addressing the issue because, if indeed the design obstructs navigation of one of Africa's most navigable rivers, it will be a national tragedy of monumental proportion that will be revisited by an successor government to Yaya Jammeh.
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BREAKING : Senegal - Gambia borders to open tomorrow (Tuesday) morning

We have been reliably informed that the 3-month long border stand-off between The Gambia and Senegal will end tomorrow morning.

According to a source close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Senegal, the Senegal Transport Union acting on orders of the Senegalese government of Macky Sall decided to lift their boycott of the TransGambia route.  The union has been the main stumbling block after union leaders, especially Mr. Gora Houma, president of the Union had said on numerous occasions that the borders will remain closed unless the Gambian dictator is firmly committed to re-starting the construction of he bridge over the Gambia River.

During the negotiations between the two countries, Senegal brought to the table 11 points ranging from the bridge to legal and judicial protocols including the unconditional release of "Boy Djine", a common criminal who escaped from a Senegalese jail and was being harbored by Yaya Jammeh.  It was being reported yesterday that the fugitive has been asked to report to the police station.  It is unclear if he is currently under police custody or had been handed over to the Senegalese authorities.

Opponents of Yaya Jammeh will be very disappointed at the news because they were hoping that the borders will remain closed, at least, until after the month of Ramadan which, observers have warned, would be a difficult fete because of the pressure that would come to bare on the Senegalese authorities as the Holy Month approaches.

Commodities and other essential food items have started to be in short supply, including petroleum products resulting in intermittent electricity supply in the urban areas.

We were among those hoping that the longer the borders remained closed, the better the chances of the Senegalese extracting concessions from Jammeh that would favor the opposition, including forcing him to step down at the end of his term.  Let us hasten to add, Jammeh stepping down will continue to be our mantra here at sidisanneh.blogspot.com in addition to a total overhaul of the draconian electoral reforms in memory of Solo Sandeng who has given his life for it.

The inability of the political opponents of Yaya Jammeh to capitalize on the opportunities that presented themselves i.e. the death of Solo Sandeng that subsequently led to the arrest of the United Democratic Party's leader and the border closure must be seen as a lost opportunity that may not present themselves, if ever again.

The low turn-out at today's court appearance of Ousinaou Darboe, while it may not have any bearing on the decision to open the border, it certainly did not serve as a confidence-building measure for supporters of the opposition, at home and abroad.  A likely political fallout within the opposition political parties is likely to occur as a result of the failure to mount a credible and sustained challenge to Jammeh's dictatorial rule - a problem they will have to grapple with for the foreseeable future.