Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 016/2007, 9-11 February, 2007
Editorial
WHO CHOSE THE SPEAKER,
THE PRESIDENT OR THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY?
Separation Of Powers Is The Casualty
If one were to ask The Gambian people who selected the Speaker of the
National Assembly many would indicate that it is President Jammeh who did the
selection as announced over GRTS.
The actual constitutional position however is that, it is the National
Assembly who should elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
Once new deputies are elected and the National Assembly convened for the 1st
time, Section 93 Subsection (5) of the constitution states that “No business
shall be transacted in the National Assembly other than the election of
Speaker or Deputy Speaker when either of those offices is vacant.” Hence when the
newly elected members to the National Assembly first met on Thursday 8th
February 2007 their first task was to elect a Speaker and Deputy Speaker and
then take their oath.
The Chief Justice appeared precisely to preside at the election of Speaker.
This is confirmed by Section 93 Subsection (2) of the constitution. It states
that “the Chief Justice shall preside at the election of a Speaker.”
The unfortunate thing about The Gambia is that before the National Assembly
members met to elect a Speaker the announcement had already been made as to
who the occupier of the seat would be.
The members finally discovered that they were there just to endorse what had
been announced.
This is the dilemma of the National Assembly of The Gambia. It has been
systematically accused of being under the grip of the Executive. Will it succeed
in redeeming its image? The future will tell. Notwithstanding this what it
should be is clearly stipulated in the Constitution. The preamble of the
Constitution of the Republic states that “The functions of the arms of the
government have been clearly defined, their independence amply secured with adequate
checks and balances to ensure that they work harmoniously together toward our
common good.”
The Executive, the National Assembly and the Judiciary are expected to
function as separate branches of the state. They should be independent of each
other.
The Gambia has a constituency system instead of a system based on
proportional representation. Since all members are representing constituencies the
constitution created the possibility of nominating people to parliament so that
a Speaker and Deputy Speaker could be elected form the ranks of the nominated
members. The issue of nominating members to the National Assembly should
infact be a matter of National debate. It is a colonial legacy which was retained
in the First Republic and is still retained in the Second Republic. While,
it appears reasonable to have a Speaker and Deputy Speaker who are not
representing constituencies, how nominated members are to be selected to prevent
them from being partisan is of fundamental importance. In short, no executive
should have the power to control 5 members of parliament which is equivalent to
the representation of the whole of the Kanifing Administrative Area.
Those who have retained this system of nominating members to parliament
utilize it to involve federation of trade unions, federation of youth
organisations, federation of women organisations, federation of employers organisations
and other heads of professional associations.
As we focus on the beginning of a new term for the National Assembly, the
Executive should realise that the National Assembly is the oversight
institution that should exercise scrutiny on how the Nation is managed. A state without
a legislature that is empowered to criticize, scrutinize and restrain the
executive to bar violation of the Constitution, misappropriation of public
funds and general misconduct is a failed state.
HALIFA INTERVIEWED
ON THE QUESTION OF THE INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES,
THE UNOPPOSED SEATS AND THE RELEVANCE OF NADD
Foroyaa: Can you explain what happened to many of the independent candidates
NADD aimed to support and why they did not simply stand as NADD candidates?
Halifa: NADD had the strategic objective of facilitating an elected majority
of Non APRC members in the National Assembly. Initially, we had the motive
to form a tactical alliance between NADD, the other opposition parties and
independent candidates. However when this failed we decided to employ our
tactics unilaterally. We therefore put up candidates where NADD committees meet and
put up their choice. We gave support to independent candidates where it
appeared that they could win. We tried not to put up candidates where they could
spoil the chance of other opposition parties.
Foroyaa: Why did you not condition the Independent Candidates to stand under
a NADD platform?
Halifa: No person could stand as a NADD candidate without being selected by
a NADD constituency committee. Notwithstanding, we recognised that in The
Gambia some vote for parties irrespective of candidates or for individuals
irrespective of parties. Those individuals who could win without being under the
umbrella of a party stood as Independent Candidates.
Foroyaa: You initially mentioned 13 Independent Candidates but many did not
complete the race. What happened?
Halifa: Three were late in submitting their nomination papers, one fell
short of the standards for qualification. Two were discouraged by the APRC
election machine to continue. Two reconsidered their position and decided to
support the opposition candidate in their constituencies. One withdrew to increase
the chances of another Independent Candidate.
Foroyaa: Which Independent Candidates survived?
Halifa: The Independent Candidates for Jokadu, Niamina East, Serrekunda
East, Kiang West. We also called our supporters to give support to the
independent candidates for Kombo South and Niani.
Foroyaa: How do you assess the success of your tactics?
Halifa: It worked very well. In Niamina East the candidate lost by 185
votes. If UDP/NRP supported him he would have won. In Jokadu, the 600 votes
acquired by the UDP Candidate if added to the votes of the Independent Candidate
the later would have won. The same goes for Kombo South. If the votes of the
UDP Candidate were added to that of the Independent Candidate he could have
won. Hence it was only in two constituencies that the independent candidate did
not get their deposits, that are in Serrekunda East and Kiang West.
Foroyaa: How many votes do you need to get your deposit?
Halifa: One has to have 20% of the votes cast for the elected candidate.
Hence you can see that the elections were keenly contested
Foroyaa: How did NADD perform?
Halifa: Out of the five seats, we won Wuli West. In Sandu the APRC election
machine was so destabilised that the Chief decided to break the windscreen of
the vehicle of the NADD candidate. He is currently considering whether to
proceed with legal action or result to administrative action to reprimand him.
In Wuli East and Serrekunda Central, few people felt that NADD could lose.
In short, in both constituencies people voted with their mouths and euphoria
and not with real tokens. It was only in Central Baddibu that the result was
not considerable.
Foroyaa: Why did you put up a candidate?
Halifa: The candidate was asked to review the situation. We in the executive
felt that NADD did not have a reasonable base in Central Baddibu. We
anticipated that at best the candidate will stand as an independent candidate. His
committee wrote to suggest that he stand as a NADD candidate. Personally, I
was very uncomfortable and had imagined that once the UDP come up with a
candidate he would have withdrawn. I understand that what initially motivated the
candidate is the information that the APRC had rejected the sitting MP who is
from the same village. Anyway, we stuck up with the candidate up to the end.
He has also gained new lessons in the politics of voting in The Gambia.
Popularity does not easily transform into votes in The Gambia.
Foroyaa: What about Serrekunda East?
Halifa: We received information that in both Serrekunda East and Serrekunda
West the sitting MPs were facing massive opposition but that the electorate
were also not willing to shift their support to the UDP. Many people gave
support by mouth to the independent candidate in Serrekunda East. Here again
words did not translate into deeds. There is voter apathy everywhere. Something
is needed to wake Gambians from their political slumber.
Foroyaa: What is needed?
Halifa: This is what the NADD Executive will soon take up to discuss. Other
parties would have to do the same. This is a period for serious reflection.
Foroyaa: Some people have been asking why the opposition did not put up
candidates in Kantora and the other four unopposed constituencies in Foni?
Halifa: NADD put up candidates in Wuli East, Wuli West and Sandu in the URD.
We decided to leave Kantora, Tumana, Basse and Jimara to the UDP, NRP or
Independent Candidates. We have a very strong activist by the name of Ansu Saho
in Kantora. He could have at least stood as an Independent candidate. There
was no consultation. We also did not get any application for the
constituencies in Foni. Anyway, this is the last time that any constituency will ever go
unopposed in the Gambia.
Foroyaa: Is it because the opposition considers Foni to be APRC territory
because of tribe?
Halifa: Foni is inhabited by all the tribes you find in the Gambia. The fact
that an Independent candidate could win in Foni confirms that no part of the
Gambia is immune to change once the right candidates are found.
Foroyaa: How do you see NADD’s performance. Does it have a future in Gambian
politics?
Halifa: We should draw lessons from the past. Just compare the results of
the NADD candidates during the by elections in 2005 and that of the UDP, NRP
and NADD candidates during this National Assembly elections. This confirms that
NADD was the alternative.
In short, in Nianija there was a by election in 2005. The same candidate who
now stands for the NRP in 2007 stood for NADD in 2005. In the by election,
he had 1554 votes but as NRP in 2007 he had 693 votes.
In 2005 Hamat stood as NADD and had 2454 votes. However as an NRP candidate
in 2007 he received 3298.
In 2005 Kemeseng stood as NADD candidate and received 3444 votes. He won the
seat. In 2007 he stood as UDP candidate and received 2760 votes. He lost the
seat.
In 2005, I stood as a NADD candidate and got 5911 votes. In 2007 I stood as
NADD candidate and had 4302 votes while UDP had 1548. This confirms that the
opposition had more to gain by remaining as NADD than splitting.
Foroyaa: Now can you tell us what you expect of the opposition, in the new
National Assembly?
TO BE CONTINUED
UDP CANDIDATE RELEASED
By Bubacarr K. Sowe
Alagie Fatty, the defeated UDP candidate for Serrekunda Central Constituency
in the recent legislative elections has been released from police custody.
Speaking to Foroyaa on Thursday, Fatty said he was released last week Friday
after a three day detention at the Yundum Police Station.
He also said that he was not charged and nothing happened to him.
TREASON TRIAL DRAGS
By Bubacarr K.Sowe
The treason trial involving Tamsir Jasseh, Alieu Jobe, Omar Faal Keita and
Demba Dem could not proceed on Wednesday at the High Court, as defence lawyers
are out of town.
The prosecution team, involving Mr. Umar and Mrs. Marie Saine Firdaus
applied for an adjournment since their learned defence colleagues are in Basse,
where the High Court is sitting this week.
The prosecution told the trial judge, Justice Avril Anin-Yeboah that they
understand that one of the accused persons Demba Dem was sick. Sergeant Colley,
a Prison Warden told the court that Dem is currently receiving medical
attention at the Central Prison at Mile Two.
Justice Yeboah adjourned the trial to the 14th of February. The four accused
persons are standing trial for their alleged role in the March 21 abortive
coup plot.
FATOUMATA JAHUMPA CEESAY
ELECTED SPEAKER
The newly elected National Assembly Members, on Thursday 8th February 2007,
elected Hon. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker of the National Assembly and
Abdoulie Bojang as Deputy Speaker.
The Chief Justice, Abdoukarim Savage, indicated to Deputies that his role is
to preside over the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker and then called
on Members of the Assembly to make nominations.
At this stage, Hon. Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Member for Serrekunda East,
proceeded to nominate Hon. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker. The member for
Wuli West Hon. Sidia Jatta indicated that according to the standing orders,
Section 2(3) “A member addressing himself or herself to the Chief Justice shall
propose a Nominated Member to the Assembly then present for the position of
Speaker or Deputy Speaker and move that (naming the nominated member) do take
the chair of the Assembly as Speaker or Deputy Speaker.” The Chief Justice
thanked Sidia for calling their attention to that. At this stage, Hon. Adama
Cham seconded the nomination of Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker. There was
no other nomination and therefore the Chief Justice declared Hon. Fatoumata
Jahumpa Ceesay as Speaker.
As for the office of Deputy Speaker, Hon. Momodou Sellu Bah member for
Basse, nominated Abdoulie Bojang as deputy speaker, seconded by Hon. Abdoulie
Kanaji Jawla. There was no other nominee, therefore Hon. Abdoulie Bojang was
declared Deputy Speaker. After the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, all
the forty-eight elected members and five nominated members swore to be faithful
and bear true allegiance to the Republic of The Gambia as by law established
and that they will execute the function of members of the National Assembly
without fear or favour, affection or ill-will according to the constitution
and other laws of The Gambia.
After thanking the president, the newly elected Speaker called on her
colleagues from both sides of the house to put partisan politics aside and work
together to move The Gambia forward. She pointed out that the new dispensation
henceforth shall put emphasis on noble values, challenges, opportunities and
shortcomings of the Honourable Assembly. “We are to put emphasis on taking
stock of our own shortcomings as representatives of the people,” she said. Hon.
FJC indicated that they will set, uphold, and cherish standards, ethics and
privileges that are equitable, responsive and responsible enough for
themselves. She said their in house codes of conduct and practice shall henceforth be
second to none and they will firmly put in place mechanisms to regulate the
conduct of Hon. Members in both their private and public capacities. FJC
indicated that it is their collective resolve and believe that they will only have
the moral authority to scrutinize and perform oversight role over public
life, public service and public officers if they themselves are to live by good
examples.
HOME IS WHERE THE MUSIC IS
This is a continuation of Ousman Sillah’s interview with the renowned
Gambian International Music Promoter, Momodou Oko Drammeh. As Oko reminisces the
past glory days of music in The Gambia, he was asked about how to revive
Gambian music to become a force to be reckoned with.
We hope readers are enjoying Oko’s account of “those days” which is so
interesting and can have the effect of nostalgia in some of those who witnessed
the period.
We stopped at where Oko Drammeh was saying that the Radio and Television
have the responsibility to set the tone for our collective national efforts and
endeavours to revive Gambian music.
Foroyaa: How can the Radio and Television set the tone? What do you mean?
Oko Drammeh: The Radio and Television have to set the stage for the exposure
of the talents, both educated and non-educated. With TV, the education of
music and its familiarity and presentation of news flash items will integrate
our artists in the economic and cultural prosperity. Through TV programmes,
musical education for schools can be presented and contest, called ‘Talent
Search’ could also be encouraged.
TV should also encourage senior talents to take part in programmes whereby
the nation will be involved in the voting and selection of the stars of
tomorrow.
The music that the Gambians listen to nowadays is coming from only one
country which is the United States. That music talks about American life and
culture and it goes along with violence, extreme abusive conditions and the
manifestation of jail life in both image and outfit. This stereotype does not match
the Gambian character of art and music. You see every society has a
character and it is this character that defines your music and art. As Haile Selassie
put it: “A people without culture is like a tree without roots”. And you
know a tree without roots cannot bear fruits.
This is exactly what I mean by imitation music.
In American Rap music there is not much cultural expression and depth of
history and empires, as well as, holy sites and sacred grounds. And yet they
want to conduct the spiritual anthem of the planet.
The fact that we consume too much of American news from CNN, MTV, VOA etc,
does not necessarily mean that we have to change our music and our culture to
replace them with theirs.
Foroyaa: How can you fit in the Super Eagles in this wider cultural realm
and amidst these external cultural influences?
Oko Drammeh: the Super Eagles have been there before and that’s how they
decided to call themselves the ‘Ifang Bond; meaning in Mandinka ‘Bring out your
true self. The concern was to showcase or project our true cultural identity.
The art of poetry writing and music making is an interesting subject and
hobby that have transformed into art form music. Many Rap artists have carved
out a lifestyle that is either backed by the record companies and fashion
houses. It is the fashion icons who will endorse these artists and create these
rap stars as daily items of consumption.
The way you cannot deny the existence of Coca cola is the same way you
cannot deny the existence of Rap music. Rap artist are identified, coached and
projected within a framework of money that guarantee immediate success which is
manipulated through Television.
This is what makes success an illusion.
Oko Drammeh: The question I was talking about is whether the music can be
revived to spark in the society. I said that this is not possible unless this
generation continues for at least ten or fifteen years. Because when Youssou
Ndour started, the songs he used to sing like: “woy na la” or I sing about
you is different from what he says about Nelson Mandela because he has a
succession and had developed layers and layers of experience. He knows how to use
the words, he knows how to be political, how to be diplomatic, and how to
reach a diverse and wide spectrum of society with ease and discipline. So these
are all that made his success formidable. He’s not just a voice, but through
experience he can maneuver his way through the child, the woman, the man, the
marabout, the bishop, etc. We do not have the foundation anymore for this.
It was only Super Eagles, like I told you, when they used to travel abroad
or would return from these trips when you see everybody standing in the
streets welcoming or bidding them farewell. That was the time when they were
singing “Ya Marie tagu negn la ah nyu nga wori rew” a farewell song. Every Gambian
was involved and when they returned from England the whole town was out to
either cheer up or be part of the, somewhat, caravan like procession. My own
late mother could not even understand why I had to take my new dress and paint
“Welcome Super Eagles Band” on it. Every child, every young woman was out
even if they don’t understand the music that these great guys were playing.
So you wanna tell me: can we bring this back again? Of course I can help
bring this back again. I have the formula. I have been coached by the people who
had this success. They taught me what they did; they taught me how they did
it. Sadly, many of them died, but I am still left with some few people whom
together we can do the trick! Badou Jobe, Seneme Taylor, Abdel Kabirr-Lie
Ngrm, Musa Ngum, Bai Janha, Ousu Njie Senor, some, members of “ Maga Dan Band”
are all here. These are professional musicians who can teach, who can bring
back the glory in the music and take Gambian music to again ascend and reach
the stage of international acclaim.
But remember 1981 was the big turning point.
Music was abandoned in The Gambia. Like I told you, when the coup d’etat
occurred, youths were out in the streets jumping which made the authorities of
the day to think that they were behind it. They arrested people like Pa Touray
because he used to sing songs like “Prices are rising”. Infact, before this
event, the Ifang Bondi used to sing songs that made the government very edgy
and which led to the withdrawal of the land they gave them to build a
recording studio at Tobacco road in Banjul.
The government started to break up with the band which was not loyal to it.
They were singing radical songs, freedom and Pan –Africanist songs, songs
like ‘Change the System’ which, although, came very lately.
They were in conflict with the police very often, because they say their
attitude is this and that, that they smoke explicit substances, and stuff like
that. They would be arrested here and there that would evoke public outcry.
Hence 1981 marked the crackdown. They stopped the music and even the football.
The bars, discos and night clubs were all closed. My disco at ‘Tropical’
called the ‘Japala’ was even damaged by the police and I was locked in jail ha
ha ha——I was locked in jail with Nyang’a Sallah, a famous footballer, who
was with me the night before playing DJ at my discoteque. Unfortunately, he
died in jail together with many of my friends. I was even announced dead but
fortunately, I survived. But when I came out from jail I saw that everybody
scattered, but we did not call it running away. We made a retreat. Guelewarr went
to Ivory Coast with Bai Janha there and they took Albert along.
Ifang Bondi didn’t have much money then so only four of them could escape at
one time. They came to Holland with me and I continued my management.
Very sincerely and humbly they started to direct me again, their Manager, by
telling me: ‘Oko do this, Oko do that!’ so they directed me to do a
festival like the ‘Hawarehs’ or Evening Jams that I used to organise back in The
Gambia at the Tropical Night Club. They told me to bring back the ‘Hawareh’
again. So I brought back the ‘Hawareh’ but this time round it was on an
international level. I brought Manu Dibango, the biggest African star. Later Alpha
Blondy, Lucky Dube, Mory Kanteh, all these stars are my friends, and have all
been part of these festivals.
I am the only African in the music world who organises professional African
music festivals and I can organise them cheap with quality and extensive
media coverage.
I was the first one who invited Youssou Ndour to perform in the paradis
which is the biggest concert hall in Holland.
Paradis is where Leg Zaplia and the Rolling Stones play when to come to
Amsterdam. I took Youssou Ndour there, wow! From there he went to England where
he got connected straight with Peter Gabriel. This is all my connection.
Now during the rebellion, Pa Touray and myself were locked up in jail and
this made him so distraught as he felt humiliated. We were charged with treason
but later pardoned by former president Jawara and were released the same day.
After the release, I realised that I have to use Ifang Bondi as my job
because I almost lost my life in it and I believed what they stood for. They were
almost the newspaper of the ghetto. They were loved by people who have no
jobs, loved by all ethnic groups because they played in every major town and had
songs in all the major languages in the country.
Infact, Banjul was difficult for them as they lost their land and houses. We
all moved out of Banjul except Paps Touray.
People may recall the ‘Kaylebase Kunda’, the ‘Nyepeto Kunda,’ in Bakau.
In those glory days, the Ifang Bondi used to fill stadiums in Senegal. At
one time we played for the ‘Armee’ National du Senegal’ or Senegalese National
Army. They came to collect us with a Bus from Barra and escorted to Dakar.
Interestingly, the Army colonel came and say: I want to know the members of
the band who smoke weed! we didn’t know that he had something for us because he
told us nothing. We thought that he wanted to trap us. So we told him ‘we
never heard this word’, we told him ‘we are all Muslims’. Ha ha ha.. I saw
Paps Touray with his heavy voice” No, we don’t know that’, You know his voice.
Then the officer told us that I am just telling you this because we’ve
brought something for you so that you’ll not be going around town looking for it”.
He said “then I’m sitting in front of the bus, now if you need it let me
know’ (laughter)We were sitting on the bus to Dakar but I know they’ll ask
him, they are brave. We were sitting, we were sitting going to Dakar and as soon
as we got near to Dakar, Pa Njie Base intervened and perfected the story. He
said “Commissaire, I do smoke that but only when I mixed it with cigarette”
. The officer understood but kept silent.
Later Paps, you know he was dignified, chipped in and said, “yeah, with
cigarettes, with cigarettes”. (laughter).
Our Success was held at bay by the 1981 events as Pa Njie ‘bass’ was gunned
down and few years later Ali Warb ‘Alberr’ was dead.
But with all these setbacks, the individual successes they achieved were so
high that one of them Malang Gassama, the drummer, was in Hollywood. Malando
did not only play with ABBA but with Rolling Stones and Aljaru, as well. He
was more known with the famous Jazz Artist, Aljaru.
Paps Touray’s compositions with the Sotokoto Band were also widely
acclaimed. Sotokoto hires the top musicians in Hollywood because its partners are rich
people and are always there to support because they love Gambian music.
We are even planning something for the next year.
I’ve just stopped recording for the moment because I am busy with other
things. I just stopped doing the heavy things to be successful. Now I’m tired of
seeing success.
I’m more relaxed now and down to earth and trying to experience the details
which were missed when one is growing fast.
I said there is no place in the world than where one was born.
Foroyaa: Do you know how the Super Eagles learned playing this imitation
music?
Oko Drammeh: Super Eagles was formed playing musical skills and chords like
the European Pop artists. You remember Gambia was a British colony and the
Ocean going vessel called Apapa used to come from London to the West African
colony ports of Bathurst, Freetown, Accra Lagos and back. So this made The
Gambia as the first and last Port of call and we got all these music from the
seamen. We also used to get the magazines called the ‘Fabulous 208’ or the’ Fab,
’ the books of the Beatles and also a group called the Monkeys. We would
study and copy the songs and sell them to other people to make money.
The knowledge of music education was here. The Banjul of those days was well
organised. The tailors were thriving as the Super Eagles and their fans were
always coming up new dress styles and outfits that match the times. Men
treat there women partners with respect and dignity. There was real social
harmony and cohesion.
Follow us in our next Foroyaa issue for the last part of the interview.
POLITICS
INTERVIEW WITH SUWAIBOU TOURAY ON NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS IN WULI EAST
By Musa Barrow
The Candidate of the National Alliance for democracy and Development (NADD)
in Wuli East in the just concluded National Assembly Elections, Mr. Suwaibou
Touray has attributed his defeat to what he called ethnic sentiments
orchestrated by his opponents during their campaign and not based on genuine national
or local issues.
Mr. Touray said he has polled far more votes than the APRC in all other
areas but when it comes to Baja Kunda, he had noticed that all those who are
opposed to the APRC did not vote at all and those who did voted for his opponent
Bekai Camara who is himself a Serahule by ethnicity.
Speaking to Foroyaa in an exclusive interview Mr. Touray pointed out that
the central element in this ethnic message was the appeal for Serahules to
either vote for a person from own ethnic group or abstain rather than vote for
someone who is not one of them.
Touray further added that although NADD had approached the Serahule
communities and presented its programmes before them, that could not prevent them
from voting the way they did. He cited an example by saying that in the largest
Serahule village, Bajakunda, out of over 2600 registered votes NADD managed
to score only 28 votes. Touray said Serahules who were opposition sympathisers
told him they were threatened and warned to abstain from voting to avoid
being ostracized in the Serahule community.
This he opined, clearly reflected in Baja Kunda where out of over 2600
registered voters only a little over 1200 actually took part in the voting
exercise. Touray went further to state that apart from the propagation of ethnic
sentiments, intimidation and harassment were also employed during the campaign.
He noted that the APRC’s campaign team threatened his supporters of arrest
and the dismantting of public structures such as schools and boreholes during
their rallies if they should lose the election. He also said that the APRC
went on threatening the people of Sutukoba that they would block the
philanthropists who are helping them with their rice field project if they do not vote
for them.
He also indicated that several Secretaries of State, notable among them SoS
Edward Singhateh ,were on the campaign trail telling people that development
will not come if they should vote for him(Touray) because government cannot
work with the opposition.
Touray also noted that the Chief embarked on a clandestine campaign
characterised by threats, mainly directed at the Fula community that their herds
would physically be counted one by one which would increase their annual cattle
rates that they pay to the Area Council. This has an impact because it has been
raised by the people on several occasions during the campaign.
When it was put to Mr. Touray what methods his party utilised to counter
this intimidation and threat based campaign employed by his opponents, Touray
said his party, being an organisation that sensitise the people, continued to
enlighten the electorate on their rights and responsibilities. This he said
has been their tactic against disinformation. Asked what he had to offer the
electorate of Wuli East, if he was elected; Suwaibou Touray said he had made it
extremely clear that if he was given the mandate, he would have created a
constituency fund for the people of Wuli East geared towards aiding development
in the area. This proposed fund, he said, would have come from his salary as
he promised to give out three thousand dalasis every month.
However, Mr. Touray stressed that the setting up of this fund would have
been utilized to help communities and could have enabled them to attract
contributions even from NGOs to acquire e.g., Milling Machines, etc or to help the
youth with sporting materials or any other development related undertaking.
Asked about what he thinks would rid the electorate of the ethnic sentiments in
politics Mr. Touray said this is not an easy task; that what is required is
to undertake extensive civic education that will fully sensitise the people
on the issues of sovereignty which helps them to make informed choice for
competent, dedicated and committed representatives. Finally, he said ‘as long as
opportunist politicians continue to miseducate the masses, the process of
liberating the people to own themselves will have to be a protracted one’.
GAMTEL’S RECENT POOR SERVICE DELIVERY:
By Bijou Peters
The article captioned’ Share up at GAMTEL, GAMCEL’ in the Daily Observer of
Tuesday 9th January was appropriate and timely. A share up was necessary
indeed because in the past few months since GAMTEL announced a change in their
telecommunications system, the consumer has been greatly inconvenienced and
dissatisfied by the poor service meted out to them.
The article reported a complete change of the senior members of staff of the
corporation. The termination of the services of so many staff members is an
indication that these employees were not performing their work efficiently or
conscientiously. This unsavory situation has created disappointment and
despondency for the consumer, especially, as GAMTEL used to be one of the leading
telecommunications companies in the country and within the sub-region and
had been acclaimed the best telecommunications center in West Africa. We recall
that the managerial sector has changed frequently in recent months and new
managers appointed, a situation which does not auqur satisfactorily for
progress or meaningful development for the company. What is more, the public is
informed of some major financial mismanagement within the company which has
caused GAMTEL the loss of a great deal of money to the tune of millions of
dollars and Euros. These discrepancies are inexcusable and unacceptabl., They have
resulted in all their recent dismissals of officers involved in these
demeaning practise dealing with the finances of GAMTEL.
In the past months the public has endured a number of shortcomings in GAMTEL’
s general performance which has affected most telephones and caused the
public a great deal of difficulties and inconveniences resulting in numerous
complaints from the consumer. These shortcomings include the following:
1. GAMTEL’s billing system has gone haywire and is chaotic, Bills are not
distributed monthly or regularly as they should, they are accumulated for
reasons unknown and then huge bills are distributed which many people are unable
to pay and they risk disconnection of their telephones.
2. Telephones are adversely affected recently, causing the public no
end of problems. Many people complain that they cannot make local calls
easily. Telephone conversations have often been interrupted, both locally and
internationally. The latter being disconcerting and infuriating, particularly
when one is speaking to a loved one or a business partner overseas.
3. Overseas callers are known to be unable to get through to the
Gambia and some have reported that several attempts have to be made before a
call to the Gambia can come through, or the caller has had to give up calling in
disgust.
4. The lines to Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the U.K and U.S are
generally bad and it is difficult or almost impossible to hear each others
voice at the other end of the telephone line. Most people have experienced these
shortcomings enumerated from time to time and we wonder whether GAMTEL is
aware of all these discrepancies being endured by the consumer?
The public is completely disenchanted by these inadequacies of GAMTEL. As
for the billing system it has become chaotic. Urgent measures must be taken to
deal with these grave problems of telecommunications molesting the consumer
at the present time.
ARMED ROBBERS HIT BRIKAMA
By Modou Jonga
Reports have it that six men armed with machetes, on Sunday 4th February,
2007 attacked and broke into shops located around the main Brikama Garage.
According to sources, the six armed men came late in the night on the said date.
It added that a watchman in the affected area fought with the armed robbers
but he was subsequently overpowered.
According to a victim of the armed robbery, one Muktarr Faal, a Mauritanian
National, the armed robbers went away with cash amounting to D3,600 (Three
Thousand Six hundred), four hundred CFA Franc and twenty rolls of cloth.
“I was surprised to found the door of my shop broken in the morning with the
watchman waiting,” lamented the Mauritanian businessman. He explained that
before the arrival of the Police Intervention Unit to the scene, the robbers
had disappeared.
In a related incident earlier in January, another Mauritanian businessman
Seedy Muhammed reported that the robbers made away with a cheque amounting to
one thousand dalasi, ten thousand dalasi worth of commodities and a cell
phone.
The Mauritanian businessman expressed shock over such criminal acts and
noted his fear for the spread of armed robbery in the country. According to the
same businessman, another group of armed robbers also earlier on, in January,
broke and entered into another one of their shops close to the Brikama Police
Station.
However, when contacted to shed light on the purported armed robbery, the
officer commanding the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at Western
Region, Mr. Biran Salieu Jobe, directed this reporter to contact the police PRO.
Meanwhile, an insider at the Brikama police station (name withheld) said
investigation into the said armed robbery is at an advanced stage and stated that
the robbers have made away with commodities, valuables and monies.
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