Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issues
Issue No. 1/2005, 3-5 December, 2004
EDITORIAL
THE CHALLENGE FOR LEADERS AND PEOPLE IN 2005
The Head of State, the heads of the Catholic, Anglican and Methodist missions, the individuals interviewed by GRTS during the end of year programme all prayed for peace. Peace is a clarion call for all. Yet 2004 ended with a bloody reminder that the road to peace must be lit by the torch of reason and justice.
In short, human kind has realised that the only way to overcome conflict, dispute, our diverse races, nations, languages, ethnic groups, religions, sexes, beliefs, political opinions is to ensure that there is tolerance of diversity. This means that reason and justice must guide the action of leaders of all groups in particular and the people at large. If heads of states perform their duties on the basis of reason and justice, if lawmakers make laws that are reasonable and justifiable in a civilized and democratic society, if the leaders of all groups deliver messages that are reasonable and justifiable; if critiques deliver analyses that are reasonable and justifiable every corner of our society will be lit with clarity, truth and goodwill for peace to triumph.
What is rather unfortunate is the attitude of the Head of State during his interview with Mr. Dibba of GRTS on New Year’s Eve.
The journalists are still mourning Deyda. They have called on the state to investigate the allegations against certain members of the security forces for the arson attack against the Independent Newspaper. They have called for the banning of any use of vehicles without number plates. They have called for mobile patrol of urban streets during the night by officers with mobile phone numbers that are known to the public. One expected the Head of State to meet the demands of the journalists. Instead he decided to justify the increase of a bond for establishing newspapers in the sum of D500, 000 and the increasing of sentences for libel to a term of imprisonment not less than six months without the option of a fine, meaning that one can be sentenced to life imprisonment.
Clearly, no one is saying that there should be no penalty for libel. The contention is that the sentence to imprisonment for not less than 6 months without the option of a fine when the previous law provided for the option of a fine and a term of imprisonment for no more than two years is draconian and a reflection of bad faith.
Secondly, when it comes to the Coalition or Alliance the President said that they could never be Ministers unless he appoints them. This spirit of seeing the presidency as a personal property and occupying it as an achievement is a very dangerous logic. The presidency is a property of the people. One should see the position as a place of service and not a place of display of supremacy. It is people who make a person a president. Hence being a president should not be seen as a personal achievement just as a person who keeps the millions belonging to an orphan should not see himself as a rich person. What is entrusted belongs to the owners and not the trustees. It is the Gambian people who will decide who will be in office in 2006, not President Jammeh.
Furthermore, the president has shown that he talks about Pan Africanism but is not one. This became clear when he appears to be inciting Gambians against non-Gambians. He said Gambians encourage foreigners to criticise their country when others would stop others from doing so. This is the height of narrow nationalism. A modern African government should see all Africans as citizens of the continent even though the Union has not developed to that stage yet. A true Pan Africanist will make all Africans to feel at home and exercise basic rights as if they were at home.
The interview clearly shows that the president is yet to allow reason and justice to guide his words and deeds to the fullest as expected of a leader in the 21st century. Time is not on his side. Ten years is not ten days. It is becoming too late to learn. Those who see being a president to be personal achievements will find it very difficult to leave office. One would fear that one would decline in status. A person who sees it as a position of service like Nelson Mandela would be confident of even greater respect when they serve and leave when they should leave with honour.
WHERE IS VINCENT JATTA?
Since the announcement of the relief of Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Jatta from his position as Chief of Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces and his discharge from the Gambia National Army, many efforts have been made by FOROYAA to get in touch with him both at his Kotu residence and his home in Darsilami to seek his opinion but to no avail. This has led us to investigate his whereabouts. I visited his homes in both Kotu and Darsilami but he could not be found there. A relative I spoke to in Kotu said that Vincent’s wife was not at home. He also said that Vincent himself has not been at home since the 22nd of December when he was relieved from his duties and discharged from the army. Another relative I met at his home in Darsilami said that they had not seen him since that day. He added that they believe no news is not good news in his case because he was not reported to have been taken prisoner and had not informed them that he was travelling outside the country.
FOROYAA got in touch with the police to find out whether he has been detained or not but the police said they are not aware of his arrest and detention. At the time of going to press attempts to dispel rumours of his deportation proved futile as we could not get in touch with the immigration authorities. Investigation on this matter continues.
MFDC & SENEGALESE GOVERNMENT SIGN PEACE ACCORD
By Emil Touray
The Senegalese government and the Movement Forces Democratic Du Cassamance (MFDC) have decided to pour oil on troubled waters by signing a peace accord aimed at ending the protracted secessionist conflict, which has over the past two decades claimed lives and properties.
The signing ceremony held at Place de la Governance in Ziguinchor was attended by thousands of people mainly from civil society organizations, MFDC combatants, President Wade and members of his government, foreign delegates, opposition leaders such as Mustapha Niasse, Amat Dansokho, Abdoulie Batchilly and Aminta Mbenga Njie of Partie Socialist were present. Abbe Diamacoune Senghore, his brother, Betrand Senghore and the following MFDC executive members who are based in France and Portugal were also present at the signing ceremony: Momodou Kujabie, Sheikh Tijan Colley and Fatou Mbaye.
However, Momodou Nkrumah Sanneh, one of the hardcore members of the MFDC who is currently based in France together with Jean Françoise Beagui and Abdoulie Jarjue purported to be the leader of the late Seedy Badjie’s faction did not turn up. Abdoulie Jarjue is reported to have a lot of fighters in the bush. It is reported that the three absentees are at daggers drawn with Diamacoune Senghore and have decided to disassociate themselves from the peace accord. It is not clear what effect this boycott will have on the peace process. However, euphoria and optimism greeted the signing of the peace accord.
Prior to the signing of the peace deal by Diamacoune Senghore and Ousmane Ngom (Senegal’s Minister of the Interior) the aforesaid minister led delegates to the Grande Mosque de Ziguinchor and the town’s main Cathedral where ‘peace prayers’ were held. The ‘peace prayers’ which were held around 11.00 o’clock in the morning, was attended by rebel combatants, refugees, displaced folks, opposition leaders and people who were very enthusiastic to see an end to the separatist conflict.
Speaking at the ‘peace prayers’, Ousmane Ngom said prayers are tools for believers. He told Sheikh Alieu Hydara (Imam of the Grand Mosque) that the participation of religious leaders in the peace process is significant. He urged them to support the peace process whilst noting the Senegalese government’s resolve to end the insurrection in Cassamance.
The accord was signed by Abbe Diamacoune Senghore and Ousmane Ngom at around quarter to four in the afternoon. The accord has created room for the disarmament and demobilization of rebels, integration of some of the fighters into the Senegalese security service, reconstruction of villages that have been ravaged by war, repatriation of refugees and displaced people. The Senegalese government has budgeted millions of Euros for the reconstruction of Cassamance.
In an interview with this reporter, Mustapha Niasse said that "stakeholders have a big task ahead of them". He expressed the need for stakeholders to focus their minds on the implementation of the peace process and the reconstruction of the Cassamance region.
In an interview with this reporter, Amat Dansokho said that "no amount of force can hijack the peace process."
The combatants are fed up with the war. They started the peace process this time. They are of the view that this is a senseless war, which has claimed a lot of lives. However, some of the combatants who have benefited financially from the war will not be prepared to lay down their weapons. They are bound to be obstacles along the way, but that fact that Abbe Diamacoune Senghore and the fighters in the bush are keen to end the war, is a clear indication of the fact that peace is looming. "We are united as a people to stop the massacre of innocent children and end the senseless war," he remarked.
The protocol was read by Ansumana Badjie of the MFDC and in attendance were the following musicians: Alieune Kasse, Demba Dia, Toure Kunda and Pap et Sheikh. Ousman Toure of Touray Kunda delivered a peace message.
See Next Issue For Details
DEYDA, MAN OF THE YEAR 2004
The following are excerpts from a press release issued by Gambia Communication Agency And Baroueli Enterprises:
The late Deyda Hydara, Managing Editor and Co-Proprietor of The Point Newspaper, has been named "Man of the Year 2004" by "The Gambia News and Report Weekly Magazine."
The late Deyda Hydara, who until the time of his murder by unknown gunmen, was also
the AFP Correspondent and the Correspondent of Reporteurs Sans Frontiers in The Gambia, was killed on the night of 16 December, 2004. His murder, by gunshot wounds from assasins in a numberless vehicle, which had followed him as he drove down the Sankung Sillah road to drop staff members from work, coincided with the formal observance of the 13th anniversary of the Point Newspaper that day.
In a letter to Mrs. Mariam Hydara, conveying news of her late husband’s post humous designation as Man of the Year, 2004, Mr. Swaebou Conateh of the Dippakunda based Gambia Communication Agency and Baroueli Enterprises, the publishers of "The News and Report," stated that the late Deyda Hydara had met the following criteria. This is because,
1) as manifest by the Point newspaper, he had, despite the various threats to his life, all of which he had always made public through the pages of his paper, remained courageous , steadfast and committed to the finest ideals of the journalism profession. This could be ascertained by his singular pursuit of truth, justice, transparency and accountability particularly in public affairs. Consequently, he eventually died a hero and a martyr to the cause of a free press for The Gambia.
2). His life long career achievements in journalism, which included the fluent use of both English and French languages in his writings; the founding of The Point as a national newspaper, and his involvement with the Senegambia Sun and Radio Syd, as well as his leadership of The Gambia Press Union and contributions to sub-regional and international journalism.
3). The invaluable contributions he had made to the development of Gambian journalism over the years, both as a bi-lingual journalist himself and as co-proprietor of The Point newspaper, a position he used to inspire many young Gambians to join the profession and to help raise the profile of Gambian journalists and journalism within the world journalism fraternity, The story of his life would thus remain for all Gambians an important example of good leadership and would serve as a point of reference both in terms of the journalism profession and on behalf of the community
4) His well known active engagement and promotion of many social and religious causes including his successful campaign to get the Old Jeshwang cemetery fenced and to have public support for the Campama Psychiatric Hospital. More recently, as a founder member, he was elected the first Vice President of a charitable NGO, the Premier Lions Club of The Gambia.
"The Gambia News and Report" magazine, which started publication as a monthly in 1992, has since June 1996 been published weekly. The magazine’s editor and publisher is Swaebou Conateh who is also the Managing Director of the publishing company, The Gambia Communication Agency and Baroueli Enterprises. Previous Man or Gambian of The Year named by the paper since 1992 were Amadou Samba, Pa Sallah Jagne, Dr. Ebrima Samba, Dr. Lenrie Peters, Lamin Waa Juwara, Isatou Njie Saidy, Bye Lamin Jobe, Mrs. Harriet Ndow, Imam Karamo Touray, O. B. Conateh Hassan B. Jallow and Muhamed Jah.
The late Hydara, a strong advocate of press freedom in The Gambia and the sub-region, had remained an outspoken opponent of repressive media laws enacted by the present Government and had fought hard for the authorities to bring them into line with internationally acceptable standards.
From his position as editor of one of The Gambia’s leading newspapers, he had never hesitated to forward ideas and comments on pertinent issues of the day. These were far reaching and covered all aspects of public life in The Gambia and abroad, touching on developments in the social, cultural, economic, political and religious domains.
Hydara’s contributions to Gambian journalism were equally far reaching. He was among those who pioneered privately owned commercial radio in Africa when he started his journalism career in 1970 by serving as a popular broadcaster over the Swedish owned Radio Syd in Banjul soon after completing his studies at Dakar University. In 1974,he also began work for Agence France Press as their correspondent in Banjul.
In 1984, he was on the editorial team of the now defunct Senegambia Sun which was established here by the Senegalese government owned Le Soleil newspaper in Dakar, following the coming into being of the Senegambia Confederation. With the collapse of the confederation in 1989, Hydara, in December, 1991, helped found the Point Newspaper with his former colleagues of the Senegambia Sun. He explained that he was inspired to take to desktop publishing techniques using computers following a visit to Cotonou in Benin, where he came across journalists making successful use of the technique to publish modem tabloid newspaper. Consequently, he helped pave the way to the use of this modem technique in newspaper publishing in The Gambia and also ranked among the first to publish a modem tabloid newspaper here. This is The Point newspaper, which started as a weekly publication but which is now published four times a week including Saturdays.
Apart from the field of journalism, the late Deyda Hydara was also well known for his active engagement and promotion of many social and religious causes including his successful campaign to get the Old Jeshwang cemetery fenced and to have public support for the Campama
Psychiatric Hospital. More recently, he was elected the first Vice President of a charitable NGO, the Premier Lions Club of The Gambia.
Trade Season Still Riddled With Problems
By Tombong Jadama
This year’s trade season, which was scheduled to start on 6th December, 2004 started badly because of poor arrangements, with farmers taking their nuts to buying stations without receiving cash. Most buying stations were not buying and the groundnut trade was at a virtual standstill. This motivated many farmers to cross the border to sell their nuts in Senegal. This cross border trade was later restricted and the farmers were faced with the grim reality of not knowing where to sell their nuts. My investigation has revealed that it was not until 24th December 2004 that the cooperative societies seccos (buying stations) received cash and started buying nuts.
The cooperative marketing societies face yet another problem - the lack of means of transporting the nuts they have purchased without which they cannot get fresh supply of money to buy more nuts. Some seccos are yet to transport even a nut.
There is yet another problem. Bags for the nuts are not only insufficient, they are also of low quality.
Editor’s Note: The author of this article has just completed a tour of various seccos and depots across the country.
FIRE DISASTER RAZES COMPOUND
By Ousman Sillah
Barely four days before the end of the year, 2004, on the 28th December to be precise, a serious fire blaze gutted a whole compound at Latrikunda Yiringanya. Although there were no human casualties, however, almost all the belongings of the families inside the three apartments in the compound were consumed by the fire.
According to Ms. Aji Badjie, one of the victims who lived in the third apartment with her parents and family, the fire started on that Tuesday morning around 10.00 am.
Asked whether the Fire Service was alerted, Ms. Badjie said, "They were informed and two firefighting vehicles came to the scene with empty tanks and when we asked why they responded that sometimes the children would give them false alarm;" that a third vehicle came which joined the people who were already helping to put out the fire.
Responding to a question on the extent of the damage caused by the disaster, Ms. Badjie said that all their belongings were consumed by the fire; that these include all their important documents i.e. I D cards, birth certificates, passports, books, clothes, furniture, etc. She said nothing was recovered from their house and also the others; that monies were also lost in the fire which includes a seven thousand dalasis sent to her parents for Tobaski ram and expenses, the two salaries of the sister and herself, school fees, uniforms, etc.
The distraught Badjie family and other two tenants who lost all their household belongings and monies could be reached by any good Samaritan for assistance through these numbers: 9989636 or 9931272.
WATER, A JEWEL FOR MANY BUNDUNG RESIDENTS
Every night from 2.00 am to 4.00 am it is quite normal to see women residents of Bundung fetching water from public taps because during the day all taps remain closed. At this odd time of the night mothers and their daughters brave the cold weather for two hours in order to get drinking water for their families. It is heart breaking to see many carrying containers on the roadside only to join a taxi to either Latrikunda Sabiji or other parts of the Kanifing Municipality during daytime because their families have exhausted the water they had fetched the previous night. When I spoke to some of the residents they told me that they have to travel far in order to have water. One of them told me that the conditions have been like this for many months now. She said that the women of Bundung had at one time told the Energy Minister who is also the Head of State during his Meet the People Tour about their plight. The President in turn, she said, promised that the situation would be addressed.
She said that, on the contrary, matters have gone from bad to worse. Another woman told me that some of them who depend on street taps suffer much more than others who have taps in their homes. She said that something needs to be done so that their condition will be alleviated.
City Limits Journalist Arrested
City limits journalist, Mr. Sam Obi was last week arrested and detained by the serious crimes unit of the Gambia Police Force. He was later released. His arrest is reported to be related to a report he dispatched to Radio France International on the procession in honour of late Deyda Hydara. Mr. Aziz Bojang, the Police PRO was contacted. He was asked for charge against Mr. Sam Obi and he said that no charge had been preferred against him. He added that the Police received false information about the report dispatched by Mr. Sam Obi to RFI (Radio France International) but they have found nothing adverse about the report. According to him in the course of investigation they were investigating other matters. Reports have it that Mr. Obi should report back at the Police today.
Comment: Caution needs to be exercised lest the Police are seen as harassing journalists to deter them from speaking out and engaging in self-censorship, especial foreign journalists. This undermines the image and integrity of the nation.
ALKALO AND ELEVEN OTHERS ARRAIGNED BEFORE THE COURTS
By Pateh Baldeh
The Alkalo of Kitty and Eleven others from his village were on Tuesday 14th December 2004 arraigned before the Brikama Magistrate Court, presided over by Magistrate Bubacarr Jawo. The twelve were charged with criminal trespass and wilful damage to property. One of the accused, Lamin Tiya Bojang, pleaded guilty to both charges and was fined D5, 000.00 for the first count or one year imprisonment and the second count D10, 000 or one year four months imprisonment.
Foday Sarjo also pleaded guilty while the rest of the ten (10) pleaded not guilty to all the counts.
They were brought to court, under full escort by personnel of the Police Intervention Unit (P.I.U.) armed with AK 47 rifles. There was also a tight security around the court premises. The accused were all remanded in custody as the prosecution maintained that investigation is still on.
At the National Assembly
FOROYAA maintains that with knowledgeable National Assembly Members, coupled with a responsive and accountable executive, the people would truly become sovereign. The people need to know how their representatives are performing.
This column is reserved for National Assembly Proceedings and Interviews with National Assembly Members.
NAMs Debate on the 2005 Estimates
CONTINUATION OF HALIFA’S REACTION TO THE 2005 BUDGET SPEECH
By Abdoulie Dibba
Reacting to the 2005 budget speech delivered before the deputies by the Secretary of State for Finance and Economic Affairs, Hon. Bala Gaye, Hon. Halifa Sallah asserted that when one talks about development, one is talking about production, distribution and investment. He pointed out that the production of goods and services is the fundamental base of revenue. Halifa argued that according to the Secretary of State, the country has registered a GDP of 8 % this year while that of last year was 7 %. Hon. Sallah pointed out that the 7 % GDP last year, does not prevent the country from the difficulties it experienced. He argued that, he is just pointing out that this just to show that a mere increase in GDP does not automatically lead to the eradication of difficulties. Hon. Sallah argued that if one looks at the GDP and its components, one can see that Agriculture contributed 36.7 % according to the Secretary of State, and that what resulted to this contribution is the 284.792 hectares
which has been cultivated and gives a total of 307, 504 metric tons. Halifa argued that what is important to look at is that the World Market Price of groundnut is between D29, 000 to D32, 000 per ton but then our farming community are only offered D8, 100 per ton. "Is this an encouragement to the farming community?" Halifa asked. Hon. Sallah also asked whether we can continue to use repressive measures that said that the farming community in a liberal economy, cannot sell their crops where they are offered better prices in the name of controlling our crops nationally as the Secretary of State for Agriculture indicated in this Assembly. Halifa stressed that the only way to control our crops, is to offer our farming community more incentives so that they will not have any cause to go elsewhere to sell their crops and not through draconian measures. Hon. Sallah pointed out that if one looks at the whole issue of groundnut production, the rising cost of fertilizer, and the other aspect
of production, all these he said will affect our Agriculture. He pointed out that if one looks at the area of mechanization, where they are told that tractors are available, they can see from what the Secretary of State has told them, that the tractors managed to cultivate a total area of 3, 574 hectares from a total cultivated area of 284, 792 hectares this year. "So how are the tractors really helping to promote our Agriculture?" Halifa stressed. Halifa pointed out that another thing that is of concern is that Agriculture relied on the condition of the weather to contribute 36.7 % of GDP which should be taken into consideration and that recently we are talking about locust invasion, which can put our economy at risk. The other contributing factor of the GDP, is the fishing sector and that in this particular sector, nothing concrete has been indicated by the Secretary of State regarding the sector’s contribution to GDP. He only mentioned in his speech that the sector is estimated
to grow by 10 % but how much it has contributed to GDP has not been mentioned. Hon. Sallah pointed out that the same thing goes to industry, manufacturing, electricity, building and construction. Halifa stressed that the Secretary of State has failed to mention concretely how much these sectors are contributing to the GDP in his budget speech. As for the distributive trade, Halifa said, the Secretary of State has mentioned that it is contributing 8 % to the GDP. Hon. Sallah stressed that the statement that the GDP has grown to 8 % cannot be subjected to critical analysis because the factors that contributed to it are not embedded in the budget speech to enable them to weigh what has been asserted. He pointed out that at this stage, he reiterated the need to invest in the productive sector of our economy because this is the sector that can enable us to provide services. Hon. Sallah argued that to know whether the productive sector has been developed or not, one has to look under
trade. He pointed out that last year, the country managed to export D93.7 million and imported D4 billion, experiencing a trade deficit of D3.9 billion. Hon. Sallah stressed that this has clearly shown that the productive sector of the economy has not been developed. Sallah pointed out that this year, even though statistics are given, but the amount we earned from our exports has not been indicated in the speech and that the amount spent on imports too has not been indicated and therefore, to give a final analysis of our economy in the absence of imports and exports, will be difficult. In that sense, Halifa said, "I would want the Secretary of State to give us more information in that regard as to how much we have imported and how much we have exported since that will reflect on whether we are moving forward to be an export oriented economy or not. In the absence of that fact, we must look at the stage of finances and this will show very clearly that there is need to invest in the
productive sector of the economy in order to generate revenue." Hon. Sallah argued that if one looks at our institution of accumulation, paragraph 33 is actually telling us that the gross loans of the banking industry declined by 19.7 %; Halifa pointed out that if that is the case of the banking industry, how would the private sector develop? Hon. Sallah argued that if one also looks at paragraph 35, it is indicating to us that total liquid assets of commercial banks is D2.3 billion at end September 2004 and that in terms of excess liquidity of D1.3 billion or 119 % above the statutory requirement. Halifa pointed out that the facts are clearly stated in paragraph 33 that there is high cost of borrowing and therefore the private sector cannot get access to the funds of the commercial banks since the commercial banks highly depend on government for the treasury bills to make profit. Halifa argued that the fundamental issue that needs to be addressed is what is going to happen to banks
since they depend on government to make profit and that government is now saying that it must tighten its expenses and that it must borrow less, that banks are yet to be fully prepared to perform the role of banks in a
Amendment Of Newspaper Act
Interview with Halifa Sallah, Part 2
Foroyaa: You disagree with the Secretary of State that the increase in the bond to be executed by proprietors of Newspapers from D100, 000 to D500, 000 is meant to safeguard those who may be libelled by journalists.
Halifa: I was very surprised to have heard such an argument from the APRC cabinet. We all know that doctors and lawyers are capable of malpractice; drivers are capable of killing people, soldiers are capable of shooting people, every professional is capable of misdeed. However one does not require all these people to execute bonds to protect would be victims before being allowed to practice their professions. Those who operate on the basis of the logic you mentioned cannot give any reasonable and justifiable argument for the increase of the bonds. Needless to say, to make journalists pay between D50,000 - D200,000 for administrative flaws and such as failing to state the name of editor at the back page is simply unreasonable. The amendment fails the test of reason and justice. It has no leg to stand. If the government intends to have little credibility it should resolve it.
Foroyaa: Can you throw light on the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2004.
Halifa: This is now a new provision. The law on sedition has been in the books since 1940s. It is a colonial law. I will come back to the essence. What the APRC regime seeks to do is to increase the penalties.
For example, the law prior to amendment indicates that a person who is guilty of sedition "is liable for a first offence to a fine not exceeding two thousand dalasis or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both such fine and imprisonment and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, and any seditious publication shall be forfeited to the state."
Now the government wants to eradicate the option of a fine and the upper limit of two years as follows:
"Any person who
(a) does or attempts to do, or makes any preparation to do, or conspires with any person to do, any act with a seditious intention;
(b) utters any seditious words;
(c) prints, publishes, sells, offers for sale, distributes or reproduces any seditious publication;
imports any seditious publication, unless he has no reason to believe that it is seditious;
shall be guilty of an offence and liable for a first offence to imprisonment for a term not less than six months, without the option of a fine, and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term not less than three years, without the option of a fine, and any seditious publication shall be forfeited to the state."
Foroyaa: Are there other amendments.
Halifa: The second amendment deals with someone who merely has seditious publication in his possession. This includes print outs from the Internet and so on. The provision that is being amended reads "Any person who, without lawful excuse has in his possession any seditious publication shall be guilty of an offence and liable for a first offence to a fine not exceeding five hundred dalasis or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both such fine and imprisonment and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.
Now, the amendment reads "Any person who, without lawful excuse, has in his possession any seditious publication shall be guilty of an offence and liable for a first offence to imprisonment for a term not less than six months, without the option of a fine, and for a subsequent offence to imprisonment for a term of not less than three years without the option of a fine…."
Foroyaa: This does not only affect journalists. Seditious publication may affect non-journalist. The contention here is not that there should be no law dealing with sedition. What is of concern is the weight of the crime. The original punishment was a fine not exceeding 2000 dalasis or imprisonment not exceeding two years. Now fine is removed and imprisonment is for no less than 6 months. These are not the types of punishment you find in the criminal code of a democratic country. Punishment must have upper limits. They must be reasonable and justifiable.
Foroyaa: Can you look at the issue of defamation?
See Next Issue
LOW VOTER TURNOUT IN OLD JESHWANG
By Sarjo M. Camara
The community of Old Jeshwang Ward on Thursday the 30th of December 2004 made their choice by electing Masanneh Jawara as the Councillor of their ward. The Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), Mr. Gabriel Roberts, who presided over the counting of the results, at the Kanifing Regional Office, declared the APRC candidate as the winner. The poll started as early as 7.00 am. The candidates contested at 6 polling stations and the UDP / Coalition was able to secure only one polling station and the rest were secured by the APRC. The results were as follows:
POLLING STATION APRC UDP/COALITION
B57 74 50
B57A 26 26
B58 197 144
B60 201 56
B61 158 145
A61 62 64
TOTAL 718 485
The total number of votes cast for both candidates was just over 1, 200 out of a total of about 4,650 registered voters. In short, only 26% of the registered voters voted, an indication of voter apathy.
According to the Presiding Officer of B58, they have 23 eligible voters whose names were not in the register but they voted. A similar situation also happened at B61 where Dawda Sowe was the Presiding Officer. At this place too 20 voters whose names were not in the register but possessed voter’s cards were allowed to vote.
When this reporter contacted Junkungba Dukureh of the UDP/Coalition, he said he accepted the results in good faith and that the election was free and fair. He said election is all about win or lost.
The readers would recall that this Ward’s Councillor seat became vacant when the then occupant, Mr. Michael Tamba who won under an independent ticket resigned and left for the United Kingdom.
The nomination was done on the 13th December and the campaign commenced on the 15th December. It lasted for two weeks before the election of the 30th December, 2004.
---------------------------------
ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
|
