Folks,

The majority of the Gambian House of Parliament is under arrest according to
the Observer story below. This is the same individual implicated in the
blood diamond trade by the UN. He cannot even travel outside the Gambia
without being arrested and he represents the APRC. On a related note, Some
of the ministers recently sacked by Jammeh are back  working for the
government again.

These reshufflings and Jammeh’s recent pronouncements on the economy are
evidence that we have clowns and jokers and malcontents ruling our country.
What does this say about us- the people they lead?

Regards,
MJohnson

Headlines
14th November 2003
Baba Jobe Charged
by Ebrima Jaw Manneh
Majority Leader of the National Assembly, Baba Jobe, was questioned and
detained by officials of the police fraud squad yesterday.
Although details of his detention were not forthcoming from the police, it
was said to be in connection with a cheque Mr Jobe wrote on behalf of his
business outfit, Youth Development Enterprise, to the Gambia Ports Authority
which was dishonoured upon presentation at the bank.
It is not known whether the intended payment was for import duties YDE owes.
However, according to sources, Mr Jobe was said to have sent the cheque
along with a covering note indicating when the D2m plus cheque would
'mature'.
Following his detention, a frenzy of calls and efforts to secure his release
were made.  But they bore no fruit up to press time.
According to police sources, a string of 'influential personalities' and
'virtually all' APRC Members of the National Assembly visited the police
headquarters in Banjul to solicit his release without success.
Mr Jobe's arrest has attracted mixed reactions.  Whilst some of his party
stalwarts said it would 'boomerang' in a negative way on the APRC party, its
image and political prospects, others said the arrest and detention of a
figure so close to the President signifies that the President meant 'every
breath' when he announced that 'Operation No Compromise will not spare even
the waves of the ocean'.
Up to press time, Mr Jobe has not been granted bail.
The police confirmed late last night that he has been charged and will
likely be arraigned before the Banjul Magistrates Court this morning

_________________________________________________________________
Compare high-speed Internet plans, starting at $26.95.
https://broadband.msn.com (Prices may vary by service area.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~