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<p><b>I BLAME GOV'T FOR MY CONTINOUS EXILE, <i>Omar Joof declares</i></b>
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<p align="left">Omar Joof The Gambia Student Union's exiled leader
has told The Independent that his continuous absence from the
country is still being caused by lapses in the security arrangements
by the government for his possible return. Calling from the headquarters
of the African Front for the Defence of Human Rights (RHADO) office
in Dakar last week.</p>
<p align="left"> Mr. Joof who has been in exile there since April
following the student unrest said since his personal safety cannot
be assured by the government his return would not be possible
in the foreseeable future. Asked what his political convictions
were, Mr. Joof declared; 'I do not identify with any political
party but I have good relations with people of many political
convictions. I am a student activist not a student politician'.
Mr. Joof who voiced concern about the dispensation of justice
regarding 'the massacres' of April 10 and 11 said those who have
been calling for his return have not done enough to improve the
security situation, which he believed is central in any arrangement
for his possible return. According to him although the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA) has discussed matters relating to his
personal security with the GAMSU leadership, little was being
done by the government towards facilitating his peaceful return.
</p>
<p align="left">The student activist, who fled after the violent
crack down on the student demonstrators of April 10 and 11, claimed
that the government had deliberately shunned the student body
particularly on issues concerning student activities. Sounding
cautious but firm on his position that the government should handle
the situation delicately, Mr. Joof said he was eager to return
home, provided security and an impartial judicial process is expedited
in the investigations and trial of those responsible for what
many have come to regard as 'bloody Monday'.</p>
<p align="left"> 'I have no relative in Senegal, I have a wife and
a son in The Gambia who I have never seen since he was born in
my absence. I have no other reason to stay away' he said in a
voice suffused with emotion. 'If my security could be guaranteed
I would join the next bus back to Banjul,' he added. </p>
<p align="left">Omar Joof who still holds a government scholarship
for a Bachelor's degree said he should have completed his course
in October and lamented that his career as a student was being
put on hold, as he continues to 'languish in exile'. He said students
under GAMSU should be assured that his input as a member of the
student leadership would be constant. He promised to continue
pursuing the best interest of the student body. </p>
<p align="left">When asked about his condition in exile Mr. Joof
said 'people from The Gambia have visited me to know what I have
been going through. I will not explain my ordeal out of respect
for colleagues who died in the April tragedy. They died for the
sake of justice, which the union was spearheading so if I should
suffer in Dakar I would take it, selflessly'. But the problem
Mr. Joof emphasised has been the state authorities reluctance
to 'take the bull by the horn and address the issue once and for
all'. 'If we are honest about reconciliation we should discuss
the truth' he suggested, adding that reconciliation in the absence
of truth would not last. </p>
<p align="left">With a mother who developed hypertension and had
to be hospitalised soon after he fled the country in fear for
his life Mr. Joof said he was the worse hit by the tragedy apart
from those who died or suffered injuries during confrontation
with the country's security forces. Mr. Joof also warned members
of the student body to desist from making statements 'to make
themselves heard or famous' He blamed them for taking the student
body on the path to reconciliation 'ill-prepared'. </p>
<p align="left">He said the authorities took advantage of GAMSU's
position to spread the impression that those who led the demonstrations
used the student body. He said although the student body had responded
enthusiastically to the call for reconciliation, state authorities
did not respond accordingly. He said their snubbing of GAMSU had
worsened to a point when it was not possible to celebrate International
Students' Day on November 10. To confirm the absence of such cooperation
Mr. Joof revealed that Alhaji Darboe 'my trusted vice president'
was 'banished' to Badari in the Upper River Division to prevent
him from mobilising students for school activities. He warned
that if the atmosphere of distrust between the government and
GAMSU should continue, reconciliation would be elusive and his
condition as in exile would not change. </p>
<p align="center"><b><font size="5">Cadi appeals court to be set
up</font></b></p>
<p align="left"> There are plans to set up a Cadi appeals court
under section 137A of the 1997 constitution. This is contained
in the recent notice jointly issued by the Attorney General and
Secretary of State for Presidential Affairs to amend 38 provisions
of the 1997 constitution. The proposal aims to set up a Cadi Appeals
Panel which shall consist of a chairperson and not less than four
members, which "shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine
appeals from judgements of the Cadi court and from the district
tribunals where Sharia law is involved." </p>
<p align="left">The proposal is generally welcomed in the sense
that such an appeal court has been absent in this country since
he creation of Cadi courts. Hitherto all matters dealt with by
the Cadi courts could not be appealed against and all that a litigant
could do was to apply to the same court for a review of its judgement.
"This is quite a significant improvement in the dispensation of
justice in the Cadi courts in the sense that no justice system
can be just without a right of appeal," said a lady divorcee.
She therefore welcomed the introduction of Cadi appeals court
which she said would go a long way in ensuring that justice was
done.</p>
<p align="left"> In the same notice, it is proposed to amend certain
provisions of Chapter xii dealing with the appointments and control
of the police force. For instance, both sections 180 and 181 dealing
with the appointment of a police council and the qualifications
and appointment of the inspector general and deputy inspector
general and other ranks shall be deleted. </p>
<p align="left">Section 180 - Police Council reads: (1) There shall
be a Police Council which shall consist of - (a) the Secretary
of State responsible for the Police who shall be Chairman; (b)
the Attorney-General or his or her representative; (c) the Inspector-General
of Police; (d) the administrative head of the Department responsible
for the Police; and (e) one other member appointed by the President.
</p>
<p align="left">(2) The Police Council shall - (a) advise the President
on all matters of policy relating to internal security, including
the role of the Police Force, police budgeting and finance, administration,
and any other matter which the Secretary of State may refer to
the council; and (b) with the prior approval of the President,
make regulations for the performance of its functions under this
Constitution and any other law, and, subject to any Act of the
National Assembly in that regard, for the effective and efficient
administration of the Police Force.</p>
<p align="left"> (3) Regulations made under subsection (2) shall
include regulations in respect of - (a) the control and administration
of the Police Force; (b) the ranks of the officers and men of
each unit of the Police Force, the members in each rank and the
use of uniforms by the members.; (c) the conditions of service,
enrolment, pay, pensions, gratuities and other allowances of officers
an men, and deductions therefrom; (d) the authority and powers
of command of officers and men; and (e) the delegation to the
Inspector-General and other officer of powers of discipline and
the conditions subject to which such delegation may be made; </p>
<p align="left">Section 181 - Appointments in Police Force reads:
(1) The Inspector-General and the Deputy Inspector-General shall
be appointed by the President after consultation with the National
Security Council. (2) A person shall not be qualified to be appointed
in accordance with subsection (1) if he or she is not a citizen
of The Gambia or if he or she holds the citizenship or nationality
of any other country. (3) The President may remove the Inspector-General
and the Deputy Inspector General from office for good cause or
in the public interest. </p>
<p align="left">(4) Subject to this section, the power to appoint
persons in the rank of Assistant Superintendent and above in the
Police Force shall be vested in the President on the advice of
the Inspector-General of Police through the Secretary of State.
(5) The power to appoint persons to rank in the Police Force below
that of Assistant Superintendent shall vest in the Inspector-General.
</p>
</div>
<center>
<div align="left">
<center>
<div align="left">
<p align="center"><font size="2"><b><i><font size="5">Suspected
of being Mane's secret agent</font></i> </b></font></p>
<p align="center"><font size="5"><b>Gambian ''brutalised''
in Bissau </b></font></p>
</div>
</center>
</div>
</center>
<center>
<div align="left"></div>
</center>
<p><i><font size="2"> <font size="3">Abdoulrahman Baldeh a Gambian
businessman has alleged being harassed and brutalised while he was
on a business trip to Bissau on Wednesday November 29. Mr. Baldeh
blamed the Guinea Bissau security forces for the ill-treatment allegedly
meted out to him. The businessman said he recognised those who ''brutalised''
him as members of President Kumba Yala's loyalists soldiers as they
suspected him of being a secret agent for Ansumana Mane, the dissident
former Guinea Bissau chief of staff who was recently killed in a
shoot out with security forces.</font></font></i>
<p><i><font size="2"><font size="3">Recounting his experiences to
The Independent shortly after his return from Guinea-Bissau Mr.
Baldeh explained that on his way to the capital Bissau, he was intimidated
at a police station as a search for the fugitive general was mounted.
According to Mr. Baldeh who looked shell-shocked the Guinea Bissau
security forces arrested and detained him for almost one and half-hours,
accusing him of being a special secret agent of the late General
Mane. According to him that country's security personnel had linked
him with a network of secret agents working for General Mane and
stationed in The Gambia. </font></font></i>
<p><i><font size="2"><font size="3">He said his captors had held that
he was ''specially'' based in The Gambia and that he was purposely
in Bissau to find out his boss's whereabouts. According to Baldeh
after he was ''threatened for quite a long time'', the officers
decided to set him free but only after he was fined 170,000 CFA
with a jail term hanging over his head if he defaulted. Mr. Baldeh
said at the time he was left with only 15,000 CFA - an amount he
had planned to use as ''spare'' money since he had already paid
his fares back to The Gambia. </font></font></i>
<p><i><font size="2"><font size="3">A plea to his captors did not
stop them from roundly searching him, eventually seizing his money
and his mobile phone.. Mr. Baldeh alleged that he was set free ''with
all sorts of threats''. According to him he was not the only Gambian
who went through such an ordeal. He said treatment of the same kind
was unleashed on other Gambians by the Guinea-Bissau police. ''In
Bissau these days, once you are a Gambian you are a target for inhuman
harassment by the police'' he claimed. </font></font></i>
<p><i><font size="2"><font size="3">The businessman said the Bissau
police believe that since the killed renegade General Mane was a
Gambian by birth, Gambians would be ready to carry out reprisal
attacks against Bissau Guineans. He said there was ''muted'' fear
in Bissau about how Gambians there and in The Gambia would react
to Ansumana's death. "Gambians travelling to Bissau are witch hunted
and harassed", Mr. Baldeh further disclosed. He urged The Gambia
Government to find ways of resolving the situation, which he believed,
could sour relations between The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. </font></font></i>
<p><i><font size="2"><font size="3">It was his view that the incident
that led to the killing of the general could not ''in any way''
justify ''such gruesome actions'' by Guinea Bissau's security forces.
He reminded the authorities that such moves are contradictory to
the protocols observed by ECOWAS. Meanwhile unconfirmed reports
reaching The Independent say few days after Ansumana Mane's death,
people of his home town of Sukuta targeted ''papels'' from Guinea
Bissau for possible reprisal attacks. </font></font></i>
<p align="left"><i><b><font size="5">INDEPENDENT VIEW </font></b></i>
<p align="left"> <b><font size="4">Why all these amendments? </font></b>
<p align="left">In a clandestine effort to 'tidy up' the constitution
the APRC government is only just about to make a complete mess of
the state document. Trying to change 39 provisions of the constitution
including some entrenched clauses is really making us wonder about
the real motive of the government whose officials were the authors
of the 1997 constitution in the first place. Gambians at this point
would be right if they are suspicious about the reason to have the
constitution changed at this point when the nation is about to be
caught by election fever.
<p align="left">What is the APRC government really up to? If no explanation
is forthcoming, Gambians are likely to take it as just another attempt
by the powers that be to entrench themselves in power before the
people decide in the 2001 elections. The gazettes have revealed
a lot about the proposed changes. Many as these provisions are we
have not seen anything written about the term limit for the president.
Gambians who voted in the referendum will never forget that this
important suggestion was seriously overlooked. Thus Jawara's 'mistake'
of overstaying in power is still the mistake that the APRC will
almost happily live with as long as it serves those in power. What
double standards! What an ugly contradiction!
<p align="left">Gambians should see the examples of neighbours like
Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa - African
countries that have worked a very effective way out for leaders
who are only there for themselves. But the situation as recent trends
have shown is contagious and The Gambia could not possibly escape
its grasp. The wind of change we all anticipated after PPP's demise
did not come in full force. It took Gambians six years to realise
the 'change' was no change at all. It merely occasioned a brief
pause from the plunder and recklessness of our leaders. Thus our
problem is still a question of governance. Who are our rightful
leaders?
<p align="left">There is general consensus as to the importance of
constitutions, and respect for constitutional principles and the
rule of law as the basis for democratic governance. But the emphasis
is that the formulation or amendment of constitutions must also
be through a democratic and participatory process if they are to
fully reflect the aspirations of the majority of citizens. In this
respect, the Government's recent plans to deny recognition to fundamental
basic rights and recognition to other extra-constitutional provisions
are inimical to rights of the person.
<p align="left">Among other things, the fundamental importance of
the judiciary was recognised in the constitutional provisions to
be amended. However, there attention must also be given to strengthening
the institutions that support democracy; an effective public service,
capable local government structures, an independent and competent
judiciary, and a representative legislature. However, democracy
is not only about regular multiparty elections and formal institutions.
Democratic principles and practices have to be embedded in a democratic
political culture, which is essential if democracy is to be deepened
and sustained.
<p align="left">Without such a culture, there is a danger that the
form, but not the substance of democracy, will prevail. Autocratic
practices will continue under the guise of multi-part democracy.
In The Gambia, the prevailing political culture is still conditioned
by non-democratic norms and values. A democratic culture cannot
be imposed, and the challenge facing the country is to develop a
political culture that has resonance for all citizens, and that
will give form and meaning to democracy as a system of governance.
Gambians beware of the crackpot types.
<p align="center"> <font size="5"><b>The Gambia soon to get a Braille
newspaper </b></font>
<p align="center"><font size="5"><b><i>GPU Chairman discloses</i>
</b></font>
<p align="left"><font size="2"> <font size="3">The chairman of the
Gambia Press Union D.A.Jawo has disclosed plans by the GPU in collaboration
with other stakeholders to introduce a Braille newspaper in The
Gambia 'in order to cater for the growing number of educated blind
people in the country who have no access to newspapers'. Speaking
at the end of a week long course on newspaper design and sub-editing
organised by the Gambia Press Union in collaboration with the Commonwealth
Press Union of London at the Gamtel Multimedia Training Institute
on Friday, he said the idea was proposed by the course facilitator
Bob Howarth and which he said they found quite fascinating. </font></font>
<p align="left"><font size="2"><font size="3">Mr. Jawo said the GPU
was going to pursue it with the assistance and collaboration of
donors and other stakeholders. In officially closing the course,
the British High Commissioner to The Gambia John Perrot pledged
his continued support for press freedom. He called on the participants
to implement the new skills they have learnt in the course. In his
turn, Bob Howarth said he enjoyed the course and that he was quite
confident that the participants were going to make maximum use of
the new technology they have been exposed to. He promised to continue
the contact with all the participants through the internet to exchange
ideas with them. </font></font>
<p align="left"><font size="2"><font size="3">Giving the vote of thanks,
one of the participants Jeggan Grey-Johnson expressed delight at
being given the opportunity to take part in the course which he
said was relevant. The course was attended by 15 newspaper designers
and sub-editors from the print media. It concentrated mainly on
the latest technology on the design and layout of newspapers and
the use of the internet to help improve the outlook of newspapers
At the end of the course, the participants were presented with certificates
by High Commissioner Perrot. heard plans to introduce a Braille
newspaper in The Gambia. </font></font>
<p align="center"><font size="5"><b>''Teachers at Tujereng are victims
of discrimination'' </b></font>
<p align="left"> Gambian teachers at Tujereng Upper Basic school have
complained of unfair and prejudicial treatment from their principal
Jerreh Dampha. Report reaching The Independent had indicated that
Gambians teachers at the school were being denied access to rooms
at the teachers' quarters ''whilst foreign teachers are given priority
to reside in campus at our own expense''. According to sources all
the departments of school are headed by foreign teachers except
the mathematics department, which is said to be under the responsibility
of the vice-principal. They claimed that all senior positions in
the school are being occupied by foreigners ''who are all that mattered
at the school''.
<p align="left">On the allocation of rooms at the teachers' quarters,
they said that eleven foreign teachers are residing at the quarters,
''when only four Gambian teachers were given opportunities to stay
in the quarters''. Teachers of the school who were interviewed vowed
to abandon teaching if the situation was not amicably resolved by
the responsible authorities. ''The situation is frustrating'' one
of them lamented. On teaching shifts, they claimed that foreign
teachers have more opportunities to teach in the afternoon shift
and are paid ''double salary''. One of them said that they as Gambian
teachers are ''completely alienated and neglected as juniors in
the school''. Reacting to the allegations the principal Jerreh Dampha
said the teaching force has always been dominated by foreigners.
''As a result they easily occupy senior positions and are considered
on specific matters'' he explained.
<p align="left">
<p align="left"><font size="4"><b><font size="5">Unionist attends
Trade Union Conference</font></b></font>
<p align="left">Following the adoption of the Constitutive Act of
the African Union by the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of
Heads of State and Governments including The Gambia, the Gambia
Labour Union was recently represented at the Trade Union Conference
of African Unity held in Dakar. The Gambian representative Kebba
M. Ceesay of the Gambia Labour Union told The Independent that the
Conference was attended by trade union leaders from different parts
of the sub-region. He added that at the end of the conference, the
Dakar Declaration 2000 was adopted. Mr. Ceesay explained that the
Dakar Declaration was made within the framework of the African Workers'
Union Trade Unionist Movement back up and support to African unity,
as initiated by the African leaders.
<p align="left">The unending role of African trade unionist efficiency
was also considered. This he added will be for the "achievement
and implementation of its desire for freedom following decisions
made by heads of state and governments at both the Sytre and Lome
summits." Mr. Ceesay stressed that it was also discussed by leaders
that despite the social and political difficulties, the conference
was convinced that African unity was achievable. Mr. Ceesay noted
that they also called for the mobilisation of the African working
class and their unity and total integration into the building process
of African unity. Organisations at the meeting also expressed optimism
about the initiatives that were the first since the historic summit
at Sytre under the presidency of the Libyan leader Mouamar El Ghaddafi.
<p align="center">
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