Foroyaa Newspaper Issue No.26/2004, 29-31 March, 2004 Editorial PRESIDENT JAMMEH CHALLENGES THE OTHER SIDE TO SHOW FARMS DOES HE KNOW THE ABCS OF BEING A PRESIDENT? During his address to the National Assembly on Thursday 25th March 2004, the President said that he would be going on tour soon and would want to see the farms of the other Political Leaders of the country as he takes the trail to meet the farmers. This leads us to wonder whether the President understands the ABCs of being a Head of State. It is important to point our that those who seek to be head of state do not prove their worth by showing who the biggest absentee landlord is among them; on the contrary, they have to show who has the best programme to enable the people to produce bumper harvests and have markets to sell their crops at fair prices. Some National Assembly Members have established research centres and are writing books that can bring foreign exchange to the country. Others are attracting investors to the country. What the people want from the President is not to show how big his farm is and how many people he engages to produce for him. Anybody can occupy the state house, and use one’s advantageous position to own thousands of hectares of land, use cheap labour to produce and make money at the toilers’ expense. What is difficult to do is to refuse to live extravagantly and direct the resources derived from taxes to enable the producers to increase their production and enhance their earnings. What the farmers want to hear is how they can get good seeds, cheaper fertilizer and farm implements, markets and better prices for their crops. What is required of a Head of State is clearly stipulated in the Constitution. Section 68 Subsection (4) of the Constitution states that “The President shall not: a) “while he/she continues in office as President, hold any other office of profit or emolument whether public or private, occupy any other position carrying the right to remuneration for the rendering of services or directly or indirectly carry on any trade, business or other undertaking… b) undertake any activity inconsistent with his/her official position or expose himself/herself to any situation, which carries with it the risk of a conflict developing between his/her official concerns and his/her private interest; c) use his/her position as such or use information entrusted to or received by him/her in an official position directly or indirectly to enrich himself/herself or any other person.” In fact the Constitution went as far as to say that even though a President may have engaged in business or may engage in horticulture, farming, livestock or fishing, he can only continue doing so as President under a trusteeship. A President who has to read all bills, international agreements, policies, reports, follow news and monitor the performance of all Departments of State and the State of our external relations would not have time to organize wrestling matches or personally run and supervise business enterprises. What the President should have done but failed to do so is to state how many tonnes of groundnuts have been produced and how much had been purchased. He deliberately left out the concrete picture of this year’s trade season and decided to direct the attention of the people to trivial issues like farms owned by leaders working to replace him. This is the type of politics President Jammeh needs to abandon if he is to promote decency and the tackling of issues in Gambian politics. Those who are fit to lead this nation are those who can put national interest before personal interest. INTERVIEW WITH HALIFA SALLAH ON THE PAN AFRICAN PARLIAMENT “With D44,000 spent on each of us excluding Air Ticket, I must constantly assess whether the Parliament is a mere talking shop or an instrument for Democracy and Development. If it is a mere talking shop I will save the Tax Payers money by Resigning.” In an interview with Foroyaa, Halifa Sallah explained the developments during the Inaugural Session of the Pan African Parliament, which took place on 18-20th March 2004 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Halifa is one of the Pan African Parliamentarians. Each country in Africa is required to send 5 Parliamentarians. The five Members of the Pan African Parliament from The Gambia are, Mr. Halifa Sallah, Mr. Fabakary Tombong Jatta, Mr. Khalifa Kambi, Mrs. Bintanding Jarju and Mr. Mama Kandeh. Halifa indicated that the constitution of the African Union known as the Constitutive Act created 9 organs of the Union. He said that the key organs are the Assembly of the Union comprising the Heads of Government and States, the Executive Council comprising the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Pan African Parliament comprising of five members from each Parliament and the Court of Justice. Halifa gave an insight on the provisions of the protocol establishing the Pan African Parliament. He said 40 countries out of 53 participated at the inaugural meeting. He made mention of the various interventions he made starting from the regional consultation up to the end of the first session during which he gave a speech, which Foroyaa will publish word for word. Halifa assured Foroyaa that he would not enrich himself by collecting fat allowances just for attending meetings as a Pan African Parliamentarian. He promised to resign if he is convinced that the Pan African Parliament is nothing but a talking shop. He told Foroyaa that he would be using whatever funds available to assist 15 students and to produce booklets and hold workshops to enlighten people on the nature and role of the Pan African Parliament in particular and the African Union in general. See Next Issue for the details of the Interview and the Speech. D-Day For Baba Jobe Today is the day scheduled for the judgment of Baba Jobe in his trial for economic crimes, which started more than four months ago, on 14th November 2003 to be precise. On Thursday the 18th day of March 2004 when the prosecution ended their address of the court Justice MA Paul, the trial judge, straight away announced that judgment was slated for 29th day of March 2004. It could be recalled that at the end of the first day of the defence’s address, its leading counsel, Edward Gomez had applied for an adjournment to allow his co-defence lawyer Lamin Jobarteh to continue to address the court on the GPA and Customs Acts the following day. Justice Paul granted the application. The following day this reporter was reliably informed by some members of the Bar that they were boycotting Justice Paul’s court, an act that was confirmed when this reporter read the reaction of Justice MA Paul to a call by the Bar Association for him to apologize. On the 17th of March 2004 the prosecution was called to address the court when the defence failed to appear. The DPP then dealt with his address of the court on the 17th and 18th March 2004. It is possible for the defence to ask the court to grant them the opportunity to complete their address. Let us see what will happen today. CUSTOMS/GPA & PRICE HIKES How Increased Customs and GPA Charges Contribute To Price Hikes The Government of The Gambia relies heavily on taxation rather production to raise revenue to meet its expenditure. Since it has budgeted a sum of 1500 million dalasis to meet its debt obligations when the total revenue for 2004 is estimated as 2200 million dalasis; since expenditure is projected to exceed revenue substantially, the Government is doing all it can to squeeze more out from a people who are already overburdened with tax. Below are facts which show how sharp increases in import duties and port charges contribute to the increase in prices. Our investigation of importers has revealed the following: GPA Handling Charges: 1) For handling charges for 20 Foot containers in 2003 D504 was paid. It has been increased to D1000 in 2004. 2) The charge for 40 Foot containers in 2003 was D1008; in 2004 it has been increased to D2000. 3) Cars for which the charge was D165 in 2003 attract D750 in 2004. In the past, the GPA authorities used to allow rent free storage facilities for a period of five days. This has been reduced to three days. Customs Duty: 1) For 20 Foot containers of goods like tomatoes, cooking oil, etc. in 2003 the charge was D31,000- D33,000. In 2004 it rose to D68,000. 2) 40 Foot containers on the same items that was D62 – 66,000 are D100,000 and above in 2004. 3) For 40 Foot containers of personal effects (second hand things from Europe) 2003 D20-25,000 was paid in 2003 but in 2004 D78,000 and above was paid. 4) Cars for which D17-18,000 was paid in 2003, D20,000 and above is paid in 2004. Now within 12 weeks after implementing the new budget proposals, we are witnessing the sharp price increases such as the following: 1. Rice from D425-D550 and above per bag. 2. Flour D800- D1000 plus per bag. 3. Sugar D450-D550 per bag. 4. Cup of vegetable oil D5-D6. 5. Palm Oil D8-D10 per cup. 6. Tomato Paste table spoon from 50 Bututs to D1.50. BABA JOBE SUED CATALOGUE OF BABA JOBE AND YDE CASES Reports reaching this paper have it that Guaranty Trust Bank has instituted legal action against Baba Jobe and the Youth Development Enterprise claiming a colossal sum of money from the two defendants. According to report, the suit is in respect of a loan the defendants benefited from the aforesaid bank. The aforesaid bank has instituted another legal action against Baba Jobe, Salifu K. Jaiteh, Momodou Fofana and the Youth Development Enterprise. That suit is in respect of a loan to Momodou Fofana of Jarra in which Salifu K. Jaiteh and the erstwhile Majority Leader serve as guarantors. The Standard Chartered Bank has also dragged the YDE to court claiming over one million Dalasis from them. The aforesaid cases are before Justice Savage of the Banjul High Court. The High Court is supposed to deliver judgement on a case involving Baba Jobe, YDE and Baba Kanteh today. The High Court presided over by Justice Paul is supposed to hear a criminal matter involving Baba Jobe and the state. BCC and NAWEC at Loggerheads At the time of going to press the Banjul City Council reacted angrily to the decision of NAWEC to disconnect their office from the mains supply. At a press conference convened by the Mayor of Banjul on Saturday, March 27, 2004 he expressed his disgust at what was happening. He explained that at the time of assuming office they inherited a debt owed to NAWEC amounting to D9 million while the government was owing them a similar amount on property rates. This, he noted excludes an additional amount of D4 owed last year and this year. He revealed that BBC, NAWEC and government had a series of meetings leading to an agreement to cancel each other’s debt. He showed reporters correspondence to verify his claim. The documents indicate that government had agreed to settle BBC’s NAWEC’s bill in a cross-debt settlement plan amounting to nearly D8 milli......... Comment: Time has not permitted us to talk to NAWEC management to get their version of the story. Notwithstanding this it is essential to note that NAWEC, BCC and the central government are all public institutions established by law to serve the people either within their own locality or nationally. All should continue with the dialogue and each should honour one’s part of the bargain. Where one party finds it impossible to honour agreement that part should take the initiative to sort it out through dialogue, in the interest of Banjul and the nation. This is not the arena for political chess games. THE TRIAL OF BABA JOBE PART 25 Mr. Agim again argued that the submission by the defence in their address that non payment by the accused was unintentional is incorrect and is contradicted by the evidence before the court; that further in their address to the court the defence accepted that it is a fact that the accused had made transactions with the GPA and Customs that are outstanding. The DPP continued to submit that the lack of payment of Customs duties for all the 66 consignments of goods the accused imported into the country were intentional and deliberate for the following reasons: (1) the first accused had learnt of the fact that he is operating a credit account with the Customs and that he had not been paying; that yet the accused continued to apply for a direct delivery for all the 66 consignments. He added that hence the accused did not make any attempt to make payment of cash for any consignments; that secondly... The DPP moved further again to say that is in an evidence before your lordship here that there are two established customs procedures of taking goods from Customs; that the first is to pay cash, after buying a SAD form for D75; that the consignee fills the form and submit it with an invoice to enable proper assessment for payment of what is rightly due; that the second is on credit; that after buying a SAD form for the same D75 when filled by the consignee, he attaches an application for a direct delivery to be sent to the Director General of Customs for approval. The DPP submitted that this process is a credit facility that enables importers to take out their goods for a period of 7 to 45 days without paying. He cited the evidence of PW3 Momodou Tambajang and Malamin Sanyang PW5; that after the 7-45 days period elapsed the importer is expected to pay back to the Customs and Excise Departmen..... THE TRIAL OF MOMODOU SOMA JOBE Ex-Commissioner Jobe who is facing trial at the Farafenni Magistrates Court on three counts of stealing was on Wednesday 24th March 2004 arraigned before Magistrate Edrissa F. Mbye. When the case was mentioned the Prosecutor Sgt. Jahateh applied to change the second count which reads thus: That Modou Soma Jobe as Commissioner of NBD stole three refrigerators valued at D19, 700. Now this count reads as thus: That in his capacity as Commissioner, NBD, Modou Soma Jobe stole one refrigerator marked Sharp valued at D7, 000. The accused again pleaded not guilty to the charges. At this point, Lawyer Jobarteh made an apology to the court for his absence in last sittings. Jobarteh proceeded to file an application for the witnesses to be recalled for cross-examination and also for the accused to be issued with all witnesses statement as section 237 subsection 2 of the CPC required. In giving his ruling on the application of the defence lawyer, Magistrate Mbye overruled the first application and the second one was admitted. The prosecution was asked to supply defence with witness’s statement. TESTIMONY OF SAIKOU JAITEH, THE FINANCE CLERK In his testimony Saikou Jaiteh told the court that he did not follow the financial instructions at the time of the purchase of the refrigerators. He further confirmed that he did not prepare the L. P. O. and no voucher for the purchase. He went on to say that even though he did not know the registration number of the land rover he knows the inventory book of his office has records of the said vehicle. At this point, PW 3 was called. He identified himself as Seedy Bojang, a mechanic from Pirang village. Mr. Bojang told the court that some time last year (2003) one of his friends by the name Balo Saidykhan came to ask if he is interested in buying a land rover which is at the Commissioner’s Office in Kerewan. After some time again Mr. Saidykhan came and they went together to Kerewan where he met the accused. Mr. Saidykhan said Bojang told him that he would ask his boss so he can buy the vehicle. He then told him that the price is D30, 000 (thirty thousand Dalasis). He said that he inspected the vehicle and offered to pay D15, 000 (fifteen thousand Dalasis). He said that the accused then asked him to pay to one person in an office within the Commissioner’s Office. He said that payment was effected and the document for the sale was prepared and handed over to the witness. Mr. Bojang said that after one day he found a buyer who came from Senegal. He said that the vehicle at the time was fully maintained and registration number was obtained from the police. He said that he agreed to sell it to this Senegalese who paid one million CFA Francs. Later the police came and found out that he has sold this and bought another land rover. When the police asked for the land rover, he said that he bought it from the accused. He also said that before he could make any statement to them, they proceeded and impound his land rover. The witness said that he produced the certificate after buying the vehicle, which was prepared by the Secretary, KAC. The certificate was tendered and admitted in court after comparing the chassis number on the certificate with the chassis number of the vehicle. The witness told the court that had the police listened to him earlier, they would not have brought this land rover. The fourth prosecution witness was a Mauritanian businessman, Muhammad Almamy. He told the court that the accused brought two hundred and forty bags of sugar to him for D400 (four hundred Dalasis) per bag. He said that the accused asked him to pay to one Mr. Sambujang Jagne, Chief of Upper Baddibu. According to Almamy the first payment made was D32, 000 (thirty two thousand) to the chief and later paid D50, 000(fifty thousand Dalasis) to the same chief. He made it clear to the court that the sugar that the police impounded was not the right one. The sugar that the police took is from his stores. He also blamed the police for taking a wrong consignment. The case was adjourned to 8th April 2004. MORE ARRESTS IN JARRA Last Thursday night the Mansakonko Police in LRD arrested three more APRC supporters. The three arrested are Mr. Saikouba Bojang alias Saikouba Gambega, Afang Buramanding Fofana of Karantaba and Omar Waw Dibba also of Karantaba. Mr. Saikouba who is a Gambega Soma Depot Manager is very close to the embattled Majority Leader, Baba K. Jobe. Mr. Bojang was until the time of his arrest the person responsible for all of Baba Jobe’s businesses around the provinces. For Afang Buramanding he is said to be a relative of Baba Jobe and also among the most active persons when it comes to politics in LRD. However, Mr. Fofana holds no position in the civil service. He is said to be among the infamous July 22 Movement and the APRC Youth Wing. For Omar Waw Dibba he was a wealthy businessman during the PPP regime. At that time Mr. Dibba used to run a petrol filling station and other businesses. According to the families of the arrested all were called by the police in Mansakonko to report to the said station where on arrival were told that they were under arrest. According to sources close to the police, the order for the arrest of the three men came from higher authorities. When asked for their whereabouts this reporter was told that they were handed over to the National Intelligence Agency in Banjul. Many of those close to Baba Jobe in Jarra are very much uneasy for fear of being arrested because since the arrest and detention of Majority Leader, Baba Jobe lot of arrests have been made in Jarra. Many of those who were arrested before were later freed without any charges preferred against them. This has led many to believe that Jarra is being witch-hunted. They are calling on the APRC government to understand that Baba Jobe was their choice of candidate under APRC ticket. This does not mean that without Baba Jobe they will not be supporting APRC but the way things are going on now can make them change their allegiance to other parties. _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar – get it now! http://toolbar.msn.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~