As Food Items Reveal Distressing Tales, Over 5,000 Gambians Consume Unsafe Foods
by David Thoronka
At the time concerns are being raised on the consumption pattern of street food items by Gambians, dawning reports indicate that the inertia is increasing at an unprecedented rate, with over 5,000 Gambians consuming street food items on a daily basis.
Despite the fact that the features of consumers’ tastes vary from age to age, it is reported that the problem is mainly due to costing, abject poverty, attractiveness and nutritious contents of our foodstuffs.
It is against this backdrop that the National Nutrition Agency ( NANA), organised a national conference late last year to strengthen the food control system in The Gambia, which sought assistance from FAO to improve food control capabilities, monitor the safety and quality of food imported items and locally produced foodstuffs.
At this gathering, the World Health Organisation(WHO), report indicates that thousands of millions of people fall ill worldwide, while countless number of people die of unsafe food items, which do not only affect people’s health status, but also the economic consequence of individual families, communities, businesses and countries.
In her deliberation, Vice President, madam Isatou Njie Saidy, said "the food The Gambia produces and consumes must have a relative safe level of chemical and microbiological content and mix", as food control also include improving hygienic and food handling practices.
To this effect, she said a draft food law is currently undergoing legal drafting at the Department of State for Justice, which she said when enacted will provide the legal framework, as a prerequisite for setting an effective and efficient national food control system in The Gambia.
Notwithstanding, the consumption of street food items is on the increase on a daily basis, with more foods being prepared and distributed without the proper hygienic handlings in our streets.
Though massive outbreak of food borne related illnesses have not being reported yet people continue to languish in hospitals and clinics as a result of indiscriminate and unsafe consumption of food items.
In realistic terms, it has been estimated that over five thousand Gambians consume street food items three times a day and if stringent measures are not taken to curb the situation it would increase for the worse in the near future.
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Over 70 Journalists Killed in 2004, 23 Died in Iraq
Seventy-one journalists and other media workers were killed because of their professional activities in 2004, with 23 of them killed in Iraq, the most dangerous place for journalists on the planet, the World Association of Newspapers said last Tuesday.
The toll was the highest for a single year since 1994, when 73 were killed.
Journalists working in Iraq continue to be targets for kidnapping and murder, with 23 killed in 2004 after 15 deaths in the country in 2003.
The Philippines was the second most deadly place for journalists, with 11 killed in 2004, compared with seven killed the previous year.
"While war and terrorism accounted for a large number of deaths, many reporters who investigate organised crime, drug trafficking, corruption and other crimes also fell victim to assassins," said Timothy Balding, Director General of the Paris-based WAN.
"Many of the killers are never caught or prosecuted and WAN will focus its activities for World Press Freedom Day, 3 May, on "Impunity — Getting Away With Murder", Mr. Balding said.
"Around the world, hundreds of journalists have been killed in the past decade. In more than two-thirds of the cases, no one has been brought to justice, much less convicted," he said.
Details of all the murders, listed by countries are available on the WAN website at http://www.wan-press.org/rubrique512.html
The 2004 death toll compares with 53 killed in 2003, 46 killed in 2002, 60 killed in 2001 and 53 killed in 2000. Seventy journalists died in 1999 and 28 in 1998.
Journalists and other media workers were also killed in Bangladesh (4), Belarus (1), Brazil (2), Colombia (1), Dominican Republic (1), The Gambia (1), Haiti (1), India (3), Israel and the Occupied Territories (1), Ivory Coast (1), Mexico (4), Nepal (2), Nicaragua (2), Pakistan (1), Paraguay (1), Peru (2), Russia (3), Saudi Arabia (1), Serbia and Montenegro (1), Sri Lanka 3), and Venezuela (1).
Several press freedom organisations track the number of journalists killed each year. The numbers vary based on the criteria used by different associations. WAN’s figures include all media workers killed in the line of duty or targeted because of their work. It also includes cases where the motive for the killings is uncertain or where investigations have not been completed.
WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry defends and promotes press freedom worldwide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 10 news agencies and ten regional and worldwide press groups.
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Over 80 Rams Looted In Brikama, Farafenni
by Alieu Darboe
Leaks from Brikama and Farafenni, has indicated instances of cases where sheep intended for the sacrificial feast of the Eid-el-Adha, were stolen by organised thieves, few days before the Tobaski.
Sources closed to The Independent intimated that over 30 Tobaski rams were stolen in Brikama, while 50 have been reportedly thieved way in the provincial town of Farafenni, North Bank Division.
In a dawning report disclosing cases of theft in the wake of the feast, sources divulged that Tobaski theft is not a rare case, but something rampant in recent years, since bad sons of the land are hell bent on depriving others of their properties just to meet their egoistic needs within a moment of time.
Report indicates that if something positive is not done to cut back instances of Tobaski theft, paupers would be left to the mercy of God, as the price of rams hike unabated, which the poor cannot afford to pay, adding that it is horrible to use the cover of the night to steal from people of lower class.
Sources reported that though some of the sheep were recovered in Farafenni, prior to the feast by the police in the area, who mounted investigation into the matter, lot is still needed to redress the situation, which if goes unchecked would make matters worse for the Muslims.
Meanwhile, police at the checkpoints in North Bank Division are working hard to screen many sheep owners who often travel from Farafenni to Barra.
When the Farafenni Police were contacted to shit light on the issue, an insider confirmed the story saying "in Tobaski times we always encounter such problems", but further declined to comment on the arrest. However, efforts to talk to the Brikama Police proved futile.
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In visa scandal and accusations, Court To Arrest Sheikh Lewis
by Dawda Faye
The litigant against Sheikh Lewis who promised for the procurement of visas, but never fulfilled the pledge, had filed a quite number of civil cases in the courts.
On the 18th January 2005, a criminal case against Sheikh Lewis, the accused, was heard at the Kanifing Magistrate’s Court, presided over by magistrate Moses Richards.
The complainants: Samba Njie and Sheriff Njie, claimed D157, 000 from Sheikh Lewis for the procurement of visas, which he obliged to undertake but had never fulfilled the promise.
In his prosecution, prosecutor Mballow rose and told the court that the accused, Sheikh Lewis, and his sureties who had earlier granted him the bond of freedom were not present in the court, ensuing that he should apply for the accused and his sureties to be issued with a bench warrant and get him arrested.
Magistrate Moses Richards, as a result, granted the application made by the prosecutor to affect the arrest of the culprit.
Mai fatty, the accused’s lawyer, did not appear in court.
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Editorial: First, Free the Public Media
Last week, an event of great historical importance took place in The Gambia. A number of alternative parties came together in a coalition partnership with the ultimate aim of getting President Jammeh voted out of power. Well, good luck to them. May the best party win!!
The birth of the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD) has, not surprisingly, elicited the usual bashing from members of the ruling APRC. The past week has seen the usual level of political intolerance and condescending attitude towards any group of Gambians who dare to disagree with Mr. Jammeh. APRC hyper-loyalists such as Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay declare that NADD is essentially a non-starter and that the APRC is now planning for the 2011 elections, because the results of the 2006 elections are a foregone conclusion. Is Mrs. Jahumpa Ceesay telling us that Jammeh must be re-elected, by hook or by crook? Or are her words the mere excited pronouncements of a too-ready-to-please-Jammehist? Well, NADD, we guess, is ready to prove her wrong. So, let the games begin.
But before the games begin, we have a point to raise: It is clear that the political playing field in The Gambia is far from level. President Jammeh, an unrepentant neopatrimonial system lover, behaves as if The Gambia is his personal property. You are either with him, or you are with the enemy, whoever that is. The national media, GRTS, is totally controlled by the government and run by journalists totally beholden to the president. All events attended by the president, all speeches given by him are given hundred percent coverage, while other equally important actors in the system, notably the opposition parties, are not given equal coverage. Do we realize that ALL GAMBIANS should have equal access to the public media? That the public media is owned by ALL GAMBIANS? That the public media is financed by the Gambian public taxpayers money? Why then should the President behave as if he owns exclusive rights to the public media? These are
PUBLIC media. They belong to the PUBLIC, which is spelt very differently than PRESIDENT.
Thus, the coalition should, first of all, in our opinion, demand equal access to the public media. As Gambians, they have a right to convey their messages to the people; just as the President has a right to convey his messages to the people. And the Gambian people have the right to hear both sides and the freedom to decide which side makes more sense to them. As a united front, the coalition has the clout to render the political field more level before the 2006 elections. For the brute and ugly reality is that our political field is far from level. It needs to be. It has to be. The place to start is equal access to the public media, which belongs to all of us. This we say, in the interest of truth, justice, fair play; and in the spirit of helping move our national political evolution forward. The Gambia belongs to all of us. We all have a stake in the well being of our country. And it is utterly pretentious for anyone to suggest otherwise.
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Workshop Commends Strategic Planning
by Juldeh J Sowe
A one-day validation workshop for strategic planning for the Organisation of Non-governmental Associations,(TANGO) was last Thursday held at the TANGO office in Kanifing.
Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Fallou Njie, a statistician underlined the need for a strategic planning to develop a five-year planning for TANGO board of directors, which constitutes a core group of the organisation.
The need for a new strategic planning was identified as a priority at the annual general meeting of the organisation held last year to which a consultant has been identified by the board to develop a five-year strategy plan for TANGO for the period 2005 – 2009.
During the period, the consultant held series of consultations with core group members and produced a draft strategic planning for TANGO, with its dawning report stating that the population of West Africa stands at round 244.4 million, with an annual population growth rate of 206 percent per annum, which is estimated to reach 570 million by 2050, according to the 2003 sate of the world population report, with some countries like Nigeria bearing a disproportionate share of the population (over 100 million), and others being very small entities (like The Gambia with just over 1 million people).
Generally the region is experiencing high population growth rates. This, in addition to demographic factors such as migration within and outside the region, and rapid urbanization is placing great demands on scarce resources. Urban population form 40 percent of the population are expected at 4.3 percent per annum, with total Fertility Rate (TFR) in the region quite high (5.56 compared to a world average of 2.69).
In terms of improvements in social services, however, the situation in the sub-region is mixed, with infact mortality rate being 90 per 1000 life birth compared to an average of 89 for the whole continent and 116 and 97 for Middle and Eastern Africa.
Life expectancy in the sub-region is 49 years for males and 50.3 years for females, while the average for the continent is 47.9 years for males and 50.0 years for females.
HIV/AIDS continues to pose a major social and economic threat, though the prevalence at the moment is not as high, compared to the situation in the East and Southern Africa.
The Gambia is one of 15 countries constituting the West Region and the Sahel belt.
Apart from being one of the smallest countries in Africa with a population of 1,364,547 (2003 provisional census), the majority of the population is poor, with no natural resources. The country is almost completely surrounded by Senegal with only one outlet via the Atlantic Ocean.
Politically, The Gambia have had a multi-party democracy since independence in 1965, which gave way in 1994 to military rule. Following a two-year transition period from 1994 – 1996, Presidential and Parliamentary elections were held which returned the country to civilian constitutional rule in 1996. The ruling party has since been returned to power in 2002 though with smaller majority of 52 percent.
With real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth estimated to have expanded at around 40 percent compared with 5.4 percent and 6.0 percent in 2000 and 2001, respectively.
The 2002 outturn has been very bleak largely because of the fact that the rainy season was poor. Real GDP fell by 3 percent as a result of halving in groundnut harvest and a reduction of about one third in the output of other products, particularly cereals.
However, a bumper harvest is expected for the 2003/2004 cropping season and a resultant increase in GDP growth. The Agricultural sector, which account 35.3 percent of the GDP accounts for 65.8 percent of the total exchange value added with crop production alone accounting for 61.9 percent. Value added from the fishing sub-sector is expected to grow by 10.0 percent, while forestry and livestock production are each forecasted to grow moderately by 3.0 percent.
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SFG Donation To Schools
Alieu Darboe
Back from Farafenni Schools for The Gambia (SFG), a charitable Gambia – British NGO, last week donated educational materials and hospital equipment to schools in Farafenni and the AFPRC General Hospital.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, Musa Sanyang, SFG’s country representative said the aim of the organisation is to promote quality education for all, irrespective of anything.
He said the organisation has been assisting Gambian schools and health sector for the past fifteen years and called on the beneficiaries to put the donated items into good use.
He added that the charity was first set up years back, when the founder Mrs. Mae Winterton in the early 1990s visited The Gambia. He said since its inception the organisation has been rendering assistance to Gambian schools and hospitals in order to provide quality education and health services for the people of The Gambia.
In receiving the materials on behalf of the beneficiaries, chief Sambujang Jagne of Upper Baddibu thanked the donors for the benevolence and assured them that the stuff would be put into good use, noting that the organisation has been helpful to the people of Farafenni and its surrounding villages for the past fifteen years, mainly in the area of health, education, agriculture and other development efforts.
He finally called on the beneficiaries to take good care of the items donated and keep them in safe places.
Present at the occasion were school heads, officials from the AFPRC Hospital, parents and the across section of the community.
The beneficiaries include: Mauritania Lower Basic School Farafenni, Farafenni Senior secondary School Anglican Mission, Farafenni Library, Kaur Senior Secondary and Lower Basic School. The donated items included computers, chairs, tables, exercise books, sewing machines and hospital equipment.
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Trust Bank Awards Outstanding Students
by Ousman Baldeh
Trust Bank LTD, last week held its prize giving ceremony for the top ten students of the 2004 Gambia Junior Secondary Certificate Examination in recognition of their outstanding performance in the examination.
During the presentation ceremony, the Managing Director of Trust Bank who was represented by the General Manager of the bank, Remi Joiner, said "at Trust Bank we are aware of the value of quality education in all forms of development. We are also aware of the need to reward high achievers as a motivating factor in academic pursuit", he stated.
Trust Bank, he added pays out a sum of D35,000 to the top ten grade (nine) students in the country, with each student receivingD3,000 in the form of Trust Bank Privilege Student Account and D500 cash to buy books.
He said on behalf of the board of directors, management and staff and its numerous customers, the bank would continue to award deserving students, urging them to continue the hard work to keep up the momentum.
Deputy permanent secretary for the Department of Education, Kunkung Jobarteh, said student have greater role to play in realising the best of their potentials.
Mr. Jobarteh also thanked Trust Bank for establishing such an initiative, noting that parents should ensure that the funds giving to the student should be utilised in order to improve or develop the student in the near future.
Ebrima Jaiteh of Mariner International delivered the votes of thanks, shortly after the awardees were given their certificates of commendation.
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Deyda Hydara: How A Fallen Hero Has
Change Someone’s Life (Part II)
By Muhammed Jawara
He preferred to live a rather average life, enlighten people, and promote freedom and justice for all without being a threat to anyone, anytime. He committed his life to the service of The Gambia.
He was always determined to pursue whatever he deemed right and just, whatever would make a difference in The Gambian society, or whatever was in the interest of humanity. As he stated on the March 12th 2001 edition of The Point Newspaper under the article, The Sanctions Talk, doing any of the above is "Our social responsibility." In the same regard, he had been concerned about thugs and what they could do to harm the Gambia. He warned against intimidation.
In an editorial entitled, "Stop The Shooting, The Intimidation" of the February 5th 2001 edition of The Point newspaper Mr. Hydara mourned, "The wave of random shooting at people by security forces over the past few weeks is a matter of great concern to all men and women of conscience in this country". The random shootings as he stated, that were done by security forces in The Gambia at the time were the recipe for a lawless Gambia that has lead to the burning of The Independent press for numerous occasions. It is those shooting that were the foundation that lead to the killings of numerous people in the past few years; it is the same that lead to the shooting of the prominent lawyer whose only crime was to be at a wrong place at a wrong time. Mr. Hydara was concerned that unless something practical was done, many innocent people would be victimized by it. In the same editorial he continued, "Whether those affected were drug pushers or helpless people on the trajectory of bullets. The fact of the matter is that this tantamount to an illegal act that must be checked before things get out of control." There wasn’t a check on the issue. Since many people died due to ambiguous circumstances. Things, as Mr.
Hydara cautioned, got out of control. He became one of the victims of that lawlessness, that barbarism, that corroded-mindedness, and that "campaign of intimidation". The impacts of such acts were not unclear to him either. As he stated later in the editorial, "Let us make it clear that creating an atmosphere of fear will not solve any problem. Instead, this could be a recipe for position hardening and its deadly consequences on the peace and stability of this country".
None of the killings that have taken place in the past through mysterious means have succeeded in instilling fear in the minds of the Gambian people. Rather, it broadens peoples’ resolve for a free society off the shackles of the powerful few. As he said above, none of them has solved a problem. The bad side of it though is what Mr. Hydara called, "the deadly consequences". In this particular editorial Mr. Hydara view the shootings of innocent people and not-too-innocent people as a thing of two theories. One was that it is used for intimidation campaign. The other theory as Mr. Hydara cautioned holds that the shootings are "a prelude to eliminating certain politicians, people and journalist who would be caught in similar incidents." The second theory actually hold water, as it had been proven right in the shooting of lawyer Sillah as well as the assassination of Mr. Hydara himself. He refused to rule out any of the theories due to the presence of what he called, "rampant shootings" committed by men of no conscience and zero moral fiber.
When hope follows concern that is often a good sign. Despite Mr. Hydra’s concern that the shootings were creating what he called prelude for lawlessness, he called for a peaceful co-existence in The Gambia. He always had a hope for a better Gambia. That is what he had taught. That is what he stood for, that is what he preached. That is what he died for, whatever the motive of his killers. In a gentle morning greeting to the President in his column "Good Morning Mr. President" on March 26th 2001 edition of The Point Newspaper, Mr. Hydara wrote, "Today our subject is a peaceful co-existence in The Gambia." His clear message in this article was for The Gambia to belong to Gambians in a way that is allowed by the law. He called for tolerance, decried violence, recommended the use of tolerance as the tool to steer the ship of the mother Gambia through the storms of this complex world and condemned any act of violence to solving our problems. To Mr. Hydara, Gambians are one and the same people and nothing-not our tinny political bonds, tribal bonds or other lines should be the benchmark to determine which Gambian is good or bad. "In our 1996 conflict Resolution series," he wrote, "We dealt with the rivalry between APRC and UDP. We admonished then that the APRC and UDP are no enemies in the real sense of the word as they are merely political opponents with difference programmes to win the support of the people." He called all the political parties in this article to translate the idea of Gambianism into their daily lives so that their supporters of today’s Gambia and generations yet unborn will measure their worth not by political affiliations or tribal connections but by their collective responsibilities as the people of the same nation. Mr. Hydara was not just a man who wrote stories for people to read. He was an innovative man who used his pen to give those extra dimensions to people who need them. The future of the Gambian youths was one of the greatest concerns for him. In another morning greeting to the President on his column, Good Morning Mr. President, under the topic, "What Cabinet? (Part two)" of April 8th 2002 edition he said, "Should scientific research be added, students would be encouraged to study science." He called for the addition of technology portfolio to the communication ministry of The Gambia, which he said would go a long way to enhance scientific breakthroughs in The Gambia. "We also hope that Technology would not just be confined to Information Technology as per the impression given, but technological enhancement of all areas of human endeavours for the modernization of this country," he asserted. But it was not only the care for Gambia that moved him. He was also concerned about our relationship with the outside world, as he believed in a strong international community. In "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" in his Good Morning Mr. President of the December 18th 2000 edition of the Point he called the Gambian authorities to do whatever is necessary to strengthen out relationship with the international community. Our actions, be those internally or externally related as he observed, have the potential for having consequences. The likely consequences are - good, bad or ugly. The current image of our country without any doubt is everything but good.
Similarly, it was not just peace that pierced the heart of Mr. Hydara. He was touched by the need for democracy and democratic principles. He preached democracy to his readers. He believed that establishing a democratic nation in practice would strengthen The Gambia’s resolve in the international community, bring her people together and make the country look bigger than it is for its role in the international community. In his editorial "Give peace a chance" of the March 18th 2002 edition of The Point Newspaper he wrote, "Without a doubt, a country like The Gambia would be greater with an established democratic governance culture." He viewed a democratic society as the society that does not create a forum of fear for her people. He regarded a democratic society as the one that will not infringe the rights of her people, that will enable people to express their feelings, debate issues of societal interest, agree and disagree with one another in a good faith and above all shunned the creation of fear in the minds of her people. Such is what he admired, fought for and died for in the end. He was determined, dedicated, and predatory down to his finger when it comes to saying the truth and exercising one’s social responsibilities. When he wrote The Point Newspaper editorial of September 18th 2004, little did he know that three months latter he would be a memorable history. Yet, he was determined to tell people that standing for one’s right is worth everything, even when that means death. The Nigerian Tragedy is the title of this Editorial, in which he decried violence against Nigerians, Yorubas and Igbos, who were moving from Kano to the South, as they were not safe to live in the northern metropolises. "As we lamented the earlier exodus of Jews from France," he wrote, "we were again wounded by this new development concerning citizens who have all the rights as nationals of the same and one country." Should natives of any country run from one part to another because they are no longer safe as a result of tribal, religious or political hatred? Mr. Hydara did not think so! "The Jews that left France under the duress said they were forced to do so owing to the sense of insecurity that inhabited them. For us, they should not have run away as they should have stood their grounds and fought for their rights." Quoting from Frank Ezra Adcock, he wrote, "And if one prevail, two shall withstand and threefold cord is not quickly broken." Life’s surprises could be beautiful, as I came to realize after meeting Deyda Hydara. Sometimes though, life surprises could be breathtakingly cruel, as Gambians come to realize in the killing of Mr. Hydara.
Was Mr. Hydara killed because of his commitment to inform Gambians about the ills of our society? Did some assailants who took him for a wrong person mistakenly kill him? What was Mr. Hydra’s crime towards a society he dedicated all his life? What made him anybody’s target for a brutal killing? Did his killers run out of ideas, internal and external excuses to murder him for no reason? Was anyone afraid that Mr. Hydara had a can of worms to open that may taint his/her image or diminished his/her power? Where are the killers of Mr. Hydara? And, who are the killers of this great son of our nation? There are no easy answers but deaths hideous mysteries! We may never know the truth. We may never know the answers to these questions. At least, not any time soon. Yet, our resolve for the truth shall remain. Writing about a man who loves writing in plural terms, I will now conclude.
We learnt that a suspect has been arrested. We learn someone threatened him shortly before his death. We also learnt that the suspect has been bailed without any charges against him. But doesn’t Elizabeth Lowell tell us in her book, Death is Forever, that "Man has invented civilization in order to escape natural truth and had invented time in order to more carefully package human lies? In any case, I have lost a mentor. I lost an arm that carried me for a while. This is a huge lost for me. But am taking happiness from one aspect- that is- the believe that his legacy will remain and the justice he fought for and die for will one day be attained in The Gambia. Is that anytime time soon? Perhaps not!
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PHILOSOPHY OF UNDESIRABLE EVENTS IN LIFE
by Ibrahim Kromah
In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful.
Dear Reader,
God willing, we will continue the discussion of undesirable events in life, a curse or a blessing. And now we will carefully look into the philosophy of such events in life. As stated in the previous discussion that group of unaware people have coercively made use of the issue of unpredictable occurrences of calamities and difficulties which occur in the life of human beings as an excuse to deny them justice of the Creator and sometimes to deny even the existence of God.
The 12th Infallible and 10th Imam of the Household of the Prophet of Islam (SAW) Imam AH Naqi Al-Hadi (AS) says. Allah has made the world a place of calamities and the resurrection day the spot of rewards. And He has made the anguishes and calamities of life a media and made a way to the rewards of justice day. And made the reward of resurrection day the replacement and compensation for troubles and anguishes of world life (TUHFUL AQOOL P483).In this saying of the holy Imam we can deduce that, that which is worthy of Creation (that which creation deserves) is complete goodness but of something, from one point of view is evil, goodness prevails. A surgical operation is discomforting from one point of view, and from another, beneficial. Thus goodness is relative. For further development, let us look at the occurrence of an earthquake. It is true that in one area, destruction occurs but if we consider its relation to other issues, we can change our opinion. Does an earthquake relate to the temperature and pressure within the earth or does it relate to the attractions of the moon, which continuously draws the earth towards itself, and it sometimes breaks or does it relate to both? However, scientists have differing views. But whatever of these exists, the effects upon another thing must be considered. That is, we must know what effect the temperature inside the earth has in creating oil resources, which is the most important energy material in our age and also the creation of coal, etc. Thus goodness is relative. And also what effect the ebb and flow of the tides stemming from the pull of the moon on the oceans has upon life within the water and its creatures and often, watering a dry coast line in places where sweet water meets the ocean. This is also a relative good. It is here that we understand what relative judgments and limited information we have when
We look at issues like this as dark points which the attraction world much more we look at the relationship between phenomena, we become more aware of its importance. However, we again repeat that we should not create difficulties for ourselves, but at the same time, it often happens that difficulties increase our will-power just like iron which is straightened when place in hot smelting pots. In the smelting pots of difficulties, we become experienced and more persevering. We all know war is basically not good but sometimes a difficult and long war causes the abilities of a nation to blossom and transforms dispersion into unity and quickly makes up for our falling behind.
A famous Arab historian says: "The blossoming of civilization has appeared throughout history in various parts of the world. It followed a country being attacked by a powerful foreign country, being awakened and mobilizing their forces". Of course reaction to difficulties are not uniform among all people and all societies. One group falls into despair, weakness and pessimism and reaches a negative conclusion but there are individuals who have the right attitude when faced by these difficulties and are stimulated, mobilized by them, begin to move and they are filled with excitement and enthusiasm. But because in such situations, many people judge by what appears on the surface, they only see the bitterness and difficulties and ignore the positive and constructive effects. We do not claim that bitter events have such effects in a human being but at least some people are in this way. If you carefully study the life of geniuses of the world, you will see that almost all of them suffered difficulties and great misfortunes. There are fewer people who are raised in comfort and luxury who have shown themselves to be geniuses and who have arisen to a high position. A good commander of an army is a person who has seen a difficult and long battle. The economic geniuses are people who have fallen into difficulties in the economic market. Great politicians are those who have passed through hard and difficult political struggles. In summary, we can say that the difficulties and anguishes which human bears, nurtures them. The Holy Quran says: "It may be that you dislike a thing and God brings about through it a great deal of good (4: 19).
Being that one of the philosophical dimensions of undesirable events in life is a human being is nurtured through facing difficulties for the ultimate end of goodness. The 8th infallible and the 6th Imam of the Household of Prophet Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (SAW) Imam Jafer Sadiq (AS) say: "It is required for the faithful to have eight qualities in him. One of which is to be gracious during hardships and calamities and the other being patient in wake of affliction" (USOOL AL KAFI Vol.2 P47)
Another philosophical dimension with regards to the topic under discussion is that difficulties cause one to turn back to God. In the previous discussions, we have seen that, little by little, our being has a goal or purpose. Our eyes are for a purpose, our ears are for a purpose, our hearts, brains and nerves each have been created for a purpose. Even our fingertips have a philosophy behind them. Thus, how is it possible that our total being, be without a purpose? At the same time, for the completion of this task, one must look every once in a while at one’s sins and one’s transgressions must be shown or pointed out. In facing difficulties in following God’s commands, one becomes familiar with one’s ugly and evil deeds and will turn back to God. It is here that a part of the difficulties and unforeseen events in life are in reality, Divine blessings. The Holy Quran says:
"Corruption has appeared on land and sea because of the need that the hands of men have earned that God may give them a taste of some of their deeds in order that they may turn back from evil" (30: 41). With reference to such a situation the 9th infallible and 7th Imam of the Household of the Holy Prophet (SA W) Imam Musa Kazim (AS) says: "The more people commit variant sins which were not in practice before (novel sins) the more Allah creates calamities and catastrophes which they did not know before. To expound this saying of the Holy Imam, history is evidence to the fact that human races have been practicing variant and different kinds of sins opposing Allah’s law in many ways. Quran describe the deviations of many nations and the punishment awarded to them. Such as the nations of Lot (AS), Hud (AS) , Saleh (AS) etc. Presently, this era, the different famines, diseases like aids etc. earthquakes, floods, wars and different shapes in many parts of the world is certainly a chastisement and warning to humanity and a cause for turning back to God. Noting what we said above, painful events are confirmations of evil and interpreting them as calamities that are considered to be in opposition to Divine Justice is far from logic and intellectual reasoning because the further we go into this narrow way, we will better understand the various philosophies.
Because of the fact that a discussion about signs, catastrophes, sudden events and unpleasantness is a very difficult and complicated one and most often discussed in the area of the branch of philosophy that concerned with the nature of being and the doctrine or belief that there is only One God. We are obliged to the readers to study these issues further from another point of view, which is more readily understandable by many. Here we will continue the philosophical dimensions. In the events, a spirit is given to life. This is because; perhaps it is difficult for some people to understand that if life were only filled with blessings, it would lose its value. It has been proven today that if you place an object in the middle of a room, and you give it a strong uniform light from all directions and the object and the room both be completely smooth, we will not be able to see the object because when shadows are placed next to light, the dimension of the form is made clear and the shadow separates the objects from the light and then we can see it. The value of the gifts of life as well as the weak or strong shadows of difficulties cannot be seen. If through out life, there were no such thing as sickness, the pleasure of health would never be sensed. Following a night of a high fever and the morning dawn, when the fever breaks, the memory of such a night, when one regains one’s health and think back on that night of fever and pain, one realizes what a jewel good health is. In general, a uniform kind of life even the most comfortable kind of life is tiresome, spiritless and deathlike. It has often been seen that individuals, because of a comfortable life, empty of any kind of difficulties, find it so boring that they attempt to commit suicide or else they continuously complain about their life. You will find no architect with taste who will design the wall of a large room to be totally smooth and uniform, rather he carves curves and lines into it. Why is the world of nature so beautiful? Why is the view of jungles, which fill the sides of mountains and streams with twists and turns among the small and large trees so interesting and attractive? One reason is; the lack of uniformity. The order of light and darkness and coming and going of day and night which the Holy Quran emphasizes in various verses, has great effect upon ending any kind of a tiresome life of human being, why? Because if the sun continuously be in one place in the sky and uniformly give light to the earth, if its position never changed and night would never come, in addition to the other problems, this would have, in a short period of time, all human beings would get tired.
It is because of this that we must accept that at least most of the problems caused by unforeseen events give spirit to life, making it sweet and bearable. Instead of complaining about God in such situations we should reproach ourselves. We have to tell oppression not to be oppressive and we have to tell the oppressed not to bear oppression. We must make efforts so that all individuals of a society have at least the minimum amount of health facilities, food and housing, education, and cultural possibilities. In summary, we should not place the blame for our sins on creation. When did God ever impose a system like this upon us? Of course, He created us free because our being free is the key to our development and progress. But it is we who misuse our freedom and oppress each other and this oppression then shows itself as unevenness in society. But unfortunately, this error has come to include a great many people. The Holy Quran says" "Verily God will not deal unjustly with man in aught" It is man that wrongs his own soul. (10: 44). And now we end this discussion of this lesson of undesirable events in life including, calamities and catastrophes here even though there is still a great deal which could be said, but this brief discussion is sufficient for us to have the full understanding of calamities, catastrophes, sudden events and unpleasant occurrences in our lives and society and there is no power save with the Almighty Allah. O’Allah send your blessings to the head of your messengers and the last of your prophets, Muhammad and his pure and cleansed household. Also send your blessings to all your prophets and envoys.
Peace be unto you all the readers.
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Life At Top chop Enterprises
By Baba Galleh Jallow
Life had never been easy at Top chop Enterprises. The tradition, for those of our common townsfolk who worked there, was always to make do with available crumbs while the big shots at the top of the pyramid enjoyed their creamy fat. So it was no understatement to declare that one big turn deserved another.
Top chop Enterprises had had a turbulent past and a critical history. In the young days of the famous organization, when the proverbial milk still whitened its teeth, expectations were that in a couple of generations, all associated with Top chop Enterprises would be happy. Expectations were that Top chop, naturally meant to cater to the needs of all and sundry, would be the golden cow that produced the endless milk. Sadly enough, such lofty expectations proved a far cry from the unpleasant reality that was to characterize the rocky evolution of Top chop Enterprises. Rather than flow or even trickle down to wet the dry tongues of the common folks below, the abundant milk of the proverbial golden cow was instead harnessed and funneled upwards to fill and grease the fat cheeks of the top guns above.
As time moved forward, life at Top chop Enterprises moved backwards. The coffers grew lean and hungry, the accounts sunk deeper into the red, the books and files gathered dust on the musty shelves, and the staff, suffering from an extended period of lethargy, poverty and intellectual drought, spent their long hot days yawning and dozing on and off while the top guns, the privileged bigwigs perched at the top of the creamy pyramid, grew increasingly fat and lazy, and lost all capacity for positive thought and action. They all suffered form the ‘jahaso’ syndrome and grew increasingly myopic and confused.
So when rumors of a takeover started circulating at Top chop Enterprises, many among the holders of the hungry positions grew happy and excited. Surely, if a new management took over business at Top chop Enterprises, the long awaited crumbs would start falling down to the hungry folks below. The creamy milk from the golden cow, long funneled upwards to further pump the already fat potbellies of greedy money-bags, would finally start flowing downwards to quench the thirst of the living-dead below. They all hoped and prayed for the imminent new dispensation that would eventually bring them manna from heaven.
The long-awaited event did finally take place. A group of young entrepreneurs with lots of muscle took over Top chop Enterprises, sacked the entire top management, and set about a period of "thoughtful" reconstruction. They invited ideas from the entire staff body and set up several committees to investigate and report on what went wrong at Topchop Enterprises. It was, they declared to the excited hungry staff, the dawn of a brand new era; an era of dynamism and enterprise; an era of general upliftment and the eradication of all forms of anguish and agony at Topchop Enterprises.
Such was the hopeful euphoria raised by the lucrative takeover of Topchop Enterprises, now headed by the dynamic Mr. Mouthy. A self-made businessman, Mr. Mouthy was believed to be endowed with abundant sense and dynamic business skills that were certain to turn Topchop Enterprises into a heaven on earth, ‘primus inter pares’, first among all the equal businesses in our little town. Such, however, was not to be th fate of the unhappy workers of Topchop Enterprises. Things actually grew from worse to worst for the hungry workers at Topchop Enterprises. Mr. Mouthy himself, ever the enterprising business dinosaur, soon made giant strides in self- improvement. He now owned countless other businesses and billions upon billions of dollars in foreign accounts. Formerly a thin, lean and hungry character, Mr. Mouthy soon now fat and obese, with rotund cheeks and frog-eyes almost covered with the excess fat from the abundant milk of the golden cow, which continued to be funneled upwards at an even greater rate. So fat did he grow that his face looked like a mirror.
But for the common hungry staff below, with the exception of a growing number of sycophants, life at Topchop Enterprises remained hard and dry. They wondered when another management would take Topchop Enterprises from the greedy Mr. Mouthy. They were convinced that no new management could possibly be worse that Mr. Mouthy’s. He was simply ground zero.
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Book Review: Angry Laughter - By Baba Galleh Jallow
By D.A. Jawo
Those who are familiar with Baba Galleh Jallow’s famous Story of the Week in the Daily Observer during his time there would no doubt recall his crafty style in creating satire. He used to create characters with funny names that accurately depicted contemporary issues.
Now Baba Galleh has gone even a step further by writing such satire in a book, entitled; Angry Laughter.
In this 61 page book, he has presented in his usual funny style the story of a brutal African military dictatorship that later transformed itself into a civilian government, although still maintaining all the trappings of a military junta.
As it is reminiscent of his style of writing, he gave the characters names well suited to the roles they play in the story. For instance, the undisputed leader of the junta was called General Loony, which is no doubt a corruption of the word lunatic. Some of the characters are given such names as Nopa, the hare, Cheku the parrot, Buki the hyena, Samo the elephant and Mbota, the frog.
The book began with the background history of a country called Smiling Forest which was occupied by a variety of animals. It was ruled by an animal king known as Talkmuch Dolittle. It went on to tabulate the events that led to the eventual overthrow of King Talkmuch Dolittle by a little known fox called Captain Loony who was a member of the Armed Foxes of Smiling Forest.
Like all other military dictatorships in Africa, the Armed Foxes set up their ruling council which they named the Armed Foxes Potato Thinking Cabinet, with General Loony as the supreme head. However, in order to get some international legitimacy, they also symbolically invited other animals that did not belong to the Armed Foxes to join the cabinet.
As time went on, some cracks began to appear in their ranks. This eventually led to a big rift that ended up with the arrest and imprisonment of some senior members of the Armed Foxes Potato Thinking Cabinet, who were accused of conspiracy to kill General Loony.
While General Loony and his junta were always emphasizing that they only assumed power in order to correct the corrupt system put in place by the administration of Talkmuch Dolittle and hand over to the animals of Smiling Forest to choose their own leaders, but in reality, they were doing the opposite. They were not only further entrenching themselves into power, but they were also using the same tactics used by their predecessors to amass wealth.
The book also went on to document general Loony’s penchant for high sounding words and flowery names such as his Mental Surveillance Unit, Vision Weeny Weeny, Loony is Always Right Movement and his Operation No Shadows, among others. All of them were actually meant to help him consolidate his tight grip on power.
The theme of the book is actually quite adequately captured in the synopsis at the back cover which states: "Written in the Orwellian tradition of Animal Farm, Angry Laughter is one of the most biting political satires to come out of Africa. In this tale of dark political intrigue and betrayal, Baba Galleh Jallow ridicules the absurd antics of an inept and corrupt civilian government and its removal and replacement by a group of semi-literate military ‘saviours’, who turn out to be far more absurd, corrupt and brutal than their predecessors. While exceedingly funny and often lighthearted, Angry Laughter awakens us to the cruel excesses of Africa’s power-crazed despots, the sorry plight of her oppressed peoples, the very real dangers of civil war and the continent’s nauseating politics of brutality. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the nature and dynamics of contemporary African politics and why, in particular, the continent is riddled with bloody civil wars."
The book is published by Wasteland Press in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. However, there is no indication of the price or even whether it is available anywhere in The Gambia.
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FIFA Development Officer Visits Gambia
The world football governing body FIFA development officer for West African, Sampong J. Kablan arrived in The Gambia last Sunday for a two-day visit as guest of The Gambia Football Association.
During his visit, Mr. Kablan had a successful and fruitful discussion with GFA new president Alhagie Omar Sey on matters affecting the national football governing body specially the FIFA Financial Assistance Programme (FAP) and the Goal project. Mr. Kablan seized the occasion to present the "FIFA World report on Football Development" document and calendar of courses to the Gambia Sports Journalists Association on Monday at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul. The document focuses on the FIFA Goal programme worldwide and the Financial Assistance Programme (FAP).
The document comprises two main parts; the first part is concentrated on the FIFA development programmes called "Building the House of Football" which is based on the Goal programme, the Financial Assistance Programme, the development courses, refereeing, Football medicine, Women’s Football, FUTSAL training program and corporate responsibility.
The second part of the document is a compressive report of 24 countries around the world which have benefited from the Goal and Financial Assistance Programme.
The countries named are Afghanistan, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, East Timor, Finland, Germany, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Liberia, Maldives, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Paraguay, PERU, Rwandan, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and USA.
All Set For Banjul Boxing Gala
The stage is set for the Boxing Gala to be held in Banjul tomorrow Saturday January 29th, 2005. Organised by the Gambia Amateur Boxing Association (GABA), the one-day championship will be held at the Manneh Sillah Memorial Basket Ball Lawn. According to the president of GABA, Sang Correa, four boxing clubs would take part in the Gala with boxers weighing from 48kg to 91kg.
He added that, the championship will enable them to select a National team for the upcoming Zone Two Boxing championships to be held in Bamako, Mali in March. Mr. Correa added that to give the event an international dimension, the referees and judges will be from Senegal.
On the organisational aspect of the day, Mr. Correa revealed that every thing has been arranged for the day.
He pointed out that, the Inspector General of Police has assured them to provide security for the day and the Mayor of Banjul Pa Sallah Jeng promised to give them chairs for their guests.
He finally revealed that the competition will kick off at 4pm.
Brikama U-17 Kicks Off Tomorrow
By Alieu Darboe and Njonji Drammeh
The Brikama U-17 2005 tournament organised by the Kambeng Sports Committee will kick off tomorrow Saturday January 29th at the Cannan football field between the current champions Real Madrid of Misera and Ireland Football Club of Newtown.
Speaking to Independent Sports, Lamin Bojang Real Madrid coach said his team is determined to win the opening match against Ireland noting that they are ready to defend the trophy for the second time. Coach Bojang continued that the opening match will be competitive, but at the end of the game: "we are sure of victory because my team has a lot of talented and potential players who are determined to win the match which will determine our faith as champions".
He finally called on all competing teams to maintain discipline and promote unity.
Also speaking to Independent Sports, Mbaba Gassama Ireland coach said his site will do all their best to win the game. He said his team has done well in the elimination and is expected to do the same in the tournament proper, which will commence tomorrow Saturday. He called on his players to maintain discipline and promote unity during the competition.
Third Division Championship Underway
The G.F.A third division triangular championship is currently underway in Serrekunda East and West mini-stadiums. Three teams namely Cherno Samba Academy (Samger), representing the Kanifing Municipality, Jupiters of Lamin representing Western division and Tobacco Road representing Banjul.
In the opening game last Monday, Tobacco Road draws 1-1 with Jupiters at the Serrekunda East mini-stadium.
Now both teams will play Cherno Samba Academy and the two top teams out of the three will make it to the second division league proper.
They will be joining eight others namely Young Africans, Brikama United, Tallinding United, Interior, Starlight, Serrekunda Stugart, Lat Dior and Flamemins for the second division proper.
Clash At Top Of League
Week Three of the GFA first division league, which resumed on Wednesday after a ten-day break because of Tobaski (Eid al Adha), will be marked on Saturday with the clash of the two leaders (Steve Biko and Real de Banjul) on the table. The leaders will face each other on Saturday at the Serrekunda East mini-stadium. Both teams collected four points in their two first games after winning one and drawing one. Real de Banjul beat Hawks 2-0 and drew Bakau United while Steve Biko F.C drew their first game against Wallidan and defeated Kaira Silo 2-1 in their second game.
Saturday game will be the fight of the giants as both teams have already put their houses in order after a disappointing season last year. What would make the match more exciting is that two Real de Banjul top players Abdoulie Njie, the current goal keeper of the National U-17 team and Ousman Sonko, the former captain of the U-17 team have all moved to Steve Biko. Their presence in the rank of Steve Biko will most likely make Real’s task more difficult. But on the other hand, Real happens to know the weaknesses of both players with whom they shared the same colour for the past four years.
In other league matches, GPA would take on Gamtel today at the Serekunda West mini-stadium and in the second game on Saturday Hawks plays Sait Matty.
EX G.F.A Prexy Donates to Brikama United
By Alieu Darboe
Alhagie Gabbi Sosseh, the former president of the Gambia Football Association, recently donated twenty (20) pairs of football boots to the Brikama United, a second division outfit, as his contribution to the development of football in Brikama. A gesture welcomed by Brikama United management.
According to Brikama United management, Mr. Sosseh assisted them last year when they qualified for the second division proper and pledged his continuous assistance to the town team. Officials continued that the donation comes at the right time as the team is preparing for the forthcoming National Second Division League.In a related development, the Brikama Youth and Sports Association (BYSA) has also donated 20 pairs of football boots to Brikama United as their contribution to the team to uplift the standard of the players.According to the assistant secretary general of BYSA Borry Jarjue, it is important to assist teams at all time and his association will continue to support Brikama United. Mr. Jarjue also commended Alhagie Gabbi Sosseh for assisting the team and emphasised that the gift be put into good use.
It could be recalled that Brikama United competed in the second division last year and finished at the 4th position in the final standings.
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Prosecutions Needed to End Atrocities
International prosecutions are needed to deter ongoing atrocities in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today in a report documenting crimes the Sudanese government and its allied militias have committed with complete impunity.
On Tuesday, the U.N. international commission of inquiry on Darfur is expected to report its findings to the U.N. Secretary-General. In September, Resolution 1564 mandated the commission to investigate violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Darfur, to determine whether genocide has occurred, and to identify perpetrators with a view to holding them accountable.
"Regardless of whether there has been genocide, the scale and severity of the ongoing atrocities in Darfur demand an urgent international response," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa Director at Human Rights Watch. "Given Sudan’s continuing failure to prosecute the perpetrators, the Security Council needs to refer the situation of Darfur to the International Criminal Court."
The 22-page report, "Targeting the Fur: Mass Killings in Darfur," documents in detail how the Sudanese government and its allied Janjaweed militias have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur with impunity. These crimes include the round-up, detention and execution in March of more than 200 Fur farmers and community leaders in West Darfur’s Wadi Saleh and Mukjar provinces.
Human Rights Watch documents how, in the same period, thousands of Fur men, women and children in the South Darfur province of Shattaya were attacked by Janjaweed militias and detained, raped, tortured and kept in inhuman conditions in Kailek camp. In both West and South Darfur, local government officials were deeply implicated in these crimes.
"Sudanese government officials were clearly involved in the atrocities in Darfur, but the government has made no serious attempt to hold anyone accountable," Takirambudde said.
In Sudan last week, a presidential inquiry into abuses in Darfur disputed evidence of widespread and systematic crimes. Instead of prosecutions, the inquiry recommended the formation of a committee.
"It is clear that the Sudanese government is unwilling to hold perpetrators of atrocities to account," said Takirambudde. "The International Criminal Court was created to address situations like Darfur. It should be given the authority to open investigations into crimes committed there."
The brutal attacks on the Fur in Wadi Saleh and Shattaya stand out for the extraordinary level of brutality demonstrated by the perpetrators. In Darfur’s two-year conflict, government soldiers and allied militias have killed tens of thousands and forcibly displaced almost two million people.
An overwhelming majority of the tens of thousands of displaced Fur in these areas remain all but imprisoned in the larger government-held towns due to continuing violence in rural areas. Despite the fact that there is no active conflict in the area, government-backed militias on almost a daily basis continue to attack and rape women and girls when they leave towns to work in the fields or in search of firewood.
Human Rights Watch called on the African Union to base troops not only in major towns but also in key rural towns in Darfur. AU troops need to actively patrol the rural areas and protect civilians.
"Each month that passes without action condemns hundreds more civilians to death and leaves millions of traumatized people in camps at the mercy of their tormentors," Takirambudde said. "It’s time for the Security Council to ensure justice and protection for the people of Darfur."
This conflict in Darfur that erupted in February 2003 was not included in negotiations to end the 21-year civil war between the government and the southern-based rebels, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). That war was ended with the Naivasha peace agreement signed on January 9.
AU-sponsored negotiations to resolve the Darfur conflict resulted in a ceasefire agreement signed on April 8, 2004 by the Sudan government and the main Darfur rebel forces, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). This ceasefire agreement is in tatters as all sides continue to commit violations, and the peace talks have made little progress.
The parties to deploy up to 3,300 troops in Darfur, including its ceasefire monitors, and to protect civilians in imminent danger have mandated the African Union. So far, however, only 1,400 AU troops are on the ground, and logistical support has been a problem despite EU and U.S. funding.
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Deyda’s Last Words
By Sana Camara
Barely days before he met his untimely death in a cold blood murder by unknown assassins, which took him to the world of the purgatory, Deyda Hydera, the Managing Editor, and co-proprietor of The Point Newspaper, has this to say to The Independent in an interview:
The government’s gift to the media was a charity to do away with the media if one considers the new trend of things that spanned from the gifts, the repeal of the Media Commission Act and the introduction of two new bills to undermine freedom of expression.
They are the Criminal Code Amendment and the Newspaper Amendment Bill 2004. The first one seeks to provide for imprisonment instead of fines for journalists and the second increases by 400% the bond, which hikes from D100,000 to D500,000. In all honesty, would someone seeking peace with you harbour such a disposition towards you?
Journalism is a profession with its rules and one cannot be a journalist and flout its basic principles. What’s more, the fundamental law of this land guarantees that we make sure that government is accountable to the people for things it does in their name. Here again we didn’t draft the Constitution, which got inspiration from the covenants and other international laid rules about freedom of expression.
Meaning that even if the Constitution failed to empower us to do so we could rely on these instruments that The Gambia as a nation ratified.
We have no intention of burning this country and that is the reason why we didn’t turn down the gift that the President extended to the media.
We have no intention of burning this country and that is the reason why we didn’t turn down the gift that the president extended to the media.
It was our desire to bring about a normal adversarial relationship that we accepted the gifts but today as some warned us they were some sort of an injunction for something. Be that as it may, we remain steadfast in our resolve to carry out our job.
We know that both the Senegalese and the Togolese governments have ‘depenalised’ press laws. Wade decided it when things came to a head with the arrest of Editor Madiambal Diagne some months ago. He asked journalists to come up with proposals and they are right now in seminars with lawyers to make drafty proposals on the aspects of the law to be revised. For Eyadema, he was forced by the EU to scrap his anti-press laws and after resisting some months he has now he subdued and is again eligible to aid from those quarters.
We are serene and are studying whether the new bills are admissible is a democratic society.
As we said before we are ready to go to the African Commission and other international jurisdiction to seek redress.
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