Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue Issue No. 102/2006, 20-21 November, 2006 Editorial The Future Generation What does the future hold for the future generation, our ambitious youth and children who are ready to go against the tide and to scale all height in order to make a living? What does the future hold for those would be sojourners who risk their lives in order to become meaningful to their families? What does the future hold for those proud and dignified young people who would rather die than live in shame because they are being treated like thrash by their families since they cannot contribute financially or economically to a family that quite often lives from hand to mouth? It is easy to make sweeping statements like “The youth are lazy,” or “ Gambians are lazy.” It is easy to blame Gambian youths for not taking advantage of training facilities or productive ventures in order to get out of poverty. But what is the reality? The secondary or tertiary education of many youths is discontinued or interrupted incessantly because of the inability of their parents or relatives to pay expensive fees. How many parents can afford to pay fess like D2500 or D3900 annually for their children’s secondary schooling? How many can afford to pay D14,000 or D16,000 a year for University education? How many can afford to pay D3000 to D4000 for skills training? More than a hundred students approach our offices every year to complain of being driven away for lack of payment of fees and to seek sponsorship. On the other hand, many leave school only to roam the street endlessly without any prospect of a job. The reality is that many youths are leaving school just to join the pool of unemployment because the net rate of unemployment is stagnant. There is need for growth in the productive sectors in order to generate employment so that the youth can be employed. Otherwise they will continue to head for Europe in search of greener pastures. With the prevailing condition, this trend is unstoppable. No amount of force or law can stop it. This is evident from statements made by returnees. IEC SETS DATE FOR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTION A press release from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), states that National Assembly Elections will be held on 25th January 2007. Below is the text of the release; The Independent Electoral Commission, in exercise of its mandate under Section 40 of the Elections Decree, wishes to inform the general public that election of Members of the National Assembly of the Republic of The Gambia shall take place on Thursday 25th January 2007. Nomination of candidates for the election of members of the National Assembly according to Section 42(1) of the Elections Decree shall take place from Thursday 4th to 6th January 2007 between the hours of 8 0’ clock and 4 0’ clock in the afternoon in the offices of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) in Banjul, Kanifing, Brikama, Kerewan, Mansakonko, Janjanbureh, and Basse, respectively. In exercise of its powers given in Section 85 of the Election Decree, the IEC announce that the campaign period for the said election will be held from Wednesday, 10th to Tuesday 23rd January 2007. Nomination papers could be collected from the IEC regional offices countrywide from Thursday 14th December 2006. The general public is also hereby informed that there will be an exercise to replace lost, destroyed or mutilated voters’ cards or the transfer of voting cards from Thursday 14th to Friday 29th December 2006. This exercise will take place in the IEC regional offices countrywide. A fee of D50.00 will be levied on any transferred or replaced card. BUNJA DARBOE AND CO TRIAL JUSTICE AGIM RULES AGAINST CAMARA By Fabakary B. Cessay Medic Wharf, the Medical Officer at the mile two Central Prisons has testified in the ongoing court martial at the Yundum Barracks on Saturday 11th November 2006. Medic Wharf told the court that, his name is Corporal Bakary ‘Wharf’ D Kujabi. He said, he lived in Old Jeshwang. He said that he is an officer of the Prison Service and is presently attached to the Medical Unit at Mile Two Prison. Corporal Wharf pointed out that he never received any medical papers of Wassa Camara nor has he given medical papers pertaining to Captain Wassa Camara to anybody. At this Juncture, defense counsel Lamin Jobarteh urged the court to allow the way book of the prison to be brought to court, to show whether medical papers and medicine were received and signed by the accused person’s brother. Medic Wharf said he is not in charge of the way book, but he can bring his medical diary. He was urged to bring the diary in the next adjourned date (on the 16th November). Going Further, medic Wharf said Captain Camara had never visited any hospital and has never visited his clinic at the prison. He explained that they normally visit detainees and convicts on daily basis to examine them and to check there complains. He noted that if their complains are necessary to be referred to the hospital, they will be escorted by the medical officers to the RVTH. He said after the procedures, the medical papers are handed over to the medical officer at Mile Two. He narrated that on one of his daily routines from cell to cell at the main yard to the security wing on the 21st April, Captain Wassa Camara complained to him about, headache, fever, dizziness and joint pains. He said he saw marks on the head of Wassa and asked, ‘Sir what about those marks on your head and he told me those are marks he got from an accident.’ I asked him, when did the accident happen? And he told me, in 2000. Medic Wharf admitted that he had treated Wassa and recorded it in a diary. He said he recorded every thing pertaining to his duties, but that did not include prescribed drugs. On Thursday 16th November, medic Wharf told the court that he had brought his medical diary to the court. Then defense counsel Lamin Jobarteh asked the court to give him at least ten (10) minutes stand down to study the diary so as to ask questions pertaining to it’s Contents from the 21st April to the end of April. He said he wanted to use the diary to enable him to lead his witness. At this juncture, the prosecutor, Emmanuel Fagbenle objected to the application and said the diary is a public document, even though it is before the court. He said the counsels can look at it only under the direction of the witness. ‘It is not only the privacy of the accused person but it also contained the privacy of other people, the diary can be admitted only for the witness to assist the counsel in the presence of the court,’ he emphasized. The defense argued that hence the document is before the court; the issue of privacy cannot arise any more. ‘I therefore need to satisfy myself to the portion of the diary that is relevant to examine the witness under this circumstances, I therefore want a short time to study the diary, so as to examine my witness in a proper way’, he lamented. The judge advocate, Justice Agim, said the defense did not lay the fact before the court to study the document before it can be tendered, since form the 9th to 16th November. He also agreed with the prosecution that the diary contains other people’s privacy. Justice Agim asked the witness when he arrived at the court, the witness replied that he arrived at 9:45am. Agim said the defense should have studied the document before the sitting commences because the witness told the court that he arrived by 9:45am. Counsel Jobarteh dismissed that the witness has arrived at the court at the said time. He said that he had arrived earlier and was looking for Wharf so as to check the diary before the sitting commence. He said even the prosecutor was assisting him to locate the witness. ‘I have to study the diary so as to guide the witness, the witness cannot tell me where is relevant to check’, he emphasized. At this juncture, he was granted chance to check the relevant portion of the diary so as to lead his witness. Jobarteh then informed the court that he wanted to tender the entire diary. The diary was tendered as a sick record book and mark TWT exhibit four (4). The DPP argued that they can extract the portion from the book hence the witness said that they are still using the book. Jobarteh said the relevant portion can be copied and the book can be returned to mile two. He said the witness was lying under oath. He said he wanted to take the witness as a hostile witness and will prove to the court that he was not telling the truth. Mr. Jobarteh pointed out that the witness is not worthy to be given credits because he has given contradictory statements and the statements were only intended to mislead the court. There is no iota of truth in his statement, the particular document he should have brought is not this one’. Justice Agim then granted the defense the opportunity to treat the witness as a hostile witness. Mr. Jobarteh asked the witness whether it is true that the entry in their book starts at January and end at December, he replied no. Medic Wharf indicated that he couldn’t remember when they began using the diary. He also said that the closed date of 2005 to the start date of 2006 is in another book, which is filled up. Jobarteh asked him why he did not bring that book, Wharf said the other book has nothing to do with the accused person because he was arrested in March. Medic Wharf said the first entry date in the diary begins 4th April 2006 and all of them (medical officers) do the recordings. He added that they work on shift duties on weekly basis but that not all of them signed in the diary. Wharf noted that from the 5th April to 8th April, four (4) different persons did the recordings but they did not record the hours. He said he first saw the accused person on 21st April and on 2nd July 2006. He added that they don’t have record of the complaints of the accused persons. At this juncture, Jobarteh asked him where he was trained as a nurse. He replied that he had his training at RVTH and has worked at the out patient unit of the hospital. He said that at RVTH, they record the complaints of the patients. Jobarteh told him to look at where it is written, in the diary Captain Wassa Camara, at the last column, what was written against his (Wassa) name. Wharf replied that the writing was ‘drugs’ Jobarteh asked him whether it is the drugs that were prescribed for Wassa. Wharf said those are drugs that were issued by them for Wassa’s health. ‘Am putting it to you that you are the most unfaithful witness that I have ever seen’. Wharf said, ‘am saying nothing but the truth’. “Am also putting it to you that the reason you did not bring that other book is that you are hiding the truth and that you are not the only medic that has seen the accused person,” Jobarteh said. Medic Wharf said he was saying the truth but agreed that he was not the only medic who has seen Wassa Camara. During cross- examination by the DPP, medic Wharf said he has on record the medical entries of the treatment that was given to captain Wassa Camara. He told the court that he treated Captain Camara on the 21st April and 2nd July 2006. He denied attending Wassa on any other date other than the mention dates. He admitted that the way they keep their records at Mile Two Prisons is different from that of RVTH. The Judge advocate, Justice Agim, has ruled that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused has made his statement voluntarily in the presence of the independent witness and the officer investigating the matter. He also indicated that the independent witness, Babou Loum, was present when the statements were recorded. Agim also believed that TWT 1, 2 and 3 are unshakable on the basis of their evidence, noting that the statements were made voluntarily. Justice Agim said that the accused testified that he was forced, threatened and beaten to make and signed his statement. Agim pointed out that he did not believed in the evidence of the defense that the accused has made his statement under duress and sustained injuries. ‘When we cross-examined the body of the accused, there are lots of scars on his head, but no scars on his chest. There are also many scars on his legs, which he attributed to the accident he had,’ said Agim. Justice Agim also ruled that when the accused was visited by his wife at Mile Two, he complained to her about, dizziness, fever and pains on his sides. ‘If there was another wound on him, he would have informed her about it, there is no medical evidence to support the statement of the accused person.’ Justice Agim ruled that the cautionary statement made by the accused on the 22nd, 24th and 28th March were made voluntarily. “OUR COFFERS ARE EMPTY” By Modou Nyang “Our coffers are empty”. Said Omar Sallah, chairman of the National Sports Council, when confronted with the issue of government funding of national sporting associations”. All the funds we receive from government go to pay for salaries”. “Our coffers are empty” he openly put to the delegates of the affiliate members of the Gambia National Olympic Committee, GNOC. Sallah indicated that since the banning of cigarette advertisement by the National Assembly the council has been left with no other source of funding. We used to have the cigarette levy which was put in a fund for sports development but it was not even fort coming and since it has been outlawed we are now left with no other source, he lamented. The chairman of the national sport council indicated that unless another source of funding is explored, funding for associations will continue to be a problem. He however called on sporting associations to collaborate with the council to raise funds and that they should not wait till the last minute before asking for funding for their national engagements. STRAINING THE GAMBIAN TAX PAYER By Modou Nyang Hosting of sessions of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights by the Government of the Gambia is a strain on the Gambian taxpayer, said Dr. Henry D.R Carrol acting Solicitor General at the Department of State for Justice. Dr. Carrol made this statement at the opening ceremony of the 40th ordinary session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights ACHPR, while deputising for the Vice President Dr. Aja Isatou Njie Saidy, at the Kairaba beach hotel. “Our official records clearly confirm that for the last three years the Gambia hosted both ordinary sessions of the commission at the expense of the Gambia Government, this is a strain on the Gambian tax payer” said Dr. Carrol. He also outlined that out of the thirty six ordinary sessions organized by the commission since its inception in 1989 nineteen were hosted and sponsored by the Gambia. I am therefore strongly appealing to the member States of the African Union to cooperate with the Gambia by readily accepting to host ordinary sessions of the African commission he urged. Citing the decision of the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments in handing the hosting rights of the commission’s secretariat to the Gambia in their May 1988 Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Carrol noted that the government of the Gambia has always honoured its contractual obligation to the satisfaction of the other party. Dr. Carrol added that the ACHPR requested the Gambia Government to sponsor the present session but as a result of economic constrains and the fact that the Gambia sponsored the 39th session in May last year, it was unable to do so. LAMIN SANNEH IN MILE TWO By Yaya Dampha Reports have it that Mr. Lamin Sanneh, former Permanent Secretary Department of State for Works, Construction and Infrastructure was arrested by security agents and sent to Mile Two Central Prisons over one week ago. According to reliable sources, Mr. Sanneh was arrested shortly after he was sacked from his position as the Permanent Secretary; then briefly detained at the NIA where he was questioned and later transferred to Mile Two. It is not clear what Mr. Sanneh has been accused of. Our information is that Mr. Sanneh’s arrest and detention are in connection to some recently concluded road construction contracts that the President is unhappy about. In a separate development, the former Protocol to the Vice President, Mr. Jobarteh was also reported to have been sacked two weeks ago. He too has been arrested and detained at Mile Two. Since the arrest there has been no official statement about him. This reporter has been reliably informed that Mr. Jobarteh is not yet charged with any crime. According to another source, the Deputy Director of Immigration, Sako Drammeh, was on Tuesday afternoon arrested by the security agents in his office, but he has since been released. KANIFING EAST DISASTER RELIEF COMMITTEE RECEIVE DONATIONS The Gambian people and particularly residents of the Kanifing Municipality have positively responded to the call of supporting the Kanifing Disaster Relief Committee following the tragedic fire incident that left 7 young men dead and II others in critical conditions, states a press release from the aforesaid committee. The press release added that the committee also received donations from institutions and individuals including President Jammeh. The release have it that the Kanifing East Disaster Relief Committee has opened an account at the Trust Bank and has deposited some of the funds so far collected after spending a good amount on the above mentioned congregation prayers. Under the leadership of Imam Baba Muhtarr Leigh, members of the committee have received generous donations at the Kanifing East Mosque On Tuesday 14th November 2006. These were provided for by a number of institutions and sentiments were expressed by all those who participated in the presentation ceremony. On Friday 17th November 2006, the Bakoteh Housing Estate and Layout led by Alhaji Jagne and community leaders including youths and women came to pay their condolences. The delegation included both Muslims and Christians. The objectives of the Kanifing Disaster Committee are to; 1. Raise sufficient funds that will enhance essential support for the families of those who passed away; 2. Provide assistance to all those in the hospital including evacuation abroad for treatment; and 3.Develop appropriate mechanisms to avoid the occurrence of such incidents in the future For further information and contribution, contact the following: 1. Alhaji Baba Muhtarr Leigh, Telephone 9969960 2. Alhaji Abdou Jarjusey, Telephone: 9964057 3. Alhaji Omar Mbye, Telephone: 9966686 4. Mr. Alieu Cham, Telephone: 7795340 Pay direct to this Account 01111 01954501 Kanifing East Disaster Relief Fund Trust Bank Gambia Ltd To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask]