Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Africa Subsaharan

Former Gambian minister under Jammeh to face trial in Switzerland

2024-01-08

[AFRICANEWS] The trial former Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
n Interior Minister Ousman Sonko will open on January 8.

The former official is charged with crimes against humanity relating to torture, kidnapping, sexual violence, and unlawful killings between 2000 and 2016 under then-President Yahya Jammeh.

The opening of a Swiss trial on January 8, 2024, for serious crimes committed in The Gambia represents a significant advance for justice for the victims of grave abuses, Gambian and international groups that are part of the Jammeh2Justice campaign said today.

Sonko was arrested in Bern, Switzerland

...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
on January 26, 2017, the day after TRIAL International filed a criminal complaint against him. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland filed an indictment against Sonko before the Federal Criminal Court on April 17, 2023. The trial, taking place in the city of Bellinzona, is expected to last about three weeks.

The trial is possible because Swiss law recognizes universal jurisdiction over certain serious international crimes, allowing for the prosecution of these crimes no matter where they were committed and regardless of the nationality of the suspects or victims.

Gambian activists and survivors, and international advocates will attend the trial’s opening in Bellinzona and are available for comment.

In December 24, 2021, the final report of Gambia’s Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) found that Jammeh and 69 of his associates committed crimes against humanity, and called for their prosecution.

Link

Europe

Gambian Death Squad Member Convicted in Germany for Crimes Against Humanity

2023-12-01

[AFRICANEWS] A German court sentenced a Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
n death squad member to life imprisonment on Thursday, convicting him of crimes against humanity among other charges, at the end of the country's first trial for abuses committed under President Yahya Jammeh's regime.

Presented by the media as Bai Lowe but only identified as Bai L. by the German justice system, the 48-year-old man was convicted of crimes against humanity, murder and attempted murder in a total of three cases by the court in Celle (north), which followed the request of the public prosecutor.

Specifically, he was found guilty of participating in murders in his country between 2003 and 2006, including that of AFP correspondent Deyda Hydara, rubbed out on December 16, 2004.

The man was a driver for the "Junglers", a Gambian death squad created by the ruling government in the mid-1990s to intimidate or eliminate any form of opposition.

Speaking via his lawyer at a hearing in October 2022, he denied any involvement in these acts. The defense pleaded for his acquittal.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Gambian soldier jailed for failed coup against President Barrow

2023-11-02

[AFRICANEWS] Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
's high court has sentenced a soldier to 12 years in prison for leading a foiled coup last year against President Adama Barrow's administration.

The judgment was passed on Tuesday. Eight soldiers were charged with treason and conspiracy in January for their role in a Dec. 21, 2022 coup attempt in the West African nation of 2.5 million people almost entirely surrounded by Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
.

Two civilians and a police officer were also charged with concealment of treason and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Seven, including the two civilians and the officer, were acquitted and released mid-trial.

The soldier accused of being the ringleader, Sanna Fadera, was found guilty of treason, the court ruled on Tuesday. Three other accused soldiers were acquitted of all charges.

Coup attempts are not uncommon in Gambia, which is still reeling from over two decades under former president Yahya Jammeh.

Jammeh himself seized power in 1994 and foiled several attempts to overthrow him before he lost an election in late 2016 to Barrow. Fadera has denied all charges. He has 30 days to appeal the verdict.

West Africa has seen an upsurge in coups since 2020 with the military seizing power in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso

...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president used to be Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and was chased out in 2014. Now it's the usual army officer type guy, Captain Ibrahim Traore, running things, who's just doing a bang-up job unless he's already been deposed...
and Guinea.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Guinea-Morocco World Cup qualifier postponed after Conakry coup d'etat, borders closed, US condemns

2021-09-06

[ESPN]

Morocco's national team are set to be evacuated from the Guinean capital Conakry and their World Cup qualifier against Guinea has been postponed because of a coup d'etat in the West African country.

A source close to the Morocco camp told ESPN that the team are preparing to exit Guinea imminently. "The Moroccan delegation are doing well and they are waiting to be evacuated," the source said.

Morocco goalkeeper Anas Zniti, who is with the team in Conakry, has corroborated to ESPN that the squad are doing well, although they have witnessed the deteriorating security situation in the city, with midfielder Sofyan Amrabat sharing footage of military forces on the streets in his Instagram story.

The Morocco team have been told to remain inside their residence for the time being, and to stay away from windows and doorways.

"The current political and security situation in Guinea is quite volatile and is being closely monitored by FIFA and CAF," the Confederation of African Football said in a statement. "To ensure the safety and security of all players and to protect all match officials, FIFA and CAF have decided to postpone the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying match Guinea vs. Morocco, which had scheduled to be hosted in Conakry, Guinea, on Monday Sept. 6 Rescheduling information will be made available at a later date."

Morocco trained in Guinea on Saturday shortly before the reported coup d'etat began, with hours of gunfire being heard in Conakry -- in the vicinity of the presidential palace -- according to the BBC.

Before the postponement was announced, Morocco coach Vahid Halilhodzic told French newspaper L'Equipe: "We're at the hotel, gunshots can be heard nearby all day. We're waiting for permission to leave for the airport but we're stranded for now.

"A plane is waiting for us, but we are not allowed to leave. And to get to the airport, it takes between 45 minutes to an hour. When you hear gunshots outside, safety is not 100% guaranteed."

He added: "I was told there was a possibility that the game would be played in Morocco, but I don't know. For now we're stuck there, let's see how it goes. We wait. I hope we get back to Morocco before the end of the day."

While Guinea's defence minister has said that the coup d'etat has not been successful, the fate of President Alpha Conde remains uncertain. ESPN have seen verified images from the Guinean capital which depict corpses on the city's streets. A statement sent to ESPN issued by the "National Front for the Defence of the Constitution" -- the coalition of parties opposing the ongoing presidency -- has confirmed that the president has been detained.

Residents in the district of Kaloum have been told to remain indoors, while the military are still present in the streets and have taken control of the country's land and air borders.

Courtesy of Skidmark, the Daily Mail adds:

Army colonel Mamadi Doumbouya goes on TV to declare Guinea government is dissolved in coup

National Committee of Gathering and Development vowed to restore democracy and also ordered the closure of the country's borders

President Alpha Conde, 86, is seen detained and surrounded by coup's soldiers

But Defence Ministry claims that the attack on presidential palace was repelled

Conde’s popularity plummeted since he sought a third term last year, saying that term limits did not apply to him

According to TASS:
Guinea’s defense ministry said on Sunday an operation was conducted against rebels who has attacked the presidential palace in the capital city of Conakry.

"The presidential guards repelled the rebels’ attack on the presidential palace," the ministry said on its website. According to the ministry, operations to restore law and order continue.

"President of the republic and commander-in-chief, Alpha Conde, and the government call on people to stay calm and be vigilant during the entire military operation," it said.

The ministry however said nothing about the president’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, rebel leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya said the president had been arrested by units under his command.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Gambia Says Migrants Expelled From EU Are Not Welcome Home

2021-08-29

[AllAfrica] The Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
has formally blocked flights returning ~~migrants~~ colonists deported from the European Union

...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
. Banjul argues that the country cannot reintegrate them.

Being the smallest country on mainland Africa, Gambia has a long tradition of migration.

An estimated 118,000 Gambians live abroad, according to the International Organisation for Migration, who send home remittances worth over 20 percent of the country's GDP.

However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
this week's announcement that the government aims to block flights of returning ~~migrants~~ colonists comes ahead of a presidential election in December and some have interpreted the move as a bid to boost electoral support ahead of the poll.

The Banjul administration says it will block all flights returning ~~migrants~~ colonists from the EU, just as Germany was preparing to expel a number of Gambians.

Gambian foreign ministry front man Saikou Ceesay says that the government decreed the policy last June, explaining thon the lam numbers of returning ~~migrants~~ colonists would cause "social upheaval".

He maintains: "We are trying to consolidate the peace, stability and democracy we have in this country."

The Gambia was ruled by ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful dictator Yahya Jammeh for 22 years, until he was forced from power in 2017 after losing a presidential election to Adama Barrow.

The first Gambian presidential election of the post-Jammeh era is due to be held on 4 December.

EU FRUSTRATION WITH GAMBIA
Meanwhile a European diplomat, who declined to be named, described The Gambia's move to block migrant returns as "a political issue" motivated by the upcoming election.

European governments have previously complained that The Gambia has never fully cooperated on returns.

The West African country signed a non-binding agreement on returns with the EU in 2018 has reportedly "never fully respected".

The European Council is due to examine a proposal which would tighten access to EU visas for Gambians, for example, over the country's "failure to cooperate on readmission".

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Gambia: Human Right Groups Welcome Gambia's Clarification On Jammeh's Return

2021-08-17

[All Africa] Human rights groups have warmly welcomed the official clarification made by The Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
government elucidating that the administration of President Adama Barrow is not in any way involving or participating in the former Gambian dictator's returning to the country.
They described the formal announcement as "calming and reassuring".

Labelling the report of Yahya Jammeh's return as "totally false", The Gambia government also said that it is not part of the so-called "Malabu Declaration".

Already, Human Rights Watch has outlined that "Yahya Jammeh's 22-year rule was marked by "widespread abuses including forced disappearance, extra judicial killings and arbitrary detention", thus the campaign to bring "Yahya Jammeh to justice without further delay" is now gathering momentum.

Document seen by The Point "On the purported return of the ex-Gambian dictator" revealed: "It is the duty of the Gambian government to promote and protect all human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
... to avoid the source of conflict especially during an election year... respect fundamental rights of Yahya Jammeh's victims by prosecuting him and his associates... regardless of any political, economic and cultural issues".

It disclosed further: "For the interest of peace and security in the country... as well as reassuring the diplomatic and donor community, the official announcement by the government of The Gambia is an important transition from tyranny to democracy".

Rights groups also noted that it is "significant and highly valued" for the Government of The Gambia to "take a clear stance and set the records straight" regarding the matter.

They described the Malabu Protocol as a "scam".

Consequently, right groups pointed out that the government's announcement that the so-called Protocol "only exist in the minds of rumour mongers and not in its diplomatic files is "truly reassuring."

Furthermore, TRIAL International also equally maintained that "Yahya Jammeh should never enjoy impunity from international law"; and therefore, the government's clarification on the matter is of "great significance."

Right groups said that "human rights are inherent to all human beings including Gambians, and are guaranteed by law; thus, the formal announcement is commendable.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Gambia: Yahya Jammeh's Witch Hunt Victims Continue Their Quest for Justice

2021-04-20

[All Africa] Former president Yahya Jammeh's witch hunt campaign victims are continuing their quest to bring Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
's long-time ruler to justice.

In a launching of a documentary video by Women Association for victim's empowerment (WAVE), on Friday 16th April 2021, called: "We were Accused... .."

In "Stories to repair broken dignity", victims and survivors talked about their quest for justice, encounters, stigmas they faced in their various communities, healing and reconciliation.

Many of the victims and survivors said they are not ready to forgive as what happened to them was painful which they could never forget. Some said for them to forgive, justice must prevail first.

They said they are waiting for the report of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) hoping to get justice after the recommendation of the commission.

The victims and survivors said the TRRC has removed a huge burden on their shoulders since the process started, many have come to know that they were accused and their rights were infringed by the former government.

"We thought we were going to take this pain to our graves," they said.

A witch hunt campaign commenced in the Gambia in 2009 under the regime of former president Yahya Jammeh targeting individuals in different communities. It was said Yahya Jammeh claimed his aunt had been killed by a witch.

Ya Mummy Cessey, mother of a victim of enforced disappearance and a co-founder and chairwoman of WAVE, said they came together to form the association because most of the human right violations were encountered by women.

"This association is for women to express their feelings and also to render support to women victims of violations," she said.

She said they cannot just sit down and wait for justice, adding they have to stand up to do something in supporting of women victims.

Dr. Dester Tuneh, WHO country coordinator, speaking on behalf of Ms. Seraphine Wakana, resident coordinator of United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
in the Gambia, said the launching of the documentary video was a timely reminder of the need to listen to victims and ensuring their stories are heard to enable people to understand the scale of violation the victims suffered and also to prevent reoccurrence of such atrocities.

"Such documentaries can also contribute to the recovery process of victims and help them to reintegrate successfully in their societies," he said.

Dr. Dester said the United Nations system in the Gambia stands with all stakeholders to attain sustainable peace in the country and respect for human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
and law and order.

WAVE was formed in mid-2019 with the aim of empowering women victims of human rights violations and abuses in the Gambia.

Link

Africa North

Dozens killed as migrant boat sinks off Mauritania coast

2019-12-06

[DW] At least 57 people have died after a boat carrying ~~migrants~~ colonists was shipwrecked in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Mauritania, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Wednesday.

It was one of the deadliest disasters this year among people making the dangerous attempt to reach Europe
Europe

...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
The IOM said a further 83 ~~migrants~~ colonists who were on board swam to shore.

The vessel, carrying at least 150 people including women and kiddies, had been low on fuel as it approached Mauritania, the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
migration agency said in a statement.

Survivors are being helped by the Mauritanian authorities in the northern city of Nouadhibou, said the IOM.

FLEEING GAMBIA
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by The Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
Survivors reported that the boat had left Gambia on November 27. An unknown number of injured people were brought to hospital.

"The Mauritanian authorities are very efficiently coordinating the response with the agencies currently present in Nouadhibou,'' said Laura Lungarotti, Mauritania's chief of mission with the migration agency.

More than 35,000 Gambian ~~migrants~~ colonists left the small country of just over 2 million and arrived in Europe between 2014 and 2018, the IOM reports.

A 22-year stint ofthen-President Yahya Jammeh's oppressive rule impacted the country's economy, contributing to the high number of people trying to migrate to Europe. Many ended up stranded in Libya and Niger. However,
the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything...
after Jammeh was forced to cede power in 2017, some Gambians have started to return.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

AIDS patients sue Gambia’s ex-president over fake cures

2018-06-02

[PRESSTV] Three people living with AIDS in Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
are suing former president Yahya Jammeh, alleging he detained and abused them as guinea pigs to test his supposed cure, one of their lawyers said.

"My clients are claiming damages for false imprisonment and (declaring) that the defendant subjected the plaintiffs to inhumane and degrading treatment contrary to the constitution" while they underwent Jammeh's alleged HIV/AIDS cure, lawyer Combeh Gaye told AFP shortly after filing the suit on Thursday.

Jammeh, who has lived in Equatorial Guinea since January 2017 when armed intervention helped end his tough 22-year rule, claimed to possess a range of mystical gifts, including the power to cure asthma, epilepsy and sterility as well as AIDS, using plants and chants.

The AIDS patients who have gone to court are two men of 63 and 64 years old and a woman of 51. They are members of associations that support people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the text of their suit seen by AFP.

Shortly after Jammeh in January 2007 publicly announced his "discovery" of an AIDS cure, the three plaintiffs and six other people, including a minor, were invited to meet the president at State House and became his "first batch" of experimental subjects.

In their court case, they testified that top among Jammeh's "rules was that the members of the group should immediately desist from using any anti-retroviral drugs and/or any other form of conventional medication" given to people with HIV/AIDS.

Jammeh kept the patients locked up during some six months of treatment until July 2007, brushing aside their objections to being filmed during the alleged therapeutic sessions. They later learned that videos had been broadcast on state media, including official GRTS television, the three plaintiffs said.

Despite the ineffective and painful nature of the supposed remedy, the first batch of subjects backed up Jammeh's claim to have cured them when they were discharged. The court case specifies that they "were compelled by fear and threats from the defendant's agents".

Then health minister Tamsir Mbowe joined Jammeh in "false and misleading claims", encouraging "numerous" other people with HIV actively to seek magical treatment, the plaintiffs argue.

A Moslem onetime soldier, Jammeh seized power in a bloodless 1994 coup in the former British colony, a small enclave of a nation inside Senegal
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
either side of the Gambia river and with an Atlantic seaboard.

From 1996, the increasingly erratic leader won successive presidential elections until he was beaten by opposition candidate Adama Barrow in December 2016, agreed to step down and then changed his mind.

After a six-week political crisis, Jammeh left the country on January 21, 2017, in the wake of military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States and a final mediation bid.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Gambia: Ageing Gambians Race for Justice Over Ex-Leader's Fake Aids Cure

2018-01-27

[All Africa] The president had found a cure for AIDS. That was the news that reached Ousman Sowe, the head of a Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
n AIDS support network, one day in 2007. He was overjoyed.

"We all went with the hope that we were going to take a drop of some wonderful medication and be cured," Sowe, 64, a tall man with greying hair, told the Thomson Rooters Foundation in an office outside Gambia's rundown seaside capital.

But he was not allowed to go home after showing up at the state house that day. Gambia's ex-president Yahya Jammeh forced him to drink herbal concoctions morning and night for seven months until he was declared cured - but in reality, near death.

Jammeh, whose 22-year rule over the tiny West African country was marked by accusations of human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
abuses, fled into exile last year after losing an election.

Now survivors of Jammeh's bogus AIDS treatment are doing what once seemed impossible - speaking out about their suffering and pursuing justice against the man who endangered their lives.

An estimated 9,000 Gambians, most with HIV, passed through Jammeh's treatment programmes and were forced to give up conventional medicine in favour of his homemade cures, said AIDS-Free World, a U.S.-based charity working with survivors.

The fake AIDS treatment not only had grave health consequences for the patients, some of whom died, but hindered real HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in the country, UNAIDS said.

"There was sort of a blackout of information on HIV, because everything was related to the president's treatment," said the U.N. agency's country director Sirra Ndow.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Gambians enjoy freedom post-Jammeh, but criticise economy

2018-01-21

[CITIZEN.CO.ZA] A year ago, Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
ns wept for joy as Yahya Jammeh went into exile, bringing the curtain down on a brutal 22-year rule.

Today, many say freedom of speech in this small west African state is a right they cherish under President Adama Barrow’s administration.

"There is a democracy, everybody feels free. Disappearances without a trace ‐ all that’s over now," said teacher Kalipha Dampha, referring to the dreaded work of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the "Junglers," as Jammeh’s death squad was called.

But The Gambia’s faltering economy has barely improved and tensions over mass unemployment are rising.

Today, many are now asking when the better days they were promised will come.

"Food prices are still the same, salaries have not increased, the health sector is a shambles, the education sector is a farce," Ismaila Ceesay, a professor of political science at the University of The Gambia, stated bluntly in an AFP interview.

In terms of the economy, he argued, Barrow’s government is simply "following and inheriting the ideas of Yahya Jammeh," albeit minus the state of terror.

Link

Africa Subsaharan

Gambians enjoy new freedoms

2017-11-19

[THEEASTAFRICAN.CO.KE] At Banjul International Airport, there are three jets on the runway inscribed Republic of The Gambia
... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea, of which there are the Republic of Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, New Guinea, the English coin in circulation between 1663 and 1813, and Guyana, which sounds like it should be another one) was ruled by Britain...
They are part of four aeroplanes that were a symbol of former president Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year autocratic rule over the impoverished small West African nation.

An airport official said that the 54-year-old former leader had wanted to leave the country with the jets after he was ousted from power in the December 2016 election.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
his successor, President Adama Barrow, made sure the jets were impounded.

"He wanted to take the planes because he had personalised them. They were for him and his family. Everything belonged to him," the airport official said.

The seemingly new and well-maintained jets are a stark contrast to the dilapidated Banjul airport at which they are parked. The government has said it will sell off the jets.

As we line up in the humid heat waiting for our entry visas, I notice that Banjul Airport has rickety fans that seem like they will fall off the ceiling any minute.

Passengers and the hospitable immigration officials sweat away in the heat. Paint is peeling off the walls and everything, from the conveyor belt to the partitioning, looks old and outdated.

A drive into Banjul ushers you into the reality of what Jammeh’s rule was like ‐poor infrastructure and planning, poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment. Youth and women line the streets hawking merchandise and fruits.

The capital’s streets are dirty and there is no proper drainage. Cows and donkeys are a common sight alongside piles of fresh watermelons and garbage.

When we arrive at the hotel in Brufut, which is a few kilometres outside Banjul, we are told that the 5-star facility was previously owned by Jammeh, like most of the other important facilities in Banjul. The current government is trying to repossess the properties and businesses or put them under the ownership of the government.

Our hotel, the Gambia Coral Beach Hotel, in Brufut Heights, Serrekunda, sits on the pristine, palm tree-dotted beaches of the Atlantic Ocean in Brufut. It had been grabbed by Jammeh from Sheraton, along with another hotel, Coco Beach.

"He owned everything. Every big establishment was his," said Bubacar Ndow, our tour guide as we drove around Serrekunda, a sprawling urban centre at the coast.

Gambians had been ruled by Jammeh for 22 years; he had killed, imprisoned or exiled his political opponents. Now, under President Barrow, citizens say they have the freedom to air their views.

"We believe he will deliver on the political and economic reforms. We are optimistic. He still needs time, but most importantly we can speak our minds and do what we want. That freedom is what we needed," said Pa Bojang, an army veteran who was our security guard and tour guide.

The newspaper headlines tell of former Jammeh officials facing a commission of inquiry on alleged corruption and illegal dealings.

As we move around the busy Serrekunda market under the scorching sun, sifting through piles of goods, mainly imitations from China, an Economic Community of West African States patrol car with gunnies drives by slowly, perhaps to reassure Gambians that Jammeh is now history.

Many still feel the former president, currently in exile in Equatorial Guinea, should be extradited and charged in court or shipped to the International Criminal Court to face charges of crimes against humanity.

"He denied us every right, including education," said Housna Saine, a 24-year old who sells sim cards and airtime along the Serrekunda market road.

Link

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