Breaking News

Tales of bad blood abound

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

Unimpeachable sources nestled within the corridors of state power, reveal that Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh has appointed Lamin Kaba Bajo, Gambian ambassador to the United States. A former Cabinet Minister in the regime, Lamin Kaba Bajo was Presidential Guards’ Commander during the July, 22, 1994 coup and as the insurgents advanced into the capital that fateful Friday, he fled to Senegal with

Lamin Bajo

Neneh Macdouall

                                                   Huja Gass Jaiteh 

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Breaking News President Jammeh gives $30,000.00 to Senegal’s Vivian Ndour

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

When Senegalese Mbalax singer Vivian Chidid, the divorcee to Senegalese mega star Youssou Ndour’s brother, Bouba Ndour, visited The Gambia two weeks ago, she was all over the state media. She even paid a courtesy call on the Gambian leader, Yahya Jammeh.

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Dennis Vincent Brutus, 1924-2009

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

The death of famed South African poet and anti-Apartheid crusader, Dennis Vincent Brutus is as shocking to me as if I have lost a close family member or friend. While I have never met Dennis, it is the power of his written word that has connected me to this iconic academic and intellectual revolutionary poet of immense skill and knowledge.

Professor Dennis Vincent Brutus RIP

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Commentary

Gambia National Army: Allegiance to Yahya Jammeh; but what about our country?

By Mathew K. Jallow, Associate Editor

The enigmatic signs of history repeating itself are manifesting tantalizingly in every facet of Gambian life. The observable and often innocuous signs speak vividly and eloquently for themselves. For from the monopoly of our nation’s radio and television airwaves, to a fistful of extra judicial laws in Jammeh’s arsenal, to his portraits adorning

Afang Ibilis viciously looks on

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Gambia Moral Congress Issues Christmas Message

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Breaking News

Jammeh appoints Sira Wally Ndow, Energy Minister

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

Unimpeachable sources in Banjul report that Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has appointed Mrs. Sira Wally Ndow-Njie Minister of Energy; a post that the dictator has held for a long time now. Until her appointment Tuesday, Sira Wally was Deputy Managing Director at the country’s dysfunctional National Water And Electricity Company-NAWEC.

Aja Sira Wally and Alhaji Chachai in white robes in 2006- photo source State House website

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Commentary

Gutter Journalism

By Mathew K Jallow, Associate Editor

Our national homage to our brother and friend, Deyda Hydara, on the fourth anniversary of his assassination by Yahya Jammeh, precluded the publication of this commentary the past week. But, I came to the conclusion that I needed to speak up against Pa Nderry’s impunity two weeks ago, after he so maliciously and hatefully attacked Fatou Jahumpa Ceesay, in the most vicious way one can imagine.

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Breaking News United Nations Says Guinea’s President Camara, “war criminal”

Guinea junta should be tried - UN

Guinea's military leader should be charged with crimes against humanity over the killing of opposition protesters, a leaked UN report says. The UN panel says Capt Moussa Dadis Camara bears "direct criminal responsibility" for the killings. The report said it could identify 156 people who were killed at the protest - contradicting claims from the ruling junta than fewer than 60 people died. Earlier this month Capt Camara was shot and wounded by one of his own soldiers.

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Commentary

Omar Jallow (O.J.) has broken the Ice, but will it last?

By Mathew K Jallow, Associate Editor

He was preaching to the choir. Omar Jallow (O.J) that is. Yet, for once, he made my day. Not for anything he did, but for something he said. No hyperbole. No political platitudes. Just the plain old truth. O.J’s recent speech to journalists, on the issues of liberty, did not attract screaming headlines, yet its significance was not lost to us. Liberty is the operative word. It was a moment that made my day.

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Message from The Gambia Party of Truth

Part II

By Sewa Laye Sisoukhou (CASMDBMBS)

Readers of The Gambia Echo may recall that on November 18 this year, we published a lengthy correspondence from one Sewa Laye Sisoukhou purportedly representing The Gambia Party of Truth. In Part One, we published the first nine-pages of the memorandum and promised to run the entire text. We were however, hamstrung by numerous constraints but today we will pick it from where we left up to page 21of this 35-page scintillating discourse.

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Gambia’s Dr. Jeggan Senghor and ARI team launch publication

By Edmund Thomas**

London, UK--The Africa Research Institute (ARI) launched a publication on Tuesday 15^th December 2009 at St Steven’s Club in Queen Anne’s Gate London.  The publication entitled “GOING PUBLIC: How Africa’s integration can work for the poor”, is by a team led by Dr Jeggan C. Senghor, a Gambian Senior Research Fellow at the University of London.

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J.T. Kujabie, Gambia’s rogue diplomat returns to Washington after UK trip

--Allegations of  unstable mind and mendacious mediocrity

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

Barely 48-hours after our lead story on the fleeing diplomatic maids to erstwhile Gambian ambassador to Washington, DC, Neneh Macdouall Gaye hit the web, a highly placed source in the United Kingdom called and alerted us that elusive Gambian diplomat with a notoriety for spousal battery and abuse, Ebrima J.T. Kujabie was sighted in London presumably, on a sinister mission.

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G P U (UK) Calls for International Pressure over Deyda Murder.

United Kingdom branch of Gambia Press Union GPU is hereby calling for urgent intervention by United Nations and other International organizations to put pressure on government of The Gambia to seriously investigate the murders of prominent Gambian journalists. Deyda Hydara and Omar Barrow have both been murdered by agents of Gambia Government and nothing done about their killing for many years now. Omar Barrow serving

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Gambia Moral Congress Party Sends Solidarity Message

On this sad day, the Leadership and entire membership of GMC extend solidarity to the Family of the late Deyda Hydara, the people of The Gambia, and to the journalism fraternity of The Gambia. On this day, we joined the nation in offering our prayers in remembrance of a Great Gambian Hero.

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Deyda Hydara, a martyr to the cause of justice-In Memoriam

By Yusupha Cham

London, UK---Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 16^th, 2009, marks five solid years since so far ‘unidentified’ gunmen stalked my former boss, Gambian journalist, Deyda Hydara, on a dark and lonely street of Kanifing, and rained three bullets into his skull before taking off in a taxi, delighted that they had completed their diabolic mission.

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Five Years On; Who Killed Deyda Hydara?

By D. A. Jawo, Ex-President, The Gambia Press Union

Banjul, The Gambia--It has been five long years today since the murder of Deyda Hydara, and yet, nothing has so far been done to indicate that the Gambian authorities are investigating who committed such a dastardly act and why? What we saw instead was the imprisonment of some journalists in August for merely criticising some disparaging comments made by President Yahya Jammeh about his murder. 

Slain Gambian Journalist Deyda Hydara

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Gambia Press Union speaks on anniversary of journalist Hydara’s gruesome murder

GPU STATEMENT ON THE 5^TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MURDER OF DEYDA HYDARA

Banjul, The Gambia--On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the murder of our colleague, mentor, friend and brother journalist, Deyda Hydara, on December 16, 2004, The Gambia Press Union once again denounces the fact that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are yet to be brought to book.

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On Deyda Hydara’s murder anniversary, RSF Urges urgent Intervention.

--Says Jammeh regime obstructs investigations

International community urged to react five years after prominent journalist’s murder

On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the still unpunished murder of Deyda Hydara, the joint editor of the Banjul-based daily The Point, on 16 December 2004, Reporters Without Borders condemns the investigation’s obstruction by President Yahya Jammeh’s government and the international community’s failure to do anything about it.

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Bombshell: The Missing Millions at Gambia’s Washington Embassy

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

When The Gambia Echo broke the tantalizing story last year, (Tuesday September 23, 2008 to be precise), that President Jammeh has found in then financial attaché Lamin Sabi Sanyang, a  confidant and trustee to siphon millions of dollars of Gambian money, many raised eyebrows as to the veracity of that scoop. Yet we followed that breaking news item with a series of the intricate details of the inner workings of the Jammeh and Sabi Sanyang’s corruption nexus.

Alhaji Yahya Jammeh&Deleware Beauty Queen Lauren Elizabeth Parkes

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BREAKING NEWS

Exclusive interview with Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay

“If I betray Yahya, let god take my life-FJC.”

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

As promised, The Gambia Echo herein reproduces verbatim, our one-on-one interview with Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay (FJC), erstwhile Speaker of the Gambian National Assembly who was sacked along several high profile government officials some months ago. We caught her on the phone while at Right Choice, an Indian supermarket on Kairaba Avenue and began by asking what she had for lunch

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BREAKING NEWS

Musa Suso convicted again, sent to Mile II Prisons

Also, exclusive interview with Fatou Jahumpa Ceesay

By Ebrima G. Sankareh, Editor-In-Chief

Honourable Musa Suso, the once powerful National Assembly member for Kombo North District who was convicted of drug trafficking about nine years ago and then pardoned, has returned to Mile II Prisons following convictions of false information charges. The embattled former law maker in the Jammeh government has been fighting multiple charges for about a year now that he orchestrated malicious allegations calculated to damage the reputation of his jailers while in prisons.

Musa Suso at Mile II, Fatou Jahumpa, home

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Committee to Protect Journalists

CPJ’s annual prison census 2009:

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 9 out of 10 detained without charge

New York, December 8, 2009—On December 1, a total of 25 journalists were imprisoned in Sub-Saharan Africa in retaliation for their journalism, and nearly 90 percent of these journalists were detained without charges in secret detention facilities, according to an annual census of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Countries as wide ranging as Eritrea, Iran, and the United States were on the list of nations who had imprisoned journalists without charge.

Chief Ebrima Manneh

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Colonel Samsudeen Sarr Comments on Guinea Assassination Plot

Dear Editor,

The silence of the international community over last week’s assassination attempt on the life of the Guinean Head of state, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, left me wondering how swift they can react to incidents deserving emergency response. This is not just another classic case of a body guard snapping from nowhere to kill a Head of state like what happened to Kabila in the Congo and few more notable leaders.

Captain Camara recovers in Morocca

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  The Gambia Echo’s Mathew Jallow writes 1981 Gambian coup leader

"An Open Letter to Kukoie Samba Sanyang"

Dear Kukoie,

The past twenty-eight years could not have been easy for you, living the life a transient, and traveling from one strange country to another, like a vagrant. I get it. For I have been there and done that, although not as long as you. Nonetheless, the crushing experience of feeling that sense of homelessness we both experienced is still the same. But, fast forward to now. From what you have been writing, it appears both of us share the same passionate attitude towards our criminal compatriot, Yahya Jammeh, however, that is where our two similarities end

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ANALYSIS

2009: Year of the Ox, Gorilla, Astronomy or President?

By Ivan Simic, Belgrade, Serbia

The year 2009 is definitely a Presidential year; Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th, and first African American President of the United States, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is appointed as the new Prime Minister of Iceland, becoming the world's first openly lesbian head of government. Morgan Tsvangirai is sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Zimbabwe following the power-sharing deal with President Robert Mugabe, the President of Guinea-Bissau, João Bernardo Vieira, is assassinated during an armed attack on his residence in Bissau.

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Yankuba Touray Released

Family sources in Banjul have confirmed to The Gambia Echo moments ago that Yankuba Touray is home resting after he was released unconditionally by the state. It can be recalled that Touray was arrested two weeks ago after he was invited by Agents of the National Intelligence Agency-NIA.

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Breaking News

Guinea Conakry leader escapes assassination 

Soldier 'fires on Guinea leader'

Guinea's military leader has been fired on by one of his aides in the capital, Conakry, a government spokesman says.

Officials said Capt Moussa Dadis Camara was slightly injured in the shooting. Communication Minister Idrissa Cherif said Capt Camara was "doing well". He named aide-de-camp Aboubacar "Toumba" Diakite as being behind the attack. Mr. Cherif said Capt Camara, who took power in a bloodless coup last year, was at a military camp when the shooting occurred.

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 2009-2010 Gambia Budget

Slippages on Gambia’s Fiscal Position

By: A Special Correspondent from Banjul

The Gambia’s fiscal position has witnessed some slippages, largely caused by unplanned expenditures in the second quarter of 2009, resulting to a negative basic balance of D61 million at the end of September 2009, said Hon. Abdou Colley, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs while delivering his 2009- 2010 budget estimate at the National Assembly. According to Colley, “the higher than expected revenue performance, particularly for international trade taxes, could not match the huge expenditure overruns in the second quarter of 2009,”

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Commentary

Whither heads The Gambia?Part II


By D. A. Jawo

The state-controlled Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) is by any yardstick the most boring broadcast station in the entire sub-region. Virtually every aspect of its broadcasts is geared towards extolling President Jammeh's image as the most benevolent leader the world has ever seen. And yet it has flatly refused to cover any function of the opposition, or even announcements of their meetings, as if there is no opposition in the country. Instead it would only cover activities of the

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