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US Department of State - U.S. Millennium Challenge Awards $547 Million for Poverty Fight in Ghana (Gambia Misses Out On Benefits of U.S. MCC Funds)
Wednesday, August 02, 2006 (241 reads)
United
States Awards $547 Million for Poverty Fight in Ghana
Millennium challenge compact to
help small farmers, rural poor
By Elisa Walton
Washington
File Staff Writer
Washington
--The U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) awarded Ghana
$547 million at a signing ceremony August 1 with Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice, who chairs the MCC board of directors, and Ghanaian President John A.
Kufuor. The anti-poverty grant is the largest to date awarded by the agency.Ambassador John Danilovich, MCC chief
executive officer, and Papa Kwesi Nduom, Ghana's
minister of public sector reform, also attended the event, which was held in
the ornate Benjamin
Franklin Room
of the State Department."Today represents a great
achievement for the people of Ghana
and their government," said Rice, calling the compact "a testament to
the friendship of our nations."  
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GAMBIA: CPJ statement as journalist’s trial resumes
Wednesday, August 02, 2006 (136 reads)
GAMBIA: CPJ statement as journalist’s trial resumes
New York, August 2, 2006—The
Committee to Protect Journalists today made the following statement on
the eve of Thursday’s resumption of the trial of Lamin Fatty, a
reporter with the shuttered newspaper The Independent who is charged
with publishing false news.
“These criminal charges against our
colleague should be dropped immediately, and the persecution of
journalists from The Independent should stop,” said CPJ Africa Program
Coordinator Julia Crawford. “We also urge the government to repeal
these repressive laws that allow criminal sanctions against journalists
for doing their job.”
For CPJ reporting on this case, see our June 12 alert:
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Breaking News:Has Colonel Lang Tombong Tamba recruited Banjinka's wife as an "undercover agent"?
Wednesday, August 02, 2006 (844 reads)
Breaking News:Has Colonel Lang Tombong Tamba recruited Banjinka's wife as an "undercover agent"?
A top State House military official spill the beans-accusing Tamba of
being an accomplish on Banjinka's "so called escape."
By Staff Writer Karafa Badjie
 The wife of the army
major fugitive Kalipha Bajinka, was used as a "front to facilitate her
husband's" man hunt and subsequent arrest, well placed state house
sources hinted today. A top military source at the State House in
Banjul says, Bajinka's wife was in constant touch with Lang Tombong
Tamba, who asked her to cooperate with them on the behind scene
investigations to get hold of major Bajinka. The wife of the major who
has not been arrested even though Bajinka's loved ones are currently behind
bars was reportedly recruited as "an undercover agent" by the state to
help convince Bajinka that everything was okay in Banjul and was free
to report back to duty. It is gathered that Bajinka returned to Banjul
based on the information communicated to him by the army chief of staff
colonel Lang Tombong Tamba through his wife. Lang was quoted as saying
that it was safe for Bajinka to return to Banjul. Unsuspecting major
Bajinka who acted on such assurances decided to return to Banjul, only
to be pursued by armed state hit men.It is not clear what type
of deal was reached between Banjinka's wife and the State, but what is
evident is that Bajinka's wife is still in the good books of the state.
Our military source hinted that the lady has been seen criss-crossing
the state house and GAF head quarters in recent times.
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The day of Counting: A political Poem
Wednesday, August 02, 2006 (281 reads)
By Yero Jallow (Dalton)
The
poem below is a prediction of the forthcoming presidential elections in
the Gambia. In it, I tried to relay the many ways that the voting
process will happen. The Wolf with his gun men are not going let the
votes to count as they were thrown in the ballots. The world observers
will do nothing, but engage in mere hypocrisy. The respected Fox is a
living hero, a genius of our time.
The day of Counting: A political Poem
Democracy patterns
Stones in millions
One thrown after the order.
The long lines of Gambians in white shirts
We spotted some non-Gambians in black
Some hiding their faces and others confident.
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Women should not allow to be used as shileds to dictators-Fatou Jaw Manneh,As she takes issue with Jammeh!!!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 (568 reads)
 "Women
should be ready to take up leadership roles. Not like the Jammeh women.
Who are mainly just event planners as their president indulges from one
festival to the other. Women should be far more than mere decorators
and cover-ups for brutal governments. A woman’s image should carry a
lot of weight. We should not allow to be used as shields to dictators"
says Fatou Jaw Manneh as she chats with Mathew K Jallow and Pa Nderry M'Bai of the
Freedom Newspaper. She added "Gambians have only one short term option to end Jammeh’s madness, and
that is banking on the Opposition to beat him at the polls. For now, on
my part, I have come to the hard fact that that might not be possible. Gambians
have to come together with a backup plan, from the Diasporans to the
Gambians on the ground and find out what other form of fresh leadership
we can arrange to tackle Jammeh for this coming years. In as much as we
hate to even think about it, I think we should all buckle up for Jammeh
for the next five years, but we should not give up on our country. I
think now is the time for Gambians on the ground or diasporas political
aspirants to come out and challenge Jammeh and we can help prepare them
to save Gambia either in the coming five or ten years. We can do it." Below is the full text of the interview.Please read on...
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Taiwan's President Bian soaked in serious corruption scandal-Freedomnewspaper vindicated once again.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 (392 reads)
By a Political Analyst.
Corrution in Taiwan,The APRC Government will take part of the blame.
When
one thinks about past events in The Gambia Taiwan's name cannot be
erased from this mess. These Islanders have been aiding and abetting
President Jammeh while the latter has been filling his pockets with
stolen dollars from the Island. As Thomas Sanakara said before that
is,people in different parts of the world usually suffer the same fate
under bad leadership. There are Taiwanese who have no idea as to what
is taking place between Bian and those "gullible" third world leaders
he is literally spoon-feeding with Taiwanese dollars! These poor
Taiwanese citizens are being exploited by President Jammeh's so-called
friend. Friend? Who is Yahya Jammeh's friend in all honesty apart from
his shameless mouth? No one other people like him. As the old English
saying goes.."Show me your friend I tell you who you are" This
old proverb can help us drag these reckless leaders on the mud. Today
seasoned journalists exposed a serious corruption scandal implicating
Chen Shui Bian. What Bian forgot is that no one can ever fill a bag
with holes. We as Gambians are not suprised to hear about these corrupt
cases. President Yahya Jammeh capitalised on Bian's wild dream of a
seperate Taiwan to make money for himself and Myriam Jammeh his
daughter. Can people imagine President Jammeh saying Gambians did not
have flush toilets before 1994? He said this on teh APRC-Owned
Television,because The Gambia is yet to have a national TV.
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Breaking News:A major corruption uncovered at the police head quarters-IGP Sonko,Jatta Baldeh,Abdoulie Sanyang and Babocarr Jatta abuse UN funds!!!
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 (612 reads)
The
top brass of Gambia's police Force has come under fire, as they have
been accused of illegally collecting funds from officers selected to
take part as United Nations peace keeping force in troubled countries
on the continent.The officers named as IGP Ousman Sonko, Babocarr
Jatta, Interior Minister,Jatta Baldeh and Abdoulie Sanyang respectively
were implicated in the said police graft. They were accused of
collecting $200 United States dollars from poor police officers each month in the
name of securing them uniforms.The said monies collected purportedly represents the uniforms the officers used while on peace keeping mission. Under normal circumstances, the UN should foot for the bills of the selected officers, but it appears that the Gambian police brass are exploiting poor officers selected for such missions. The Freedom Newspaper was emailed by a
concerned reader who took it upon him self to spill the beans.
  
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EVENTS BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THE SECOND GAMBIAN REPUBLIC (PART II)
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 (338 reads)
EVENTS BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THE SECOND GAMBIAN REPUBLIC (PART II)
By BINNEH S MINTEH
When I see fellow African citizens, who do not know what transpired in
The Gambia, from 1994 to date, defending the crumbling regime in the
tiny West African State, it only makes me laugh. Knowing fully well
what the APRC regime's basket holds for Gambians, one should only
ignore all such selfish Africans who only care about their own "bread
and butter". The most recent attack by an online newspaper about our
article titled "The African Union Summit: Contradictions and
Controversies" only makes me dig into the dirt inflicted upon our
people by the ruling APRC with an even more guided precision.
Benneh S Minteh
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RWANDA:Rugambage finally freed after being held for 11 months by popular tribunal
Tuesday, August 01, 2006 (85 reads)
RWANDA:Rugambage finally freed after
being held for 11 months by popular tribunal
Jean-Léonard Rugambage of the Kigali-based independent
fortnightly Umuco was freed on 28 July after a 'gacaca'
popular tribunal finally recognised on appeal that the warrant for his
arrest issued on 7 September 2005 was fraudulent and that his
detention was therefore arbitrary, Rugambage told Reporters Without
Borders today.
His release came two days after the gacaca appeal court overturned his
conviction on a charge of a contempt of court, for which he had
already served eight months of a one-year prison sentence. In all,
Rugambage spent 11 months in detention.
Speaking in Kigali, Rugambage said: "I am grateful to all the
organisations, including Reporters Without Borders, that campaigned
for the truth to finally emerge, and to the national agency of gacaca
courts that enabled my case to advance."
He also hailed "the efforts of the government, as part of national
reconciliation, to make the population more aware of the role of the
gacaca courts, which are often seen as means for settling
scores."
Reporters Without Borders said it hailed the end of the political and
legal harassment of Rugambage, in which he was kept in prison by the
use of legal procedures that the Rwandan judicial authorities
themselves now recognise as arbitrary.
Still pending against him is a charge of murder, described as
genocide. After two hearings on 7 and 14 June, the gacaca said it was
not qualified to hear this charge. Although he could still in theory
be tried by an ordinary court, the executive secretary of the gacaca
courts, Domitille Mukantaganzwa, told him his case would be closed.
Now that he has been released, further proceedings seem very
unlikely.
Rugambage plans to resume working soon as Umuco's
editor.
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