OP

By ALIMATOU S. BAJINKA   Drug Law Enforcement Agency of The Gambia (DLEAG), operatives of Bansang Field apprehended one man with suspected firearm and drugs. He was napped on the 28 January 2022, with one big bundle, two medium bundles, seventeen parcels and some quantities of suspected cannabis, coupled with a firearm at Bansang Allattentu.   He was subsequently charged for possession of prohibited drugs contrary to Section 35 and the use or possession of firearm contrary to section 47 the Drug Control Act (DCA) 2003 Revised Laws of The Gambia.  In a separate development, Faye Ceesay, a 57 year old Civil Servant by occupation was also nabbed on the 28 January 022 with three (3) parcels and twenty four (24) wraps of suspected cannabis sativa at Allattentu. Zaidah Sanneh, an adult male Gambian and a student was also apprehended on the same day with four (4) wraps and a smoking joint of cannabis at Bansang Town. The duo were taken into custody and charge...

  By Alimatou S Bajinka And Amadou Manjang President Adama Barrow has renewed his government promises towards improving the economic status quo of the country.  He made these remarks yesterday at the Independent Stadium, as he was sworn into office for the next five years after his landslide victory in the December 4th presidential election. The ceremony was attended by many African Head of States, government dignitaries and party supportes. He said Gambian people entrusted him with another mandate to continue his development plans for the country. He stated that in the next five years, his government will acccelerate the economic growth of the country.  “The focus now is centred on economic development” he said. President Barrow praised his government for registering significant strides during his first five years into office. “To cite examples, most of the construction works of the targeted eight hundred kilometre, Primary Road Network, and South Banks have been complet...

    By Sheriff Saidykhan When people of great virtures left the face of the earth, many people reminded themselves of the indelible footprints they left behind as a recollection of daily reminder for admiration at all times.  Gambia’s long serving journalist Pa Modou Faal, has now joined the ranks of the departed souls. The good virtures of Pa Modou Faal, cannot be understated.  He was a cool collected journalist. Loved by his colleaques for his ardent fight for media freedom during the ruthless dictatorship of former president Jammeh. A graet humanist and a strong desciple of Allah has left us too soon. The many good deeds of Pa Modou, cannot be chronicle in one book. One of the fascinating things about Pa was that, every morning after the Fajr prayers at the Masjid. He will hold a prayer beat to be in the remembrance of Allah, by calling his great names on his way to work. A brother, father, colleaque and a figure of the enlightment. Pa, has contributed his im...

By Sheriff Saidykhan The Gambia Press Union (GPU) mourned the demised of two Gambian journalists. According to health officials the two late journalists were involved in a fatal car accident around Lower River Region (LRR) last night.  Muhammad S Bah, President of Gambia Press Union eulogised the late duo saying their demised was devastating. “A very devastating news to hear the demise of our two colleagues and brothers. Pa Modou served the GPU in several boards including the Sheriff Bojang jnr executive. I pray to Allah to grant them Jannah. My condolences to everyone in the media fraternity and the families as well” he decried.  Pa Modou Faal started working with The Independent Newspaper in 2001. He was also the founder of Association of Health Journalists in The Gambia. Musa Ndow, was a onetime executive member of Young Journalists' Association of The Gambia (YJAG).   This medium has reliably been informed that the late Pa Modou Faal, will be laid to rest today a...

  By Alimatou S Bajinka Floricultural sector has been one of the hardest hit sectors amid covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic poses trickle-down effects on the sector which leads many businesses struggling with low income at the end of the day.  Floriculture is the growing of flowers, and its sector has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. This reporter went out and about at the Bertil Harding Highway to look into the constraints of some vendors, and assessed the impact of COVID-19 on Floricultural sector.  Modou Keita, a vendor who sells flowers at the Bertil Harding Highway, stated the impact of COVID-19 on his business.  “Corona has truly affected my business, the flowers we sell are mostly purchased by the tourists, and hotel owners, so most of the hotels are no more operating, which leads to the low sales of my produce, it’s like in every 100 if we were earning 90 before we are currently earning just 20, in a 100, that is how bad the COVID affected my business” h...

  By Saul Saidykhan Paul Begala and James Carville saved Americans from the countless TV Talking Heads by capturing the essence of the 1992 presidential contest between Bill Clinton and then President Bush I in the now famous phrase: “ It’s the economy, Stupid”!  The Gambia’s TRRC submitted it’s report and Recommendations to the president several weeks ago. Like most, I’m yet to find the time to read the report. But I’ve looked at the Recommendations. One particular recommendation jumped at me:  “Reviving (the inter/intra-ethnic and regional) Joking Relationships of yore to defuse social tensions and prevent conflict.  At first glance, this is a great idea except the Joking Relationships never died! Even in the darkest period of our recent past, the Fulani bantered with the Jola, just as the Sarahule did with the Mandinka, the Nuiminka with the Jarranka, the Baddibunka with the Sarahule, the Jammeh with the Darbo, etc.  In fact, this was not only a survival tact...

  By Amadou Manjang The Gambia Center for Victims of Human Rights Violations is currently working on towards translating the report and recommendation of the Truth, Commission into Mandinka, Wollof, Fula and Jola. The aim and objective of the report is geared towards helping the general public to understand the Commission's report and recommendations for Gambians’ to take ownership of the accountability process of the country. Sheriff Kijera, the Chairman of the Center stated that the translation will be both available in electronic media and outreach sensitization to inform the general public about the report. He made these remarks during an interview with The Outpost recently, at the Victim Center in Brusubi. He said the Truth Commission and the Center are working in tandem with international Coalition of Sight of Conscience to translate the report. “People need to understand what is in the TRRC report, because there should be a public ownership of the process to hold the governm...

   By Alimatou S Bajinka Modou Njai, the Director of Health Promotion and Education at the Ministry of Health, said the country was expecting to have cases of  the Omicron variant.  He made these remarks in an interview with The Outpost on Tuesday 11th January 2022, at his office in Kotu.    “We were expecting to have cases of Omicron variant” said Modou Njai.  The new Omicron variant he said, has been first detected by his Ministry in other African countries.  He said his Ministry have confirmed 26 cases of the Omnicron variant in the country. “As long as it was in the nearby countries we knew we wont escaped. We stood our grounds and began preparing for it. Recently after various sequences we were able detect 26 cases” he concluded.

  By Alimatou S Bajinka Modou Njai, the Director of Health Promotion and Education at the Ministry of Health, who doubles as the chairperson of the risk communication and community engagement of the covid-19 public response, has said that low uptake of coronavirus vaccine has plummeted cases of the virus. He made these remarks during an interview with The Outpost on Tuesday 11th January 2022, at his office in Kotu. “Low uptake of covid-19 vaccine and the movement of people in an out of the country, causes the recent surge in covid-19 cases” he said. The covid-19 measures prescribed by the WHO he said, has not been observed by the public. This according to him, has increased cases of COVID-19  “Protocols and precautionary measures are no more observed by people. There where hand wash buckets in many houses and public places, but all those are no more seen anywhere. People are no more washing there hands and wearing face masks. Many are reluctant in taking the vaccine. There are...

  Photo credit: Majac By Sheriff Saidykhan The Gambia Press Union (GPU) called for the safety and security of journalists ahead of the Parliamentary and local government elections. Many journalists in the country for the past years suffered string of assaults by party supporters. After the December Presidential election, the press union renewed call for the government to ensure the safety and security of journalists during elections. Muhammad S. Bah, President of Gambia Press Union (GPU) said the union has engaged security forces and politicians over the safety of journalists during elections. The welfare and safety unit of the GPU, he said is committed to ensuring the safety and security of journalists at all times. “The safety of journalists is very important. And the GPU is very much concerned about the safety of journalists. That is why we have distributed 100 press jackets. We have also trained several journalists on safety and we also shared safety tips to ensure journalists ...

By Sheriff Saidykhan The Ministry of Local Government and Land (MOLGL) acting under section 151(1)(a) of the Local Government Act, 2002, is set to establish a Commission of inquiry to investigate into allegations of fraud and malpractice at the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC). This was revealed in a letter sent from the above Ministry to Mayor Talib Bensouda dated 4th January 2022. This medium has been reliably informed that the KMC under Mayor Bensouda, has allegedly been embroiled in fraud and malpractice, from April 2018 to date.  The Commission seeks to inquire the many allegations of fraud and malpractice at the KMC.  The letter from the ministry states that the Commission seeks “to ascertain the alleged soliciting of bribe by the former Deputy Mayor of the Council and other councillors”. According to the letter, the Commission shall complete its inquiry within three months from the date of establishment of the inquiry, although no date has been set for when this Commiss...

By Amadou Manjang “Don’t Judge the Book by the Cover” by Modou Lamin Age-Almusaf Sowe has been launched on Friday 7th January 2022.  The book was first printed and published in 2006 in The Gambia when the author was 14 years old.  The launching was held at the Ebunjan Theatre in Kanifing. The event was organised by the International Association of African Authors and Scholars (IAAAS). Yankuba Darboe, the Commission General of Gambia Revenue Authority urged young Gambians to develop the culture of reading and writing.   Ousman M. Touray, Pan-Africanist said that African’s need to take control of their narratives by engaging in reading and writing.  He urged his fellow youths to develop the habit of reading and writing, as a soul search to find solutions to African problems.   Hassoum Ceesay, at the Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC) highlighted the significance of the book to readers of African Literature.  The prolific Gambian historian added:...

  By Alimatou S Bajinka Mrs Lucy Sarfo, the Principal of Methodist Spacial School for differently able said the school has been facing transportation problems, adding that this has affected the education of students in the school. This reporter was out and about to look into the plight of students with disabilities at Methodist Special School at Kanifing.  The Principal of the school, said the school was allocated with one school bus. This unfortunate situation she said, has hindered the educational careers of students. “some of our students are on the waiting list due to transportation problems. We have only one vehicle to carry all the students to and fro; from school, so to reach out to every students in the country with only one vehicle becomes impossible especially those at Banjul and beyond, the only thing we can do is to put them on a waiting list and look for other means, that is to appeal to the government and also to some Good Samaritans for support so that the diffe...

  By Sheriff Saidykhan Miko Alazas, Media and Communications Officer of the International Organisation for Migration in The Gambia, said migrants has for the past months faced unprecedented challenges due to coronavirus commonly dubbed “covid-19”.  He made these remarks recently during an interview with The Outpost at IOM office along Kairaba avenue.  “First of all, migrants can be more vulnerable in terms of health crisis. The mobility of migrants can be impacted as we have seen around the world. Migrants often times have more difficulties in accessing health care and health services, are often discrimated” he stressed.  He further stated that, migrants are blamed for the spread of the coronavirus, adding that this has affected their livelihoods.  “Migrants were been blamed for the spread of the coronavirus, and generally migrants would have their livelihoods affected just like anybody else” he said.  Returned and reintegration of migrants he said, has pos...

By Saul SaidyKhan In a leaked audio call between Barrow and an unidentified IEC official on election night, the president could be heard gushing (about his emerging electoral heist)“it’s unprecedented”!  Indeed, it is. Never have we had an election so blatantly rigged as the December 2021 presidential election. The most unpopular president in Gambian history - the only sitting president we’ve had thus far who serially fails to elicit any cheers from citizens when he ventures out has miraculously scored the largest number of votes in the largest turnout election in our history.  The 2021 turnout was larger than all our pre-Independence elections and even the Independence Referendum. In short, our 7 year old girl name Adama Barrow has given birth to a 9 lbs baby under the wonderful midwifery of our colorful IEC! In another leaked audio from Barrow’s NPP Only forum, a man who didn’t fully self-identify could be heard addressing one Sainey Manneh and exhorting his colleagues to re...

  A Piece of Advice to President-elect Barrow By D. A. Jawo Now that President-elect Adama Barrow has received a strong mandate from Gambians to rule this country for another five years, everyone is anxiously waiting to see how he is going to handle his new mandate. Is he going to continue with the same lackadaisical attitude, with corruption and malfeasance being the hallmark of his last administration, or are we going to see more positive developments, with head-on confrontation against corruption and mis-management?  Regardless of who voted for him and who did not, and the obvious fact that there were some irregularities in the elections, Barrow is still president for all Gambians, and as such, we should all pray for the success of his administration, because it means ultimate success for the Gambia. It is a well known fact that several non-Gambians who had no business in our elections were mobilized to vote and they indeed voted. However, apparently because of their over-c...