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B y Pa Louis Sambou   D uring the same week in which the subject of reintroduction of the death penalty in the UK held mainstream media bandwidth hostage, for those in opposition to such ineffective penal measure, it must have been a breath of fresh air to learn of  The Gambia NHRC’s publication headed: “ Advisory note on the abolition of the death penalty in The Gambia ”. This view is certainly consistent with the arguments advanced in making the case for abolition, but less so, for aspects of the publication which are so detached from the subject matter, I regret to say they give relevance to the phrase: ‘never judge a book by its cover’.   The death penalty, like a few other sticky areas of our legal order, is an adverse relic of colonialism which serves absolutely no useful purpose and for which there are much more effective alternatives. I cannot conceive of any situation in which State-sanctioned killing as a means of punishment would make society a better place; as...

     By Sheriff Saidykhan Adama Barrow, the President of The Gambia said the young generation will appreciate them if they mapout the future of comfort, peace and happiness.  He made these remarks yesterday at the 58th Independence day anniversary, with the Theme “Democracy- A Recipe For Peace and Development. The event held at the McCarthy Square in Banjul, was attended by government officials,  foreign diplomats, regional governor's and different political party leaders. “The younger generation will appreciate us better if we construct a future of comfort, peace, and happiness for them. This is what democracy offers,” he said. He further urged Gambians to unite their social and political differences through democracy saying “Fortunately, our differences can be harmonised by democracy as a political system and a social process in our family systems, communities, institutions, organisations and the nation at large” he remarked.  He said his government has c...

      By Sheriff Saidykhan Victims who have suffered under the ruthless hands of former President Yayha Jammeh has on Monday 13, February 2023 kick-off a three day photo exhibition of torture victims at the youth monument in Westfield.  The Open three day photo exhibition is aim at highlighting the multidimentional impact of torture on victims.  In an interview with The Outpost Media Muhammed Sandeng, the son of the late Solo Sandeng said the event is geared towards raising awareness of the anti-torture bill, and to ensure the 'Never Again Mantra'.  “The aim of our advocacy is to raise awareness and support for the passing of the anti-torture bill which is currently before parliament. It is also a continuation of the Truth telling process that was started by the TRRC, it also memorialized past events in order to ensure the never again mantra,” he said Never Again is a slogan that depicts the prevention of reoccurrence of the human rights violation of the pa...

                                 By Sheriff Saidykhan  The Gambia Press Union (GPU) in partnership with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) has on Friday 10, February 2023 concluded a two day capacity building training for media practitioners on the use of Access to Information (ATI) law for news reporting and towards ensuring transperancy in governance. Access to Information refers to the right, which members of the society have to access information held by government officials and institutions. The information legislation was adopted through the National Assembly of The Gambia in July, 2021.  Speaking at the event held at Metzy hotel in Kotu, the President of the Gambia Press Union, Muhammed S Bah underscored the significance of the access to Information Act for journalists’.  “The Access to Information Act, 2021, provides...

                   Editorial  Since the creation of mankind; marriage has been  an institution for two couples to foster unionism and be charitable towards one another. Ordained in all the major religious doctrines; marriage is also a way of worship. Over the past years and now, the staggering number of divorce marriages has thus sparked a nationwide debate across different social strata. Series of counter-discursive strategies  have been tabled by many Islamic Jurists towards addressing the issue, but all their concerted efforts remains unanswered at the borders of inquiry.  There is need for a new paradigm shift towards mitigating the crisis.  Islamic Jurists has much in their archives; to educate the masses and draw a distinction between the past and present.  Many of these divorce  marriages are left without any supported  evidence. Many held the view that marriage counselling is still needed t...

     By Sheriff Saidykhan Marr Nyang, the Executive Director of Gambia Participates (GP), a civil society organization set up to investigate corruption in the country has blamed the government of President Adama Barrow for its lack of inaction to fight corruption. According to Transparency International, Gambia is ranked 110 in the world corruption report 2022.        “It just shows the consistent inaction of the government (executive) and parliament in prioritizing anti-corruption efforts,” he said. In an interview with The Outpost Media, from Kenya, Nairobi he said the 66+ children that died due to the imported medical syrup from India were caused by blatant corruption and weak accountability mechanisms. “Corruption kills and it knows no age or gender. We’ve witnessed citizens dying because of the government's lack of efforts to procure life saving medical machines or mechanisms to test medications before allowing fake drugs to make it to the market....