Police Arrest Yahya Jammeh’s Intelligence Chief, Deputy
The Police have arrested Gambia’s former head of the national intelligence agency and his deputy, part of President Adama Barrow’s attempts to re-establish democracy in the small West African nation, a police spokesperson said Wednesday. Spy chief Yankuba Badjie and director of operations Omar Jeng were detained on Monday and being investigated for potential abuses […]
New Gambian President Adama Barrow Sworn in, For Second Time
Thousands watched as President Adama Barrow’s public swearing in ceremony was held in the city of Bakau. The occasion ends a months-long political crisis after the country’s longtime leader refused to step down. An estimated 25,000 people packed into the city’s Independence Stadium on Saturday along with several regional heads of state for Barrow’s pledge […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Special Envoy to Attend Presidential Inauguration in Gambia
A special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the inauguration ceremony of Gambian President Adama Barrow and Gambia’s independence day celebration in Banjul, on Feb. 18. Ma Peihua, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), will be the special envoy, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang […]
Homosexuality Not an Issue in Gambia, Says President Barrow
President Adama Barrow has said that homosexuality is not an issue in The Gambia, an act that will send one to prison for life in the country. Barrow made this remark during his meeting with the European Union (EU) delegates on Thursday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel. “Among those who can be charged with “aggravated […]
Africa Faces a New Threat to Democracy – the ‘Constitutional Coup’
Conventional wisdom tells us that good political societies are built on the principles of constitutionalism. This entails upholding the rule of law and separation of powers. This is to ensure an even distribution of power where a society is “built on principles of law, not men”. In the 1990s many African states reinvented their constitutions […]
For All Their Power, Africa’s Strongmen Are Powerless to Know When to Go
By now you should know that Africa is one dictator less. Yahya Jammeh, after two decades atop tiny Gambia is no more. The eccentric tyrant is off the swing of power. His desperate but ultimately fruitless attempt to cling on came to naught after Ecowas, the West Africa bloc, threatened to bomb him out. Seeing […]
Ex-President Yahya Jammeh and Two Famous Roman Sayings
The world was on January 20 treated to two different episodes of changing power, one in the US and another in a tinny West African country, the Gambia. Somewhere in a Gambian embassy in Senegal, Adama Barrow, who defeated one of Africa’s strong men in the December election, Yahya Jammeh, was swearing in after leaving […]
After a weeks-long political crisis, Gambian tourism officials are eager to lure foreign visitors
“It seemed like the entire world was coming to an end,” recalls Abdoulie Hydara, director general of The Gambia’s tourism board, bringing to memory the country’s recent protracted political crisis. The Gambia, a tiny, tourism-reliant country in West Africa, typically averages about 4,000 visitors a week during its peak month of January. Yet, last month almost […]
The Day Democracy Won in Gambia
The ActionAid youth network, Activista, has played a key role in getting the former president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, to recognize the democratic election result and resign. On the 20th of January, Jammeh finally left the position to Adama Barrow, who was elected on December the 1st. Even though he was the one deciding […]
Gambian New President Adama Barrow Removes ‘Islamic’ From Country’s Name
Gambian new President, Adama Barrow has removed the word “Islamic” from Gambia’s official name. Formerly called The Islamic Republic of The Gambia, the new President, while fielding questions during a first Presidential press conference said the country no longer bears the name, The Islamic Republic of The Gambia but will now be called The Republic […]
