Last Updated: Aug 7th, 2008 - 12:04:06
 
 
 
 
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Gambi In The West Africa-South America Drug Network Part One
Aug 8, 2008, 11:46
Banjul, The Gambia Journal

United Nations estimates that at least 50 tons of cocaine is shipped through various states in West African region every year. South American drug traffickers are now known to be using select West African countries as transit points for onward smuggling of cocaine for distribution in Europe of. An arrest of five suspects - three Venezuelans and two Bissau nationals - was made after at least a plane believed to have arrived from South America was seized last month carrying 500 kilograms of cocaine. Also last month, July 13th to be precise, a Cessna plane made an unauthorized landing at Lungi Airport, near Freetown in Sierra Leone loaded with 600 kilos of cocaine. Armed men later forced themselves through the airport and escaped with both the drugs and the crew. A group of men, including nine foreigners, many of them South Americans are said to be helping the police in the investigations

Govrnment Turn Down Offer Of Soft Ware Tool
Aug 4, 2008, 00:23

Banjul, The Gambia Journal

Last month the Gambia Journal ran a series of article on the stated intention of the Central Bahenk of the Gambia to fight money laundering. Speaking at a Banking and Finance Exposition held at Paradise Suit Hotel last month, the Deputy Governor of the bank Mr. Basiru Njie revealed that the bank was setting up a Financial Intelligence Unit, FIU, charged with the responsibility of collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on suspicious transactions. At he time, we noted that, “ It is not certain when and why the bank suddenly appeared to have waken up to what has been bandied about by commentators and many in the genera public for about a year now.” The widely held public belief is that money laundering was responsible for the mysterious appreciation of the dalasi from the he middle of last year. The most widely held belief is that a feigned transaction involving the sale of half the shares of two public owned telecommunications companies Gamtel and Gamcel,  allowed lots of dubiously acquired funds to be transferred into the country.  We wrote then that . “There it will be laundered clean and returned back to the owners.”  We also wrote, the, that , “ So many Gambians in principle support any effort by the authorities to combat money-laundering. The problem is that few believe that the authorities are genuinely interested in fighting it.”

In that article we also noted that. “It was not until after the mission of the IMF staff of May 2008 that the authorities started talking of money laundering.” We also wrote that, “Many who know what money laundering is firmly believe that it has been going on with the knowledge and complicity of President Jammeh and some of his closest cronies.” 

Well recently The Gambia Journal has learnt that the Gambian government has recently turned down an offer from the UNODC, United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, to have the Central Bank of The Gambia, to install an anti money-laundering software to be abreast with latest tracking technology against organized global crime. The installation, would have made the country join others in acquiring benefits of goAML software which processes financial intelligence information, analyze large volumes of data and report suspicious money transactions.

The software was developed by UNODC’s Information Technology Service (ITS) which specializes in the development, deployment and support of software applications for use by Member States in the fight against illicit drugs and crime.  The goAML software, as well as other products in this family, are part of UNODC's strategic response to crime, particularly serious and organized crime. In today’s global economy, a financial correspondent told The Gambia Journal, terrorist financing and money-laundering have attracted much international attention and all governments have to be seen taking active part  in the struggle against them.  He added that money-laundering and the financing of terrorism are global problems that threaten the security and stability of financial institutions and also lead to undermining economic prosperity. A lot is being done in order to combat money laundering at the global level.

Jammeh Says He Will Not Distabilise Senegal
Jul 28, 2008, 21:30

Banjul, The Gambia JournaI

In an audience he gave last week to Senegalese Prime Minister, Cheikh Hadjibou Soumaré, who was in Banjul to grace the commemoration of the 14th anniversary of the July 22nd coup that brought him into power, President Yahya Jammeh expressed his government’s determination to maintain friendly relationship with the government neighboring Senegal . According to reports monitored on GRTS news in Banjul ,  Mr.  Jammeh told the Senegalese Premier that The Gambia and Senegal enjoy a rare opportunity to serve as an example, as they can form the building block for possible regional, and then continental unification. He also affirmed his position as a “pan-Africanist” who wants Africa to be united and not divided.

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US Visa Validity Extended
Aug 7, 2008, 11:35

Banjul,The Gambia Journal

A press  release issued by he U.S. Embassy in Banjul on Tuesday 5th August stated that it  is pleased to announce that Gambians will now be eligible for longer validity visas. The U.S. State Department, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, will now issue  B1/B2 tourist visas valid for up to five years at a time, more than double the previous term of only two years, the release noted.

The release however went on to explain that “visa length” is different from the length of stay granted to visitors. “The length of stay granted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to travelers will remain the same, despite the change in visa length,” the release stated. Most travelers, it went on,  are granted up to six months in the United States, although the understanding is that most travelers will depart the United States within a few weeks of arrival as they originally stated in their visa applications.

GAMTEL-GAMCEL Management Denies Changes
Aug 7, 2008, 11:27

 Banjul,The Gambia Journal

The management of the two partially privatized state-owned telecommunication companies  Gamtel and Gamcel, on Tuesday 5th August issued a press statement denying newspaper reports that there has been a break with the Spectrum Investment Group. The controversial sales of half of share capitals of both companies took place about a year ago in August 2007 and government justified the move by claiming that Gamtel was on the brink of bankruptcy and that it needed the injection of new capital, technology and managerial style. Last week, however, newspaper reports suggested that the sale and a so-called contract have not been renewed. The Point Newspaper even reported the reinstatement of Mr. Omar Ndow, former Managing Director, though the paper’s Wednesday August 6th edition states that the “appointment had been revoked.”

Army Takes Over In Mauritania
Aug 7, 2008, 11:19

Banjul, The Gambia Journal

Army officers yesterday staged a coup in Mauritania , placing the democratically elected President in house arrest. The coup reportedly is lead by the head of Mauritania 's presidential guards.

Reports from Nouakchott indicate that President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi has been detained by the head of his presidential guards, his whereabouts being unknown. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghf also has been arrested by renegade troops and reportedly is held in army barracks. Political observers hold that the surprise coup came as a reaction to the President's naming of a new head  of the army. President Abdallahi is the first democratically elected leader of Mauritania since independence, also the first not basing his power on army support

VP Receive Sudanese Minister
Aug 7, 2008, 11:12

Banjul, The Gambia Journal

The Vice President Aja Isatou Njie-Saidy on Wednesday August received the Sudanese Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Joseph Okello at her office in State House in Banjul.  Talking to members of the press allowed to be in State House that last month’s indictment of the Sudanese president by the International Criminal Court threatens to destroy everything gained in Sudan . He said his visit is part of efforts to garner the support of African governments against the issuing of an arrest warrant for the Sudanese leader that may follow the indictment. He added that his government plans to review the Abuja peace agreement in order to pave the way for a peaceful solution of the Darfur crisis. When the Sudanese president visited The Gambia during the 2006 AU Banjul Summit he was assured of the support of the Gambia government by President Yahya Jammeh despite the Sudanese racist policies against Blacks in the country’s south western province.   

 

Another Check From Taiwan's Embassy
Aug 7, 2008, 00:56

Banjul,The Gambia Journal

The Taiwanese Ambassador to The Gambia Mr. Richard Shih on Tuesday presented another check of US$70 000 to the Secretary of State for Basic and Secondary Education Fatou Lamin Faye. The money is said to be ear-marked for the Sifoe Senior Secondary School construction project. The Taiwanese government has been frequently giving out checks to various departments of the Gambia government in line with its check-book diplomacy. It particularly targets the department of health and education for girls in The Gambia.
     
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Africa cannot lay claim on Barack Obama
Aug 7, 2008, 11:54

Banjul, The Gambia Journal

There’s an understandable excitement at the prospect of somebody other than the usual suspects occupying the white House, arguably the most powerful job in the world.

Barack Obama, if he succeeds in beating John McCain in November, will change the tone and texture and even the psychology of not just US politics, but world affairs-It’s not because of what he might do or say,but who he is.As Jesse Jackson would say, he’s moving from the outhouse to the White House

Gambian's minority leader asks the government to free Chief
Jul 23, 2008, 23:45

Banjul, The Gambia Journal

Gambia UPDATE: Gambian's minority leader asks the government to free Chief
Ebrima Manneh

The Minority leader in The Gambian Parliament, Momodou Sanneh on July 3,
2008 called on the government of President Yahya Jammeh to respect the
ECOWAS court ruling by releasing Chief Ebrima Manneh, a detained reporter of
the Banjul-based privately-owned government-controlled newspaper.

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