In what could seen as a rare judgment in The Gambia’s judiciary establishment, Justice MM Yamoa of the Criminal Division of the High Court in Banjul, has sentenced one Salifu Nyang, a Senegalese fisherman based in The Gambia, to death by hanging.

The judge also delivered an alternative verdict for the convict to die in prison. Mr Nyang was found guilty of murdering one Alphone Sowe, his fellow Senegalese fisherman in 2005.

“In the absence of any appeal by your counsel against the judgement of the court, you will be taken to the State Central Prison at Mile II, where you will be hanged to death or be kept in custody till you die,” the Judge told the convict, after the plea for mitigation by the defence counsel, Badou Conteh.

Defence Counsel Conteh strongly urged the court to temper justice with mercy. He told the court that the convict was a first time offender and a young man with prospects of a brighter future, adding that he had also shown remorse.  

Delivering her verdict, Justice Yamoa informed the court that the prosecution had called in several witnesses during the trial, including a medical report on a postmortem conducted on the deceased.

She added that the defence had also called witnesses, including the brother of the accused, who testified in court that the deceased Alphone Sowe, had engaged his brother in endless quarrel and harassment throughout their voyage up to Gunjur.

According to the judge, the brother also told the court that the deceased was stronger than the accused and upon landing at the Gunjur beach, the deceased pursued his brother along the beach, where they fought.

On the testimony of the accused, the judge said the accused told the court that the deceased provoked him, but he defended himself by stabbing him with a knife.

But the judge ruled that the accused had failed to succeed in establishing self-defence in the case and therefore, the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt.  
The court therefore found him guilty and sentenced him to hang.

Mrs Alice carr and family regret to announce the death of

madam hannah oryah carew

(commonly known as nurse carew)

which sad event occured on Friday 11th July 2008 at no. 1 grant street, banjul.

Funeral service will take place at wesley  methodist church, dobson street on

saturday 19th july 2008 at 4:00pm.

she will be interned at the banjul cemetery

may her soul rest in peace.  amen.

The entire Marong & Giteh family in Tabacco Road Banjul regret to announce the death of their husband, father grandfather

Afang Yaya Marong

which sad event occured on Wednesday 2nd July, 2008 at RVTH.

Burial took place the same day.

This sad news is extended to all families in The Gambia and abroad.

May his soul rest in perfect peace.

Ms Chioma Iroganachie  & Siblines, the Iroganachi   family of Nigeria, Mrs Bijou Bidewll & family, Drs. John & Florence Mahoney & family, Dr Lenrie Peters and the entire Peters, Broderick and Maxwell families in The Gambia & abroad, announce with profound sorrow the death of their mother, youngest sister, cousin, aunt &   relative

Ruby peters

This said event occurred in Dakar- Senegal on Wednesday 28th May, 2008.

Funeral service will take place at the Wesley Methodist Church, Dobson Street, Banjul on Tuesday 3rd June 208 at 4:30 PM.

Condolences will be received at the residence of Mrs Bijou Bidwell, South  Atlantic Road off

New Town Road.

Mrs Catherine Cato Njie & family, the family of the late Abraham Njie, the family of the late Kodou Faye & the entire Njie family, Mr & Mrs Pa Anthony Njie, Mr & Mrs Francis Mendy, Mr & Mrs Taff Lander Roberts, Mr & Mrs Monty Mendy, Mr & Mrs Ebrima Crookes, Mr & Mrs Anthony Jatta, Mr & Mrs Nash Njie, Mr & Mrs Saihou Susso, Mr & Mrs Lamin M. Sarr, Mr Andrew John Njie, Mr Paul Sylva & family, Mr Gibril Sylva & family, Mr & Mrs Mbye Lowe &  family, Mr & Mrs Jacob Ndow & the entire Ndow family, Mr & Mrs Alhagie Musa Faye & family, Mrs Elizabeth Morison & family

Regret to announce the death of their dear husband & father
 
Mr. Sang  anthony njie

(commonly known as S.A or Papa Sang )

which occured on 15th May 2008 at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital. Funeral service will take place on Friday 23rd May 2008 at the Cathedral of the our Lady of the Assumption Daniel Goddard Street, Banjul at 4:00pm.

This sad newS is extended to the Senghore family of 27 OAU Boulevard Banjul, the Wadda , Sey, Tamba, Carvalho families, the family of the late Zac A. F Sylva and the entire Sylva family, the families of the late Wally GIban Jobe, late Marie Sipitar Ndow, late Barra Jahateh, late Altineh Joof, Late Mary Saye, Late Mam Tuti Mboge, late Mam Amie Saye, late Ya Betty Joof, late Gibril Joof,  late Ya Harrett John, late Bai Ceesay, late Modou Drammeh, late Kumba Kaur, late Gabbar Njie, late Adam Jeng, late Cledorr Njie, Mariama Njie Balleh, late Jajara Njie, late Cherno Nying, late Mam Katty Bahoum, late Harry Bruce, the Foon family and all relatives and friends in The Gambia and Abroad.

There will be a Vigil on Thursday 22nd May 2008 from 6pm to 9pm at his residence. Interment at the Banjul Cemetery

May His Soul rest in peace

The Rt. Rev. Tilewa Johnson & family, the late Rev. Alex Yorke & family, Rev. & Mrs Jackson & family, Mr & Mrs Browne & family (Germany), the late J.D Faal & family, the Sonko, Kennedy, Roberts, Phillot & Riley families, Mr & Mrs Susan Ngum & family, Mr & Mrs Marion Fiah (Ghana), Joiner & King families, the late Dan Owens & family, Oldfield, Bright, Belford, & Janneh families, the late Mathew Maccauley family regret to announce the death of

Mrs Comfort Ajuwa Yorke

which occured at the RVTH on Saturday 4th May 2008.

This sad news is extended to the St. Mary’s Cathedral Choir, Aunty Omo Sock & family and to all friends and relatives in The Gambia and abroad.

Funeral Service will take place at St. Mary’s Cathedral Church Banjul at Independence Drive on Monday 19th May 2008 at 4pm.

Wake Keeping will be on Sunday 18th May 2008 at No.2 Oxford Street Banjul from 7pm to 9pm.

May her soul rest in perfect peace.

It’s my privilege to bring you Easter greetings on behalf of the Methodist Church in The Gambia.

This is the most important festival of the Christian year, as the central theme of our faith is that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and that his risen presence is still with us and at Easter we retell the story of how the women went to the tomb and discovered that he wasn’t there and that the first disciples gradually realized that the cruel death of Jesus was not a destruction of all he spoke about and stood for, but a necessary prelude to resurrection truth.

When Jesus was sentenced to death and when he was hanging on a cross alongside criminals, it looked as if that was the end of his ministry and the defeat of his message. Here he was, humiliated, ridiculed and tortured and those who had said that his message was blasphemous and those who feared that he and his disciples were revolutionaries who would upset all the existing structures of power and authority must have thought that they had won and that they would no longer have to put up with his teachings and his radical ideas about the kingdom of God. But how wrong they were.

Today over two thousand years since this all happened his teachings are still revered and Christianity remains one of the major world faiths.

‘It is finished’ - defeat or victory?

Over this past week Christians have recalled again the last days of the earthly ministry of Jesus and on Friday we were looking at the last hours of his earthly life when he was dying on the cross. The words in John’s gospel recount that in the last moment before he died that “Jesus said ‘it is finished’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit”.

Now, those words ‘it is finished’ can either be taken as a cry of defeat or a cry of victory.

If you lose your job - or a relationship ends - you can say ‘it is finsihed’ meaning it’s al over and done with - life now goes on in a different way and you live with the loss. However, if an artist has been working on a painting for months on end, or a carpenter has been making an item of furniture - when the last brush stroke of the artist has been made or the carpenter has put in the last nail - then ‘it is finished’ takes on a different meaning - the work is complete, what the artist, what the artist or the craftsman set out to do has been achieved.

The last words of Jesus, ‘it is finished’ express triumph rather than defeat.

Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit, knowing that what the Father had sent him into the world to do, had now been accompalished. There was nothing else to be done - and what looked like defeat to those who were nearby, was in fact victory - and the resurrection was the inevitable consequence of the cross of Jesus.

The Resurrection Message is for all

a. Living as God Intends Us to Live Brings a sense of accomplishment

This Easter I would like to make two observations on how this message can affect each one of us.

The first is that the sense of accompalishment that Jesus had when his life ended is, I believe, how God wants us to feel about our lives. If we just work for the adulation of people around us, or if everything we do is just to satisfy our own selfish greed - then we will always feel despondent and depressed for we know that we can never please everyone and there will always be something else we will want - but if we accomplish everything that God has given us to do, then God’s plan and purpose for our lives has been accomplished and we shall have used the minutes, days, months and years that have been entrusted to us in the way that god wanted us to and that will make us feel much more worthwhile than often we do and will ensure fulfilling lives for us all.

b. Resurrection - the inevitable consequence of living of God intends

The second is about the inevitability of the resurrection. If we look around us and just see what is wrong with the world then we will find it difficult to feel any sense of joy, because we are not looking beyond the immediate - we are much more likely to observe death, not resurrection - a cross, not an empty tomb.

To use a sporting analogy - in football you can never say that ne team is inevitability going to win a game - anything can happen, right up until the final whistle and often you find that the winning goal has been scored in the dying moments - shattering everyone’s expectations. However, a good chess player can see dozens of moves ahead - and there can come a point - maybe eight or ten moves before the end that a player knows that there is the inevitable consequence of victory no matter what the opponent may try to do.

If we realize that there are inevitable consequences of living the life that God intended us to live - then we will know that light follows darkness, joy follows, pain, hope can come from defeat and life can come when we can see no further than death.

Reality not wishful thinking

This is not just saying ‘every could has a silver lining’, nor is it mere wishful thinking because when we talk of ‘resurrection’ we are not just referring to an historical event but we believe that resurrection is founded in truth and proved in our experience - where we can know that love is stronger than hatred, goodness is stronger than evil and life is stronger than death.

In a world where so many people live and die in hopelessness. Where people are poisoned by cynicism and defeated by disillusionment we tell our story of resurrection and if, like the Apostle Paul, when we review our life’s story, we can say ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith’ then we will know the joy of living life in all its fullness and the victory of Easter.

So, on behalf of The Methodist Church,I wish you a very Happy Easter and pray that we may share the joy that this season brings.

The Jeng, Njie, Samba, Mboob, Joof and Macauley  families regret to announce the death of their son and brother

Abdou Aziz Njie

which sad event occured on Wednesday 30th January 2008 in Norway and the corpse is expected here on Thursday 07th February 2008 and burial will take place on Friday 8th February 2008 at 2pm after the rituals in the family house at 52 Gloucestar Street and prayers at the Independence Drive Mosque in Banjul.

This sad news is extended to all relatives and friends in The Gambia and abroad.

May his soul rest in perfect peace.

Eleanor Cole,  director of E-Space  Gambia Limited has expressed her readiness to create employment opportunities for young Gambians, with the aim of eradicating illegal migration to the Canary Islands.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Observer, Mrs Cole said the phenomenon of illegal migration should be stopped as it leads to the untimely death of many youngsters in Africa.

“Gambians are fortunate to have a president who has a vision for the young people,” she said.

Mrs Cole intimated that her organisation is a service provider which seeks to promote and train Gambian youths in their areas of specialisation, ranging from banking and finance, arts and culture, showbiz and health, among others.

“We intend to have  galleries for artists, which would not only give them the opportunity to market their products, but as well expose them internationally,” she revealed.

She added that this will enable young people to create smallscale businesses with decent living conditions and make their own haven in The Gambia .

As Suspect Admits Responsibility

Sitafa Marra alias 50 Cent has confessed to killing one Abdoulie Ceesay and will know his fate soon.

Sitafa appeared before principal magistrate B.Y Camara of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to answer murder charges. His case could not however proceed for lack of jurisdiction.

Looking apparently remorseful and outwardly perturbed, Sitafa was brought to the court under escort and when he was asked to enter a plea after charges of murder were read to him, he admitted responsibility. He will now appear before the Brikama Magistrates’ Court because, according to magistrate Camara, Banjul Magistrates’ Court lacks the jurisdiction to hear the matter since Wellingara is a village in Western Region. He, as a result, issued an order for the matter to be transferred to Brikama for continuation.

Meanwhile, Abdoulie Ceesay was reported to have met his violent death when he was stabbed on the neck by Sitafa on 20 December 2007.