This paper has been reliably informed that Nyimasata Sanneh-Bojang and Majanko Samusa, APRC Deputy Administrative Secretary and Youth Mobiliser respectively, were last week dismissed from the party. Up to the time of going to press, no official reason was advanced to this paper as to the reason(s) for the development but the dismissal of the two comes in the wake of the rescinding last Thursday of the nomination of Oley Sey, nominated member of the National Assembly.

Mrs. Nyimasata Sanneh-Bojang and Mr. Majanko Samusa were both nominated members in the previous National Assembly.

Nyimasata Sanneh-Bojang had served as a minister of Health in the FirstRepublic and is the first female parliamentarian in The Gambia.

Mr. Samusa was a member of National Convention Party (NCP), which combined forces with APRC shortly after the 2001 presidential elections.

However Majanko and Nyimassatta has walked into our office today claiming that they were only removed from their positions as APRC youth leader and APRC adminstrative Secretary No.2 respectively and not expel from the APRC Party.

Reliable reports reaching the Daily Observer have revealed that two senior officials at the APRC National Bureau in Banjul have been relieved of their positions.

The two, namely Aja Nyimasata Sanneh-Bojang, the administrative secretary No 2 and Majanko Samusa, the assistant national mobiliser for youths were removed mid last week.

No official reasons have been publicly given for their removal and no replacements have been made as yet.

It could be recalled that Mrs Sanneh-Bojang assumed the post, last year, after serving as a nominated member of the National Assembly for a five-year legislative period - 2002 to 2007. Mr Majanko was appointed in 2006.

Alhagie  Bakary DS Bojang, the chief of Kombo Central has called on the women of his district to renew their loyality to President Yahya Jammeh and the ruling APRC party for the socio-economic development of the country.

The Kombo Central chief made this remark, on Wednesday, while addressing a group of APRC women at his compound at a ceremony organised in honour of the incoming lady councillor for Kombo Central Ward, Siffai Hydara, who will assume office in December, when the current councillor’s term will end.

Chief Bojang told Siffai Hydara that women of the area need her services and urged her to do her utmost for the women of Kombo Central by uniting them together.

He described the meeting as yet another milestone in the development of the APRC party. "I urge you all to continue the cooperation and unity that has already existed amongst you for the development of the APRC party. You have a crucial role to play  in the socio-economic development of this nation. You form the root organs of the party," he said.

Chief Bojang reminded the women that President Jammeh always seeks to empower women adding that their support to the APRC party in the recent years has  been overwhelming. "I thank you, the women of Kombo Central, for your support to the party as you always rally behind any APRC candidate in the constituency," he said.

He advised the women to work with lady councillors for the development of the constituency as their unity, collective work and partnership, can yield something positive dividend for the people. He then urged them not to take engage in angry politics saying: “Remember that our president always calls for partnership and cooperation for the development of our dear country, as the development of any country lies in the hands of its citizens," he remarked.

Dembo Kaleng Bojang, the APRC constituency chairman for Kombo Central, said the occasion marks another milestone in the development of the APRC party in the area.
Accordig to him, attitudinal and behavioural change is very important in a person’s life noting that Siffai Hydara is a disciplinde lady who worked hand in glove with elders of the constituency. He commended the women for their hardwork and urged them to keep up the momentum. He then called on them to put aside their differences and work towards the development of the constituency.

For her part, Siffai Hydara, the incoming councillor, thanked the women for the trust and confidence bestowed on her to serve the residents of the area in the upcoming term. She described President Jammeh as a visionary who is doing everything possible to uplift the living standards of Gambians.

"Councillors play a crucial role in the development of our constituency. So electing lady councillors for the coming term is another milestone and indeed a clear manifestation of your loyality to the party.  However, I will urge you to always inculcate love, unity and cooperation among yourselves. Only with collective efforts and partnership that we can yield something positive. So let us not take politics with anger,” she remarked.

I am dedicating this July 22nd. Special Piece to Marcus Garvey the first unofficial president of the Federated United States of Africa (FUSA), who was 100yrs ahead of his time. White folks way back when he was on his supersonic project for Africa-Mission of Repatriation knew what substance he was made up of and decided to frustrate him by legislating against his progress and dreams.

 It is also dedicated to the Honorable Dr. Kwame Nkrumah who dedicated all his life and time for the emancipation, liberation and unification of Africa. May their departed souls rest in perfect peace, Amen!!  

On a final dedication of this august piece it is penciled and penned for His Excellency Dr. Yaya Jammeh who made this day possible. The embodiment of Garvey in his life and struggle for Black people and Africa, in Nkrumah for his rhetoric and writings to free Africa and Africans mentally, are all present in President in Jammeh. Jammeh is bacon of hope, pride, fulfillment and a revelation to Africa and all Africans. I am grateful to God, Almighty that in my life time as an ardent Pan-African I have lived to witness the emergence of President Jammeh a role model and mentor for African leadership.

Africa, Africa Rise the prophet is here and let all those men of goodwill, vision, dreams of a united and emancipated Africa rise up and receive the prophet before he goes. I am speaking to all the four corners of Africa from Goree to Cape of Good Hope, from Casablanca to Entebbe that the prophet is here let us get the best out of him before he leaves the stage and we struggle with trying to get a slice of his gown. Rise Africa, Uhuru Africa, Sindelela Afrique, Wake up Africa, Move up Africa, Hosanna Africa, the Prophet is here, grab Jammeh and get all he had to give before he goes and we dwell in limbo in vacuum waiting for the next prophet who might not come in our live times.

Africa must start nurturing talents, we must start keeping our good and great leaders, we must start allowing visionaries lead, we must start loving and supporting our leaders if this task for development and a United Africa is anything to go by and now is the time. I salute your dynamism, I register your achievements for our country and I pray for your happiness, good health and personal wellbeing as we celebrated yet another July 22nd.

 Being the 13th. of its kind, for you mathematicians it is 13 and not 14 and all those speakers on the day you were wrong as the first was the actual takeover then it fourteen years since the coming to power of President Jammeh but 13 celebrations in all. Do you agree, check your counting beads?

Like everything in life, yes like the human baby, like the building of the Titanic, like a stranger in town, like America in Iraqi, like Man on the Moon, we must all learn and the only way we do it is on the job and with time. So the Gambian Economy has indeed gone through difficult times and now it is doing very well and things have improved a lot and the country is extremely well.

The forecast are promising and the future is all but a worthy investment and all people of goodwill, skill and brain have a genuine stake to make. The prophets of doom who were on the periphery wishing, praying and ushering bad omens and trouble to hit our new leaders and the economy are nowhere but in hell with their evil intentions and yawning. Where are those who said the economy will freeze and we will not be able to pay salaries within six months of the new regime’s coming into power on July 22, fourteen years ago?

 Where are those who said the reserves at the Central Bank of the Gambia will be exhausted in nine month time with the coming into power of the then AFPRC? I wish and hope they will swallow their pride and join the ranks of national development and peace as there is no stopping this APRC Train. This train is going places and the economy like league tables do not lie.  0

This week we witnessed the commissioning of the UTS Co a brilliant and magnificent move by the HE Dr. Yaya AJJ Jammeh. The fleet of buses on parade at the august commemoration the 14th. Anniversary of the come to the throne of the AFPRC/APRC was a nationwide cause of celebration and joy.

It has been a while since the taxi drivers held us at ransom through Gambia National Transport Association (GNTA) by hyping the traveling fares and tariff. The refuge they held unto is the increase in the prices of oils/diesel and patrol and it is hard to argue but the fact of the matter remains that we all know it is a bit cunningly-dubiety if they try to divide a single route and charge and inflated-increased fare. Our drivers are our own brothers and sisters but it is a way. way out of common sense if you look at what they doing to the rest of the populace with their fare hypes and fare jimmics.

With the intervention of the president especially on the Banjul-Serrekunda route is heaven sent package and we are once again grateful to him for his foresight and awareness of what is about in the country. The UTS Co is not only lower in fares but also saver to travel on as the League of Mad Drivers (LMD) continues to flaw the speed limits and everyday they kill people and cripple families and communities. I think I feel safer on board the buses than on the vans as you do not know who drives you or what responsibilities he has, so he can as well play cheap with his life including your wonderful life and there is no second chance when it comes to your life, so watch-out for the driver who drives you.

To the new employees of the UTS Co especially its conductors and drivers please treat these buses as your own and do not abuse its technical operational capabilities and its revenue. We need the buses to run regularly and make profit for their owners and we need the revenue to keep the UTS in business and we also need the revenue to pay your salaries and other statutory entitlements.

To the management of the UTS Co, I hope you have done your home works and learnt from the mistakes of the Ailing GPTC and Defunct Amat Kebbeh’s Bus Services. There is a lot you can learn from them and avoid the silly mistakes they made and make UTS Co a success story. One thing is for sure there are the resources; there is the man power, there are the technical capabilities and the people are going to places so you have all it takes to make in the Gambia and I hope you open you eyes and do a good job for yourselves and the country.

The management of UTS Co must be very business minded to make it as it is a great and good industry but many a company has fallen by the way side and I hope you will steer the ship of UTS Co to safe shores of promised expansion, reliability and continuity. Good Luck we are with you and the people are watching so beware. Personally, I think you can make it business wise and I hope you do and I also pray you do as these rogue drivers are taking our lives and taking us for a granted.

I will also appeal to the management of UTSCo to put two buses for us on the BARRA- KEREWAN HIGHWAY. We the people of Lower Nuimi deserve it because we are organized and we blessed with a state of the art highway. Please if you reading give us a bus or two.

Religion, as can be seen today, is at the centre of global debate, mainly because of the controversies surrounding it (thanks to the level of misinterpretation) and not because of the genuine love between man and his creator.

Today, if there is any single issue that is closest to the heart of the majority of the world’s population, it is the issue of religion. This is not some thing bad though; what is unfortunate, however, is that this man-and-God relationship is being exploited to the discomfort of the human race, contrary to the divine purpose.

The world over, religious leaders command tremendous respect from an enormous spectrum of societies. While this influence has been used in some quarters for the advancement of humanity, for others, unfortunately, religious influence means propagating chaos and destruction. Today, a number of analysts prefer associating any possible World War (III) to religious causes. And to a large extent, the predominant occurrences of our day give this prophesy a fair level of credibility.

In most cases you will find out that religious unrest arises as a result of disorganization, which gives room for the proliferation of all sorts of cults. The result is what we can see in some parts of the world– wanton destruction of life and property, and desecration of holy cites; all in the name of the very God mankind claims to be serving.

As a predominantly Muslim nation, with a number of minority religious groups, The Gambia can boast of  peace and stability. And this we can not detach from the influence of religious leaders. But this peaceful atmosphere needs consolidation, and more work.

 As President Jammeh succintly put it during the inauguration of the new headquarters of the SIC, the council owe it to Gambians to ensure the continuation of the prevailing tranquillity  in this country; to ensure that issues with the potential to unravel disorder are regulated.

Religious authorities in The Gambia have never received so much attention as they have been getting since July 1994, a move that has been born out of a deliberate attempt by the APRC government, which is aware of  the importance of religion in the maintenance of peace and stability. Religious leaders have a great role to play in restoring hope to the hopeless, in settling disputes, and even in fixing political misunderstandings. At the grassroots level, this is what it has been like in countries like The Gambia.

Muslim people look onto their religious leaders as representatives of the divinely guided prophet of Islam. The same thing is true of Christians, to whom Jesus is a perfect divine model, and so for all other people of genuine faith. Therefore, the followers of these religions are inclined to abide by the commands of their religious leaders.

The government of The Gambia has no doubt played its part, as expected, by not only empowering the council but also ensuring that it is behind it all the way. There is the need for reciprocation from our esteemed religious leaders.

The idea about democracy revolves around letting the decisions that seek to drive a nation to its vision be truly those of the people (people’s power). It seeks to let the people truly dictate the course of their own destiny. In exact terms, the idea is to let them make the decisions, themselves.

For a country like The Gambia, under the stewardship of so popular and influential a political party, the Alliance for Patriotic, Re-orientation and Construction (APRC), it is fitting that its members are made to identify themselves with the ideals of the nation. This is exactly what the recently convened national conference of the APRC party sought to achieve, alongside other inherent issues.

The birth of the APRC, back in July 1996, heralded a new dawn in the history of this country. Last week’s national conference, coming at the climax of preparations for the commemoration of that revolution itself, is described by many as the most important of its kind in the history of The Gambia.

The theme of the discourse: ‘institutional strengthening of the APRC in the context of national development,’ clearly explains an entrenched effort to not only enlighten the party’s faithful, but also to arm them with what it takes to accomplish its mission and vision, vis-à-vis the aspirations of The Gambia. It demonstrates that the party’s leadership is true to its promise of giving ownership of authority to the people.

The conference was unique in that it portrayed the party in a light never seen in the history of this country. The smooth atmosphere in which it was convened, with the high level of interaction among delegates (disregarding public influence), strongly marked the high degree of discipline that prevails within the fraternity, with a credit that must be reserved for the leadership.

This quality of discipline, as a matter of fact, is what the conference also seeks to maintain. To this end, Mr Manlafi

Jarju, the APRC’s general secretary, highlighted three most significant points: unity; respect for authority; and, most

importantly, loyalty to the ideals of the party’s constitution. Without an embedment of these in the hearts of the party’s

membership, he argued, there is no way that they can be assured of success.

It will be wrong to say that the APRC has no worries. But it is quite clear that its worry has absolutely nothing to do with its political opponents (by all indications not for the next decades to come), but what Honorable Sulaman Joof, the National

Assembly member for Serekunda East, described as “intra-party feud.”

All the other speakers at the occasion seemed to agree with him, and their advice was reserved for the youth. Mr Majanko

Samusa, who spoke at the conference on behalf of what is the biggest constituency of the party, which also form the bulk of

the voting block in the country’s political terrain, was frank with his colleagues. “We the youth do not know what we are missing. We are privileged to have gotten a leader that is, himself, a youth. And all his development effort has been directed to us.’

Like all the speakers on the occasion, Mr Samusa chose a single issue to highlight the massive difference APRC has made for Gambians. Education, to him, is one of the areas where successes have been registered by government. He drew comparison to his childhood days when they had to trek 10s of kilometers to the nearest school available for the lucky few then. “You had to have attained at least 10 years for you to be considered for enrolment,” he said. Unity, he stressed, is vital if we are to make a maximum benefit out of these successes we are currently registering.

The most loyal constituency of the APRC has always been the women of the Gambia. President Jammeh himself has never lost sight of that, and they, the women folk, are even more ready to maintain that spirit of loyalty for as long as it would take his government, with him at the head, to remain at the helm of affairs of the nation. When the lady deputy national mobilizer of the party took to the podium, one could sense the display of enthusiasm in the hall.

They reechoed every bit of word she uttered; they swore that their loyalty was to the president as it was to the party and the nation. Aji Fatou Sallah reminded her colleagues of the plane tickets to Mecca and Jerusalem, and the numerous scholarships “for our children”; something she said was unprecedented in the history of the country.

“Everybody who has seen yesterday,” she went on, “regardless of our age or affiliation, can tell the difference today, and certainly this is even more pronounced among us the women.” For SoS Yankuba Touray, the vocal national mobilizer of the party, there was no need for doubting the women of their support.

“They do not just stop at saying it, but they also demonstrate it in their action.” And for the Gambian vice president, APRC is intact, and there is absolutely no cause for concern. But she equally feels that the level of stability the party

currently enjoys ought to be strengthened.

“We can only achieve our goals through patriotism,” she cautioned. The theme of this year’s July 22nd celebration:

‘Independence and National Pride’ was a good reference point for Dr Njie-Saidy. She would not conclude her statement without mentioning the R- word: respect for the three key pillars of the party – opinion leaders; the rich and the educated.

The discussions proper, during the second day of the session, demonstrated the true democratic nature of the APRC. As one delegate put it, “it was a get-together that accorded the common member of the party a rare opportunity to have a say in the

way the party is run. This is what set us apart from other political parties” This delegate swore that whatever ‘result from the 2-day conference will be the true reflection of the people we are representing.’

As at this moment though, APRC stands out as a model of a democratic institution not only within this country, but in the rest of the democratic community.