US Embassy hosts partners to video show

In the countdown to the United States’ presidential election, slated for November 4, 2008, the US Embassy in Banjul, on Wednesday, hosted a section of the Gambian community, those they described as partners in the propagation of democracy, to a video show of the second presidential debate, at the embassy, located on Kairaba Avenue.

National assembly members, veteran politicians, media chiefs, students, and various stakeholders in the election processes attended the presidential debate video show, which featured Democratic candidate, Senator Barack Obama, and the Republican senator, John McCain.

The video show, according to US Embassy officials, seeks to avail politicians, students, and other key stakeholders of a unique opportunity for thorough reflection on the United States presidential election processes and to further deepen their understanding of the policies of each of the candidates.

During the second presidential election debate, the two candidates, who answered questions in dwelled on a wide range of issues bordering on the welfare of the average United States citizen.

Prominent among pertinent issues that topped the agenda of their debate were better defence and security, the salvation of American citizens from the current economic crisis that is hitting their country, ensuring a better taxation system, promoting better health care services, energy and technology, as well as improving on the circumstances surrounding international humanitarian crises.

On a questioned posed to the presidential candidates on health care delivery system, Senator Barack Obama expressed his untiring resolve to improve the system by ensuring that consumer protection in the sector for the average American, if elected president. His rival, Senator John McCain, reacted by saying that he would ensure that the average American has affordable and better health care services if elected as the next president of the United States. From an outside perspective, both candidates seemed capable enough to be at the helm of affairs of the United States government, as they both thoroughly answered all the questions posed. But Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, seemed to be more positive in answering questions than his bitter rival. Unlike Senator McCain, Senator Obama answered his questions directly, with encouraging solutions in the best interest of Americans.

At the end of the debate, the US embassy officials provided the platform for the audience at the video show to make judgements, comments or suggestions about the second presidential election debate.

Apparently, the judgement of the audience was in favour of the Democratic presidential candidate, who many described as the more credible candidate to be at the helm of affairs of the United States government. Some observed that the Republican candidate focused too much on his military career, which they indicated may not be a good election strategy to win the heart and minds of Americans. Others suggested the need for the US government to not concentrate on only the Middle East, but also on Africa.

The last one-and-a-half decade of The Gambia has witnessed a lot of ‘fulfilled’ prophecies; from emancipation of the masses from political mishaps, to their empowerment in terms of ensuring an enviable standard of living for every single citizen.

The ever increasing commitment to attaining the best for the average Gambian in terms of making the best out of their individual aptitude is ever conspicuous; and, as a result of this, the dignity of Gambians is today more assured than ever before. All this is thanks to the reality of a determined political leadership. This determination is what has gradually won the heart of everyone, including those who were formerly sworn critics of this very same government.

As destiny would have it, the day of reckoning was set to come, and wisdom was sure to prevail over erroneous judgement. Mr Lamin Waa Juwara’s latest comment about his ‘fulfilled’ prophecy of The Gambia’s political landscape serves as a testimony to the true change in direction of our level of political maturity.

The firebrand political figure had indeed said it, that the country was heading for a more civilized political interaction. And the apparent endorsement of President Yahya Jammeh’s announced ‘zero tolerance’ for various forms of criminality, by the opposition leader, Lawyer Ousanou Darboe, also reiterates the fact that we are indeed poised to attain maturity in our political interaction.

In a democracy, there is the need for an opposing view; a genuine opposing view that would serve as a check against possible distraction from the right path. This is exactly what the Gambian leader, President Jammeh, has repeatedly called for. Oppositions have a pivotal role to play in national development.

The best interest of the country should be everybody’s business and regardless of our differeneces, this must be defended at all cost and at all times. There are so many good things to talk or write about The Gambia.

Politics aside, as a people, we are bound to have differences in views, and these differences can only be resolved if we provide a reasonable forum for discussion. None but ourselves can provide this forum for amicable resolution of our differences. This explains why we should graduate from the trend of politics of confrontation to politics of constructive discourse.

Ade Adefye, the governance and democracy adviser to the president of the Ecowas Commission has praised the progress made by The Gambia on governance and democracy.

Speaking in an interciew with GRTS  shortly after their audience with the vice-president, Mr Adefye, however, noted that there is still room for more to be done, adding that they discussed matters of common concern - both political and developmental, during a courtesy call on the vice-president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, on Tuesday, at State House, by officials of Ecowas and the Commonwealth Secretariat.

He said the discussions revolved around economic and political governance, the Ecowas country programme, as well as decisions reached at the summit meetings and how they should be implemented.

Ayo Oke, the special adviser and head of Africa Section at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, said The Gambia is an important country, holding a special place besides playing a key role in the organisation’s activities.

The outcome of their meeting, Oke indicated, is a resolve to continue to engage in making a difference in the lives of the people of The Gambia.

Following the Ecowas and Commonwealth team was a joint FAO, World Bank and World Food Programme mission.

Their visit, according to the World Bank mission leader, Emmanuel Saine, was at the request of The Gambia government to assess the situation of food crises in the country as a way of helping to prepare an action plan. This, he said, is expected to be submitted to the international community for further assistance. Mr Saine was optimistic about positive results.

In what could be described as a flurry of engagements, Dr Njie-Saidy also received the Fashion Designers Association of The Gambia. Ndey Awa Khan-Ceesay, the president of the association, said their visit was meant to introduce their newly elected executive, as well as brief the vice-president on their activities.

With funding from Muslim Aid, the members of the Gambia Fashion Designers Association said they also intend to train at least 30 girls in their various workshops as a start.

The Sierra Leonean Women Association in The Gambia also called on Dr Njie-Saidy, on Tuesday. Fatoumatta Koromah, the president of the association, said their visit was born out of their appreciation of the manner in which the country’s leadership and the entire Gambian population have received and treated them since the decade-long infamous civil war broke out in Sierra Leone.

Formed in 2004, the Sierra Leonean Women’s Association singled out national cleansing exercise as one of the social activities they are involved in. They also expressed their willingness to respond to any national development call.

Another group of women, comprising traders in oyster, shrimps and cake, also called on Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy. The coordinator of the group, Fatou Janha-Mboob, said they were at State House to inform Dr Njie-Saidy about their achievements and projects, as well as their constraints.

The vice-president, according to Madam Mboob, was very supportive to them, as she linked them to the relevant state departments, including Trade and Fisheries.

Kwame Nkrumah (September 21, 1909 - April 27, 1972)[1], one of the most influential Pan-Africanists of the 20th century, was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1952 to 1966.

In 1909, Madam Nyaniba gave birth to Francis Nwia Kofi Ngonloma in Nkroful, Gold Coast. Nkrumah graduated from the Achimota School in Accra in 1930,[1] later studying at the Roman Catholic Seminary and teaching at the Catholic school in Axim. In 1935 he left Ghana for the United States, receiving a BA from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in 1939, where he pledged the Mu Chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.and in 1942 received an STB (Bachelor of Sacred Theology).

He also earned a Master of Science in education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942 and a Master of Arts in philosophy the following year. While lecturing in political science at Lincoln he was elected president of the African Students Organization of America and Canada. As an undergraduate at Lincoln he participated in at least one student theater production and published an essay on European government in Africa in the student newspaper,The Lincolnian.

During his time in the United States, Nkrumah visited and preached in black Presbyterian Churches in Philadelphia and New York City. He read books about politics and divinity. He encountered the ideas of Marcus Garvey. He also tutored other students in philosophy. He also met the Trinidadian Marxist C.L.R. James in 1943, and later described how it was from James, then a Trotskyist, that he learnt 'how an underground movement worked'.

He arrived in London in May 1945 intending to study at the LSE. However, after meeting with George Padmore he helped to organize the Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester, England. After that he founded the West African National Secretariat to work for the decolonization of Africa. He also became Vice-President of the West African Students' Union (WASU).

Nkrumah was later awarded honorary doctorates by Lincoln University, Moscow State University; Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt; Jagiellonian University in KrakÛw, Poland; Humboldt University in the former East Berlin; and other universities.

Return to the Gold Coast

In the autumn of 1947 Nkrumah was invited to serve as the General Secretary to the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) under Joseph B. Danquah. This political convention was exploring paths to independence. Nkrumah accepted the position and set sail for the Gold Coast. After brief stops in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and the Ivory Coast, he arrived in the Gold Coast in December 1947.

In February 1948 police fired upon a protest by African ex-servicemen who were protesting the rapidly rising cost of living. The shooting spurred a series of riots in Accra, Kumasi and elsewhere. The government suspected the UGCC was behind the protests and therefore arrested Nkrumah and other leading members of the party. Realizing their error, the British soon released the convention leaders. After his imprisonment by the colonial government, he emerged as the leader of the youth movement in 1948.

After his release Nkrumah began to hitchhike around the countryside. In community after community he proclaimed that the Gold Coast needed "self-government now." He built a large power base. The cocoa farmers rallied to his cause because they disagreed with British policy concerning the containment of swollen shoot disease.

He appealed to women to be a part of the political process at a time when women's suffrage was new to Western Democracy. The trade unions also allied with his movement. By 1949 he had organized these groups into a new political party: The Convention People's Party.

Making moves towards self-government, the British called for the drafting of a New Constitution that gave some responsibility for policy decisions. Under the new Constitution, drawn up by a selected commission of middle class Africans, wage and property requirements were the basis for suffrage.

Nkrumah brought together his own "People's Assembly" composed of representatives of party members, youth organizations, trade unions, farmers, and veterans. Their proposals called for a universal franchise without property qualifications, a separate house of chiefs, and self-governing status under the Statute of Westminster. These amendments, known as the Constitutional Proposals of October 1949, were rejected by the colonial administration.


The colonial administration's rejection of the People's Assembly's recommendations led directly to Nkrumah’s call for "Positive Action" in January 1950. Positive Action included civil disobedience, non-cooperation, boycotts, and strikes. The colonial administration arrested Nkrumah and many of his supporters in the CPP. Nkrumah was sentenced to three years in prison.

Facing international protests and internal resistance, the British decided to leave the Gold Coast. Britain organized the first general election to be held in Africa under universal franchise; it was held on 5-10 February 1951. Though in jail, Nkrumah won the election by a landslide, with the CPP taking 34 out of 38 elected seats in the Legislative Assembly. On 12 February Nkrumah was released from prison, and on the 13th was summoned by the British Governor Charles Arden-Clarke and asked to form a government.

On 20 February the new Legislative Assembly met, with Nkrumah as Leader of Government Business and E.C. Quist as President of the Assembly. A year later, on 10 March 1952, the constitution was amended to provide for a Prime Minister, and on 21 March Nkrumah was elected to that post by a secret ballot in the Assembly, 45 to 31, with eight abstentions. On 10 July 1953 he presented his "Motion of Destiny" to the Assembly, which approved it, requesting independence within the British Commonwealth "as soon as the necessary constitutional arrangements are made".

Independence

As a leader of this government, Nkrumah faced three serious challenges. First, he needed to learn the art of government. Second, he needed to create a unified nation of Ghana from the four territories of the Gold Coast. Third, he needed to win his nation’s independence. Nkrumah was successful at all three goals. Within six years of his release from prison, he was the leader of an independent nation.

At 12 a.m. on March 6, 1957, Nkrumah declared Ghana independent. Nkrumah was now hailed as "Osagyefo" - which means "the victorious one" in the Akan language.

On 6 March 1960, Nkrumah announced plans for a new constitution which would make Ghana a republic. The draft included plans for an eventual surrender of Ghanaian soveriegnty to a union of African states. On 19, 23, and 27 April 1960 a presidential election and plebiscite on the constitution were held.

The constitution was ratified and Nkrumah elected president, beating J. B. Danquah, the UP candidate, 1,016,076 to 124,623. In 1961, Nkrumah laid the first stones in the foundation of the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute. It was created in order to train future Ghanaian civil servants as well as promote Pan-Africanism. In 1963, Nkrumah was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize by the Soviet Union. Ghana became a charter member of the Organization of African Unity in 1963.

Gold Coast was already one of the most wealthy and socially advanced territories in Africa, with schools, railways, hospitals, social security and an advanced economy. Under Nkrumah’s leadership, Ghana took steps towards a more socialist state. Nkrumah created a welfare system, started various community programs, and established schools. He ordered the construction of roads and bridges to further commerce and communication. In the interest of the nation’s health, he had tap water systems installed in the villages and ordered the construction of concrete drains for latrines.

Politics

He generally took a non-aligned Marxist perspective on economics, and believed capitalism had malign effects that were going to stay with Africa for a long time. Although he was clear on distancing himself from the African socialism of many of his contemporaries; Nkrumah argued that socialism was the system that would best accommodate the changes that capitalism had brought, while still respecting African values. He specifically addresses these issues and his politics in a 1967 essay entitled "African Socialism Revisited":

"We know that the traditional African society was founded on principles of egalitarianism. In its actual workings, however, it had various shortcomings. Its humanist impulse, nevertheless, is something that continues to urge us towards our all-African socialist reconstruction. We postulate each man to be an end in himself, not merely a means; and we accept the necessity of guaranteeing each man equal opportunities for his development. The implications of this for socio-political practice have to be worked out scientifically, and the necessary social and economic policies pursued with resolution. Any meaningful humanism must begin from egalitarianism and must lead to objectively chosen policies for safeguarding and sustaining egalitarianism. Hence, socialism. Hence, also, scientific socialism."[6]

Nkrumah was also perhaps best known politically for his strong commitment to and promotion of Pan-Africanism. Having been inspired by the writings and his relationships with black intellectuals like Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, and George Padmore; Nkrumah went on to himself inspire and encourage Pan-Africanist positions amongst a number of other African independence leaders and activists from the African diaspora. With perhaps Nkrumah's biggest success in this area coming with his significant influence in the founding of the Organization of African Unity.

Economics

Nkrumah attempted to move Ghana's economy toward a more industrial model. His reasoning was that moving Ghana out of the colonial trade system by reducing its dependence on foreign capital, technology, and material goods would allow it to become truly independent. Unfortunately, he moved to industrialization at the expense of his country’s cocoa growing sector, which had been a strong economic sector until then. In the end, the various economic projects that he undertook were generally unsuccessful and, especially in the case of the Akosombo Dam, hugely expensive.

(However, even today, Ghana still relies on the hydroelectric power produced by the Akosombo Dam for most of its electricity). Nor did they remove Ghana from dependence on Western imports. By the time he was deposed in 1966, Ghana had gone from being one of the richest countries in Africa to one of the poorest.

The year 1954 was a pivotal year in the life of Kwame Nkrumah. In that year, he won the Independence Election with an astonishing (but legitimate) 80% of the vote. However, that same year saw the beginning of his ultimate political demise. In 1954 the world price of cocoa rose from £150 to £450 per ton. Rather than allowing cocoa farmers to use the benefit from this windfall themselves, Nkrumah decided to devote the additional profit to national development. This new policy caused him to fall into disfavor with one of the major constituencies that had helped him originally come to power.

The year 1958 saw the introduction of two pieces of legislation that would restrict the freedoms of the people of Ghana. In the wake of the Gold Miners' Strike of 1955, Nkrumah introduced the Trade Union Act, which made strikes illegal. In reaction to a suspected plot on the part of an opposition member of parliament, the Preventive Detention Act made it possible to arrest and detain anyone charged with treason without the involvement of the nation’s court system.

When the railway workers went on strike in 1961, Nkrumah ordered strike leaders and opposition politicians arrested under the Trade Union Act of 1958. Though Nkrumah himself had organized strikes a few years before, there was no longer any place for them in his plan for rapid industrial development. He told the unions that their days as advocates for the safety and just compensation of miners was over. Their new job was to work with management in the mobilization of human resources. Wage incentives must give way to patriotic duty. In his eyes, the good of the nation as a whole superseded the good of individual workers.

The Preventive Detention Act led to widespread disaffection with Nkrumah’s administration. Some of his men used the law to have innocent people arrested so that they could acquire their political offices and business assets. Advisers close to Nkrumah became reluctant to discuss Ghana’s true situation for fear that they might be seen as being critical. When the nation’s clinics ran out of pharmaceuticals, no one notified him. Some people believed he no longer cared, the advisers trembled, and the police came to resent their role in society. Meanwhile, a quite justifiable fear of assassination meant Nkrumah became less accessible. Finally, in 1964, the constitution was amended to make Nkrumah's CPP the only legal party; however, for all practical purposes Ghana had been a one-party state since independence. It also named Nkrumah as President for Life of both Ghana and the CPP.

Nkrumah's commitment to industrial development at any cost, and with the help of longtime friend and his Minister of Finance, Komla Agbeli Gbedema, led to the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, the Akosombo Dam on the Volta River in eastern Ghana. American companies agreed to build the dam for Nkrumah, but they also placed numerous restrictions on what could be produced using the power that it generated. It was a bad deal, but Nkrumah did not back away from it. He used borrowed money to build the dam, placing Ghana in serious debt. Financing the debt required higher taxation of the cocoa farmers in the south. This accentuated regional differences and jealousy. The dam project was completed and officially opened by Nkrumah amidst world publicity on January 22, 1966. Nkrumah appeared to be at the zenith of his power. In reality, the end of his regime was only days away.

Nkrumah wanted Ghana to have modern armed forces. He acquired aircraft and ships and introduced conscription.

He also gave military support to those fighting the Smith administration. In February 1966 while Nkrumah was away on a state visit to Vietnam, his government was overthrown in a military coup, which some claim to have been backed by the CIA.[7][8][9] Today, Nkrumah is still one of the most respected leaders in African history. In 2000 he was voted Africa's man of the millennium by listeners to the BBC World Service.

Exile, death and tributes

Nkrumah never returned to Ghana, but he did continue to push for his vision of African unity. Nkrumah went into exile in Conakry, Guinea, where he was the guest of Ahmed SÈkou TourÈ, who made him honorary co-president of Guinea. He spent his time reading, writing, corresponding, gardening, and entertaining guests. Despite his retirement from public office, his fear of western intelligence agencies did not abate.

When his cook died, he began to fear that someone would poison him and he took to hoarding food in his room. He suspected that foreign agents were going through his mail. He lived in constant fear of abduction and assassination. In failing health, he was flown to Bucharest, Romania, for medical treatment in August 1971. He died of skin cancer in April 1972 at the age of 62. He was buried in Ghana in a tomb (still present) at the village of his birth, Nkroful, but his remains were later transferred to a large national memorial tomb and park in Accra.

As the swirly dust surrounding the week-long July 22 activities settles, more congratulatory messages on the 14th anniversary of the July 22 Revolution has continued to reach President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh at State House, Banjul.

Gambian Consulate in Berlin

Andreas-Jorg Bartel and Dieter Weber of the Gambian consulate in Berlin, Germany, have congratulated President Jammeh, who led the revolution on 22nd July 1994, on this year’s anniversary.

They acknowledged numerous achievements under Dr Jammeh’s leadership.

“Not only the visible success in infrastructure like telecommunication, highways and air transportation, but more [so] your efforts in health, education and democracy,” they stated.Both of them expressed their resolve to join the president in his efforts to further develope The Gambia and extended their best wishes to him and his family.

Gambia Police Force

Ensa Badjie, the Inspector General of Police, has also congratulated the president on behalf of the entire members of the Gambia Police Force.
“It has been a wonderful, gracious and magnificent period for the security services especially the Gambia police force. We thank Your Excellency for the support, contribution, encouragement and motivation you have been giving and continue to give us that have greatly facilitated our entire operations,” he stated.

He then added: “Your Excellency, may I seize this opportunity to pray for your good health, long life and strength to enable you to sail this beloved nation to your most desired destination. This, I am sure will benefit the entire Gambian and even non-Gambian people. I pray for your family’s good health and long life so that they can continue to support your endeavours to make this country the Silicon Valley of Africa.”

“May God the Almighty shower his blessings unto you, your family and government so that we will continue to enjoy the fruits of your vision, hard-work and development for this beloved nation. Long live your Excellency, long live The Gambia, and long live the Gambian people,” the IGP concluded, and then extended the assurances of his highest considerations.

AAPG

In a similar message, the Aid Agency for Gambian People (AAPG) at Churchill’s Town, also congratulated President Jammeh on the 14h anniversary of the July 22nd celebrations.“May Allah the Almighty grant you long life, peace and prosperity in all your endeavours. May Allah the Almighty guide and protect you and your family and the entire Gambian people,” stated Mrs Mariama Janneh, the president of the association.

Association d’aide de Peuple

Malaim Biyai, the president of the Association d’aide de Peuple, has also joined others to congratulate Dr Jammeh on behalf of his organisation.
“All Gambians know the essence of this day which was the day your Excellency salvaged The Gambia from the difficult times of the former regime. We are all so grateful and thus join the APRC and Your Excellency in celebrating this great day,” Malaim Biyai stated.

“As your Excellency is always grateful to Allah, we are in turn asking Allah to bless and provide you with all the strength and will in your capacity as our president. Please accept Your Excellency the assurances of our highest consideration,” the association’s president concluded.

Mrs Gimbi Cham

Mrs Gimbi Cham of Banjul also joined others in felicitating President Jammeh on the occasion. Mrs Cham lauded Dr Jammeh’s numerous undertakings, including the HIV/AIDS breakthrough and its impact on the lives of patients and health sector.

“I have to tell you how much I admire you. Your work for Gambian unity, your achievements, your altruism and your concern for all are but uncommon. I am very proud that you continue to show how a leader brings his people together and solves problems they are facing to advance a nation. You are a real light to many of us if not all Gambians,” Mrs Cham stated.

She then added: “Your Excellency, you are a remarkable president who, after having assumed the mantle of power, stood for social justice and fairness throughout a hard and difficult time. The Gambia knows it has a great leader who is revered [by] people of all dimensions and origins. You are an inspiration, a man of extraordinary generosity, dignity and courage. You have typified this in your tenure to date and you never wavered; never flinched in the struggle for what you believe and thought was good and right for the country. In doing this, you never lost faith in your spirit and its ultimate capacity to do good.”

“I have never had time with you, but to anyone fortunate enough to meet you, as I see with those [who] do so in the nightly news on GRTS which I always follow closely; you radiate such warmth and kindness that such meetings and sessions become unforgettable.

You are always in my thoughts and prayers with profound respect and great admiration because of the nature of person you are. There is and shall be such an outpouring of good feelings for you always because of what people can see and sense in you - Mr President. You are a man of true and profound heroism, a shining example of what a teacher and a courageous leader should be,” she acknowledged.

“In history, you will and shall be a hero for ages because you stood for us at a time when the future of The Gambia was deeply bleak,” she observed.

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.

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Africa is immense and there are lots of paradise places like in no where on earth, there are some historical arenas, sacred areas, you will see some perfect places and wanted to start experience what you have read or watched on a documentary and share the beauties you see in any of the region be it north, west, south or east side of it snap pictures and write useful general tips of any of your trip for friends relatives and other acquaintances to see and read.

Africa is a huge continent, full of wonders, colors, life, marvelous as life, but also terrible as life. Africa can be very extreme, you can find there incredible sunsets and unbelievable massacres, humid jungles and arid deserts, forgotten cultures or empires and some highly undeveloped countries.

Maybe that's why this vast continent is so touristy undeveloped. Apart from some spots along the coasts of Morocco, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, some places in West Africa like Gambia, Senegal, Mali the majority of the place is generally unknown to tourists in the past but now there are little changes in Africa touristy area.

Have you ever been in Africa? Spend one part of your holiday in Africa know what I am talking about and see what we have to offer you. Although not everyone that has visited this wonderful continent will have same experience because individual are different in appraisal and taste, all Africa are not the same when it comes to culture, landscapes, gastronomy but homogenous across Africa.

Africa is not a continent of big monuments, architecture, temples as you can see in other continents as Asia, Europe, and America. The highlights of Africa are normally its people, culture and tradition, history, and its landscapes, still unspoiled, wide open, friendly and unforgettable people.

However, the majority of Africans may be black, but that doesn't mean they share the same culture, speak the same language or even dress the same. But there is a feeling that all the people subscribe to - it's the pride in being called an African.

Africa straddles the equator and has many climate areas. It is the only continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. The climate ranges from tropical to sub-arctic on its highest peaks. Its northern half is primarily desert or arid, while its central and southern areas contain both savanna plains and very dense jungle (rainforest) regions. In between, there is a convergence where vegetation patterns such as Sahel and steppe dominate.

Africa boasts perhaps the world's largest combination of density and "range of freedom" of wild animal populations and diversity, with wild populations of large carnivores such as lions, hyenas, and cheetahs and herbivores such as buffalo, deer, elephants, camels, and giraffes ranging freely on primarily open non-private plains. It is also home to a variety of jungle creatures including snakes and primates and aquatic life including crocodiles and amphibians.