Editor,

Kindly allow me space in your reputable paper to praise a true daughter of the land, in the person of Hon Fatoumata Jahumpa-Ceesay, the speaker of the National Assembly of The Gambia.

Apart from the numerous changes she has initiated in the House, not only in terms of its operation, but also in terms of the interaction between the various political divides, Hon Cessay has done quite well raising the flag of The Gambia out and beyond.

During her tenure of office, the country has held a number of prominent positions that Africa as a continent does not normally have the privilege to hold. This, I think, is a commendable performance by this lady of exceptional ability.

I call on members of the House to continue giving her the support she rightly needs in her endeavours, as whatever she gains is for all Gambians, regardless of our affiliations.

Lamin Touray
Kanifing

Editor,

Please allow me space in your widely read newspaper to praise  our President, Alhaji Dr Yahya  AJJ Jammeh, for his uncountable development achievements and his charisma.

It is indisputable to state that your ascension to power in the fortunate and Godly hours of Friday, 22 July, 1994, was no less a rescue for our homeland; and it has been revealing from the onset to date that you are the rightly appointed, annointed, ordained and divinely chosen by Him greater than all, Allah, to salvage our motherland from the shackles of colonialism and neo-colonialism by your performance, words and deeds. It is quite certain that the country’s electorate will continue to entrust you their votes since it is evident that you’ve rendered your heart and not your garments to the throne.

So we thank God for getting us and guiding our most needed redeemer, a leader whose love of life and compassion for people reached even beyond the Gambia’s borders.

An agent of peace, your perception is earning you applause and respect throughout the sub-region and the wider world.

Candidly speaking, there are very few comparable to you when it comes to defending the truth and listening to the dispossessed. You are determined that this country, under your administration, would avoid the pitfalls of its ignominious history and never succumb to temptations offered by political, economical, social and religious or spiritual vampires and scoundrels wanting to invade and spread their lethal cankerworm in our societies. Because not even those flattering honey tongues can lure or carry you away.

Sir, your coming is indeed apparent, to observations or conclusions made by renowned Ghanian writer; Aye Kwei Armah in the dedicative novel entitled: ‘The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born’. In other words, we should be expecting a messiah, a saviour, a redeemer who is to come help put our heads above water in all aspects of life and to further denounce and scorn all forms of bad governance on the continent.

Uncontestablely, your leadership qualities are second to none considering your high level of consciousness and the sanctified fact that ‘to live rightly in relation to money, power and sex is to live sacramentally, and that to misuse or abuse these three things is to desecrate the holy things of God’. May God give you more length of days, the longer you are present, the better.

However, I will want to divert a little bit, to express concern over the seemingly increasing number of youths involved in drug abuse and its related offenses, despite all the efforts of the N.D.E.A and other law enforcement agencies, including my own self.

  On the use of the truncheon, ‘batting’ against defaulters can pay more dividend, therefore we need a legal back-up to step-up the combat against drugs, ‘marijuana’ in particular. The fines and long jail sentences haven’t done enough to deter them; instead  it is turning many to mad men after their re-union in society, orchestrating trouble here and there. I  believe such is what is responsible for the rise in the crime rate, and I am of the view that a lot more conclusive measures need to be put up to effectively curtail that trend, since in dealing with crime, one has to tackle the root causes first.  

Sulayman Sowe

Banjul

The word refugee means someone who has been forced to leave their country, especially during war or for political or religious reasons. To be a refugee does not meant one is without  a roof over his or her head or without hope for living a meaningful life or future.

There are many circumstances through which a person may a refugee. A  special reference is made  to the real cause  or causes of refugee problems in the  Horn of Africa, and in the West African sub-region. We are all living witnesses to the somewhat horrible and untold wars or internal conflicts  in some of our sister countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, and Casamance in the southern region of our sister republic of Senegal.

It is noteworthy that most of these wars or internal conflicts cause and continue to cause an untold number of deaths, uprooted and continue to uproot  thousands of people from their dwelling places and countries. In most instances they cause permanent disconnection between families and loved ones. The Gambia, fondly called the Smiling Coast of West Africa, continues to be a  host to  thousands of refugees drawn from different war torn  and  conflict stricken countries within the sub-region.

As hosts, the government, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commision for Refugees (UNHCR), the Gambia Red Cross Society and other humanitarian agencies, contributed and continue to contribute significantly towards the welfare of these  huge number of refugees hosted in the country.

 It was in this  vein that the United Nations High Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) in  collaboration with the Gambia Red Cross Society on 27th July, 2008, organised a mass refugee cultural jamboree in Bullock Village, Western Region ((WR).The cultural  event brought together refugees from Casamance, in the Southern Region of Senegal. The traditional cultural jamboree accorded the refugees and their host communities the golden opportunity to interact and share expriences in a spirit of love and harmony. It was characterised by extensive, educative  and heart touching  drama, all bordering on the untold  consequences of war.

Lamin Cassama, dessemination coordinator and site manager ofthe Gambia Red Cross-UNHCR  Cooperation agreement on Casamance Refugees, in a recent chat with the Arts and Culture deskman, described the cultural show as a positive step in the right direction considering the current situation in the Casamance region, where almost the entire population was displaced by the war and many others lost their lives.

This day, he said was observed in order to diminish the trauma most of these refugees were subjected to in one way or the other. The day has significant bearings towards instilling and nurturing the culture of peace and unity amongst them and their host communities, he added.

The Red Cross man revealed that the event will now be organised twice in every year.
“We are thinking of having another one some time in December but no specific date has been set yet,”  he said. He extended sincere and profound appreciation to those who made the event a success, especially UNHCR and the government of the Gambia as well as the host communities of the refugees.

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.

The charge d’affair of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in The Gambia, on Friday, celebrated the birthday of the country’s great liberator, Simon Bolivar, at a colourful ceremony held at the Old Jeshwang-Simon Bolivar’s Lower Basic School.

The day is celebrated every year by Venezuelans across the globe.
As part of the activities marking the day, the charge d’ affair donated over 1400 school bags and at least 4000 exercise books and pencils to Simon Bolivar’s Lower Basic School.

Speaking at the occasion, Lourdes E Pirez Martinez, the charge d’affair of the Venezuelan embassy in The Gambia, said Simon Bolivar earned himself the title of liberator due to the fact that he liberated Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, as well as Venezuela. She noted that his dream was to see the unity of the South American countries, but died in Colombia on December 17th, 1830, before it could be realised.

‘’But in reality, his dreams never died since political leaders in Latin America are now going by his dreams. His ideas are recalled through our actions, our struggle to gain unity and integration, as well as solidarity within our countries’’  she said. She underscored the realisation of the historic Bolivarian integration, which according to her is based on political compromise to eradicate poverty, guarantee the independence and sovereignty of their natural resources in their quest to achieve the developments that the Venezuelan people truly deserve.

Madam Martinez called on the citizens of Venezuela and The Gambia to cherish their freedom stressing that neo-colonialism should never be tolerated.

Commenting on the ongoing fruitful relationship between Venezuela and The Gambia, the charge d’affair pointed out that it is part of her government’s solidarity call aimed at promoting integration.

She recalled that in April, this year, 60 young Gambians started their undergraduate studies in Venezuela, noting that 100 more Gambians are currently learning Spanish and are set to travel to her country for similar studies under the FUNDAYACUCHO Program.

‘’In the same vein, 7 instructors and 3 women farmers are set to travel to Venezuela for training in the area of agricultural. We are also glad that 7 Gambian children have safely arrived in Venezuela for congenital cardiopaty operation,’’ she said.
The Venezuelan charge d’affair concluded by reaffirming her government’s commitment to boost ties with The Gambia.

For her part, Marta Mendy, headmistress of Old Jeswang-Simon Bolivar’s Lower Basic School, hailed the Venezuelan charge d’affair for such a laudable gesture, noting that her school continues to receive Venezuelan generosity. She indicated that the massive renovation of her school at a tune of D72,000 was funded by the Venezuelan charge d’affair. This, according to her, was as a result of the memorandum of understanding signed between her school and the donors.

While commending the bilateral ties between the two countries, Marta Mendy assured the gathering that the gifts will be put to good use.

Other speakers at the occasion included Alkalo Ba-Karamo Ceesay, Councillor Sheriff Sarr, and Sheik Secka, PTA chairman.

Friday’s celebration was attended by a host of dignitaries including the Iranian ambassador, as well as a cross-section of the community of Old Jeshwang.

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.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, born 18 July 1918, is a former President of South Africa, the first to be elected in fully representative democratic elections. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist and leader of the African National Congress and its armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe. He spent 27 years in prison, much of it on Robben Island, on convictions for crimes that included sabotage committed while he spearheaded the struggle against apartheid.

Among opponents of apartheid in South Africa and internationally, he became a symbol of freedom and equality, while the apartheid government and nations sympathetic to it condemned him and the ANC as communists and terrorists.

Following his release from prison on 11 February 1990, his switch to a policy of reconciliation and negotiation helped lead the transition to multi-racial democracy in South Africa. Since the end of apartheid, he has been widely praised, even by former opponents.

Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He is currently a celebrated elder statesman who continues to voice his opinion on topical issues. In South Africa he is often known as Madiba, an honorary title adopted by elders of Mandela's clan. The title has come to be synonymous with Nelson Mandela.

Mandela has frequently credited Mahatma Gandhi for being a major source of inspiration in his life, both for the philosophy of non-violence and for facing adversity with dignity.

Birth and lineage

Mandela belongs to a cadet branch of the Thembu dynasty which (nominally) reigns in the Transkeian Territories of the Union of South Africa's Cape Province. He was born in the small village of Mvezo in the district of Umtata, the Transkei capital. His great-grandfather was Ngubengcuka (died 1832), the Inkosi Enkhulu or King of the Thembu people, who were eventually subjected to British colonial rule.

One of the king's sons, named Mandela, became Nelson's grandfather and the source of his surname. However, being only the Inkosi's child by a wife of the Ixhiba clan (the so-called "Left-Hand House"), the descendants of his branch of the royal family were not eligible to succeed to the Thembu throne.

His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa (1880–1928), was nonetheless designated chief of the town of Mvezo. Upon alienating the colonial authorities, however, he was deprived of his position, and moved his family to Qunu. Gadla remained, however, a member of the Inkosi's Privy Council, and was instrumental in the ascension to the Thembu throne of Jongintaba Dalindyebo, who would later return this favour by informally adopting Mandela upon Gadla's death.

Mandela's father had four wives, with whom he fathered a total of thirteen children (four boys and nine girls). Mandela was born to Gadla's third wife ('third' by a complex royal ranking system), Nosekeni Fanny, daughter of Nkedama of the Mpemvu Xhosa clan, the dynastic Right Hand House, in whose umzi or homestead Mandela spent much of his childhood.[1] His given name Rolihlahla means "to pull a branch of a tree", or more colloquially, "troublemaker"

Education

At seven years of age, Rolihlahla Mandela became the first member of his family to attend a school, where he was given the name "Nelson", after the Admiral Horatio Nelson of the Royal Navy, by a Methodist teacher who found his native name difficult to pronounce.[His father died of tuberculosis when Rolihlahla was nine, and the Regent, Jongintaba, became his guardian. Mandela attended a Wesleyan mission school next door to the palace of the Regent. Following Thembu custom, he was initiated at age sixteen, and attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute.

He completed his Junior Certificate in two years, instead of the usual three. Destined to inherit his father's position as a privy councillor, in 1937 Mandela moved to Healdtown, the Wesleyan college in Fort Beaufort which most Thembu royalty attended. Aged nineteen, he took an interest in boxing and running.

After matriculating, he started to study for a B.A. at the Fort Hare University, where he met Oliver Tambo, and the two became lifelong friends and colleagues. He also became close friends with his kinsman, Kaiser ("K.D.")

Matanzima who, however, as royal scion of the Thembu Right Hand House, was destined for the throne of Transkei, a role that later led him to embrace Bantustan policies which made him and Mandela political enemies. At the end of Nelson's first year, he became involved in a boycott by the Students' Representative Council against the university policies, and was asked to leave Fort Hare.

Later, while imprisoned, Mandela studied for a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London External Programme (see below).

Move to Johannesburg

Shortly after leaving Fort Hare, Jongintaba announced to Mandela and Justice (the Regent's own son and heir to the throne) that he had arranged marriages for both of them.

Both young men were displeased by this and rather than marry, they elected to flee the comforts of the Regent's estate to go to Johannesburg. Upon his arrival, Mandela initially found employment as a guard at a mine. However, this was quickly terminated after the employer learned that Mandela was the Regent's runaway adopted son. He later started work as an articled clerk at a law firm thanks to connections with his friend and mentor, realtor Walter Sisulu.

While working there, he completed his B.A. degree at the University of South Africa via correspondence, after which he started with his law studies at the University of Witwatersrand, where he first befriended fellow students and future anti-apartheid political activists Joe Slovo, Harry Schwarz and Ruth First. During this time Mandela lived in Alexandra township, north of Johannesburg.

Political activity

After the 1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party with its apartheid policy of racial segregation, Mandela was prominent in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign and the 1955 Congress of the People, whose adoption of the Freedom Charter provided the fundamental program of the anti-apartheid cause.

During this time, Mandela and fellow lawyer Oliver Tambo operated the law firm of Mandela and Tambo, providing free or low-cost legal counsel to many blacks who would otherwise have been without representation.

Mandela's approach was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, who inspired him and succeeding generations of South African anti-apartheid activists. Indeed, Mandela took part in the 29 January – 30 January 2007 conference in New Delhi which marked the 100th anniversary of Gandhi's introduction of satyagraha in South Africa.

Initially committed to non-violent mass struggle, Mandela was arrested with 150 others on 5 December 1956 and charged with treason. The marathon Treason Trial of 1956–61 followed, and all were acquitted. From 1952–59 the ANC experienced disruption as a new class of Black activists (Africanists) emerged in the townships demanding more drastic steps against the National Party regime.

The ANC leadership of Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu felt not only that events were moving too fast, but also that their leadership was challenged. They consequently bolstered their position by alliances with small White, Coloured and Indian political parties in an attempt to appear to have a wider appeal than the Africanists.

The 1955 Freedom Charter Kliptown Conference was ridiculed by the Africanists for allowing the 100,000-strong ANC to be relegated to a single vote in a Congress alliance, in which four secretaries-general of the five participating parties were members of the secretly reconstituted South African Communist Party (SACP), strongly adhering to the Moscow line.

In 1959 the ANC lost its most militant support when most of the Africanists, with financial support from Ghana and significant political support from the Transvaal-based Basotho, broke away to form the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) under Robert Sobukwe and Potlako Leballo.

Guerrilla activities

In 1961, Mandela became the leader of the ANC's armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (translated as Spear of the Nation, also abbreviated as MK), which he co-founded. He coordinated a sabotage campaign against military and government targets, and made plans for a possible guerrilla war if sabotage failed to end apartheid. Mandela also raised funds for MK abroad, and arranged for paramilitary training, visiting various African governments.

Fellow ANC member Wolfie Kadesh describes the bombing campaign led by Mandela: "When we knew that we going to start on December 16, 1961, to blast the symbolic places of apartheid, like pass offices, native magistrates courts, and things like that ... post offices and ... the government offices. But we were to do it in such a way that nobody would be hurt, nobody would get killed."

Mandela said of Wolfie: "His knowledge of warfare and his first hand battle experience were extremely helpful to me."

Mandela explains the move to embark on armed struggle as a last resort, when increasing repression and violence from the state convinced him that many years of non-violent protest against apartheid had achieved nothing and could not succeed.

A few decades later, MK did wage a guerrilla war against the regime, especially during the 1980s, in which many civilians were killed. Mandela later admitted that the ANC, in its struggle against apartheid, also violated human rights, and has sharply criticised attempts by parts of his party to remove statements supporting this fact from the reports of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Up until July 2008, Mandela and ANC party members were barred from entering the United States —except the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan— without a special waiver from the US Secretary of State, due to their designation as terrorists by the former South African apartheid regime.

Arrest and Rivonia trial

On 5 August 1962 Mandela was arrested after living on the run for seventeen months, and was imprisoned in the Johannesburg Fort. The arrest was made possible because the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) tipped off the security police as to Mandela's whereabouts and disguise.

Three days later, the charges of leading workers to strike in 1961 and leaving the country illegally were read to him during a court appearance. On 25 October 1962, Mandela was sentenced to five years in prison. Two years later on 11 June 1964, a verdict had been reached concerning his previous engagement in the African National Congress (ANC).

While Mandela was imprisoned, police arrested prominent ANC leaders on 11 July 1963, at Liliesleaf Farm, Rivonia, north of Johannesburg. Mandela was brought in, and at the Rivonia Trial, they were charged by the chief prosecutor Dr. Percy Yutar with the capital crimes of sabotage (which Mandela admitted) and crimes which were equivalent to treason, but easier for the government to prove.

The second charge accused the defendants of plotting a foreign invasion of South Africa, which Mandela denied.

In his statement from the dock at the opening of the defence case in the trial on 20 April 1964 at Pretoria Supreme Court, Mandela laid out the clarity of reasoning in the ANC's choice to use violence as a tactic. His statement revealed how the ANC had used peaceful means to resist apartheid for years until the Sharpeville Massacre.

That event coupled with the referendum establishing the Republic of South Africa and the declaration of a state of emergency along with the banning of the ANC made it clear that their only choice was to resist through acts of sabotage. Doing otherwise would have been tantamount to unconditional surrender.

Mandela went on to explain how they developed the Manifesto of Umkhonto we Sizwe on 16 December 1961 intent on exposing the failure of the National Party's policies after the economy would be threatened by foreigners' unwillingness to risk investing in the country. He closed his statement with these words:

‘‘During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’’

Bram Fischer, Vernon Berrange, Harry Schwarz, Joel Joffe, Arthur Chaskalson and George Bizos were part of the defence team that represented the accused. Harold Hanson was brought in at the end of the case to plead mitigation.

All except Rusty Bernstein were found guilty, but they escaped the gallows and were sentenced to life imprisonment on 12 June 1964. Charges included involvement in planning armed action, in particular four charges of sabotage, which Mandela admitted to, and a conspiracy to help other countries invade South Africa, which Mandela denied.

Imprisonment

Nelson Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island where he remained for the next eighteen of his twenty-seven years in prison. On the island, he and others performed hard labour in a lime quarry. Prison conditions were very basic.

Prisoners were segregated by race, with black prisoners receiving the fewest rations. Political prisoners were kept separate from ordinary criminals and received fewer privileges. Mandela describes how, as a D-group prisoner (the lowest classification) he was allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. Letters, when they came, were often delayed for long periods and made unreadable by the prison censors.

Whilst in prison Mandela undertook study with the University of London by correspondence through its External Programme and received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was subsequently nominated for the position of Chancellor of the University of London in the 1981 election, but lost to Princess Anne.

In his 1981 memoir Inside BOSS secret agent Gordon Winter describes his involvement in a plot to rescue Mandela from prison in 1969: this plot was infiltrated by Winter on behalf of South African intelligence, who wanted Mandela to escape so they could shoot him during recapture. The plot was foiled by British Intelligence.

In March 1982 Mandela was transferred from Robben Island to Pollsmoor Prison, along with other senior ANC leaders Walter Sisulu, Andrew Mlangeni, Ahmed Kathrada and Raymond Mhlaba. It was speculated that this was to remove the influence of these senior leaders on the new generation of young black activists imprisoned on Robben Island, the so-called "Mandela University". However, National Party minister Kobie Coetsee says that the move was to enable discreet contact between them and the South African government.

In February 1985 President P.W. Botha offered Mandela conditional release in return for renouncing armed struggle. Coetzee and other ministers had advised Botha against this, saying that Mandela would never commit his organisation to giving up the armed struggle in exchange for personal freedom.

Mandela indeed spurned the offer, releasing a statement via his daughter Zindzi saying "What freedom am I being offered while the organisation of the people remains banned? Only free men can negotiate. A prisoner cannot enter into contracts."

The first meeting between Mandela and the National Party government came in November 1985 when Kobie Coetsee met Mandela in Volks Hospital in Cape Town where Mandela was being treated for prostate surgery. Over the next four years, a series of tentative meetings took place, laying the groundwork for further contact and future negotiations, but little real progress was made.

Throughout Mandela's imprisonment, local and international pressure mounted on the South African government to release him, under the resounding slogan Free Nelson Mandela! In 1989, South Africa reached a crossroads when Botha suffered a stroke and was replaced as president by Frederik Willem de Klerk. De Klerk announced Mandela's release in February 1990.

Release

On 2 February 1990, State President F.W. de Klerk reversed the ban on the ANC and other anti-apartheid organisations, and announced that Mandela would shortly be released from prison. Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl on 11 February 1990. The event was broadcast live all over the world.

On the day of his release, Mandela made a speech to the nation. He declared his commitment to peace and reconciliation with the country's white minority, but made it clear that the ANC's armed struggle was not yet over:

‘‘Our resort to the armed struggle in 1960 with the formation of the military wing of the ANC (Umkhonto we Sizwe) was a purely defensive action against the violence of apartheid. The factors which necessitated the armed struggle still exist
today.

We have no option but to continue. We express the hope that a climate conducive to a negotiated settlement would be created soon, so that there may no longer be the need for the armed struggle.’’

He also said his main focus was to bring peace to the black majority and give them the right to vote in both national and local elections.

Negotiations

Following his release from prison, Mandela returned to the leadership of the ANC and, between 1990 and 1994, led the party in the multi-party negotiations that led to the country's first multi-racial elections.

In 1991, the ANC held its first national conference in South Africa after its unbanning, electing Mandela as President of the organisation. His old friend and colleague Oliver Tambo, who had led the organisation in exile during Mandela's imprisonment, became National Chairperson.

Mandela's leadership through the negotiations, as well as his relationship with President F.W. de Klerk, was recognised when they were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. However, the relationship was sometimes strained, particularly so in a sharp exchange in 1991 when he furiously referred to De Klerk as the head of "an illegitimate, discredited, minority regime".

The talks broke down following the Boipatong massacre in June 1992 when Mandela took the ANC out of the negotiations, accusing De Klerk's government of complicity in the killings.[20] However, talks resumed following the Bisho massacre in September 1992, when the spectre of violent confrontation made it clear that negotiations were the only way forward.

Following the assassination of senior ANC leader Chris Hani in April 1993, there were renewed fears that the country would erupt in violence. Mandela addressed the nation appealing for calm, in a speech regarded as 'presidential' even though he was not yet president of the country at that time:

‘‘Tonight I am reaching out to every single South African, black and white, from the very depths of my being. A white man, full of prejudice and hate, came to our country and committed a deed so foul that our whole nation now teeters on the brink of disaster. A white woman, of Afrikaner origin, risked her life so that we may know, and bring to justice, this assassin. The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani has sent shock waves throughout the country and the world. ...Now is the time for all South Africans to stand together against those who, from any quarter, wish to destroy what Chris Hani gave his life for – the freedom of all of us.’’

While some riots did follow the assassination, the negotiators were galvanised into action, and soon agreed that democratic elections should take place on 27 April 1994, just over a year after Hani's assassination.

Presidency of South Africa

South Africa's first multi-racial elections in which full enfranchisement was granted were held on 27 April 1994.

The ANC won 62% of the votes in the election, and Mandela, as leader of the ANC, was inaugurated on 10 May 1994 as the country's first black President, with the National Party's de Klerk as his first deputy and Thabo Mbeki as the second in the Government of National Unity.

As President from May 1994 until June 1999, Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid, winning international respect for his advocacy of national and international reconciliation.

Mandela encouraged black South Africans to get behind the previously hated Springboks (the South African national rugby team) as South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup. After the Springboks won an epic final over New Zealand, Mandela, wearing a Springbok shirt, presented the trophy to captain Francois Pienaar, an Afrikaner. This was widely seen as a major step in the reconciliation of white and black South Africans.

After assuming the presidency, one of Mandela's trademarks was his use of Batik shirts, known as "Madiba shirts", even on formal occasions.

Lockerbie trial

President Mandela took a particular interest in helping to resolve the long-running dispute between Gaddafi's Libya, on the one hand, and the United States and Britain on the other, over bringing to trial the two Libyans who were indicted in November 1991 and accused of sabotaging Pan Am Flight 103, which crashed at the Scottish town of Lockerbie on 21 December 1988, with the loss of 270 lives.

As early as 1992, Mandela informally approached President George Bush with a proposal to have the two indicted Libyans tried in a third country. Bush reacted favourably to the proposal, as did President Mitterrand of France and King Juan Carlos of Spain. In November 1994 – six months after his election as president – Mandela formally proposed that South Africa should be the venue for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial.

However, British Prime Minister, John Major, flatly rejected the idea saying the British government did not have confidence in foreign courts. A further three years elapsed until Mandela's offer was repeated to Major's successor, Tony Blair, when the president visited London in July 1997. Later the same year, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Edinburgh in October 1997, Mandela warned:

‘‘No one nation should be complainant, prosecutor and judge.’’

A compromise solution was then agreed for a trial to be held at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, governed by Scots law, and President Mandela began negotiations with Colonel Gaddafi for the handover of the two accused (Megrahi and Fhimah) in April 1999. At the end of their nine-month trial, the verdict was announced on 31 January 2001. Fhimah was acquitted but Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to 27 years in a Scottish jail. Megrahi's initial appeal was turned down in March 2002, and former president Mandela went to visit him in Barlinnie prison on 10 June 2002.

'Megrahi is all alone', Mandela told a packed press conference in the prison's visitors room. 'He has nobody he can talk to. It is psychological persecution that a man must stay for the length of his long sentence all alone. It would be fair if he were transferred to a Muslim country — and there are Muslim countries which are trusted by the West.

It will make it easier for his family to visit him if he is in a place like the kingdom of Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt.'

Megrahi was subsequently moved to Greenock jail and is no longer in solitary confinement. On 28 June 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission concluded its three-year review of Megrahi's conviction and, believing that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred, referred the case to the Court of Criminal Appeal for a second appeal.

Marriage and family

Mandela has been married three times, has fathered six children, has twenty grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren. His grandson is Chief Mandla Mandela.

First Marriage

Mandela's first marriage was to Evelyn Ntoko Mase who, like Mandela, was also from what later became the Transkei area of South Africa, although they actually met in Johannesburg.

The couple had two sons, Madiba Thembekile (Thembi) (born 1946) and Makgatho Lewanika (born 1950), and two daughters, both named Makaziwe (known as Maki; born 1947 and 1953). Their first daughter died aged nine months, and they named their second daughter in her honour.

The couple broke up in 1957 after 13 years, divorcing under the multiple strains of his constant absences, devotion to revolutionary agitation, and the fact she was a Jehovah's Witness, a religion which requires political neutrality.

Thembi was killed in a car crash in 1969 at the age of 25, while Mandela was imprisoned on Robben Island. All their children were educated at the Waterford Kamhlaba.

Evelyn Mase died in 2004. Second marriage

Mandela's second wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, also came from the Transkei area, although they, too, met in Johannesburg, where she was the city's first black social worker. They had two daughters, Zenani (Zeni), born 4 February 1958, and Zindziswa (Zindzi), born 1960. Later, Winnie would be deeply torn by family discord which mirrored the country's political strife; while her husband was serving a life sentence on the Robben Island prison, her father became the agriculture minister in the Transkei.

The marriage ended in separation (April 1992) and divorce (March 1996), fuelled by political estrangement.

Mandela still languished in prison when his daughter Zenani was married to Prince Thumbumuzi Dlamini in 1973, elder brother of King Mswati III of Swaziland.

As a member by marriage of a reigning foreign dynasty, she was able to visit her father during his South African imprisonment while other family members were denied access. The Dlamini couple live and run a business in Boston. One of their sons, Prince Cedza Dlamini (born 1976), educated in the United States, has followed in his grandfather's footsteps as an international advocate for human rights and humanitarian aid.

Thumbumuzi and Mswati's sister, Princess Mantfombi Dlamini, is the chief consort to King Goodwill Zwelithini of KwaZulu-Natal, who "reigns but does not rule" over South Africa's largest ethnic group under the auspices of South Africa's government. One of Queen Mantfombi's sons is expected to eventually succeed Goodwill as monarch of the Zulus, whose Inkatha Party leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, was one of the political rivals of Mandela, before and during his presidency.

Third marriage

Mandela remarried, once again, in 1998 on his 80th birthday, to Graça Machel née Simbine, widow of Samora Machel, the former Mozambican president and ANC ally who was killed in an air crash 12 years earlier.

The wedding followed months of international negotiations to set the unprecedented bride-price to be remitted to Machel's clan. Said negotiations were conducted on Mandela's behalf by his traditional sovereign, King Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo, born 1964.

Ironically, it was this paramount chief's grandfather, the Regent Jongintaba, whose selection of a bride for him prompted Mandela to flee to Johannesburg as a young man.

Mandela still maintains a home at Qunu in the realm of his royal nephew (second cousin thrice-removed in Western reckoning), whose university expenses he defrayed and whose privy councillor he remains.

Retirement

Mandela became the oldest elected President of South Africa when he took office at the age of 77 in 1994. He decided not to stand for a second term as President, and instead retired in 1999, to be succeeded by Thabo Mbeki.

Iraq invasion views

In 2003 Mandela criticised the foreign policy of the administration of U.S. president George W. Bush in a number of speeches. Criticising the lack of UN involvement in the decision to begin the War in Iraq, he said, "It is a tragedy, what is happening, what Bush is doing. But Bush is now undermining the United Nations."

Mandela stated he would support action against Iraq only if it is ordered by the UN. Mandela also insinuated that Bush may have been motivated by racism in not following the UN and its secretary-general Kofi Annan on the issue of the war. "Is it because the secretary-general of the United Nations is now a black man? They never did that when secretary-generals were white".

He urged the people of the U.S. to join massive protests against Bush and called on world leaders, especially those with vetoes in the UN Security Council, to oppose him. "What I am condemning is that one power, with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust."

He attacked the United States for its record on human rights and for dropping atomic bombs on Japan during World War II. "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care."

As a member of the United States House of Representatives in 1986, Dick Cheney had voted against a congressional resolution calling for Mandela's release from prison. In 2002, Mandela called Cheney a "dinosaur."

Musical tributes

Many artists have dedicated songs to Mandela. One of the most popular was from the The Specials who recorded the song Nelson Mandela in 1983. Stevie Wonder dedicated his 1985 Oscar for the song I Just Called to Say I Love You to Mandela, resulting in his music being banned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation. In 1985, Youssou N'Dour's album Nelson Mandela was the Senegalese artist's first United States release.

In 1988, the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert at London's Wembley Stadium was a focal point of the anti-apartheid movement, with many musicians voicing their support for Mandela. Jerry Dammers, the author of Nelson Mandela, was one of the organisers.

Simple Minds recorded the song Mandela Day for the concert, Santana recorded the instrumental Mandela, and Tracy Chapman performed Freedom Now, dedicated to Mandela and released on her album Crossroads. Salif Keita from Mali, who played at the concert, later visited South Africa and in 1995 recorded the song Mandela on his album Folon.

In South Africa, Asimbonanga (Mandela) (we have not seen him) became one of Johnny Clegg's most famous songs, appearing on
his Third World Child album in 1987.

Hugh Masekela, in exile in the UK, sang Bring Him Back Home (Nelson Mandela) in 1987. Brenda Fassie's 1989 song Black President, a tribute to Mandela, was hugely popular even though it was banned in South Africa.

In 1990, Hong Kong Cantopop band Beyond released a popular Cantonese song, "Days of Glory". The anti-apartheid song featured lyrics referring to Mandela's heroic struggle for racial equality.

In 2003, Mandela lent his weight to the 46664 campaign against AIDS, named after his prison number. Many prominent musicians performed in concerts as part of this campaign.

A summary of Mandela's life story is featured in the 2006 music video If Everyone Cared by Nickelback.

Raffi's song "Turn this world around" is based on a speech given by Mandela where he explained the world needs to be "turned around, for the children".

A tribute concert for Mandela's 90th birthday took place in Hyde Park, London on 27 June 2008.

Twenty-six  participants drawn from the police, airport and the NIA, recently completed a week-long training workshop on ‘apreciate inquiry’ organised by the Banutu Business College in Lamin.

In an interview with the Daily Observer, Michael Banutu-Gomez proprietor of Banutu Business College described the workshop as timely.  According to Mr Gomez the training would help participants a lot in their various fields of disciplines.

Mr Gomez, who lives and works in the United States of America as a professor, said ‘appreciate inquiry’ is all about looking at good things in the country and how to develop The Gambia.

Mr Gomez said patriotic Gambians should set aside their political ideologies and put all hands on deck to develop The Gambia.

He said his institution would contribute its quota to national development by organising such training for Gambians free of charge in the future. He also advised the participants to fully utilise the knowledge gained from the training.

Mr Gomez used the opportunity to thank the president, Dr Alhaji Yahya Jammeh for his vision for the country.

Speaking earlier, Taliah Munir Diouf, one of the visiting professors from the United States, said it is important for African-Americans to share knowlege and resources with their brothers and sisters in Africa especially in The Gambia.

Dr. Berhe Habte Giorgis, a professor at Rowan University, New Jersey, USA, for his part,  said, “I see a potential for The Gambia to be the Dubai of West Africa”.

He associated his arguement with the fact that there is peace and stability in the country.

He commended Mr. Gomez, the proprietor of the college, for organising the training workshop.