We feel for the population in our neighbouring country Mauritania who have once again been plunged into a state of political uncertainty by the illegal seizure of power from the democratically elected government there.

Troops in Mauritania have overthrown the country’s first freely-elected leader and say they have formed a state council to rule the country.

President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was held after he tried to dismiss the military’s top commanders.

Troops were out on the streets of the capital, Nouakchott, where tear gas was fired at about 50 protesters.

The leaders of all free nations who prize democracy and the right of the people to select their own leaders should roundly condemn this. Yet again in West Africa we are witnessing an illegal coup. When will the people be free of this menace? From the earliest reports reaching us and cited above this appears to have been carried out by a group of disgruntled military personnel who did not wish to lose their jobs. This is outrageous. As members of the military they should take their medicine and not simply revolt against their democratically elected leaders simply because they are not pleased with any given situation. We call on President Jammeh to remember the message that graced our billboards when the President of Mauritania visited The Gambia recently. Under pictures both presidents all over the Greater Banjul Area was a phrase invoking strength in unity. The Gambian government must show an example of this unity now and condemn this outrage so as to hopefully strengthen the position of the deposed politician.

The African Union have risen to the task and condemned the coup, demanded a return to constitutional government and said it was sending an envoy to Nouakchott immediately.

The governments of South Africa and Nigeria - both major players in the African Union - also criticised the military takeover.

The US State Department and the European Commission also decried the coup, with the commission warning it would suspend aid to Mauritania.

We must add our voice to this chorus of disapproval and support the population of this neighbouring nation who have so consistently suffered repeated coups in their nation. This kind of illegal seizure of power has no place in a democratic Africa.

The NGO-CSO Network on tobacco control in The Gambia is currently holding a three-day strategic planning workshop for its members at the President’s International Awards Hall in Bakau and there is some very good work taking place.

Speaking at the occasion, the chairman of the Network, Sambujang Conteh, said the idea of creating such an institution emerged following the recognition of the fact that no single entity can win the war against tobacco. This is a very important realisation. What is needed to tackle the scourge of smoking is a multi-agency approach. Government through various departments have a huge role to play as does the media, private enterprise and the general population.

Mr. Conteh recently stated that the NGO- CSO network on tobacco control in The Gambia has a vision of transforming The Gambia into a tobacco free society saying, “this trouble of tobacco is everywhere in our society. Even those who abuse or use it agree that it’s harmful to their health but they cannot drop the habit of tobacco consumption.”

This is certainly true but it does not mean that we must be any less straightforward in our advertising and education on the harmful effects of tobacco. The government has a readymade opportunity to generate tax revenue by increasing the tax on cigarettes. This will serve a dual purpose. It will put the drug beyond the means of many people and the revenue generated could be put into education and tobacco control.

What we must never forget is that those who smoke are addicted to a drug. It may be a socially acceptable drug but it is a drug. Nicotine is the main source of addiction in cigarettes and some studies have shown that it is even more addictive than heroin which has been decimating the lives of people for many years in various parts of the world.

As we should recognise smokers as addicts then we should ask are there signs of classic addict behaviour such as stealing to support the habit or denying themselves or their families sustenance or support in order to smoke? How much of our petty crime can be explained by people who engage in petty theft to feed their habit?

If we all work together in this country we can achieve the goal of a smoke free Gambia. It a goal that is worth achieving and will vastly improve the health and lives of many people. 

In honour of World Population Day some very important discussion took place in The Gambia. The subject of this discussion was family planning or as it was more correctly and appropriately referred to during the event family management rather than planning. This is a very important aspect of the empowerment of women. We are thankfully moving away from the concept in The Gambia that a wife is the property of her husband and so it follows that a woman’s body is her own property. She must be free to choose when she has a family and how large that family is. There a great fear on the part of many people that the free access to family planning on the part of women will lead to a fall in the birth rate and that this will adversely affect the population. This idea is again a hangover from the past. From 1951- 1975 the infant mortality rate was 50%. This meant that for every two children that were born one would die before the age of five. This meant that people, if they wished to have a family had to keep having babies. This day has thankfully passed. While the issue of infant mortality has not gone away by any stretch of the imagination the problem has decreased in severity since the 1950’s. The latest figures from the World Health Organisation put the infant mortality rate at 17%. Unfortunately the practice of having many children has not gone away with the bad times. The result is a burgeoning population who in many instances cannot be supported by their families. Their families cannot afford to send them to school and they stay at home hungry and uneducated. This is simply not fair. When a married couple have the freedom to manage both the number of children they have and the amount of time between the birth of those children their lives and, more importantly, the lives of their children improve greatly.

The theme of this year’s celebration of World Population Day was “Family Planning Is A Right”.

This was a very appropriate title because it plainly and simply states the fact of the matter.

When the UNFPA met with the media to discuss these issues a question and answer session was held. During the question and answer session, access to contraceptives by woman was questioned. The representative from GFPA, Ms Haddy Mboge, retorted that, there are outlets created for easy access to contraceptives. She stated that a clinical test is carried out first before any woman is allowed to use contraceptives. This, she argues, will avoid possible bad effects.

Like all aspects of medicine contraception has come a long way from its humble beginnings. It is now a safe dependable way for both men and women to take control of their lives and their futures. The government must ensure with all due haste that all women in The Gambia have access to this vital service which is, as stated above, their right. The longer people are left without access the more children and women will suffer.

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