Titi, One of the female Super Mbalax Stars in the Senegambian region, is expected to land in the soil of Banjul this month.

The Senegalese super star would be accompanied by her highly talked about group.

According to information supplied to Entertainment by the President’s Award winning DJ, Lamin Cham, the good-looking super artist will be performing live on Friday 17, 2008 at Brikama Jokor.

She will also be performing on Saturday 18 October at the Jamma Hall at Kairaba Hotel, before ending it at Jokor Westfield on Sunday.

Born in 1993 in Gunjur, Pa Jammeh started playing football at the Gunjur Junior Nawettan Championship with a team called Manchester United in 2004 and won the league title the same year.

His talents and skills attracted late Pa Jobe FC in 2007 and he played for the team at senior Nawettan level. While at the team, they won both league and super cups. He is currently the team captain of the club.

He earned himself a place in the Gunjur U-17 team selection tournament geared towards the selection of the Gambia U-17 team and succeeded in impressing U17 Coach Tarik Siagy.

Unfortunately, he could not made it pass the first stages of the final selection of the present Gambia U-17 team. But delighted Pa Jammeh, who was very content with being selected for the first stages  despite not making it, stated that he will be  ready for fresh challenges  this time around.

He commended teammates, Coach Hatab Jobe, Committee member in Gunjur and brother, Bakary Jammeh for their unflinching support and wonderful work.

Once again we must stand up and applaud that star of Africa, Nelson Mandela. Even at the age of 90 he still has the strength to stand up and critisise injustice where he sees it. Unfortunately he does not have to look very far as the situation in Zimbabwe continues to go from bad to worse. In recent years Nelson Mandela has restricted himself to working on issues such as HIV/AIDS rather than getting involved in straight political confrontation which is what makes his statement in relation to Zimbabwe so striking.

Africa’s most popular former President, Nelson Mandela, during the celebration of his 90th birthday in London, used the opportunity for the first time to denounce the authorities in Zimbabwe for refusing to allow democracy to flourish. This should be a clear message to every African that what is going on in Zimbabwe is wrong and must be denounced. Our correspondent in London, Alhagie Mbye, states in his piece in today’s issue of The Point, “Interestingly a few individuals had different opinions about Mandela’s views. A young West African who voluntarily approached this correspondent at the main entrance gate, insisted that Mandela had made a ‘mistake in denouncing the regime of Robert Mugabe’ because, according to him, ‘Mugabe is doing the right thing.’

It is not difficult to find people in The Gambia who expresses the same sentiments. Many quote the sterling work that Mugabe did in driving out the colonial oppressors from Zimbabwe. Nobody is denying this but the fact is that his people are suffering now. Nelson Mandela also struggled at great personal sacrifice for the freedom of his people from the crushing oppression of Apartheid and should be respected for it. The difference between the two leaders is that now in the twilight of their years one adheres to the principles of democracy and non-violence while the other beats his own people, terrifies them into not voting and uses extreme physical violence to subdue democratic opposition.

These are the facts of the matter. African leaders must consider their response to the situation carefully but there should be no doubt that if you are pro Mugabe as he currently exists, you are anti democracy.

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Pa Omar Jack of Fish & Chips fame is increasingly getting many steps closer to the actualisation of his dream of becoming a fully-fledged music star and probably Gambia’s recipe to Yousou Ndour.

Having drawn inspiration from the Senegalese Mbalax impresario, Yousou Ndour, and his Gambian-born uncle Mass Lowe, Pa Omar got catapulted into the music arena in 1996 shortly after leaving the classroom. Now, he can proudly look back and say even if he returns to the ancestors today, he is fulfilled in a way.

The Banjul-groomed rising artist first recorded his songs in 1997 through the instrumentality of Kebba Taylor, a Gambian guitarist born to Super Eagle star. Eleven years on, Pa Omar made music lovers in The Gambia proud when he on Wednesday launched his maiden album Love Meter.

The funds for the production of the eight-track album, which will be distributed by Kerewan Sounds and Jelstar Champion Sounds, was provided under the auspices of Africell and was launched at the Kairaba Avenue Offices of the company.

Pa Omar in an interview with Entertainment thanked Africell for giving him the financial and moral support, saying his desire is to release albums on annual basis.

A recent meeting, of a Mexican lady and an international music star in Germany, has culminated in a visit to The Gambia by the renowned music icon.

It was at a gala dinner where Leticia Abraham, a Mexican lady, met Magnet Man, the Unicef ambassador for Children based in Bremen and when Leticia briefed him about some of the life-changing projects she was embarking on in The Gambia he became inspired and promised to do something.

By the way, Leticia is involved in a school project in Jurungu village where many inhabitants live on less than a dollar a day. Now, Magnet Man, who has donated a song to Unicef to create awareness on child welfare issues, will also chip in with the project through Schools for Africa, an initiative of Peter Kremen, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and Unicef.

“The main reason for our visit here is to extend humanitarian assistance to the children of Jurungu village in Niumi. During our visit, we distributed learning materials to the school children in the village and also took film footage of life in Jurungu so as to increase the level of external awareness about the settlement. This documentary will be used to drum up support for the children of the village,” said Magnet Man in an exclusive interview with Entertainment.

“This trip has mainly been about needs assessment but we will come back in few months’ time. Jurungu needs a proper ambulance. The village has three football teams but no good ball. It would be nice if the village had a health post along with many other developments.”

Magnet Man, who would be embarking on an intensive three-year campaign for UNICEF aimed at raising awareness of child welfare concerns with the watchword Make A Difference, was accompanied to The Gambia by his wife and his mother-in-law.

An attempted carjacking Thursday evening in Johannesburg has left famous South African reggae star Lucky Dube dead. He was dropping his children off in the suburb of Rosettenville when he was attacked.

Police said that three gunshots were fired through the car window, injuring Dube. His children were out of the car at the time. An injured Dube then attempted to drive his car away from the area, but hit a tree soon after. He died at the scene. The police suspect that three people were responsible for the attack.

There has been an outrage in South Africa and around the world over the killing. Many radio stations were flooded with calls from tearful fans condemning the attack.

Lucky Dube was one of the most prominent reggae artists of all times - often remembered alongside Bob Marley for his songs on social issues. He began his career singing in Zulu and released his first album in 1982. He later moved to reggae and released is album 'Rastas Never Die'. This album was banned by the apartheid government. His other albums include Slave, Prisoner and Together As One and Respect - his most recent album which he released in April of this year.

Senegalese mbalax star Thione Seck and the Raam Daan band are due to storm the Gambia’s music wave for a three-day live concert, courtesy of Champion Sounds.

Thione Seck and his star-studded band are set to thrill music afacionados to the maximum with lyrical power and high dancing skills.  So if you are a real mbalax fan or you love the lyrics of Thione Seck, please join the crowd at Joko Brikama on Friday 19 October, entrance fee is just D200 or Jama Hall, Kairaba Hotel on Saturday 20 October for the grand ambiance, entrance fee D300 for single and D600 for patron or on Sunday 21 October at Jokor Westfield entrance fee D250.  The concert is sponsored by AFRICELL.

Nefertiti Drammeh, a photo model and a fashion icon who lives and works in Hollywood, California is presenting in the Gambia on a visit as part of efforts to assist and to collaborate with Gambian women through her micro credit project which seeks to help single mothers and women to start their own business and to be self supporting.
 
Nefertiti is a daughter of the music producer OKo Drammeh.  She is a double citizen of the Gambia and the Netherlands. In America she has performed many TV commercials, music videos, movie thrillers and fashion shows with various people including the music group Black Street, Usher, Wu Tang Clan. She also did a show with Janice Dickersons who is the judge of America top model TV show featuring Tyra Banks. She is represented by Lynn Allen Jeter Enterprise who represents top Hollywood artists and models.

Nefertiti is the award winner of the 2007 business project prize of the ABN AMRO bank of the Netherlands, one of the biggest banks in Europe, in which her project was micro credit in Africa and the Gambia was the focal point.  Last Wednesday, Nefertiti accompanied by his father OKo Drammeh paid a courtesy call on the Point during which she held a short interview with the Point’s entertainment supremo.  Please read on:

As a Hollywood star many people will be surprised to see you here in The Gambia. Is this your first time of visiting the country?

Nefertiti: No. As a baby I used to live here  with my mother and father;   every summer we do  come  here on vocation and when  I was 14 my father sent me to the Gambia to leant about my history  culture, root and the way of living in The Gambia.

When did you start modelling?

I stated modelling at the age of 14 years and now I’m into modelling on international basis in the cities of Paris, Frankfurt   Amsterdam, London Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vagas.

How did modelling help you to get the inspiration to set up your new company?

Nefertiti: Because I have travelled around the world and have seen the different way of living and I have seen certain things that greatly touched me. Now I want to use my knowledge and time to develop the livelihood of women in the developing world with the Gambia being my focal point.  Having been there ready on top, I have done most of the luxuries of life.  I feel that it is about time that I try to use my experience and resources to give back to the communities I belonged.   I prefer to help people than to follow the success story of galmour and glitz.

Can you tell us more   about your micro credit company?

My company is called Woman Art 4 Woman.  It is a micro credit project   registered in Holland and I’m planning to register it in the Gambia. My first plan of action is to introduce certain Gambian products, which are made by local people and some percentage of the proceeds gathered will be ploughed back to help women in this country, a contribution, which I  believe, will educate many women about sustainable livelihoods and to help the Gambia government in its projects on poverty reduction.

Are you optimistic that your dream of helping Gambian women will come to past?

I have travelled throughout the Gambia visiting some projects both government and community projects so that I can have a good idea of my role and contribution towards the Gambia people which I’m part of. My mission is to help accelerate development and to attract more companies and famous people to the Gambia because Art 4 Women   is an going project for sustainable development in the Gambia.

As a Hollywood star, what do you intend to do for local artists?

Nefertiti: Of course, been in the fashion and entertainment industry I would in the future collaborate with designers and modelling agencies through the new media about the basic support system that they may require, the norms and standards of presenting models in the outside world and also through educating the models and career management and most probably recommend some agencies and some shows were they can display their talents.

Thanks for granting us this interview.

Nefertiti: The pleasure is all mine.