The country’s security forces, yesterday, received a boost in the form of 20 brand new vehicles, courtesy of their commander-in-chief, President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

The presentation of the vehicles was done at a ceremony held at State House grounds in Banjul.

14 Greatwall Wingle Pick-up’s, two Benz military jeeps, a Toyota van and three Toyota Land Cruisers ambulances, the vehicles would contribute immensely in the enhancement of the work of the country’s security establishment by easing their mobility.  The bulk of the vehicles went to The Gambia Police Force. 

In a frank and uncompromising speech, President Jammeh pointed to the recent increase in violent crimes, which he said necessitates for the procurement of the necessary equipments and logistics to the security forces to effectively enhance their performance in executing their duties.

But he wasted no time in informing the security chiefs present that the vehicles were meant purposely for officials use, and that they should not be used for any private purpose.

Those who want vehicles for private purposes, the president said, can apply for a loan to that effect.

To him, gone are the days when vehicles get abandoned due to lack of proper care, vowing to deal with any station officer and driver who would be the first to wreck their vehicles.

He indicated that there was nothing like a good or bad vehicle, insisting that a vehicle’s life span depended on its handling.

He said that vehicles were being provided but that proper care was not being taken of them, thus leading to them been  wrecked   before their actual life span. He advised police chiefs to ensure that only designated police drivers be assigned to drive the new vehicles and not just any police officer in a particular station. 

He further vowed to deal with any station officer who was found wanting in his job for a flimsy excuse of lack of fuel, maintaining that all vehicles would be provided with enough fuel strictly for official use.

He then urged the police chiefs to introduce the vehicle log books,  and   to label all their vehicles with the GPF logo and the name of   the appropriate station "for proper accountability." Dr Jammeh also urged them to ensure that vehicles were properly and regularly maintenance for longevity.

The Gambian leader then warned the police to desist from over-speeding, except for reasons of emergency.  To this end, he implored the general public for their full support in reporting any unwarranted action by police officers across the country.

The ceremony was witnessed by the vice president, Aja Dr Isatou Njie -Saidy, secretaries of state, the secretary general and Head of the Civil Service, services chiefs, APRC Yai Compins, amongst others. Joseph P Jassey, permanent secretary, department of state for Defence, chaired the ceremony.

The Gambia Red Cross Society (GRCS) on Monday received two brand new vehicles from the Institutional Development of West African Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to Strengthen Response Capacity (IDWARC) project.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, held at the GRCS headquarters in Kanifing, Mrs. Carmen Echezerreta Inurritegul, the representative of the Spanish Red Cross Society, said that IDWARC is a regional project that is being implemented jointly by the International Federation of Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross and eight Sister West African National Societies with the objective of strengthening the response capacity of those societies. He said that the project is entirely funded by AECID (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation). She revealed that within the framework of the project, the GRCS will benefit from two vehicles, ten motor bikes, eight computers, and printers, four fax machines, four scanners, eight cell phones, furniture and the rehabilitation of the Basse branch. “On the other hand, GRCS personnel will participate in different training courses that will strengthen national society response capacity,” she said.

Mrs. Fatou Mas Jobe, president of GRCS, said that the greatest challenge and constraint faced by the society is mobility, but the vehicles donated will boost their operations. She described the donation as timely and thus thanked the partners and their donors for the gesture. She assured that the vehicles will be put into good use.

Dr.Malick Njie, Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare, said that the government and his state department recognise the invaluable support and auxiliary role of GRCS in responding to emergencies and other humanitarian needs countrywide. He commended GRCS

for meeting their expectations. He also thanked the partners of GRCS for making it possible for the society to function effectively. Mrs Ndey Sireng Bakurin Secretary General Gambia Red Cross Society chaired the ceremony which was attended by several dignitaries.

Senior Magistrate Kayode Olajubutu of Banjul Magistrates Court will deliver his judgement in the criminal trial of Manlafi Sanyang, the former controller of government vehicles at State House, Banjul.

Mr Sanyang, an ex-Supt of the Gambia Police Force, has been standing trial on charges of theft and abuse of office. Mr Sanyang was accused of stealing a government vehicle with the registration number BJL 4591B and abuse of office. However, ex-Supt Sanyang has denied the charges.

During the course of the trial, the prosecution called four witnesses: ASP Fabureh, the officer commanding at the Police Licensing Department; ASP Philip Jarju, who is attached to the Government Vehicle Control Unit at State House; Detective Bakary Bojang at the Police Headquarters and Alhaji Conteh, a businessman, who reportedly bought the vehicle from Mr Sanyang at a cost of D75,000.

Despite the appearance of several prosecution witnesses, the defence counsel, Lamin Camara, went ahead to file a no-case-to-answer submission, which was overruled by the senior magistrate on the grounds that the accused person had to explain certain “unanswered” questions.

Lawyer Camara later invited three defence witnesses, Lamin Manneh, an APRC secretary general for Lower Fulladu Constituency, Central River Region, and Manlang Dampha, a driver of one of the vehicles bought for the 2001 election campaigns, and the accused himself. Abdoulie Kujabi, to whom Manlafi claimed to have handed the D75,000, was summoned by the court to give evidence but to no avail.

Ex- Superintendent Manlafi Sanyang, former Government Vehicles Controller at the State House, on Wednesday testified in defence against the allegations preferred against him by the state.

In his testimony, Manlafi Sanyang told the court that he was a police Superintendent attached to State House as Government Vehicles Controller and that he has been in the service for 26 years.

He then went on to state his duties and functions as a Government Vehicles Controller. “As Government Vehicles Controller I control the movement of vehicles, maintenance and the auction,” he stated, adding that the Department of State for Finance is responsible for the auction of government vehicles. He said that government vehicles are distinguished by the abbreviated letters GG before the numbers on the number plates while security vehicles carry private number plates. “I know the vehicle BJL 4591B, but I did not know the vehicle BJL4591A,” he adduced. He added that BJL 4591B belongs to Youth Development Enterprise, noting that he got to know about the existence of the said vehicle in September 2001 when the country was preparing for the presidential and parliamentary elections. “I remember when Baba Jobe brought to my office 41 pick-up vehicles for APRC to use as compaign vehicles,” he said, adding: “ I collected the vehicles at TK Motors which were already registered under the name of the Youth Development Enterprise. I took the vehicles to a testing exercise to boost the morale of the APRC and the state of preparedness for the 2001 campaign.” He said that during the testing exercise the vehicle BJL 4591B got involved in an accident and it was parked at the Gamwater premises, adding that he informed Baba Jobe and, upon his (the accused’s) recommendation, the vehicle was replaced with another.

Further testifying, Mr Sanyang told the court that one day Abdoulie Kujabi, then the NIA Director-General, called him and told him that a friend of his by the name Alhagie Conteh was interested in the said vehicle and that he should discuss the price with him. He informed the court that he went with the said Alhagie Conteh to inspect the vehicle and Alhagie offered to pay D75,000.00, an offer he communicated to Abdoulie Kujabi. He said that Mr Kujabi accepted the offer. He adduced that on Mr. Conteh’s payment of the money, he delivered it to Abdoulie Kujabi, who instructed him that the money would be used towards the repair of the Nissan Partrol that was allocated to the president family. He (the accused) claimed that he advised that the president be notified of the decision.

He recounted that on a visit to State House one day, Abdoulie Kujabi assured him that he would clear the issue with the president and later notified him that he had done so and that he should hand over the vehicle to the buyer, Alhagie Conteh. He maintained that the vehicle in question belongs to the Youth Development Enterprise, which he noted was not a state department. He also emphatically denied stealing neither the vehicle with registration no. BJL 4591A nor the sum of D75,000.00 because he knew nothing about that vehicle.

Hearing continues today.

Reports reaching this paper have it that yet another bout of fuel shortage, mainly Diesel, is imminent in the Greater Banjul Area, forcing many commuters to jostle against one another for room in the few commercial vehicles or tarry for hours on end, especially during rush hours.

According to the reports, petrol stations in and around Banjul have been virtually overwhelmed by commercial and private vehicles in a move believed by many to be geared towards hoarding fuel for fear of possible shortage in the coming days.

Drivers and commuters have been expressing concerns about the situation, which many describe as pathetic owing to its frequency. They thus called for urgent intervention by government. The latest development follows an increase in the price of fuel.

In a press release issued to this paper recently, the Government of the Gambia announced the increase in the pump prices of Super Petrol, Gas Oil and Kerosene.

This resulted to calls by the general public for government to take a stance to put a lasting solution to the tradition of successive fuel price increases.

With massive fuel shortages in the north of Nigeria since mid March, transport costs have doubled exacerbating food prices.

“Until last week I had been paying 250 naira (US $2.00) to transport my produce but now suddenly I must pay 500 naira ($4.00),” Habibu Sani, a trader who transports vegetables from farms outside of Kano to sell in the city, told IRIN.

“This leaves me with no option but to increase the price of my goods,” he said.

A cereal wholesaler in Kano said he too has increased his selling price. “We are calculating the new haulage fees we pay on each sack and add them to the cost,” the merchant, Magaji Mohammed, said. 

Bearing the brunt

Currently most fuel stations in Kano are closed and the few that are open have long queues of vehicles snaking down the street.

Many motorists have given up waiting and buy fuel on the black-market for around US $1.20 per litre - almost twice the pump price. Other motorists have simply stopped using their cars.

Consumers are bearing the brunt of fuel shortages in other ways. In Kano, many people who take the popular motorcycle taxies known as 'Achabas' say they can no longer afford the higher fares and the already inadequate public bus transport is overwhelmed.

“I missed school twice this week,” secondary school student Ramatu Idris told IRIN, explaining that some buses passed but they were so crowded they didn’t stop to pick up more passengers.

The reason the north has been so badly hit is that insufficient fuel is coming into the country from overseas, Sani Yau Babura, head of the northwest division of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) told IRIN. “When it arrives at the ports [in the southern cities of Lagos and Port Harcourt] most of it is distributed nearby and very little makes it this far north.” He said, speaking in Kano.

Officially, government-subsidised fuel prices have not risen since June 2007 even though, despite being the eighth largest oil-exporting country in the world, Nigeria largely relies on fuel imports, the cost of which has risen dramatically around the world.

Why the shortage?

The government has said that the country’s ailing oil refineries are being revived but officials admit they are still producing below capacity and well below the country’s domestic needs.

But government officials told the Nigerian newspaper Business Day that the real problem is that IPMAM, which provides fuel to about 90 percent of filling stations in Nigeria, is hoarding fuel in anticipation of fuel price increases.

A representative of IPMAN denied the charge and put the blame on the government, particularly the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC], saying it was not providing sufficient imported fuel because it has not paid its debts for previous purchases.

Babura of IPMAN added that the government recently purchased quantities of sub-standard fuel which had to be returned. “This is what has made the current shortage so bad,” he said.

Still people in Kano say IPMAN and other traders are not innocent. Many told IRIN that IPMAN diverts the fuel it gets from NNPC to the black market to get higher prices. “How else do you explain the availability of [back-market] fuel in jerry cans in front of filling stations while the fuel stations are empty,” said Yusuf Abdullahi a motorist waiting in line for fuel.