The news of the sudden demise of veteran journalist Alhaji Lalo Samateh of Radio Gambia last Friday 17th October spread across the country. Lalo Samateh, a native of Salikene in the North Bank Region passed away Friday at the RVTH at the age of 66.

The late Lalo Samateh, who was until his demise working for the State owned GRTS radio on contract, joined GRTS in the mid 60’s from the Audit department as a freelance announcer.

Brought up in Banjul by the late Kebba Buya Jallow, the late Lalo served Radio Gambia for so many years before returning to the Audit Department and then back again to Radio Gambia as a trainee announcer.

He was from there promoted to the rank of senior announcer before being elevated to the position of head of local languages and religious affairs, a position he held until his retirement.

After retiring from GRTS, the late Lalo Samateh whose talents turned irreplaceable assets at the Station was re-engaged again and again until his untimely death.

A trained BBC journalist, the late Lalo Samateh undertook series of courses on broadcasting. He also served on attachment at Radio Senegal for a brief period.

When contacted yesterday, Alhagie Mansour Njie, Veteran journalist at radio Gambia, paid a special tribute to the late Lalo Samateh. He described him as a very religious man whose hobby was reading the holy Quran.

According to Mr. Njie, the late Lalo Samateh was a patriotic citizen who was always dedicated and committed to his job. “He had a natural love for everyone and was a pious man,” Mr. Njie recounted.

For his part, one of his sons told The Point that the late Lalo Samateh was not only a father but also a true friend who always inspired the young ones.

According to his son, Lalo’s life was dedicated to religion, family and work. Many people who attended the funeral last Friday say that he was devoted to Islam and was a humble person.

The late Lalo Samateh is survived by three wives and fourteen children.

The Gambia veteran football club will stage a friendly match between the Dakar based Senegalese veteran club slated for the weekend of 30th May 2008 at the Serrekunda West Mini stadium.

The motive behind the football match is to enhance respect and foster smooth ties between the two countries and show a better relationship for future young players to emulate in a good sporting career.

Here is a lady who has been in the spotlight in the field of basketball for the past 27 years. Many of her contemporaries have opted out of the game but she still remains resolute in personal development and in the game.

This lady was born in Banjul in 1955. She attended Nusrat High School from 1981 to 1987. The industrious Banjul girl by then had already established herself as a star basketball player. She started her local championship competition with ports authority in 1981.

Those were gloomy days in Gambian sports. The club, due to financial constraints, changed its name to Atlantic Old Stars under Amina Fall Sonko former SoS for sports. This lady we are talking about would discover her full potential as a star when Atlantic old stars metamorphosized into Gambia commercial and development Bank basketball club.                                  

She was nurtured by Coach Mam Essa Gaye, now President of The Gambia Basketball Federation. She became one of the schoolgirls in the national basketball team. Whilst at the club, She won trophies and represented The Gambia in the African club championship.

She traveled with club and country to Mali, Senegal, Budapest and Hungary. Ladies and gentlemen this lady you shall meet soon was aware that there is life after sports. Upon completing high school she joined the Gambia Hotel School and backed a City and Guilds Diploma Certificate in Cookery. She proceeded to UK to study computers 1991. In 2004, my dear lady, a lady of potential and charisma was awarded a scholarship by the GNOC to undergo coaching course in Hungary. 

The Gunjur Veteran tournament organized by the Youth and Sports Development Association of Gunjur which kicked off last weekend, will resume on Saturday between Pan Africa and Kombo Sillah at the Gunjur football pitch.

Saturday’s encounter will not only be appetizing to football enthusiasts, it will cement the relationship between the two teams, which is another primary reason for the staging of the tournament by the Sports Committee.

Another interesting encounter will be between Kombo Sillah FC and Gibbas FC on Sunday.

However in matches played earlier in the ongoing seven-team tournament, YSB FC drew 2-2 with Gibbas FC in the opener while Juventus FC defeated Alsecka FC 2-0, goals scored by Ebrima Bojang and Nabi Keita in the 20th and 30th minute of the 2nd Half respectively. 

Seven teams will line up for the 2008 Gunjur Youths and Sports Development Association Veteran football championship slated for Saturday January 19 2008. Gibba FC and YSB FC will play the opening match.

In a draw held last Sunday at the Gunjur Health Centre, the seven teams were divided into two groups.

Group A  features Gibbas FC together with YSB FC Alsecka FC and Juventus FC.

Group B is comprised of three teams and Pan Africa FC were drawn alongside Kombo Sillah FC and Dabananeh FC.

Sunday’s encounter will be played between Juventus F C and Alsecka.

Yusupha Jarju a native of Gunjur residing in Germany donated the trophy for the Championship, which is aimed at fostering unity understanding among veterans in Gunjur.
 

Ahmed Ibrahim Diraige is a man who has experienced a world of change in his home Darfur. Now in his 70s, he has seen the tribal chiefdom system give way to a Khartoum-based government that he holds responsible for the neglect of the region and the subsequent slide into conflict.

Diraige is the son of a paramount chief and became a chief himself at the age of 11 when his father died. Effectively leader of the Fur community, the largest in Darfur, he abdicated from the post in 1953 – handing it to a cousin - and opted to continue his studies in the United Kingdom.

He has been involved in politics for most of his life; with the government in his early career during the 1960s, to his role as leader of one of the rebel groups taking part in peace talks, mediated by the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN), in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte.

Understanding the dynamics of the conflict in Darfur can be a daunting task, and Diraige’s political career illustrates the complexity of the situation. Although he now lives in Europe, his political influence back home remains strong and he maintains that his group, the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA) has troops on the ground.

After Sudan gained independence in 1956, traditional administrative chiefdoms were replaced with regional local administrations, so when Diraige returned from law school in the early 1960s, he faced a new system of governance.

He quickly became involved in leadership in one form or another, serving as governor of Darfur between 1961 and 1963, and in 1964, founding and heading the Darfur Development Front. He was a member of parliament between 1965 and 1969 when Sadiq Al-Mahdi was prime minister, and served as minister for labour and cooperatives.

As the head of the Umma Party, he was leader of the opposition in parliament between 1968 and 1969. He left for the Gulf after Jaafar Mohamad Numeiry’s coup in 1969, where his legal expertise was employed in the development of a constitution for the United Arab Emirates.

Diraige has been part of the Eritrea-based National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – a coalition of Sudanese political parties – since 1995. His group is distinct from the two better known Darfur rebel movements - the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M), which have been active since 2003 when the conflict began and have since split into several other factions.

Key JEM and SLA/M groups boycotted the start of the Sirte peace talks, although Diraige’s group and seven other factions were represented. The AU-UN mediators want all factions on board – hoping for greater representation in early December for the "substantive negotiations" phase of the talks.

Previous attempts to bring peace in Darfur have failed. In 2006, the AU mediated talks between the Sudanese government and the Darfur rebel groups. However, only one group signed the Darfur Peace Agreement in Abuja, Nigeria - the SLM led by Minni Minnawi, who has since accepted a position as adviser to President Omar El-Bashir.

Speaking to IRIN in Sirte, Diraige said he believes the rebel groups will come together this time to present their positions and find a way forward.

He blamed the lack of water, inadequate grazing land and increased desertification for increased tensions between farming and livestock-keeping communities and exacerbating the conflict.

“It is not a conflict pitting Africans against Arabs; both these people co-existed for centuries in Darfur; they helped each other during the wet and dry seasons and had a system under which the resources were accessible to all without resorting to violence,” he said.

The reality, he added, is that communities of both African and Arab descent in Darfur have been marginalised by successive Khartoum-based governments.

“It is a fact that the government has for many years been ruled by the people from the north who call themselves Arabs,” he said. “Years of neglect have led to the marginalised taking up arms, and this is where we are in Darfur.”
In his address during the opening of the talks in Sirte on 27 October, Libyan President Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s speech appeared to both back the government’s position on Darfur and support the rebel groups’ efforts to fight marginalisation.

Diriage said: “Gaddafi’s speech gave the impression that the Darfur problem was tribal, and at one time he have the impression that he is biased towards the government, but I think he was passing a message really that, on principle, he is against foreign intervention in a country’s affairs but at the same time saying that when people feel their governments had let them down they must stand up against it.”

Turning to the issue of self-determination, Diraige said he believed that Darfur should remain part of Sudan, contrary to views held by some of the factions in Sirte.

“It is a fact that Darfuris are in all parts of Sudan; the people of Darfur fought against the secession of South Sudan, it is important that we remain part of Sudan," he said.

Diraige said the Sirte talks provide a "real chance" for the resolution of the key issues in the Darfur crisis - marginalisation and the return/compensations of the internally displaced and refugees.