Regional experts meet in Gambia to discuss water management issues

Water management experts from West and Central Africa on Sunday completed a two-day meeting in The Gambia aimed at identifying what are the major constraints, issues and problems facing agricultural water management programs; what are the best ways to address these problems; and what kinds of new opportunities can be proposed for future programs.  

The experts - alongside regional and country programme managers of International fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) funded projects, government officials and policy makers in West and Central Africa - also shared the major results from recent projects implemented by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), which has implemented several projects in the region on water management.

The event on the theme, ‘Improving outcomes of agricultural water management investments:  Research results, lessons learned and innovative new opportunities’, was a pre-forum learning event of the 7th Regional Forum for IFAD-funded Projects taking place in The Gambia from 12^th to 15^th November 2012.

 

Speaking to journalists in Banjul on Monday, Douglas J Merrey of IWMI, said water management remains one of the most significant constrains to agricultural development in Africa.

He noted that investing in small-scale interventions for improved water control can produce a dramatic impact on the productivity of agriculture.

According to him, over the years, there was not much political commitment to water management by African governments “but things are changing now as governments are more and more beginning to appreciate the impact of water management on agricultural growth and development”.

In Ghana, for example, the government is highly commitment to water management by pumping in a lot of money on water management and these monies are provided by the government itself not the donor community, Douglas said.

Many analysts believe that future increases in food supplies and economic prosperity for the rural poor will come mainly from improved agricultural water management combined with other interventions contributing to production and productivity of agriculture.

Gambia Press Union boycotts a forum meant to discuss way forward for the media

Members say nothing warrants such a decision  

     

The leadership of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) has decided to boycott stakeholders’ forum in which it’s invited as a “main stakeholder” to discuss the preliminary report that gives an overview of the findings on the situation of the journalists and media in The Gambia.  

Emil Touray

The meeting on 1^st November at the Ocean Bay Hotel in Bakau was part of the “Journalists and Media” component of the European Union Delegation and Gambian Government joint Governance Programme. 

The meeting was for the stakeholders to discuss the preliminary report, prepared by a team of consultants from Article 19 during a mission conducted in The Gambia in October 2012, and commissioned by the European Union Delegation in The Gambia.

Thought the report indicated the achievements, strengths and the shortcomings of the GPU, the leadership of the Union said the report is biased.   

The president Emil Touray, secretary general Gibairu Janneh, and executive director Ahmed Alota are the ones invited to represent the GPU at the forum but none of them showed up neither do they delegate somebody else.

In a telephone conversation with the president, Emil Touray, to find out why the GPU is not represented at such a forum to discuss the way forward for the media, he said: “We just decided to boycott because we are not happy with the report.”

“We are dissatisfied with the content of the report and we thought the appropriate thing is to boycott forum as a way of expressing our disaffection,” he added. 

Gambia hosts regional IFAD forum

The Gambia will this year host the 7^th Regional Forum for IFAD-funded Projects from 12^th to 15^th, November 2012.

Ms Mpouma Logmo Geraldine

According to Ms Mpouma Logmo Geraldine, communication consultant of IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development – about 300 delegates comprising representatives from IFAD-funded projects in West and Central Africa, governments’ representatives and NGOs working with IFAD.  The delegates will discuss among others things how to continuously improve the performance of IFAD-funded projects and grants in terms of relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency. 

This year’s theme: ‘Result-based management for sustaining rural poverty reduction: lessons learned and challenges’, reflects IFAD and Governments' determination to fulfill their promise to deliver better results that positively touches the lives of the rural poor.

Ms Geraldine said objectives of the annual forum, hosted by Gabon last year, include highlighting and sharing the knowledge, experience and lessons that have evolved during the project implementation period, including areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats to further and sustained progress.

She said the forum will give the delegates the opportunity to discuss the experiences of selected successful projects so as to learn how they effectively linked and enhanced the relationship between inputs, interventions, outputs to achieve the expected results and impacts.

Office of the President intervenes to regulate foreign exchange business

but does it have the mandate to do so?

President Yahya Jammeh

The Office of the President has issued a stern warning that very drastic action will be taken against any individual or business found culpable of foreign currency hoarding and speculating, as it launches operation no compromise on such practices with immediate effect.

The prompt intervention of the government is meant to reduce the selling rate of dollar by foreign exchange dealers from D34 a dollar (the current market price) to D28 a dollar, which is said to be the true value of a dollar to dalasi.  As a first step to curb “this nefarious activity” of foreign currency hoarding and speculating, the all powerful office has imposed a moratorium with immediate effect on all shipping of the US Dollar out of The Gambia with possible exemption for essential importation, which must obtain prior clearance from the Office.

A financial analyst, who wished not to be name, said the revised regulations for the licensing and operation of foreign exchange bureaus states that every bureau is free to quote its selling and buying rates.

Besides that, the analyst said, the legal power to regulate the financial industry and the foreign exchange business is that of the Central Bank of the Gambia and not the Office of the President.  To the analyst, Office of the President should have simply waited for the Central Bank to do its works rather than doing it for them.

The primary objectives of the Central Bank include promoting and maintaining the stability of the currency of The Gambia and as such it should formulate and implement monetary policy aimed at achieving this objective.

“Besides, foreign exchange business is like any other trade of buying and selling.  The Gambia being a free market economy the prices of things are determined by the interaction of demand and supply – the forces of the market.  So if demand is higher than supply the price tends to go up and that is what we have seen happening in the foreign exchange business,” the analyst said.  “Of recent, the demand of foreign currencies particularly the US dollar is up because this is the pilgrimage time and all the pilgrims need some dollars as pocket money.  This has partially caused the demand of the dollar to go up and probably the supply does not commensurate the demand causing the buying rate to increase.”

University of The Gambia Vice Chancellor Confirmed as a Corrupt Administrator?

Prof. Kah, Vice Chancellor of University of The Gambia

Magistrate Taiwo Ade Alagbe of the Banjul Magistrates’ Court on 4^th October delivered a judgment in the false information trial involving Dr Gumbo Touray, former University of The Gambia Director of International Affairs.  After a long period of trial punctuated by legal arguments and counter arguments by the defence counsel and the state prosecutor, the Magistrate did not found Dr Touray guilty of any wrongdoing by writing a petition against the Vice Chancellor of the UTG, Professor Muhammadou Kah, to the President Yahya Jammeh, the Chancellor of the University.  

The Magistrate therefore acquitted and discharged Dr Touray accordingly.  This is an indication that the allegation by the State against Dr Touray for giving false information to a public officer holds no water, unless they appeal the judgment of Magistrate Alagbe and prove it otherwise. 

In the petition to President Jammeh, Dr Touray accused Prof. Kah of squandering the university’s resources and engaging in nepotism and cronyism by employing his relatives and friends, real corrupt practices.

Dr. Touray also accused Prof. Kah of dismantling the university’s councils and committees and giving favours to foreign staff, much to the anger of Gambian staff.

These are real corrupt practices claimed to be done by someone the society and the whole country should look up to as a role model both in academics and mode of administration. 

Now acquitting and discharging Dr Touray without seeing any iota of false information in his petition is a confirmation that all he said there is the truth and nothing but the truth.  In fact he was praised by the Magistrate as a patriotic citizen who did not keep silence on the situation of the UTG but rather exposed the maladministration of the university by Prof. Kah.

Over $1.6 billion traded in the currency markets of Gambia annually without any visible impact on the economy, says Halifa Sallah

Halifa Sallah

The opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Organization for Independent and Socialism (PDOIS) have noted that over 1.6 billion dollars is traded in the currency markets of The Gambia annually without any visible impact on the four fundamental pillars of the economy, namely: public sector investment, private sector investment, cooperative sector investment and informal sector investment.

This is why we refer to the Gambian Economy as a transit economy. Monies appear to be leaving the country as fast as they enter rather than nestling in one sector to generate economic growth and employment, the party’s Secretary General Halifa Sallah told journalists during a press conference held on October 20, 2012 at the Peoples’ Centre in Churchill’s Town.

According Mr Sallah, during the 1999 financial year, the APRC administration used to indicate the annual gross turnover of public enterprises and their contribution to the budget which amounted to 82 million dalasi. Now dividends from public enterprises are recorded as zero, he said.

He said a PDOIS led government would ensure that the annual turnover of public enterprises is scientifically calculated and made known to the public as a matter of duty and that performance contracts would be signed with all public sector operators to ensure that dividends are scientifically calculated and increased on annual basis to build up the account of sovereign national wealth.

“The Gambia earnings from mineral resources have been elusive. PDOIS intends to make these earnings transparent and instrumental in promoting public sector investment,” he said.

Gambian journalists denied entry at the Supreme Court by security agents

Sainey Marenah

Binta Bah

 Journalists working for the Standard and Daily News, two newspapers closed down in September were on Monday denied entry at the Supreme Court in Banjul to cover the case involving former chief of defence staff, Lang Tombong Tamba and six others who are appealing the death sentence verdict handed to them by the High Court. 

Binta Bah and Sainey Marenah from the Daily News and Standard respectively were prevented from attending the court proceeding by plain clothes security officers who claimed the order to stop them had emanated from the Office of the President.

The duo said “we were told by a plain clothes officer (a member of national intelligence agency) that since our media houses are closed – no more publishing - we should not cover the case anymore.”

However, Binta was let in after telling the officer that she was a blogger as well so will use her blog to publish the story.

“I was later let in but after about 15 minutes I was told by the state security agent that the director of press at the State House, Modou Saidy, said he was not aware of my blog because my blog is not registered so I should not cover the case as my paper is no longer publishing” Ms Bah explained.

“The officer said they operate on directives and he is given a directive that we are not allow to cover the case anymore. ‘Sorry but you have to go out, he officer told me’,” Binta added.