Workers need to be motivated to do their best, says Gambia Trade and Employment Minister

By Lamin Jahateh

Employers must always understand that workers, being an integral part of their production processes, need motivation to do their best in a production setup, the Minister of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment has said.

Hon. Kebba Touray argues that motivation exists when workers feel recognised, respected, and are given ample opportunity to develop their careers.

“Recognition, respect, and opportunities for career development are largely traceable to social dialogue, an embodiment of negotiation, consultation, information-sharing, and decent work,” the Trade Minister said in a statement read on his behalf by Mass Axi Gaye, Minister of Fisheries and Water Resources, on 1 May during the Workers’ Day commemoration held at the July 22^nd Square in Banjul.   

The Trade Minister said employers should always make themselves available to workers for consultation, negotiation, and convergent and conclusive discussion of mutually beneficial matters, including in-house or on-the-job training. 

Also, he said employers should ensure that workers are commensurately rewarded for their efforts and always assured of a healthy and safe work environment.

For the secretary general of Gambia National Trade Union Congress, Ebrima Garba Cham, a large chunk of the workforce in the country is working under poor working conditions. 

Workers are being exploited by unscrupulous employers such as unlawful terminations, unfair redundancies, unpaid accumulated annual leave, unremitted social security contributions, and harassments.

He calls on the government to pay particular attention to workers in both the formal and informal sectors.

Gambian workers call for 120% salary increment

By Lamin Jahateh

Ebrima Garba Cham SG of Gambia Trade Union

The central government and its parastatals, as well as the private sector operators, have been urged to consider increasing salaries by 120% across the board to commensurate with the economic realities of the country.

This is one of the nine-point resolutions of trade unions on behalf of workers in the country as read by the secretary general of The Gambia National Trade Union Congress, Ebrima Garba Cham, on Wednesday during the Workers’ Day commemoration held at the July 22^nd Square in Banjul. 

May 1^st is commemorated worldwide as Workers’ Day also known as May Day.

Mr Cham said the salary increment demand is necessitated by the fact that the cost of goods and services in the country continues to increase and people’s, particularly workers’, earning power continues to decrease.

Majority of Gambians – including workers in both the public and the private sector - are finding it very difficult to keep their heads above water as the prices of basic food commodities continue to skyrocket. 

This is coupled with the fact that the dalasi continues to lose its value whilst workers’ purchasing power remains stagnant and/or even reducing. 

The Integrated Household Survey in the country has it that more than 40% of those who are employed live below the poverty line of $1.25 per day. 

Many workers in the country do not earn enough to pull themselves and their families out of poverty.

Many Gambian workers do not earn more than D24,000 annually, which is D2,000 per month.  A bag of rice is costing about D1,000 and daily fish money of at least D50, which is the lowest someone can go with to the market as prices of cooking condiments also continue to hike. 

“We are concerned that commodities in the business sector are constantly on the increase but wages for the workers have been stagnant and or not commensurate with the status quo in the country,” Mr Garba Cham said.

He pointed out that the salary and cost of living mismatch in the country is certainly not helping the government’s drive to reduce poverty.  And under these circumstances, it will be difficult to achieve the lofty goals of the national development blueprint, the Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment, and the Millennium Development Goals.

A billion dollar grant for manufacturing industry

Aggrieved workers should negotiate before going to court, says Gambia Trade Minister

Trade Minister Kebba Touray

By Lamin Jahateh

Workers who may be aggrieved on account of bad working conditions, paltry remuneration and other genuine concerns should do an exhaustive negotiation and dialogue before going to court, the Minister of Trade, Regional Integration and Employment has said.

Hon. Kebba Touray said any worker who feels hurt, aggrieved by deplorable working conditions and exploitative remuneration or any employment related issued should realize that social dialogue is a primary option for redress rather than taking industrial action, going to court.  Social dialogue is a tripartite discussion of government representative, the employer and the aggrieved employee.

“Industrial action should be last resort,” the Trade Minister said in a statement read on his behalf by Mass Axi Gaye, Minister of Fisheries and Water Resources, on Wednesday during the Workers’ Day commemoration held at the July 22^nd Square in Banjul. 

May 1^st is commemorated worldwide as Workers’ Day also known as May Day.

The Trade Minister’s comment came at a time when the industrial tribunals in the country are inundated with cases of unfair dismissal and other employment related matters.  Almost on daily basis, newspapers in the country publish court cases on employment matters going on at the court.

However, the Trade Minister said social dialogue, involving the relevant parties - the government, employers and workers - substantially aids amicable resolutions of industrial disputes if it is underpinned by good faith, work ethics, and professionalism. 

On the contrary, he said industrial action, going to court, tends to complicate and aggravate matters, resulting in high costs, particularly in terms of output and income losses.

Concerns of Gambian journalists left out in Info Minister’s Press Freedom Day speech

By Lamin Jahateh

Nana Grey Johnson, Info Minister

Key concerns of journalists in The Gambia were glaringly left out in the Press Freedom Day speech of the newly appointed Minister of Communications and Information Infrastructure, Nana Grey Johnson.

At the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2013 at TANGO conference hall on Bertil Harding Highway, journalists in The Gambia expected that Communications Minister Nana Grey Johnson’s statement will touch on pressing issues of the media fraternity such as the closure of media houses like Taranga FM, Daily News and Standard newspapers in 2012. 

Journalists expected that Mr Johnson, a veteran journalist, would say something about the possibility of government reviewing the media laws in the country, as well as enacting a freedom of information bill, as it has been done in some other countries in Africa. 

The executive director of the GPU, Gibairu Janneh, said the media fraternity was optimistic that Mr Johnson’s appointment - as he is au fait with the ups and downs of journalists in The Gambia – “will signify the beginning of a new beginning” in enlarging the space for media freedom in The Gambia.

Madi Jobarteh, programme manager of TANGO – an umbrella body of civil societies in The Gambia including the GPU – emphasised that with the appointment of  Mr Johnson, the media fraternity was expecting that the closed media houses will be opened; expecting the media laws or laws that are not compatible with free speech and media to be reviewed. 

“We are happy of his presence (at the World Press Freedom Day commemoration) and we think he is going to turn a new page and see Gambian media fulfilling its constitutional responsibility,” Mr Jobarteh said.

The constitution of the land places an obligation on the media to hold The Gambia government accountable to the people of the country, he said. 

However, he noted, the media is finding it virtually impossible  to do this because of the self-censorship among the journalists each trying to avoid falling into the traps of the law on defamation and sedition. 

Journalists re-enforce call for freedom of expression in Gambia

By Lamin Jahateh

Journalists in The Gambia have renewed the struggle to ensure the “tiny space” of freedom of expression in the country is expanded so the media can flourish.

On the commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, 3 May 2013, journalists in the country processed from Africell head-office along Kairaba Avenue to TANGO, about half a kilometer, chanting the slogan “free speech, free press”. 

At TANGO, where the procession ended, a policy dialogue was held during which speakers were engaged in an analytical overview of the media situation in The Gambia and its ramifications on national development. 

The commemoration was organised by the Gambia Press Union (GPU) in partnership with The Association of  Non-Governmental Organisation (TANGO), an umbrella body of civil societies in the country, on the theme: “Safe to speak:  Securing freedom of expression in all media”.

Speaking on the occasion, Madi Jobarteh, programme manager of TANGO, said freedom of speech is critical to all other rights as it is an inherent right that gives meaning to all other human rights. 

“Freedom of expression is an inherent human right that no one can confer on anyone and no one has the right to take from anyone,” he said. 

Of all the rights that people enjoy, probably the right that is so critical to the enjoyment of all other rights is free speech. 

“What is the meaning of your life if you cannot say a word, what is the purpose of your citizenship if you cannot speak your mind,” Mr Jobarteh asked rhetorically. 

The right to live is a sacred right; right to association and right to vote are all fundamental rights that human being enjoy but to give meaning to all these rights free speech is central.

The media and journalists in The Gambia have seen numerous violations of press freedom and free expression for over a decade – ranging from arrests and detention, to exile, arsons, disappearance and in some instances, death or killing.

The GPU is therefore calling on the powers that be to critically reflect on the dire situation confronting the media and journalists in The Gambia.

The executive director of the GPU, Gibairu Janneh, appealed to the government, again, through the new minister of Communications and Information, Nana Grey Johnson, to reconsider the closure of Taranga FM, Daily News and Standard newspapers, which were closed in 2012.

“We are making our appeal because the GPU is in firm belief that the closure of these media houses adds nothing to the development of The Gambia.  At least we are all in the business of national development; each of us must be a contributor towards that development,” he said.

Using Skype, Viber in Gambia "strictly prohibited"

The use of Skype, Viber or any other internet devices to make or receive calls at internet cafés in The Gambia has henceforth been banned.

According to a directive from the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, through a press release issued on Friday, offering of international and national calling services at internet cafés using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, such as Viber and Skype, is strictly prohibited and considered an offence, although no penalty is specified.

More and more people in the country now make calls via the Internet instead of using mobile phones or conventional landlines. 

“Anyone who is engaged in this activity is depriving the country of the much needed revenue from international and national calls, required for the development of The Gambia,” PURA says.

The Gambia News Online was reliably informed that telecommunications companies in the country have lodged a complaint to PURA, as regulator, that they are experiencing consistent drop in revenue due to reduction in the amount of money spent on recharge phone credit by the public. 

This is primarily due to increase in the number of people using internet cafés to make not only international but also local calls, which cost virtually nothing.

However, with this new directive, internet cafés are strictly prohibited from allowing their customers to use the internet to make or receive calls via Skype, Viber or any other internet services.

Implementing this directive would cause serious confrontations between internet café operators and many of their customers who have already used to making calls via these internet devices. 

Prior to this directive, operators did not have any control over their customers who buy time to surf the net. 

The only restriction some cafés have is browsing pornographic websites, other than that customers could transact any business they want to online. 

“This is going to make me lose a lot of customers,” an internet café operator in Latrikunda German said. 

“Apart from Facebook, most of the people come here just to talk on Skype with their people abroad; now if Skype is prohibited it means many people will not be coming here again.”

Using Skype to call at internet cafés does not attract any additional cost apart from the cost of the time one uses to access the internet. 

For instance, if someone pays D15 to browse the internet for an hour in an internet café, within that time the individual can talk on Skype at no other cost.

Skype or Viber does not allow for free voice call, computer to computer, but both parties communicating can see each other when using a webcam.

“The only time that I talk to my husband is when I go to the internet café,” said Fatou Njie, who says her husband has travelled to the United Kingdom for studies. 

Fatou, who is currently taking the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, said she is not having a phone that is Skype-enabled neither does she have a laptop through which she can communicate on Skype at home. 

“Now prohibiting Skype at internet cafés is just going to make it difficult for me to communicate with my husband for a longer time like we do on Skype.” 

More than $3.5 billion needed to combat malaria in Africa

WHO country representative in The Gambia
Dr Thomas Sukwa

Africa needs to mobilize US$3.6 billion to fully fund malaria control plans and programmes from 2013 to 2015, WHO country representative in The Gambia has said.

Dr Thomas Sukwa said this amount is in addition to about US$4.4 billion already mobilised from international partners and African governments.

Speaking to journalists in Banjul during a press briefing ahead of the 2013 World Malaria Day on 25 April, the WHO country representative said there is need for increase in domestic funding in Africa, where the proportion of domestic funding estimated as part of overall funding was only 32% in 2011 compared to 43% in Asia and 86% in Latin America.

“To highlight the funding gap, a campaign for the three years will be launched on World Malaria Day [2013] under the theme ‘Invest in the Future: Defeat Malaria’,” he said.

History has shown that decrease in financial support for fighting malaria, particularly in areas where significant progress has been made, leads to a resurgence of the disease, thereby reversing years of efforts and investment. 

“Therefore, it is crucial that we stay on course as malaria resurgence will remain a persistent threat until the disease is eliminated altogether,” Dr Sukwa said.

Successful malaria control is critical to progress on all the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - goals 4, 5 and 6 - as well as making significant contribution to progress in other areas including reducing school absenteeism and fighting poverty.