August 2022
Factsheet: What TRRC says about presidential convoy
At least four people were killed on Thursday 11 August in a recurring tragedy of road traffic accidents in recent times across the country. This time around, five state guard military personnel were involved, killing all four and leaving one hospitalised.
July 2022
THE BIG FISH WALKING FREE: Inside ‘raped and brutalised’ Penny Appeal orphans case
he Penny Appeal case is now at the high court in Banjul, brought back from the dead after two years. But out of initial nine persons who were facing trial, only six names are left on the revised charge sheet, and four of them are minors. In this follow up story, Malagen investigates how the prosecutors and police leave out the 'big fish' in what has been a long-drown-out stop-start courtroom saga in pursuit of justice for hundreds of orphans who were abused and exploited in orphanages that had been operating for six years without a legal permit.
June 2022
Swiss prosecutors open investigation against Jammeh’s business partner for possible war crimes
The Swiss authorities announced the move earlier this month - three years after human rights NGO Trial International filed a criminal complaint against Mr Buzaianu for environmental crimes over trafficking in ‘blood timber’.
UN body suspends Gambia’s rosewood trade license
The UN treaty body responsible for the protection of endangered plants and animals has announced suspension of Gambia’s license for commercial trade in rosewood. The decision takes immediate effect, from the June 8 announcement. CITES – short for Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species – cited ‘exceptional circumstances generated by the documented pervasive trade’ [in rosewood] in violations of its convention. The decision came after the Gambian authorities failed to submit evidence to show that rosewood exports from the country are legal and not detrimental to the environment. When contacted, the CITES focal person in the country, Mawdo Jallow, said...
Factcheck: Gov’t has rejected only two TRRC recommendations
Officials of the Gambia government have repeatedly informed the public that the government has rejected only two recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). The recommendations with respect to the ban on NIA chief Ousman Sowe and ‘mercenary judges’ have been cited as the two that have been rejected. For instance, speaking in this video interview on May 25, Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said: “One of the two [rejected] is the recommendation made against a group of judges that the TRRC considered them to be mercenary judges. We rejected that from a public policy point of view because we...
Child diarrhea cases surge as sewage runs on Cape Town streets
Like clockwork, diarrhea among children spikes sharply during Cape Town’s long summer. The city tends to blame the heat and people’s poor hygiene practices, but its own sewage infrastructure may be the real culprit. In this edition of Super Friday, we are in Cape Town, South Africa, where Steve Kretzmann goes beyond the headlines to dig into what might be the real causes of the spikes in diarrhoea in that country. This investigation was produced in collaboration with the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism. Click HERE to read the story
Justice, at last, is on the horizon
President Adama Barrow’s decision to prosecute his predecessor Yahya Jammeh and his henchmen – and a woman – for murderous crimes has received widespread public support. For victims like 22-year-old Fatou Barrow (not related to President Barrow), who was just five months old when her father was shot and killed, justice, at last, is on the horizon. But has it always been so?In this election investigation series, Malagen unravels how the pursuit for justice for Jammeh-era crimes has been a classic case of game of thrones, a story of politics of deceit, betrayal and ambition.Faced with what he admitted...
Hate speech alert: Imam Fatty attacks Ahmadis
A prominent Gambian scholar and former imam of State House mosque has called on his followers to enroll for martial arts in the face of ‘imminent violent conflict’ with the minority Islamic religious group, the Ahmadis.