Michael Correa Found Guilty of Torture in Historic U.S. Verdict

By Kaddy Jawo Michael Sang Correa, a former member of The Gambia's notorious Junglers death squad, has been found guilty on multiple counts of torture in a landmark verdict delivered in a U.S. federal court in Denver. His conviction marks a rare and historic moment: only the third time in U.S. history that a person has been convicted under the extraterritorial Torture Act, and the first non-American ever to be sentenced under it. The jury found Correa guilty of conspiracy to commit torture and torture of five men: Tamsir Jasseh, Pharing Sanyang, Yaya Darboe, Pierre Mendy, and Demba Dem. These were not...

April 16, 2025Current Affairs
Read more +

Factsheet: Why every Gambian child needs polio vaccination

By Kaddy Jawo The Gambia government has wrapped up round one of the nationwide polio vaccination in the country. It happened between the 12th and 15th of November while the second phase is expected to take place next month – the 12th to 15th of December. But here are more facts about polio as a public health emergency that make it imperative for every child in the Gambia to get vaccinated to prevent contracting the consequential ailments.  But first, what’s polio?  According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), poliomyelitis (polio) is a highly infectious viral disease primarily affecting children under 5. It...

November 21, 2024Current Affairs, Factchecking, Featured
Read more +

A “remorseful” driver gets life. The trigger man who “killed for interest of country” still walks

Picture Source: AFP Dawda Nyassi was a former fighter in the Liberian civil war. He was believed to have been   affiliated with  Kukoi, a socialist “quack” revolutionary who seized power for about 2 weeks, in The Gambia in 1981. Nyassi would spend a few years in Liberia where he got married and had 2 kids. He returned home in 2006.  Like most of his team members, they would be arrested intermittently by the security forces for suspicion of overthrowing the government. After 2 succeeding arrests, Dawda’s luck ran out.  A timber trader, he took a trip from his home village Bondali, in...

December 4, 2023Current Affairs, Feature
Read more +

No amnesty for Sanna, Edward, ex-VP Njie-Saidy, but some junglers may walk free 

The TRRC’s amnesty committee had received and reviewed 25 applications for amnesty. Out of that, 11 were dismissed, 8 were denied, 5 were approved and 1 was referred to the Attorney General’s office. The government accepted all of TRRC's recommendations on amnesty except one. With it, at least three people who served at the second-highest office in the country as well as a former army chief may face long-waited justice for their alleged crimes of human rights violations. This story looks into who does and does not get an amnesty  The 1994 junta vice chair Sanna Sabally could be put...

May 25, 2022Current Affairs, The Big Story
Read more +

How gov’t spares NIA chief Sowe 

A number of high profile government officials have been found to have participated in the human rights violations that occurred under the former government. There is to be punishment, ranging from prosecution to ban from holding public office. But not all will face justice as the government takes exception for calls for punishment for some. This article looks into how the government’s decision on the TRRC recommendations affect those working in government.  The director general of the National Intelligence Agency has been spared from ban from holding public office as the government says the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) does...

May 25, 2022Current Affairs, The Big Story
Read more +

Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism relaunches as Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development

By CJID The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development [CJID], the parent organisation of Dubawa Ghana, has officially launched in Abuja, Nigeria. The Centre will help the West African news media community fulfil “a mission to improve governance, promote a community of informed citizenry, and entrench democratic accountability,” CJID Chief Executive Officer, Dapo Olorunyomi said at the launch dinner on Tuesday the 8th of February 2022. This mission, he added, has found expression in many innovative interventions, including Dubawa which is a transnational fact-checking product in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia. CEO of CJID, Dapo Olorunyomi The CJID, formerly known as the Premium Times...

February 11, 2022Current Affairs
Read more +

After 5 years in detention, no end in sight but Swiss authorities are determined to break the Ousman Sonko case

Yahya Jammeh— living in exile in Equatorial Guinea since 2017—has rule the small country with an iron fist. He stands accused on several human rights violations including murder of political opponents, journalists and rape. For several years, including for a decade as a minister—from 2006 to 2016— Sonko serves at his pleasure.

January 25, 2022Current Affairs, Feature
Read more +

Gambia’s electoral authorities clear 6 to contest presidential elections

The Independent Electoral Commission has accepted the nomination of 6 candidates to contest the 2021 presidential elections, disqualifying 15. In a statement read before journalists on Saturday evening, the chairman of the electoral commission, Alieu Mamour Njai, said 5 people have cancelled their nominations. The 6 candidates are Ousainou Darboe of United Democratic Party, Mama Kandeh of Gambia Democratic Congress, Halifa Sallah of Peoples’ Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism, president Adama Barrow of National Peoples’ Party, independent candidate Essa Mbaye Faal and Abdoulie Ebrima Jammeh of National Unity Party. Gambians head to polls on December 4, in what is expected to...

November 8, 2021Current Affairs, Election Hub
Read more +

GMC leader files for nomination, says talks on coalition with 2 others is ongoing

The Gambia Moral Congress, the Citizens’ Alliance and All People’s Alliance have so far failed to reach an agreement on a common presidential candidate to lead their recently formed ‘Alliance for Change 2021, said Mai Ahmad Fatty on Monday. Fatty, a lawyer and key member of the coalition 2016—a 7-party political grouping that backed President Adama Barrow to power— has filed his nomination papers on Monday afternoon. Last week, the Citizens’ Alliance (CA), All People’s Party (APP), the National Unity Party (NUP), the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC) and Gambia For All (GFA) party have called a meeting to signed an alliance agreement. However,...

November 3, 2021Current Affairs, Election Hub
Read more +

GDC leader says alliance with APRC faction wouldn’t jeopardize victims’ pursuit for justice

Mama Kandeh, the leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), has downplayed the potential impact of his alliance on victims’ pursuit of justice had he get elected president. Gambians head to polls on December 4 in what is country’s most crowded race for presidency since independence. On Tuesday, the GDC leader led an impressive crowd of supporters to file his nominations with Independent Electoral Commission. In the midst of the crowd, eyes couldn't miss the purple (GDC party colour) and green (APRC colour). The GDC has announced for[edgtf_dropcaps type="square" color="" background_color=""][/edgtf_dropcaps]ming a coalition with a faction of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation...

November 2, 2021Current Affairs, Election Hub
Read more +