Explainer: Renewed commitment to ending Female Genital Mutilation in The Gambia

Photo Source: Africa.cgtn.com According to the World Health Organisation, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Why is Female Genital Mutilation Practised in The Gambia? Although its practice is mostly linked to religion, female genital mutilation is an ancient cultural and traditional practice in The Gambia. In most societies in The Gambia, the practice is viewed as a form of ‘purity’ for women. Most girls undergo the process as infants, others later in their childhood. One of the common...

February 24, 2023Factchecking
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False! Not all households in Kiang community have electricity

Claim: Dembo ‘By Force’ Bojang, national president of the National People’s Party (NPP), has said that all households in Kiang are electrified. Verdict: FALSE. At least 16 communities in Kiang are yet to be electrified.  On December 27, 2022, the National People’s Party (NPP) national president, Dembo Bojang, popularly called Dembo By Force, stated that every household in Kiang, a village in the Lower River Division of The Gambia is electrified.  He made this remark at the ruling party’s congress. The claim can be found in the 55 minutes of this video. He was speaking in the Mandinka language, and an interpretation...

February 9, 2023Factchecking
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Photo Source: WorldAtlas.com.

Explainer: Significance of UN World Braille Day

United Nations defines braille as a tactile representation of alphabetic and numerical symbols using six dots to represent each letter and number, and even musical, mathematical and scientific symbols. The observance of World Braille Day was officially recognised by the United Nations General Assembly in 2018. What is World Braille Day? World Braille Day is celebrated yearly on January 4, which is the birth anniversary of Louis Braille, the one who invented the communication device. In 2009, the World Blind Union celebrated the 200 th anniversary of Louis Braille’s birth. This, therefore, led to World Braille Day. The United Nations then made...

February 1, 2023Factchecking
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Explainer: Honouring Solo Sandeng’s sacrifice

The events of April 14 & 16, 2016, were a dark chapter in The Gambia’s history. Ebrima Solo Sandeng, an organising secretary of the opposition United Democratic Party, led a nonviolent protest, demanding electoral reforms and justice. This was a period when the dictatorship was at its peak. The Gambia's former dictator president, Yahya Jammeh, was holding on to power with an iron fist ahead of the December 2016 elections. The protestors received a hostile welcome from the Police Intervention Unit (PIU) officers. About 27  UDP members were arrested and taken to the PIU headquarters in Kanifing. Solo Sandeng was...

February 1, 2023Factchecking
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Fact-check: has Gai Construction been paying tax in relation to the Banjul Rehabilitation Project?

While the addendum signed on October 11, 2019, nullified the credit facility, changes the currency of payment from USD to dalasis though the costings all remain in USD. That first addendum done in 2019 nullified the credit facility which carried the first tax exemption granted to the contractor. The authorities then include a similar tax exemption and duty waiver in the addendum.

September 7, 2022Factchecking
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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...

June 21, 2022Factchecking
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