A Senegalese government official announced Friday that the country will summon former president Macky Sall to appear in court. An independent audit found serious problems with the national treasury's financial records during Sall's presidency.
The ex-president is accused of overseeing a disastrous misuse of public money. The report challenged official numbers from when he was in charge and significantly increased the actual amounts for both government debt and deficit spending.
Sall has lived in Morocco since his term ended last year. He claims the controversy surrounding the audit is politically motivated. Government spokesman Moustapha Sarre suggested that based on the report's findings, Sall could be viewed as the head of a...
Ousainu Darboe, who leads the top opposing party, the United Democratic Party, just released a video to clear up some rumors spreading on social media. People were talking a lot online after Darboe met privately with President Adama Barrow at the State House. Everyone wondered what the two political leaders discussed.
Darboe said the stories about a "Darboe draft" and a "Barrow draft" constitution aren't true. He explained, "I don't have my own draft. The only constitution I support is the one the Gambian people want. Nothing else." He thinks the talks with President Barrow will keep going. Darboe hopes they can agree on something good for the country.
He believes the best thing for Gambians is the constitution project. The government...
Dam Touray, the administrative secretary for the National Reconciliation Party (NRP), wants the government to split the Central River Region into north and south. He wrote to the Ministry of Local Government about this idea.
The region already has two Area Councils and chairpersons in Kuntaur and Janjanbureh. Some government departments, like agriculture, use a similar north/south system there. It makes their work easier to manage.
Touray said he wrote the letter as a private citizen, not for the NRP. He pointed out that The Gambia has eight Local Government Areas but only seven regions. Five of those regions have governors, and one has a mayor.
In the Central River Region, a single governor oversees two Local Government Area...
President Adama Barrow launched a major training grant program on Friday. The program is part of celebrating The Gambia's 60th Independence anniversary. The Skills, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (SIE) Fund will give D396,761,321.50 to 25 public and private technical schools.
The World Bank funds the SIE through its RISE project. The Ministry of Higher Education Research, Science and Technology runs it. The goal is to train skilled workers who can help grow the country's economy and society.
President Barrow spoke at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara Conference Centre. He said investing in the SIE Fund shows his government wants to support young people's education and potential. Each scholarship will pay $400 per student, covering...
A group of students and teachers from Portlaoise College in the Republic of Ireland are getting ready for a trip to The Gambia. They'll keep helping local schools and communities there, which the college has done since 2011.
Ellen Peacock, Oran O'Brien, Eire Delaney, Aoibheann O'Sullivan, Vaselesa Hauryk, Abbie Maher, Nina Masiewicz, Ciara McComish-Day, Damien Moore, Larysa Himicz, Orlagh Creery, Catherine Graham, Hannah Piotrowska, and Elijah Colbert are the students going. Teachers John Fitzpatrick, Shaun Murphy, Amanda Cripps, and Grainne Hyland will join them.
In The Gambia, they'll focus on making school buildings better, bringing school supplies, and spending time with Gambian students. For 14 years, they've worked with a...
The National Association of Early Childhood Educators (AECE) in The Gambia celebrated the country's 60th Independence Anniversary on Thursday. Nursery school kids led an exciting march past and parade at MacCarthy Square in Banjul. They showed their patriotism in a big way.
The association has organized this event for many years. Hundreds of young children from different nursery schools participated, along with their teachers, scouts, and the army band. The parade was full of bright colors, banners, and performances that highlighted the nation's culture and pride.
One of the most special parts was having the young children represent national leaders. A "Child Infant President" dressed up just like President Adama Barrow. This young...
Ebrima Kassama, who runs Chissay Majaw Basic Cycle School in the North Bank Region, wants ChildFund and its partners to give more money to their student cash transfer project. He hopes the extra funds will allow them to support more students.
Journalists recently talked to Kassama during ChildFund's yearly media tour. The tour checks on ChildFund's different projects to see how well they're working and helping people. The student cash transfer is part of a bigger project called Zero Out of School Children (ZOOSC).
ZOOSC receives funding from Educate A Child. UNICEF Gambia, the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, ChildFund, and Efanet all work together to run the project. They aim to bring over 66,000 children who dropped out...
The National Human Rights Commission and the British High Commission worked together to train law enforcement officers on Tuesday, February 25th. They covered topics like human rights, international humanitarian law, and how to handle cases involving sexual and gender-based violence.
Emmanuel D. Joof, who leads the NHRC, said they organized the training because of what the TRRC found and suggested. The TRRC hearings showed that people working in security need to better understand gender equality, human rights, and the rule of law.
Joof also mentioned that human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, make the public lose trust. They create a scary and unstable environment. He believes this training is necessary...
Dr. Fatou Baldeh and Fred Rooney are working to create the first lawyer training program of its kind in The Gambia. Dr. Baldeh started Women in Liberation and Leadership, a Gambian group that helps women. Mr. Rooney is a US lawyer who fights for justice around the world. He is visiting The Gambia to help WILL and others start this new program.
The training program will teach lawyers how to work better in court and run their law offices. This Gambian program will follow all rules from the Chief Justice, Ministry of Justice, and Gambian Bar Association and meet all standards from the General Legal Council, which controls how lawyers practice, behave, and learn in The Gambia.
Rooney asked for a Fulbright grant after he heard about how...
