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African Union Member States (55) reporting COVID-19 cases (4,812,313), deaths (130,025) and recoveries (4,351,816) by region: Central (172,873 cases; 2,781 deaths; 159,001 recoveries): Burundi (4,650; 6; 4,198), Cameroon (77,982; 1,270; 72,926), CAR (7,085; 97; 6,665), Chad (4,927; 173; 4,742), Congo (11,658; 153; 10,591), DRC (31,386; 782; 27,654), Equatorial Guinea (8,476; 113; 8,146), Gabon (24,365; 150; 21,791), Sao Tome and Principe (2,344; 37; 2,288) Eastern (647,406; 12,678; 536,199): Comoros (3,949; 146; 3,719), Djibouti (11,523; 153; 11,354), Eritrea (4,022; 14; 3,812), Ethiopia (270,944; 4,139; 235,850), Kenya (170,041; 3,124; 116,018), Madagascar (41,184; 828; 40,028), Mauritius (1,356; 17; 1,181), Rwanda (26,878; 352; 25,542), Seychelles (11,145; 40; 9,936), Somalia (14,647; 768; 6,717), South Sudan (10,688; 115; 10,514), Sudan (35,289; 2,600; 27,949), Tanzania** (509; 21; 178), Uganda (45,231; 361; 43,401) Northern (1,453,109; 43,808; 1,276,107): Algeria (128,198; 3,586; 89,292), Egypt (259,540; 14,950; 190,254), Libya (184,815; 3,116; 171,279), Mauritania (19,407; 462; 18,377), Morocco (518,458; 9,135; 506,443), Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (739; 46; 691), Tunisia (341,952; 12,513; 299,771) Southern (2,066,519; 64,531; 1,933,721): Angola (33,607; 745; 27,529), Botswana (56,313; 831; 50,494), Eswatini (18,587; 672; 17,855), Lesotho (10,825; 326; 6,434), Malawi (34,323; 1,154; 32,598), Mozambique (70,697; 835; 69,232), Namibia (54,268; 807; 50,053), South Africa (1,654,551; 56,293; 1,551,520), Zambia (94,430; 1,275; 91,443), Zimbabwe (38,918; 1,593; 36,563) Western (472,406; 6,227; 446,788): Benin (8,058; 101; 7,893), Burkina Faso (13,424; 166; 13,248), Cabo Verde (30,122; 261; 28,163), Côte d&#39;Ivoire (47,195; 301; 46,591), Gambia (5,990; 178; 5,767), Ghana (93,775; 784; 91,853), Guinea (23,110; 161; 20,840), Guinea Bissau (3,760; 68; 3,511), Liberia (2,179; 86; 2,033), Mali (14,262; 516; 9,559), Niger (5,409; 192; 5,080), Nigeria (166,254; 2,071; 156,546), Senegal (41,296; 1,138; 39,932), Sierra Leone (4,140; 79; 3,128), Togo (13,432; 125; 12,644)Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
Media files

Coronavirus: African Union Member States reporting COVID-19 cases as of 29 May 2021, 9 am EAT

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As we know, the 2021 African Union Summit is taking place next week. The leaders will elect a new Commission, which is the body’s secretariat, for the next four years. One of the officials elected will be the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Joining CNBC Africa is one of the candidates for the position &#8211; Fatoumata Tambajang, the Former Vice President of The Gambia.

Fatoumata Tambajang on what her candidacy for Deputy Chairperson of AU Commission means

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The International Monetary Fund says it has completed its first review of The Gambia’s performance under a program supported by a 39-month Extended Credit Facility arrangement and disbursed 28.8 million dollars upon completion of the review. IMF’s Resident Representative to The Gambia, Mamadou Dioulde Barry joins CNBC Africa for more.

How the IMF is supporting Gambia’s post-COVID-19 recovery

BANJUL (Reuters) &#8211; Gambia, mainland Africa’s smallest country, imposed a three-week curfew on Wednesday after coronavirus cases surged over 60% in the last seven days to nearly 800.



Authorities attributed the rise to people relaxing their guard on protective measures that had so far kept Gambia’s case total the lowest in Africa. Testing has also increased in the country, where the number of deaths is 16.



A 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will go into effect on Thursday, public gatherings will be banned and markets will have to close by 2 p.m., government spokesman Ebrima Sankareh told the national broadcaster.



He had said earlier in the day that authorities would increase police, paramilitary, marine and immigration presence on its border with Senegal as scores of Senegalese who live in Gambia return from celebrating Eid al-Adha with their wider families. Senegal has recorded over 10,500 cases.



The minister for women’s affairs, children and social welfare, Fatou Kinteh, tested positive on Wednesday for COVID-19, becoming the fourth minister to do so this week.



Vice President Isatou Touray also tested positive on July 29, leading President Adama Barrow to enter self-isolation. The government said on Tuesday the president had tested negative.



The Health Ministry said six people who were confirmed cases were still at large, while two other positive cases had fled from a treatment centre in the capital

Clarification on COVID-19 “hotspots” as SA moves to level 3 lockdown

Gambia imposes curfew as coronavirus cases surge 60% in a week

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CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor also caught up with former CEO of Access Bank Aigboje AIG-Imoukhuede to get his take on the merger.

Former Access Bank CEO speaks on merger with Diamond Bank

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International observer former Vice-President of The Gambia Fatoumata Tambajang shares her views on the Nigerian elections.

#NigeriaDecides: Former VP of The Gambia Tambajang shares her views on the elections

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CNBC Africa sat down with the President of the Chamber of Commerce Muhammed Jagana, on how private sector can fast-track growth.

Private sector key to economic growth – Gambia Chamber of Commerce

<figure><img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219387/original/file-20180517-155564-upsa5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="File 20180517 155564 upsa5z.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1" /><figcaption>Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza is one of many authoritarian African leaders. 
AMISOM Public Information/Flickr</figcaption></figure>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cheryl-hendricks-267661">Cheryl Hendricks</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gabriel-ngah-kiven-482032">Gabriel Ngah Kiven</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a>
There is mounting concern in Africa about a lack of leadership as well as an increasing trend of hard-won democratic rights being reversed. One way this is being done is through presidential term limits being abandoned, or extended. This in turn is leading to a reemergence of authoritarian politics, and political violence.
Extending or abolishing term limits is not unique to the continent. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin won a fourth term <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/18/world/europe/election-russia-putin-president.html">in March 2018</a> after changes to the constitution and some nimble political footwork. And the Chinese parliament <a href="https://www.independent.ie/.../china-abolishes-presidential-term-limits-36692282.html">recently voted</a> to abolish term limits allowing for the possibility of President Xi Jinping becoming president for life. Given that Russia and China play an influential role on the African continent these events don’t bode well for the future of presidents sticking to term limits on the continent.
Burundi is a case in point. A poll <a href="https://theconversation.com/democracy-in-peril-burundis-referendum-will-cement-nkurunzizas-grip-on-power-96544">is being held</a> to amend the constitution to extend presidential term limits from five to seven years. Incumbency would be restricted to two consecutive terms. But the amendment doesn’t apply retroactively which means that President Pierre Nkurunziza could possibly remain in office until 2034. If he lives that long (he’s 55-years-old), and given that he assumed the position in 2005, this would make him president for 29 years.
Burundi is far from alone. Rwanda, Togo, Gabon, Uganda, Chad, Cameroon, Djibouti, Republic of Congo, Sudan, Eritrea, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have all fiddled with term limits. They’ve done this by abolishing, amending or ignoring them, or by simply not holding elections. Other countries such as Ethiopia, Gambia, Lesotho, and Morocco <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/term-limits-for-african-leaders-linked-to-stability/">have never</a> introduced term limits.
Some bids to remove or extend term limits and have failed. These include Frederick Chiluba in 2001 and more recently Edgar Lungu in Zambia, Olusegun Obesanjo of Nigeria (2005), Mamadou Tandja of Niger(2009-2010) and Blaise Compaore of Burkino Faso (2014).
Noteworthy is the fact that many West African countries actually adhere to term limits. This was recognised recently when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf received the Mo Ibrahim <a href="http://mo.ibrahim.foundation/prize/">leadership prize</a> after duly serving her constitutionally mandated term.
The upward trend of amending or abolishing constitutional term limits is likely to increase if organisations like the African Union (AU) don’t deal with the problem. In many countries citizens showing their disapproval, have been met with repression and violence. Large-scale political violence is likely to be the consequence if the trend persists.
<h2>A rolling back of rights</h2>
Africa went through a wave of democratisation from the 1990s. Citizens took to the streets demanding democratic rights. In many countries, the uprisings ended decades of one-partyism and personal rule. The key demands were for multi-party democracy, constitutionalism and that democratic norms and standards be institutionalised.
It’s in this milieu that countries adopted a bill of rights, the rule of law, checks and balances and term limits. Presidential term limits were deemed necessary for a number of reasons. The view was that <a href="http://africanarguments.org/2015/10/05/how-and-why-term-limits-matter">they would enable</a> better governance, equal opportunity to serve in government, curb patronage politics as well as end authoritarianism. These norms and standards were also seen as a way to stabilise countries <a href="http://www.monitor.co.ug/SpecialReports/688342-688342-ptx9ooz/index.html">politically</a>.
It certainly seems that these constitutional gains are being eroded by heads of state seeking to prolong their stay in power. There also appears to be little concerted attempt by bodies such as the AU to stop the erosion of hard-fought for democratic rights.
The AU’s silence may be because of ambiguity in norms and policy, and because of its leadership. The AU’s Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, which was ratified in 2012, rejects unconstitutional changes of government. But it doesn’t say anything specifically about abolishing term limits. <a href="http://archive.ipu.org/idd-E/afr_charter.pdf">Article 23 (5)</a> notes that countries will have appropriate sanction imposed on them if there are:
<blockquote>Any amendment or revision of the constitution or legal instruments, which is an infringement on the principals of democratic change of government</blockquote>
But it doesn’t spell out what type of amendments are being referred to.
The second factor has to do with the fact that many holding leadership positions at the AU are the same men who have amended or abandoned term limits – or come from the countries that have done so. This suggests the organisation won’t be tackling the “third termism” trend any time soon.
<h2>Spurious reasons for extending stays</h2>
A number of arguments have been put forward by leaders seeking to extend, or simply abandoning, term limits.
One is that term limits prevent <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Mugabe-slams-two-term-limit-on-African-leaders-20150614">people’s choice</a> of president. Another is that African leaders have much more to do to bring about development and therefore need more time. A third is that they have the sovereign right to govern and change constitutions as they see fit. And finally, the strongman argument around a president’s ability to keep the country united and to create peace and stability.
Rwanda is a case in point. President Paul Kagame <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/05/rwandas-paul-kagame-landslide-poll-win-around-98-votes/">received 99%</a> of the vote in August 2017. There’s no gainsaying that there have been remarkable achievements in rebuilding a post-genocide Rwanda. But if there isn’t anybody (and this is doubtful) capable of challenging Kagame after 18 years of rule, then he hasn’t created an environment for democratic leadership to emerge.
We should also be wary of election results that yield 99% support as this smacks of the heyday of one-man and one-party rule.
<h2>The curse of third terminism</h2>
As Africans prepare to celebrate Africa Day on the 25th of May, we need to keep in mind the ideas that inspired <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/organisation-african-unity-oau">formation</a> of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 and the <a href="https://au.int/en/history/oau-and-au">African Union</a> in 2001. These were the Pan-African ideals of political and economic integration, solidarity, unity, dignity, justice and equality for all.
The growing trend of “third termism” is likely to prevent African countries from reaching these goals yet again as the interests of individuals are placed above those of citizens and countries.
Africa needs visionary and courageous leadership, not benevolent or autocratic rulers. It needs leaders that can create the enabling environment for democracy, peace, and development to thrive and endure, and for citizens to live to their fullest potential.
Africa also needs citizens who will hold leaders to account and who will contribute to the realisation of the vision of a democratic pan-African future.
As Africans we don’t have to make a choice between democracy and development. We deserve both.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cheryl-hendricks-267661">Cheryl Hendricks</a>, Professor of Political Science, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gabriel-ngah-kiven-482032">Gabriel Ngah Kiven</a>, PhD candidate in Political Studies at the Department of Politics and International Relations , <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/presidential-term-limits-slippery-slope-back-to-authoritarianism-in-africa-96796">original article</a>.

Op-Ed: Is Africa on a slippery slope back to authoritarianism?

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The IMF has warned African countries about the risks of rising debt. Ghana and Gambia have government debt to GDP ratios that are over 50 per cent. Is it right to ring the alarm bells for West Africa&#8217;s debt situation?

Should we sound the alarm on debt in West Africa?

Mohamed M Diatta | Sciences Po – USPC
At a time where Africa has seen a few long-standing leaders exit, the issue of change in power is occupying minds of citizens as well as those in leadership positions.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-290966 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Angola_Joao-Lourenço_Dos-Santos_GettyImages.png" alt="" width="850" height="566" />
In spite of their varied repertoire of tactics to remain in power, no one is immune to the wave of change in leadership that has led many African presidents to lose their coveted top job.
Whether through elections, succession battles, coups or end of terms in office it has become a question of when and how they will exit. That’s if one is not too concerned with what comes afterwards. Though it is too early to tell whether meaningful changes can be expected, cases such as Zimbabwe suggest that its citizens can envisage more of the same.
Nevertheless, a review of developments in 2017 shows that it was a fruitful year for those advocating change. Examples include the Gambia where Adama Barrow came in as a promising new leader. Angola’s Joao Manuel Lourenço rose to power and immediately replaced some top public servants, raising hopes that he might champion good governance, although there hasn’t been an overhaul of the system.
In any case, the arrival of a ‘new’ leader in power always brings optimism for change and constitutes an opportunity for new beginnings.
<h2>The big changes of 2017</h2>
In the Gambia Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jammeh decided to hang onto power following his electoral defeat to Adama Barrow.
<div id="attachment_299592" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-299592" class="wp-image-299592 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Gambia-President_Adama-Barrow_GettyImages-300x200.png" alt="" width="300" height="200" />Gambian President, Adama Barrow. Image: Getty Images</div>
After nearly four decades in power Angola’s Jose Eduardo Dos Santos did not seek reelection. But his ruling Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) retained power after winning the August presidential election. Dos Santos was succeeded by Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenço, his former Minister of Defense.A nuisance to his Senegalese neighbour and an embarrassment to his peers in the subregional body, he was eventually pushed out by the Economic Community of West African States, ending his 22-year rule. He has since been in exile in Equatorial Guinea.
Zimbabwe provided the finale to an eventful year when, in a battle for succession, Robert Mugabe was forced out by a faction of his ZANU-PF with the help the Zimbabwean Defense Forces. Emmerson Mnangagwa, his long-time ally, and vice-president, took over the country. Mnangagwa has announced that elections this year will be ‘free and fair’. He is expected to retain power and his ZANU-PF to keep control of the national assembly.
<h2>Different fortunes</h2>
Rwanda, Kenya and Liberia all presented tales of different presidential fortunes.
After the December 2015 constitutional amendment allowing Paul Kagame to run for a third term and potentially remain in power until 2034, he was, without a surprise, reelected in august 2017 with almost 99 % of the votes. Kagame, touted by many as the providential leader who has stabilised and redressed a country emerging from genocide, is also criticised for muzzling all forms of opposition and restricting civil liberties.
In Kenya, Chris Msando, head of information, communication and technology for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, was tortured and murdered a week before the presidential election. Following the august 8th polls, the opposition coalition known as NASA and led by Raila Ondinga, contested the reelection of incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. Despite international observers (including the African Union) finding no major issues with the polls, the Kenyan Supreme Court annulled the results and called for a new election in October.
<div id="attachment_292572" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-292572" class="wp-image-292572 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Uhuru-Kenyatta_New_Flickr-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta.</div>
Kenya has since sunk into a political and institutional crisis, aggravated by the recent inauguration of Odinga as the ‘peoples president’.Uhuru Kenyatta was eventually reelected president in October, after NASA’s refusal to take part in the election without addressing the key issues raised about the electoral commission.
Africa’s presidential electoral year ended in Liberia, on 28 December, with the passing of the baton between the ruling-party’s candidate Joseph Nyumah Bokai and Georges Oppong Weah. The former soccer star turned politician and senator, won in the second round with more than 60% of the votes taking over from Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s 12 year rule. He will have to redress the resource-rich but yet poor nation, in the wake of a debilitating Ebola outbreak.
<h2>Lessons to take into 2018</h2>
In the three emblematic cases of ‘handover’ – Angola, Zimbabwe and The Gambia – it’s difficult to say whether the democratic deficit is less serious today. But if ZANU-PF and the MPLA don’t renew themselves, systems that don’t have a stellar record in the rule of law and good governance departments could easily be perpetuated.
Gambians, for their part, can hope that the coming to power of a novice in politics will bring them a better life.
Ensuring democratic and good governance, free and fair elections, and peaceful transitions to power are no longer optional.
Stability in several countries will indubitably be jeopardised in 2018 if some governments do not deliver free and fair elections. Similarly, undertaking constitutional changes that contradict the rule of law, the separation of powers and don’t uphold political agreements, will further entrench instability. From this point of view, Africa’s regional organisations will have to manage the post-electoral crises from previous years – including Kenya – and try and prevent those on the horizon this year.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91600/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />The African Union must, more than ever, have all its member states sing to the tune of democracy. This can be facilitated by a reform of the organisation. But this, in turn, hinges on the political will of those who will have to endorse the necessary changes. Unfortunately, they remain, for the moment, the guardians of the old order.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Africa waves some leaders goodbye: but is the democratic deficit any narrower?

Gambia&#8217;s government on Thursday proposed a 2017 budget of 12.24 billion dalasi ($266.8 million), down 6 percent from last year, as it seeks to rein in public debt that ballooned under longtime strongman Yahya Jammeh.
Under Jammeh, compelled to quit earlier this year by threat of force from regional armies after losing an election, public debt rose to 120.3 percent of GDP from 83.3 percent between 2013-2016.
President Adama Barrow&#8217;s government has accused Jammeh, who is in exile in Equatorial Guinea, of committing fraud on a massive scale during his 22-year rule, including siphoning off tens of millions of dollars in public money.
In a statement, minister of finance and economic affairs, Amadou Sanneh, said the budget would cut 475 million dalasi in goods and services in order to address an economic crisis that has left the country with less than two months&#8217; worth of foreign reserves.
Contributions from foreign donors including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and European Union &#8211; many of which had cut financial ties to Jammeh&#8217;s government &#8211; account for nearly 20 percent of this year&#8217;s budget, Sanneh said.
The budget is 15 percent less than one proposed by Jammeh in December 2016 shortly after losing the election to Barrow.
($1 = 45.88 dalasi)
(Reporting By Lamin Jahateh; Writing by Aaron Ross; editing by John Stonestreet)

Gambia proposes 6% budget cut for 2017 in bid to contain debt

Edward McAllister and Lamin Jahateh | BANJUL
After police arrested 57-year-old Gambian activist Solo Sandeng at a protest a year ago, witnesses said he was beaten to death and buried in an unmarked grave near a fishing village.
Since then a new government has come to power, promising swift redress for alleged crimes committed during the 22-year rule of ex-president Yahya Jammeh, and nine intelligence officers are now on trial for the murder.
Yet hope for justice is already giving way to frustration for Sandeng&#8217;s family, as well as for relatives of the many other Gambians who disappeared before Jammeh fled the west African country in January.
They are growing impatient with a justice system which, starved of funds, equipment and expertise, is buckling under a backlog of dozens of unsolved cases from the Jammeh era.
Elation swept Gambia when Jammeh was forced out, and the new government of President Adama Barrow has promised to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in six months, modelled on similar bodies in other African nations.
But Sandeng&#8217;s family, discouraged by repeated adjournments in his case to let prosecutors gather more evidence, says that is not enough.
&#8220;We need justice to be served, then we can reconcile,&#8221; his daughter Fatoumata told Reuters, wearing a black veil and a white t-shirt with a picture of Sandeng&#8217;s face.
Police finally found and exhumed Sandeng&#8217;s body last month, helping his case to become one of just a few to have made it to court so far. But Fatoumata also sympathises with those relatives who do not even have the consolation of a trial.
<blockquote>&#8220;We have many families who have gone through this for many years and they need justice now,&#8221; she said in Banjul. &#8220;You can&#8217;t tell them to wait until you feel like doing something.&#8221;</blockquote>
Delays are common in even the best funded justice systems, but the problems of Gambia, a tiny agricultural economy, are profound.
Former victims have described arbitrary detention, torture and often death for political opponents under Jammeh, which rights groups argue must either be addressed at home or at the International Criminal Court (ICC).[nL5N1DY0DR]
But saddled with over $1 billion in debt &#8211; more than Gambia&#8217;s annual economic output &#8211; the country is struggling to function at all, let alone pay for a wave of complex trials.
<blockquote>&#8220;The economy is a shambles,&#8221; Finance Minister Amadou Sanneh told Reuters. &#8220;There is a serious deficit in the funding of judges.&#8221;</blockquote>
LAWYERS WITHOUT COMPUTERS
The European Union pledged 75 million euros ($80 million) to Gambia weeks after Jammeh left, resuming aid cut off in 2014.
But this will go towards food security, roads and jobs. Meanwhile, lawyers often have no internet access or find themselves unable to make hard copies of important documents for a lack of printers.
&#8220;Imagine a lawyer without a computer. It slows us down,&#8221; said Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou. &#8220;Lawyers make more money in their private practice than working for us.&#8221;
Tambadou said the Sandeng case was brought to trial too fast and not enough evidence was collected, but he urged patience.
&#8220;The weight of expectation is too high. Twenty-two years is not 22 days,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We have inherited a broken justice system and we must rebuild that system.&#8221;
Despite the delays and cash shortages, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission aims to start public hearings by the end of the year.
Gambia did not suffer a civil war or large scale ethnic conflict like other African countries that have set up such commissions &#8211; Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea after refusing to accept an election defeat by Barrow &#8211; so achieving truth and reconciliation should in some ways be a less daunting task.
Still, Gambia will need to learn from others&#8217; experience. Opaque and costly, Ivory Coast&#8217;s commission was criticised for not offering specific recommendations to help solve differences that linger after thousands died in a short 2011 war. Liberia&#8217;s similarly failed to make many citizens feel that crimes committed during a decade of civil war had been redressed.
Others have had more success. In Sierra Leone, a U.N.-backed commission uncovered new facts about the roots of a nine-year civil war that ended in 2002, helping to avoid further conflict. In Rwanda, where 800,000 died in a 1994 genocide, community tribunals successfully tried abuses.
But rights groups say there can be no substitute for effective trials, although Jammeh has put himself out of the ICC&#8217;s reach as Equatorial Guinea has not signed up to the court in the Hague.
<blockquote>&#8220;The biggest danger for Gambia is that the commission becomes a talking shop with interesting dialogue about what happened without addressing the need for justice,&#8221; said Human Rights Watch Africa researcher Jim Wormington. &#8220;It cannot be a replacement for justice.&#8221;</blockquote>
($1 = 0.9327 euros)
(Editing by Tim Cocks and David Stamp)

Lack of cash and computers frustrates Gambians’ hunt for justice

Gambia said on Thursday it would set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and offer reparations to victims of former President Yahya Jammeh&#8217;s government, which is accused of the torture and killing of perceived opponents.
Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said in a statement the government will also probe the finances of Jammeh, who fled into exile in January to Equatorial Guinea after a rule that began in 1994 when he seized power in a coup.
Jammeh lost an election in December to the now President Adama Barrow but refused to accept the result. He only stepped down after pressure from regional leaders who sent troops to Gambia to force him to leave.
Since his departure Barrow&#8217;s government has taken steps to restore the rule of law and strengthen the judiciary.
&#8220;A Truth and Reconciliation Commision with appropriate reparations for victims will be set up within the next six months and public hearings will be expected to commence by the end of the year,&#8221; Tambadou said.
The government would first study other such commissions. South Africa established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission after apartheid ended in 1994 and other African countries have set up similar bodies.
The aim is to encourage people to confess crimes committed under the previous government and for victims to air injustices they suffered. Reparations can also be set.
(Reporting by Pap Saine; writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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Gambia to set up truth and reconciliation commission

By Lamin Jahateh, Emma Farge and Edward McAllister
When Gambian intelligence officers arrested journalist Ebrima Manneh at his newspaper, he asked an office guard to save some tea.
&#8220;I&#8217;m coming right back,&#8221; he said, according to colleague Alhagie Jobe, who was present in the newsroom. That was on the afternoon of July 11, 2006; since then, neither his colleagues at the Daily Observer nor his family have seen him again.
Rights groups say Manneh is one of dozens of Gambians who disappeared without trace during the 22-year rule of president Yahya Jammeh, which ended last month when he fled the country.
Relatives have tried in vain for a decade to find the journalist, nicknamed &#8220;Chief&#8221; although he held no traditional title. Now they believe he is dead and, like a growing number of Gambians, say they are seeking justice.
&#8220;I want the new government to take action and prosecute whosoever had a hand in my brother&#8217;s disappearance,&#8221; said his sister Adama Manneh, a police officer, wearing a T-shirt bearing her brother&#8217;s face that read: &#8220;Where is Chief Manneh?&#8221; Ebrima&#8217;s brother Lamin said he hoped at least to recover the body.
Some families hope to gather evidence for a case against Jammeh &#8211; who quit under international pressure after losing an election in December &#8211; for human rights abuses, including unlawful detention, torture and murder of perceived opponents, charges his supporters deny.
Attempts by Reuters to reach Jammeh for comment in Equatorial Guinea, where he fled, were unsuccessful.
Rights officials say building a case could be tough. Another African ex-leader, former Chadian president Hissene Habre, was jailed for life last year for crimes against humanity, more than a quarter century after his overthrow. Habre was convicted by a court in Senegal with the help of incriminating documents, but rights officials say any hard evidence against Jammeh is lacking so far.
Another complication is that Equatorial Guinea has no extradition treaty with Gambia.
Many Gambians dream of bringing Jammeh before the International Criminal Court, which has put former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo on trial.
While Jammeh fled before fulfilling a pledge to withdraw Gambia from the ICC, Equatorial Guinea has never been a member of the Hague-based court and would be unlikely to hand him over.
Still, police in Gambia have promised to investigate cases of at least 30 people so far reported as missing or killed since Jammeh seized power in 1994, among them journalists, businessmen and soldiers. Several senior officials have been arrested including the former prison boss, interior minister and spy chief who was charged with murder last week.
Gambia&#8217;s new President Adama Barrow has promised a U.N.-backed truth and reconciliation commission into past crimes which also include alleged torture.
 
CHRONICLE OF THE DISAPPEARED
Manneh was 28 when the intelligence officers came to call at the Daily Observer&#8217;s offices in the capital, Banjul. On various occasions, Jammeh and his officials told reporters he was dead, had fled the country and had &#8220;stage-managed&#8221; his disappearance, according to an annual human rights report published in 2012 by the U.S. State Department.
The family still do not know the reason for his arrest, though colleagues suspect it may have been related to comments he wrote about the former president.
Adding to the mystery, Manneh called his mother immediately after his arrest, asking her to fetch his bag from the office. Manneh had said he was planning a trip abroad and would not be able to get it himself, his mother Sulay Ceesay told Reuters.
Three days later, on July 14, Manneh&#8217;s sister discovered his passport in the bag. &#8220;I said to myself: &#8216;Chief did not travel, he is in town&#8217;,&#8221; said Adama.
The search began but family members were unable to find out where he was taken after the local police station. Two witnesses said they spotted him on separate occasions in hospital in 2007 looking sickly, but Adama said officials prevented her from visiting him at the time.
When Adama made inquiries within the police force, her superiors warned that she too risked arrest.
In 2007, the Media Foundation for West Africa, an NGO, brought a legal action against the Gambian government at the Community Court of Justice, a body set up by the ECOWAS group of West African states. The government lodged no defence and failed to show up for the case.
The Nigerian-based regional court ruled in 2008 that Gambia had violated Manneh&#8217;s human rights. It ordered the government to free him and pay the family $100,000. The compensation was never handed over, the family said.
The court heard Manneh had been shuttled between at least six different detention sites between 2006 and 2008, and was never charged or given access to a lawyer. One witness, a journalist from a different newspaper, told the court he had seen Manneh being led back to a police cell in December, 2006.
Edward Gomez, who was justice minister and attorney general in 2010-2012 and later acted as Jammeh&#8217;s lawyer, expressed ignorance of the journalist&#8217;s fate. &#8220;I know what happened is very painful but quite frankly I don&#8217;t know what happened to him,&#8221; Gomez told Reuters.
Every year Adama went to Banjul&#8217;s main prison to attend the annual release of pardoned prisoners to see if her brother was among them. Hope finally deserted her only in the past month when the new president released more than 100 political prisoners from some of the country&#8217;s many detention centres. Manneh was not among them.
&#8220;I was thinking that my brother would be released but he never showed up there and I knew he had been killed,&#8221; Adama said in the courtyard of her home near Banjul with her mother and sister, their cheeks glistening with tears.
 
(editing by David Stamp)﻿
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Gambians seek justice for the disappeared

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that Gambia, which is seeking to emerge from more than two decades of authoritarian rule, would be readmitted &#8220;as fast as possible&#8221; to the Commonwealth, a body whose African members he once maligned.
Longtime leader Yahya Jammeh, who had ruled since seizing power in 1994, fled Gambia last month after regional militaries launched an operation to remove him.
In 2013, the mercurial former coup leader pulled his tiny West African nation out of the Commonwealth, the grouping including Britain and most of its former colonies, branding it a &#8220;neo-colonial institution.&#8221;
Johnson met with Gambia&#8217;s new president, Adama Barrow, who won a Dec. 1 election that Jammeh rejected, on the first leg of his maiden trip to Africa, a continent where he has been accused of racial insensitivity in his previous career as a journalist.
&#8220;We are going to admit them as fast as possible. Last night I talked to the Commonwealth secretary general, and she is determined to speed it up and get it done as soon as possible,&#8221; Johnson told reporters after the meeting.
Barrow is attempting to reverse many of Jammeh&#8217;s most controversial decisions and is also planning to stop Gambia&#8217;s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.
&#8220;We welcome any effort being made by the newly democratically elected government of The Gambia to try to re-join the Commonwealth,&#8221; the body said in a statement on Tuesday.
&#8220;Should it decide to apply, we have formal processes which have to be undertaken and membership agreed by the 52 heads of government,&#8221; the Commonwealth said.
Before becoming Britain&#8217;s foreign minister, Johnson was known for his often abrasive writing as a newspaper columnist. In a 2002 article in The Telegraph criticising a trip by then Prime Minister Tony Blair to Congo, he employed a racially charged term to describe the Commonwealth&#8217;s African members.
&#8220;It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies,&#8221; Johnson wrote.
He apologised for the language while running for mayor of London six years later.
Johnson continues his Africa tour in Ghana on Wednesday.
 
(Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Leslie Adler)﻿

UK's Johnson says Gambia to rejoin Commonwealth

By Pap Saine and Lamin Jahateh
Gambia&#8217;s new government has told the United Nations it will remain in the International Criminal Court (ICC), state media reported on Monday, reversing the previous administration&#8217;s plan to withdraw from the tribunal.
Former president Yahya Jammeh announced in October that he would pull Gambia out of the ICC, accusing the world body of ignoring alleged war crimes of Western nations and seeking only to prosecute Africans.
But President Adama Barrow, who defeated Jammeh in a December election, pledged during the campaign to undo Jammeh&#8217;s decision, restore human rights and repair the country&#8217;s badly-damaged foreign relations.
&#8220;As a new government that has committed itself to the promotion of human rights &#8230; we reaffirm The Gambia&#8217;s commitment to the principles enshrined in the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court,&#8221; said a statement read on state television and radio.
The statement added that Gambia&#8217;s foreign minister notified U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of the decision in a letter last month.
The announcement constitutes a rare victory of late for the embattled tribunal. South Africa and Burundi also signaled last year they would quit the ICC and African Union member states earlier this month endorsed an unspecified &#8220;strategy of collective withdrawal&#8221;.
In another sign of Barrow&#8217;s intention to break with his predecessor, police opened their first investigations on Monday into unresolved deaths and disappearances under Jammeh.
Jammeh came to power in a coup in 1994 and his government established a reputation for torturing and killing opponents. He has denied these allegations.
The initial investigation ordered by Barrow will focus on at least 30 people whose family members reported them dead or missing, police inspector general Yankuba Sonko told reporters in the capital Banjul. The police also opened a complaint register so that additional people can file reports.
Jammeh fled to Equatorial Guinea last month under regional military pressure after refusing to accept his defeat to Barrow. Equatorial Guinea does not have an extradition treaty with Gambia.
 
 
 
(Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Tom Heneghan)﻿

Gambia announces plans to stay in International Criminal Court

A West African military operation that pressured Gambia&#8217;s long-time leader, Yahya Jammeh, to step down and flee into exile has had its mandate extended by three months, the office of new President Adama Barrow said on Wednesday.
Barrow won a Dec. 1 election but Jammeh, who had ruled since seizing power in a coup in 1994, refused to step down, forcing his opponent to be sworn in at the Gambian Embassy in neighbouring Senegal last month.
Barrow immediately asked regional bloc ECOWAS for assistance and West African troops quickly crossed into Gambia from Senegal, giving mediators the necessary leverage to negotiate Jammeh&#8217;s departure.
&#8220;President Barrow is glad to inform the general public that the standby force ECOMIG has integrated itself into the security and military fabric of the country,&#8221; the president&#8217;s office said in a statement.
&#8220;The Standby Force has had its mandate extended by three months subject to renewal.&#8221;
A senior United Nations official said late last month that Barrow had requested that the 7,000-troop strong ECOWAS force&#8217;s mandate be extended by six months.
 
(Reporting by Pap Saine; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Sandra Maler)﻿

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