Gambia Affairs:Will Gambia Government Hijack Media Commission?

 
President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia and Press Union President Bai Emil Touray

The democratic engagement unveiled by the Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma over the establishment of Gambia Media Commission (GAMEC) is indeed good news as it will open optimistic perspectives for freedom of expression and access to information.

Since the advent of the Second Republic, the country's democratic system has been continually characterized by serious sins committed against the media – intimidation, arson attacks, arbitrary arrests, disappearance, murders, closure of media houses, punctuated with draconian anti-media laws.  

The Gambia government may be among the most repressive in Africa, but it is hoped that the constructive dialogue that Commonwealth has engaged with The Gambia government will open a new era.

Here is a regime intolerant to divergent views and dissenting opinions. It has waged all out war on private media practitioners and outlets for being critical of a regime that ascended to power through military coup in 1994. Many of us believe that the regime will not support the establishment of a Media Commission as previously conceived by the Gambia Press Union in 2004 shortly before the death of Deyda Hydara.

Government's decision to accept the establishment of Commonwealth funded Media Commission is bogus and a decision taken out of desperation amid growing regional and international isolation for reform.

We suggest that the Press Union continue with the entrenchment of its 'own regulatory body'. This is what will strengthen the media and ensure that journalists in both electronic and print media operate freely as professional journalists to play their role in the enhancement of an open society.

We appeal to our colleagues at the Press Union to continue with its plan without delay and in conformity with best practice, to among other things alert practitioners in the electronic media, print media, online newspapers and bloggers in their gate-keeping responsibility.

We cannot be a party to a bogus establishment that will end up being harnessed by the regime. The Gambia Press Union needs to go ahead with its legal framework to regulate media with a view to adhere to stringent regulations in addition to ethics of the Union's code of ethics. And ensure that journalists take their high obligation of social responsibility.

With repressive media laws and unresolved cases of death, disappearance and arson attacks on media persons and outlets create suspicion that there is something under government's sleeve. If established, president Jammeh's government will hijack the Media Commission and subsequently will end up outliving its intended purpose. The

Jammeh administration is unpredictable and unreliable. Should we wait and see what will happen next?

By Saikou Ceesay

Gambia Affairs:Gambia To Set Up Media Commission

Commonwealth Secretary General  Kamalesh Sharma

The Gambia government has accepted to establish a long yearn media commission and to provide training and advice in order to strengthen the professional capacity and responsibilities of journalists, and to widen the field for private media, Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma has said. Saikou Ceesay reports.

Addressing journalists at the end of his two-day official visit at Kairaba beach hotel, Mr Sharma announced: "We have agreed to help establish a Human Rights Commission. A Commonwealth Secretariat team will be in Banjul next month to take this forward. And will continue to collaborate in the establishment of an Anti-Corruption Commission."

He said that his visit is part of efforts to follow up on two Commonwealth observer missions, following the crucial Presidential poll in November 2011and the Parliamentary poll in March 2012.Sharma, whose trip is first in eight years by Commonwealth Secretary General, noted that both reports indicated room for improvement, and it has been encouraging to see that progress has been achieved for which The Gambia is to be encouraged.

"We agreed to help further in the judiciary, including the establishment of a Human Rights Division and institutional support for the Judicial Services Commission and the Judicial Education Institute as well as to develop a new program of human rights training for the police."

He emphasized Commonwealth's readiness to assist in implementing recommendations made by their election observers, and welcome the commitment of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to participate actively in the meeting of the Commonwealth Elections Network.

The last Commonwealth Heads of government meeting was held in Australia in October 2011-The Gambia was represented by the Vice President Isatou Njie Saidy. The leaders agreed that 95 recommendations for reform should be advanced.He said half of those recommendations are already on track to being implemented and the other half are to be considered by a special Ministerial Task Force in June before decisions are taken by all member governments in September.

He said: "The essence of these reforms is two-fold: First, to sharpen the impact, strengthen the networks, and raise the profile of the Commonwealth, secondly, to work more positively and intensively with all member governments to achieve greater practical commitment to our shared 2009 Affirmation of Commonwealth Values and Principles, which builds on the Harare Principles and other earlier Commonwealth declarations."

Sharma said his discussion with Vice President Njie Saidy covered many areas of the Commonwealth as a trusted and collaborative partner and the contribution it can make to both value creation, wealth creation and fundamental issues that are fundamental to Gambia's development and prosperity. This he said included: Commonwealth support for trade, a stronger, better trained, and more effective public service, opportunities for youth enterprise, and, ensuring that women have every possible opportunity to participate as leaders of change, growth and opportunity in society.

 

He remarked that the reformed and renewed Commonwealth is reflected in the stronger mandate given to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which is the guardian of fundamental political values including democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

"The CMAG is now expected by Heads of government collectively to take a positive interest in democratic constitutional government as well as such matters as the independence of the judiciary, and the ability to the media, all political actors and civil society to express themselves freely and responsibly," Sharma noted.

Gambia Affairs:CJA Urges Secretary-General To Get Tough With Gambia's Yahya Jammeh

(Source JollofNews) – The Commonwealth Journalists Association wishes Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma success on his forthcoming visit to The Gambia and urges him to send a forceful message to President Yahya Jammeh regarding the deteriorating conditions for a proper functioning news media in his country.

Our colleagues in the Commonwealth Journalists Association report that media in The Gambia remains under sustained pressure through
prosecutions for sedition and criminal libel, government closure of news agencies, intimidation and physical attacks on journalists. We support the urgent call for legal and institutional reform that will bring The Gambia's media laws in line with international standards and indeed with human rights agreements that the government has signed.

The Secretary-General has the excellent report by the Expert Group he dispatched to The Gambia last November to observe the federal election. Among other deficiencies in the country's democratic processes, the Expert Group report was especially critical of the appallingly sad state of Gambian news media. We urge the Secretary-General to address these issues with President Jammeh.

The group's report noted:

"Although the Gambian  Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, several Criminal Code amendments related to the offence of 'Seditious Publication' make any written or oral statement that is critical of the government an offence that carries stiff penalties in the form of imprisonment and heavy fines. There are numerous sections and sub-sections to the law that by any measure effectively make free and independent journalism an impossible and perilous goal. .

And although President Jammeh has toned down his calculated and threatening rhetoric about journalists, his Election Day news conference clearly revealed he has lost none of the contempt he has previously and aggressively exhibited towards them.

Members of the observation team know only too well that the persecution suffered by Gambian journalists and the monitoring of those abuses by international monitoring bodies, has had a damaging effect on this proud nation's international reputation...

A free and independent news media is a vital organ in the body of any democracy worthy of the name, but such is the oppressed and under-developed state of journalism in The Gambia that the Expert Group must regrettably report that the 'fair play and daylight' professional reporting brings to the ongoing democratic political process is almost non-existent here.

Free and independent news media, operating within internationally recognized ethical standards and within reasonable laws of libel and slander, can only breathe life into Gambian democracy."

The Expert Group detailed numerous examples of state-sponsored abuse of journalists. The full report can be found on the Commonwealth Secretariat's website at http://bit.ly/I2i9Wi

We urge the Secretary-General to take these examples, and the general concerns expressed by the experts and our journalist colleagues in The Gambia, and seek commitments from President Jammeh that he will institute immediate reform of these archaic, unacceptable restrictions on journalists and abide by the democratic standards that all Commonwealth nations are bound to honour.

Rita Payne
President
Commonwealth Journalists Association

A tribute to veteran journalist, Aja Maimuna Bah

Last week was a sad week; on Tuesday 3^rd April it was announced that veteran Gambian broadcast journalist, Aja Maimuna Bah, had passed away in Brikama at aged 64. This article pays tribute to a journalist who, for the country of Gambia, made history as becoming the first Gambian female broadcaster. Working in an industry hugely dominated by men, Aja Maimuna Bah not only achieved her dream of being a broadcaster, but she also went on to win the heart of many Gambian citizens, becoming a household name in the early seventies. The next four decades of her career were dedicated to broadcasting some of the country's most pressing issues.

Reflective of her success, her funeral was attended by literally hundreds of mourners – both those who knew her and those who did not. The mourners included many of her ex colleagues from the Gambia Radio and Television service. Among these were the broadcast company's highest level executives.

Aja Maimuna Bah was born on New Years' Day in 1948 in Brikama – the same city in which she died – to local parents. She was a pupil at Brikama Primary School, and then went on to study at the Gambia High School. After leaving high school with good grades – and having had a traditional upbringing, Maimuna Bah decided to train as a nurse. One day, however, she was interviewed by local radio station, Radio Gambia – then in its beginnings, and quickly realised her talent and passion for journalism. Her good looks and youth meant that she was in a good position to pursue a career in broadcast.

Making history for women

Also on side was her infamous voice, described by many as deep and resonant. She was versatile, passionate, strong and immediately found herself able to identify with a wide range of people. At the time she started her career in the seventies, this was a full package that broadcast outlets had never before seen in a woman. From the day she was first hired by Radio Gambia, Aja Maimuna Bah began to make history for women in Gambia.

Maimuna Bah held many prestigious positions while employed at Gambia Radio and Television Services, including producing and presenting programmes covering some of the country's top issues, such as: health, community and agriculture, as well as national finance, individual income and payday loans. Most notably, perhaps, was the work she carried out exposing and campaigning for women's, gender and human rights issues. She held many positions for GRTS, right up to her retirement in 2003, and even after her retirement she was contracted by the broadcast outlet as a program producer until 2010, when she was finally forced to stop working due to ill health.

Showing solidarity for her profession

In 2005, Maimuna Bah showed her solidarity for the world of journalism by playing a key role in a protest to the police headquarters, appealing for a full investigation into the death of fellow journalist, Deyda Hydara, who was assassinated after leaving a party to mark the 13^th anniversary of the birth of The Point newspaper. The managing editor of the paper was killed as he gave a lift home to two female colleagues, by an unknown individual. The protest was also held to demand that the Government investigated previous arson attacks on media houses – an issue that Maimuna Bah campaigned tirelessly for.

Dedicated to her country

Aja Maimuna Bah was a pioneering and highly competent journalist who was entirely dedicated to helping her country through freedom of press speech. Despite being a highly talented and successful journalist, she did not want to leave her country and work in international journalism. Instead, Maimuna Bah remained in Gambia, and as a result won many shows of her own. The most famous, of course, was the show she presented for over 30 years – Hospital Request (a programme aimed at Mandika women). She was also a regular newsreader, presenting in Mandika, Fula and Wollof. Her ability to present in multiple languages earned her much respect in the Senegambia region.

Committed to her family

Despite her successful career, Maimuna Bah remained committed to her family. Her nephew, Taya Jallow, spoke at her funeral to describe her: "As a family woman Maimuna Bah was caring and helpful to all her large extended family." Perhaps this, along with her dedication to her helping her country move forward, was why she remained firmly grounded to her roots. 

Gambia Affairs:Africa’s Free Press Problem

Source: New York Times

Mohamed Keita is a Mali-born Activist and Africa advocacy coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on April 16, 2012, on page A19 of the New York edition with the headline: Africa's Free Press Problem.

By MOHAMED KEITA

AS Africa's economies grow, an insidious attack on press freedom is under way. Independent African journalists covering the continent's development are now frequently persecuted for critical reporting on the misuse of public finances, corruption and the activities of foreign investors.

Why this disturbing trend? In the West, cynicism about African democracy has led governments to narrow their development priorities to poverty reduction and stability; individual liberties like press freedom have dropped off the agenda, making it easier for authoritarian rulers to go after journalists more aggressively. In the 1990s, leaders like Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia were praised by the West as political and social reformers. Today, the West extols these men for achieving growth and maintaining stability, which they do largely with a nearly absolute grip over all national institutions and the press.

Then there's the influence of China, which surpassed the West as Africa's largest trading partner in 2009. Ever since, China has been deepening technical and media ties with African governments to counter the kind of critical press coverage that both parties demonize as neocolonialist.

In January, Beijing issued a white paper calling for accelerated expansion of China's news media abroad and the deployment of a press corps of 100,000 around the world, particularly in priority regions like Africa. In the last few months alone, China established its first TV news hub in Kenya and a print publication in South Africa. The state-run Xinhua news agency already operates more than 20 bureaus in Africa. More than 200 African government press officers received Chinese training between 2004 and 2011 in order to produce what the Communist Party propaganda chief, Li Changchun, called "truthful" coverage of development fueled by China's activities.

China and African governments tend to agree that the press should focus on collective achievements and mobilize public support for the state, rather than report on divisive issues or so-called negative news.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Ethiopia, which remains one of the West's foremost recipients of development assistance and whose largest trading partner and main source of foreign investment is China. The prisons in Ethiopia, like those in China, are now filled with journalists and dissidents, and critical Web sites are blocked.

This is particularly troubling in Ethiopia, a country where investigative journalism once saved countless lives. In the 1980s, the tyrannical president Mengistu Haile Mariam denied that a famine was happening in Ethiopia, even as it deepened. The world did not move to assist millions of starving Ethiopians until international journalists broke the dictator's stranglehold on information.

 

Nearly three decades later, Ethiopia is still mired in a cycle of humanitarian crises and conflicts. But today, journalists are denied independent access to sensitive areas and risk up to 20 years in prison if they report about opposition groups designated by the government as terrorists. "We are not supposed to take pictures of obviously malnourished kids," an Ethiopia-based reporter recently told me. "We are effectively prevented from going to areas and health facilities where severely malnourished kids are, or are being treated."

This silencing in turn frustrates the ability of aid groups to quickly mobilize funds when help is needed. And with civil society, the political opposition and the press severely restricted, there is hardly any domestic scrutiny over how the government uses billions of dollars of international assistance from Western governments.

Rwanda is another worrisome case. The volume of trade between Rwanda and China increased fivefold between 2005 and 2009. During the same period, the government has eviscerated virtually all critical press and opposition and has begun filtering Rwandan dissident news Web sites based abroad.

As powerful political and economic interests tied to China's investments seek to stamp out independent reporting, a free African press is needed more than ever, as a key institution of development, a consumer watchdog and a way for the public to contextualize official statistics about joblessness, inflation and other social and economic concerns. But support for the press, in order to be effective, will have to mean more than just supporting journalism training and publishing capacity; if such efforts are to succeed, they must be integrated into a wider strategy of political and media reforms.

 

Gambia Affairs: Miracle Corners of The World Marks The 18th Anniversary Of The 1994 Genocide Against Tutsis in Rwanda

'Jacqueline Murekatete Calls on Participants to be Ambassadors of the Unheard Voices of Survivors'
 MCW (Miracle Corners of the World) and its partner genocide prevention education program, MCW Jacqueline's Human Rights Corner, held its sixth annual commemoration of the 1994 genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda yesterday at New York University Law School. To mark the 18^th commemoration, almost 100 participants gathered to learn about the importance of survivors' testimonies, memorialization and post-genocide justice.

 

Jacqueline Murekatete, an MCW fellow and founder of MCW's genocide prevention education program, called on the audience to "ensure that survivors' stories are told and that the people who are denying the genocide are challenged." She continued, "There are many ways you can take action. You can help survivors in Rwanda in need of services; you can support efforts to bring the people who committed the genocide to be brought to trial; and you can spread the stories of survivors to others."

 

Jacqueline Murekatete, founder of MCW's Jacqueline's Human Rights Corner, opens the commemoration for the 18^th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.
Panelists Valentine Iribagiza, Robert Van Lierop, and Taylor Krauss discuss the importance of memorializing survivors' stories.

 

Following a moment of a silence, the program opened with an excerpt from PBS documentary Valentina's Nightmares and the testimony of Valentine Iribagiza who was nine years old when the killings broke out across Rwanda , leading to the deaths of more than one million people in one hundred days. Among the dead were Iribagiza's parents, two sisters, and three brothers.

 

In 1994, when the violence broke out, Iribagiza and her family sought shelter in a church in their village. Forty-three days later, she and her brother Placide survived by hiding among the bodies, pretending to be dead. Iribagiza survived without any food or water; her fingers were beaten and broken and her head was sliced open by a machete. She was convinced that the world had come to an end.

 

Iribagiza spoke of a "second genocide," referring to the ongoing struggle of survivors in the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. "I was in a hospital near death for six months, and I couldn't smile and I couldn't talk for a long time," she said. "I was and still am confused by why it happened, but many things have changed since then. Today, I know I am stronger and I know I am a beautiful girl, no matter what happened." Now Valentine lives in the U.S. and is a college student focusing on social services.  She continued, "When I think about the future, I want to educate people about the genocide and help those who struggle."

 

Taylor Krauss, an independent documentary filmmaker and founder of Voices of Rwanda, spoke about the importance of collecting and listening to survivors' testimonies. "We need to continually remind ourselves of what our role was as an international community in the 1994 genocide," he said. "Survivors want to tell their stories and I want to make sure that the space for them to share these stories exists."

 

Dr. Zachary Kaufman, author of After Genocide: Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Rwanda and Beyond, spoke about the circumstances behind and politics of creating the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, including the complicated involvement of the U.S. and the unique experience of Rwanda, where survivors live next to perpetrators and where the government is responsible for serving everyone, regardless of their involvement in the genocide.

 

Robert Van Lierop, former high level advisor on Justice, Accountability, Truth and Reconciliation for UN/African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), moderated the event. "Whenever someone is murdered, it is a crime against all of us," he said. "We all have to see ourselves as Tutsis, just as we need to see ourselves as Jews and Armenians and others who died because of genocide," he said in his opening remarks.

 

Audience participants included the New York/New Jersey Rwandan community, some of whom are genocide survivors, along with James Kimonyo, Ambassador of Rwanda to the USA , and representatives of the Permanent Mission of Rwanda to the U.N.  NYU students, educators and NGO representatives also participated in the event.

 

The program concluded with a slideshow with photographs of individuals who died in the genocide, including a number of family members of the survivors present at the event. The final slide read, "For the dead and living we must bear witness," a quote from Elie Wiesel, who received the 2012 MCW Lifetime Achievement Award earlier this month.

 

For pictures, visit MCW's flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/miraclecorners/sets/.

 

About MCW (Miracle Corners of the World)

MCW (Miracle Corners of the World) is a non-profit organization founded in 1999 with the vision of Local Change through Global Exchange^®. Our mission is to empower youth to become positive agents of change in their communities. Based in New York with affiliates in Africa , MCW offers the following programs: Leadership Training, Community Centers and Oral Healthcare Improvement, as well as Partner Initiatives (MCW Jacqueline's Human Rights Corner). For more information visit, www.mcwglobal.org.

 

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Gambia Affairs:CPJ:Two Kenyan Journalists Threatened For Their Reporting

New York, April 13, 2012-Kenyan authorities must investigate threats made against two journalists who covered a police raid on a supermarket, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. One of the journalists was also threatened in relation to another story he published.

On April 5, Osinde Obare, a reporter for the private daily The Standard, and David Musindi, a journalist for Radio Citizen, ran stories on a police raid on a market in the western Kenyan town of Kitale, the journalists told CPJ. The market had allegedly been selling fake maize seeds, according to news reports.

Obare's article cited members of the public saying that the market owner, Mahindra Khetia, was protected by the police and therefore avoided arrest, local journalists told CPJ. The day the stories ran, Luca Ogara, the police chief in Kitale, called Obare, asking him why he wrote a negative story on the supermarket and the police, Obare told CPJ. The official also told Obare there would be repercussions, the journalist said. Ogara told CPJ that he did not threaten Obare, but said that he had asked him for his sources.

On April 8, Obare received an anonymous call warning him to "never set foot in Kitale," he told CPJ. He had temporarily left the town to attend a workshop in Nairobi, but had returned to Kitale this week, he said.

Musindi told CPJ he had been threatened by Khetia while covering the raid on April 4. When Musindi attempted to interview Khetia, the supermarket owner "snubbed him and threatened to ensure the journalist was removed from Kitale" if he aired the story, a report released today by The Standard said. Musindi was able to record the threat, which he gave to The Standard, the journalist told CPJ. The story was broadcast on Radio Citizen on April 5, Musindi said.

Messages left at the supermarket for Khetia were not returned.

Both journalists told CPJ that unidentified men had been following them since they covered the story, which had forced them to hide in an undisclosed location. They said they had filed complaints with the police.

Obare told CPJ he had also been threatened in relation to another story he had published. The journalist ran a story in The Standard last monthalleging that District Commissioner Nyamongo Nyabero had stolen relief food meant for hunger victims in Pokot South District in western Kenya, and had resold it in a market. On April 5, Nyabero allegedly threatened Obare over the phone, saying he would "make sure you die while seated," the journalist said. Obare reported the threat to Kitale police station, he said. Nyabero was arraigned in court on Tuesday and charged with theft, news reports said. Repeated calls by CPJ to Nyabero were not returned.

"Journalists in western Kenya are repeatedly targeted by local officials for their corruption coverage," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "Kenyan authorities must end this practice, and they should start by immediately investigating these threats against Osinde Obare and David Musindi."

In January 2009, assailants brutally murdered Weekly Citizen journalist Francis Nyaruri shortly after his coverage of a police housing scandal in western Kenya. 

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CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization
that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide.

Gambia Affairs:President Jammeh Has To Stop The Presidentail Aids Cure Program For The Sake of Our Nation

Yahya Jammeh, president of Gambia, treating an H.I.V. patient at the State House in Banjul, Gambia. (Photo: A.P.)

 

By Mohammed Barry

The AIDS pandemic has been one of the most devastating menaces of our time; infecting over 60million people, while shattering hopes and deepening the already existing social inequalities hence making efforts to alleviate poverty and protect human dignity completely difficult globally.  And the Gambia is no stranger to the clenches of the AIDS epidemic. Today, over 20,000 Gambians like me; live with HIV.  Cognizant of what this means to our nation, one can coherently see the logic behind your Presidential AIDS Cure Program. However, with reference to my past experience with the program, the current state of our national epidemic and the urgent need for effective political leadership in the AIDS response, coupled up with a series of media dispatches. I write this open letter to you with a plea: asking you to stop the Presidential AIDS Cure Program for the sake of our nation.

Exactly four years ago, I was 16years old. When I quitted high school and privately registered for the presidential AIDS Cure Program after living with HIV for almost a decade without any sense of hope. Out of desolation, out of fear of AIDS and out of conviction – I endured the taste of bitter herbs, daily massages and often deserting the comfort of my home for almost a year. Yet, I was adamant I would be cured and once more get a gist of what it means to live without HIV - without pain, without sorrow and without anguish. And, throughout my time at the AIDS Cure Program, I had the rare opportunity of meeting you regularly and learning about your deep sense of interest in making AIDS history in the Gambia. However, like many other people that went through the Presidential AIDS Cure Program; I AM STILL HIV POSITIVE. And this month marks five months since I commenced my anti-HIV treatment (Anti-Retroviral Drugs) in the UK, with an astounding viral load level nearly below detectable. Yet, this does not mean I am cured, nor does it indicate that the virus will never progress without treatment or licenses me to forsake HIV prevention strategies. But it means that I still have a meager level of viral load in my blood which may trigger over time without ARVs. Thus, the absence of such clarity in the Presidential AIDS Cure Program poses a great threat to our lives as people living with HIV and our nation. And this threat is already resonating on our nation's HIV prevalence rates. To call a spade a spade, the AIDS cure program; silenced the nation, hushed the media, shifted national attention away from AIDS, lynched our hopes in ARVs, and to a certain extend phased-out a private HIV treatment center in 2009.  

Moreover, although the global HIV prevalence rates are sharply declining specifically across Sub Saharan Africa, with up to 25% in twenty two countries including Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone etc. However, since 2007, unlike our neighboring countries across West Africa, our national HIV 1 prevalence rates have rocketed from 1.4% in 2007 when the presidential AIDS Cure Program commenced to 1.7% in 2011. Making it the third highest national HIV 1 prevalence rates ever recorded after 2004(2.1%) and 2006(2.8%) respectively since 1993.  This indeed, indicates a significant decline of safer sexual behavioral practices among Gambians including people living with HIV. Again, In the course of our nation's history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, shed light and give hope to each other specifically in the face of despair and AIDS. And that time is now. And even though we are sick, we are tired, and we need medications but not what will risk our health, our lives, and our nation. At the end of the day, it is about our lives and we ask for nothing but health as tax payers, as Gambians and as people. And even though we are sick; yet we do not deserve to suffer, we do not deserve an added pain but deserve political compassion and moral support in a scientifically backed manner. Today, traditional healers have sprung across the nation, ARVs have become synonymous to harm and in the media HIV is curable despite of increasing infection prevalence rates – this indeed poses a threat to our healthcare system and to our nation. And I believe as most people who are silent; our nation is on the wrong course of making AIDS history. 

Lastly, Mr. President – our nation cannot remain silent on such a crucial developmental issue and I have spoken to solicit for your leadership, political commitment and financial backing in order to end AIDS in our nation. But most importantly; I implore you once more, to stop the AIDS Cure program swiftly. And promote the use of ARVs which has scientific backings, tested, and approved globally as the most effective HIV treatment. Hence ARVs can break the back of the epidemic, reverse its impact and build shattered lives. Additionally, as a small nation, Gambia can set precedence in the global AIDS response and serve as a pilot in driving successful response program under your leadership as in the beginning of the millennium. Again, HIV is not just a disease, it is about the lives of 22,000 children, youths, male and female Gambians like everyone else. Thus, I ask you because I know you can do it. I ask because like many Gambians; we believe in your aspirations for the nation. I implore you because you believe in God and because you want the best for our nation. And I finally ask you to retreat from the AIDS cure program.