Gainako Newspaper

The dream now is that the 'Force' to unite Gambia and her friends will be named
United Gambia Association, UGAMA. The birth of this association will be the
day that all representatives from the different political divide sit under one roof to
discuss the way forward for the Gambia. Such an association will include all other
associations at home and abroad at will.

Before long, a venue for the conference will be named based on a lot of factors, especially
'affordability' and 'cost.' Consultations with the different political figures commenced, and people have
been cooperative and encouraging. While we will distinguish strictly between what is 'confidential' and
'public', we don't have any doubt that "Hope is on the way"( J.Kerry, US Senator), and that we will
update Gambians with what they need to know about registered 'progresses' and 'failures' at any given
time. We don't have the answers to all the questions right now.

Our technical Team at Gainako is looking at all the modalities of giving such conference life coverage
on that day. Fatou Jaw's arrest didn't distract the agenda, only that we were forced to pause to allow
the people to breathe fresh air and regain their momentum. In fact, her arrest helps to show we need to
unite under one umbrella.

We've been engaging some people as to who will be our possible panelists. We were able to identify at
least twenty people, among them engineers, lawyers, politicians, et cetera. The composition of the
selection will be of special attraction to all Gambians. Such a list will be made available to the public
once they honor the invitation.

With regards to the committee to oversee the movement after the birth of the unity, we suggest those
that are willing to sacrifice to forward their names without delay. Don't wait to be called. The Gambia
belongs to all of us.

Sincerely,
Yero,
(On behalf of UGAMA.)

Note: Please forward any suggestions or comments to this email ugambia@gmail.com

..A SOCIAL TIME BOMB
..................(CRISIS OF THE STATELESS IN THE GAMBIA)
.............................................Courtesy of Foroyaa Newspaper...................Posted April 6th, 2007

The problem is being ignored as a non issue. However, it is the key to Gambia’s future stability. We
ignore it at our own peril.

The problem became very glaring some years ago when the parents of a prominent Gambian journalist
were subjected to investigation regarding their citizenship status. We will not mention who this journalist
is but we are almost convinced that this may be the very reason why he chose to operate from abroad.

The problem knocked the doors of minds again some days ago when a school boy stood crying as his
parents were being arrested because of failure to acquire alien ID cards. The boy called on the
Immigration personnel to look at his uniform and pleaded “Yes, my parents came from Guinea but I
was born here, I am a Gambian and they should not be arrested. Little did the young man know that he
is now a stateless person and that if the law on citizenship was not selectively applied, he himself may
have been arrested and asked to acquire an alien I.D Card. It also means that there are many people
today in all works of life with families and homes who could equally be arrested and asked to acquire
alien I.D Cards.

Why is this the case? The answer is simple. The present laws on citizenship has excluded tens of
thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people who currently see themselves as Gambians.

Foroyaa would want each reader to subject him/herself to the following test by answering the following
questions:

Those Born Before 18 February 1965

If you were born before 18 February 1965 you should answer the following questions to know
whether you are a citizen or not

1. Were you born in The Gambia
2. Was any of your parents born in The Gambia?
3. Was any of your grandparents born in The Gambia
4. Was any of your parents naturalized in The Gambia to be a British subject before independence?
5. Did you fill an application form to be registered as a Gambian before 18 February 1967, if you were born in
The Gambia of parents and grand parents who were not born in The Gambia?
6. If you were born outside The Gambia, was your father a citizen of The Gambia?
7. If you were named to a Gambian citizen, did you apply for registration to be a Gambian citizen? If your answers
to the first and six questions are in the negative, then you are not considered a citizen of The Gambia. In short, if
you were born outside of The Gambia before 1965 and your father was not a Gambian citizen, then you are not
considered a citizen of The Gambia.

Secondly if your answer to the first question is in the positive but all the answers to the other question
stand as “No” then you are still not a citizen of The Gambia. If your answers to all the other questions
are no, then you are not a citizen of The Gambia. This is the first point. Let us go to the second point
which concerns those born after 18th February 1965.

Question To Be Answered by Those Born After 18th February 1965

1. Were you born in Gambia after 17th February 1965?
2. Was any of your parents a citizen of The Gambia?
3. If married to a Gambian citizen have you applied for citizenship?
4. Did you naturalize to be a citizen?
5. If born outside of the country is your father a citizen of The Gambia?

If your answers to the first and the fifth questions are in the negative then you are not a Gambian citizen.
Secondly, even if you were born in the Gambia but none of your parents is a citizen of The Gambia,
one is not considered a citizen. It is good to point out that while the law on citizenship requires one of
the parents of the person to be born in The Gambia or to naturalize if the person was born before
1955, the same law requires one of the parents of the person to be a citizen of the Gambia before
he/she can acquire citizenship if he/she was born after 17th February 1965. This means that one can
have a parent who was born in The Gambia before 1965 whose parents were not born in The Gambia.
In that regard both child and parent would not be considered citizens of The Gambia.

Now may we ask: How many Gambians are now citizens if the law on citizenship is strictly applied?

This issue therefore needs urgent treatment if we are to avoid the type of problems which had occurred
in Cote d’Ivoire or Ivory Coast.

First and foremost, the country needs to put in place an effective system of Nation wide registration of
births as of 2008.

Secondly, indemnities need to be given to all those people who have had children and homes in The
Gambia before July 1994 and who have acquired their documents illegally to make honest
declaration’s and apply for naturalization which should not be denied if adequate evidence is given on
residence and compliance with local government and other tax obligations.

Those who entered The Gambia after 1994 be required to maintain receipts of payment of residential
permits which can be backdated to the day of entry if sufficient evidence is shown to back claims.
Naturalization could be considered if 15 years of lawful residence may be proven as currently required
by the constitution. In our view, this is the way to address the question of statelessness and the trauma
it is causing to many.

..FATOU JAW MANNEH RELEASED
........ ON D25,000 BOND
..............................................By Yero Jallow...................Posted April 4th, 2007

Sources monitoring progress on the arrested journalist cum political commentator,
Fatou Jaw Manneh revealed to Gainako that she has been released on D25, 000.00
bail. Our impeccable source added that Fatou couldn't have returned to that jail with
the pressure exerted by Gambians and other foreign dignitaries, including United
Nation representatives. Gainako also spoke to Fatou's brother who confirmed the
story. He expressed gratitude to all those that shared the sorrow of his sister's arrest
noting "Jaw Manneh is Strong and united with our mother and the entire family."

Fatou is due back to court on Wednesday April 11th 2007 when proceedings over her libel and
sedition charges from the Jammeh Administration will commence. She will be represented by at least
two lawyers in court, including the renowned Lawyer Jobateh. Many speculated that Fatou and her
defense lawyers will enter a "not guilty" plea.

We spoke to a lot of political commentators including Gainako's editor Mr. Demba Baldeh who gave
victory to justice, and commented thus "It is welcomed news. It indicates that the arrest wasn't justified
in the first place. We must continue on the pressure whether there is an arrest or not." Other political
commentators expressed concern over Jammeh's inconsistency, citing the case where Jammeh
summoned his judiciary and intelligent personnel yesterday to fire threats which many believe has to do
with Fatou's arrest and detention. Others commented that Jammeh is feeling the heat and working on
getting the sympathy of the West.

Hometown Analyst Sonko advised that the fate of Fatou is "unpredictable" at this time noting "We are
dealing with a societal element." "Watch out my brothers and sisters, watch out." He lamented.

....STGDP STRONGLY CONDEMS
....ABDUCTION OF JOURNALIST
.............................................By STGDP...................Posted April 4th, 2007

Save The Gambia Democracy Project (STGDP), one of the most known Gambian pro Democracy movements in the
U.S actively fighting for the restoration of genuine democracy and rule of law in the Gambia, has issued a
stunning press release on the abduction of one of the group's icon and founding member - Mrs. Fatou Jaw
Manneh. STGDP is known to be the pioneers of the brilliant idea of uniting opposition parties during the last
general elections to contest against the incumbent President Yahya Jammeh. Their efforts failed when the
opposition parties could not agree on a single flagbearer as advocated by the pro democracy movement.

It is during this process of uniting the opposition parties that Fatou Jaw Manneh emerged as a leading and
eloquent voice to expose the human rights violations of the Jammeh regime. It is believed that she is behind bars
today due to her active role in the efforts of STGDP. Below we produce the eye catching press release by STGDP.

...................................................PRESS RELEASE

........................SAVE THE GAMBIA DEMOCRACY PROJECT (STGDP)
............."FATOU JAW MANNEH WAS ABDUCTED BY SECURITY OFFICERS"

The Save the Gambia Democracy Project (STGDP) profoundly condemns, the strongest terms, the
confirmed abduction and detention of one of our executive members Ms. Fatou Jaw Manneh by the
Gambian security forces.STGDP has confirmed that Ms. Manneh was abducted by security personnel
at the Banjul international airport on Tuesday, March 27, 2007 and is currently held at the National
Intelligence Agency headquarters in Banjul.

We wish to extend to Ms. Manneh's family, the people of Gambia, and the entire international
community, our heartfelt support and intent to do everything we possibly can to ensure that Fatou's
fundamental rights and privileges under the law are not further trampled upon with impunity. We intend
to ensure the maximum exposure of the brutality, blatant disregard of the fundamental rights of
individuals, abrupt kidnappings, and disappearances perpetuated by the APRC government to the
international community.

Ms. Fatou Jaw Manneh a Journalist by training, and had consistently challenged the APRC
government's abuse and negligence of the fundamental human rights of all Gambians. She is
continuously relentless in her work to ensure the nurture of human rights and democracy in The
Gambia.

We herein appeal to all Gambians, in and out of the country, all Gambian organizations around the
world, journalists and other press groups, and all believers in democratic jurisprudence to join us in
harnessing all resources in order to maximally expose the tyranny that is in the APRC government, and
to demand for the immediate release of Fatou Jaw Manneh. Join us in sternly warning the security
forces that Fatou's well-being must not be compromised in any way, and under any circumstances.

We hereby put President Jammeh and his security apparatus on notice that we take their threat to the
human rights of Gambians in and out of the country very seriously. We also hereby reiterate our
commitment to continue to be resolved in taking all actions necessary to ensure President Jammeh and
his junta are held accountable for any and all actions that violate the civil and fundamental human rights
of individuals and all illegal activities of the security forces or otheragents of the regime.

WE WILL NEVER BE SILENCED.

Signed
Save The Gambia Democracy Project.

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