UDP’s Mr. Femi Peters writes appreciation letter,

 —says better days ahead for Gambia

By FEMI PETERS, Banjul, The Gambia

Now that I have served the sentence meted out to me on charges that I still cannot comprehend, I look back on events since my discharge on the 10^th December 2010. I will avail myself of the opportunity to thank the members of the party and my colleagues in the leadership, members of the National Assembly on both sides of the political divide, for their support and sympathy not forgetting other well wishers particularly our party

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Commentary

How Gambia’s flawed electoral system fails voters

By D. A. Jawo, Banjul, The Gambia

It is barely a year to go before the next National Assembly elections, and yet there is no visible indication that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has any plan or intention to correct the biggest anomaly in our electoral system; which is the vast demographical differences between Electoral Constituencies.

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OP-ED
Egypt:Liberal democracy or an African democracy?

By Patricia Daley

(2011-02-09, Issue 516 of Pambazuka News)

 In the context of the popular uprisings in North Africa, Patricia Daley draws on the work of Nigerian scholar Claude Ake and asks how social justice scholars can operationalise the democratic principles he articulated.

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Commentary

The political implications of the GNOC elections
By D. A. Jawo, Banjul, The Gambia

One may find ridiculous any attempt to connect the recent Gambia National Olympics Committee (GNOC) elections with the general political scenario in the country, as the two seem to be quite distinct. But the truth is that there is quite a lot of connection between the two.

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Bombshell

Iran finally breaks silence over Banjul bound weapons

—Gambia owns them, says Iran’s envoy to Nigeria, Molla Abdulla

By EBRIMA G. SANKAREH

Almost four months to the mysterious discovery of a cache of weapons from Iran, The Islamic Republic has finally confirmed what most of us have long established through our most credible operatives. What is more worrisome however is the revelation that the consignment intercepted in Nigeria is the third such consignment which leaves us wondering the exact location of the previous two that finally docked in Banjul.

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US letter writer wants Jammeh’s madams exposed

Dear Editor,

As a concerned citizen of The Gambia living in the United States, I love reading The Echo to know what is happening in our beloved country.

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 Analysis-Politics

Yahya Jammeh,  corrupt despotic criminal & brutal kleptocrat

By CAPTAIN SANA B. SABALLY, Germany

Gambians no longer accept Jammeh’s grandstanding as a so-called freedom fighter now turned politician. They now accept him for what he is. A despot who has become a negation of the values and principles of freedom fighters and good leadership, a plutocrat who buys Gambians with his wealth, a dictator who brutalizes Gambians and denies them basic human rights and economic opportunities. So what is it that the people of the Gambia want? It is our submission that at the core of the Gambian crisis are issues of good leadership, good governance, and legitimacy.

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Guest Editorial

In The

Gambia, alleged adultery, theft, punishable by death?

By  PROF. ABDOULAYE SAINE, Miami University, Oxford, OH.

Oxford, Ohio—Amid the political chaos that currently engulfs The Gambia is Yahya Jammeh’s sinister motive to remain in power at any cost. This is not difficult to see. Jammeh has orchestrated a state of siege to hold an entire population hostage, psychologically stressed, and paralyzed by fear.

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Commentary
Gambian Parliament shamelessly apologizes President Jammeh
-- Another national embarrassment

By D. A. Jawo, Banjul, The Gambia

Gambia’s National Assembly has once again let down the whole nation by their so-called apology to President Yahya Jammeh in the following shameful letter written to him by the Speaker Abdoulie Bojang:

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