Every institution that host at least five or more people should have fire-neutralizing equipment such as fire extinguishers, smoke alarms among others. The is to meet the ISO 13.220.01 Protection Against Fire in General and NAQAA Standards. Most often than not, very few institutions prepare their staff on how to operate such equipment. Cognizant of the importance of having such safety equipment, The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication on Saturday, April 2, 2022 trained its staff and students on how to operate the safety equipment installed at the premises. Present at the training were the academy’s management, administrative and teaching staff as well as students from the various classes enrolled at the academy. Speaking before the commencement of the training, Sang Mendy, Managing Director of the Academy said, the training is timely. He said, the Academy is cognizant of the need to train staff and students on how to operate the fire and safety equipment noting that this might help in saving lives and properties. “Knowing how to neutralize fire when it is at stage one is important in saving lives and properties. This is why we contracted a certified fire trainer to refill and service the fire extinguishers and also to train the staff and students on how to operate them,” Mendy said. The MD, who actively took part in the training, urged the students to share the knowledge and skills gained during the training with their colleagues in the class. The head of MDS Fire and Safety Company, Momodou Camara told participants at the training to make sure they raise an alarm anytime they see fire within the building. He also advised that anytime students and staff to check for the direction of the wind; look out for exit, call for the electricity meter to be switched off, rush to the extinguishers, grab them and apply the skills gathered during the training. While commending MAJaC for organizing such a training, Camara urged management to put signage such as exit doors, high voltage at strategic places and assembling points. The participants carried out some simulation exercise before the end of the training.
Voter turnout in presidential elections is always far too high than parliamentary elections in The Gambia. This is because of the significance, voters attached to voting in presidential, over parliamentary elections; despite the proximity and impacts of parliamentarians on the lives and livelihoods of the electorates through their oversight, legislative, representation, resource allocation, among other functions. The Independent Electoral Commission statistics on the 2017 parliamentary election indicated that many voters did not turn out to vote in the election, compared to the 2016 presidential election. The IEC database indicated that 379, 320 people cast their votes in the 2017 National Assembly election, compared to the 886, 578 Gambians who cast their votes in the 2016 presidential election. The tally indicated a difference of more than a half a million voters (507, 258) people who voted in the 2016 presidential election did not vote in the 2017 National Assembly election. Importance of voting in National Assembly elections Polling officers vetting voters in the 2018 Local Gov't at a polling station in Farato (Photo: Mustapha Ceesay) Essa Njie, political science lecturer, University of the Gambia said one of the roles of the national assembly is to make law, while the executive implements and the judiciary interprets those laws. ‘”Not only is parliament responsible for law making but they are also responsible for budget allocation,” he said. Njie stressed the importance of the National Assembly highlighting its duties such as approval of the budgets of institutions and the ratifications of treaties, among others. “Gambians must realize that we need a competent national assembly that will ensure that the refunds that this government had promised in 2016 are brought back to life, making sure that there is a new constitution in place, making sure that there are new electoral laws in place,” he stated. Essa urged people to take the NA elections seriously as the presidential elections in order to improve their lives and livelihoods. “People must realize that in order to improve their lives and livelihood, in order to ensure that critical of development such as health , education ,agriculture and all those very important areas that are necessary to be improved, in order to ensure that their lives and livelihood are improve, it’s only through having an effective an efficient parliament,” he noted. The university lecturer called on Gambians to participate in the democratic process that comes once every five years; citing the power of the parliamentarians. “Elections are moments when the constitution gives us the power to determine or elect our political leaders. So we should not joke with it. Parliamentarians have powers to impeach a president, if he or she is behaving otherwise,” he urged. The low voter turnout at parliamentary elections is due to the less significance that many voters, mainly none-elites rated the parliamentary elections as opposed to presidential elections, owing to their level of civic awareness. National Council for Civic Education In the Gambia, National Council for Civic Education (NCCE) is the legal body responsible for educating the public. The institution is expected to inform the private citizens their rights and constitution responsibilities in which voting is part of. Its role to enlighten the electorates on the importance of voting in parliamentary elections could increase the voter turnout in the 9th April election. Asumana Ceesay, senior programme officer, NCCE said NA elections are equally important as the presidential elections in the lives of the citizens. He said the government is divided into three arms, and of them is the legislature whose election is as important as the presidential elections. “But the majority of people don’t know the importance of parliamentary elections. It’s even circulating on social media that they have already voted in the presidential election; there's no need for them to vote in the NA elections,” he said. Given the status quo, there is a need to create awareness on the importance of NA elections, ahead of the April 9 election. Mr. Ceesay highlighted that NCCE is encouraging all Gambians to go out and select their people genuinely parliamentarian in the April 9 elections, so they can be their representative in the National Assembly. He says the national assembly members will be there for the best interest of the public, they are there to represent their constituency and to represent the welfare of their people. ‘’ Recently we have started since the IEC has released the calendar of the National Assembly election. We just came from Basse. On the 22nd February 2022, we had 11 days of community sensitization in Basse,” he said. The NCCE senior programme officer observed that not everyone has access to television or radio where electoral messages are broadcast; that’s why NCCE deemed it necessary to have face to face and radio sensitization sessions on the importance of parliamentary elections on the lives of the people. “Voting is a constitutional right, the NCCE will continue to do its work by educating the public on their rights and responsibility,” he assured of his institution’s effort. History of National Assembly Elections in The Gambia In The Gambia, National Assembly elections began 75 years ago, (the colonial era), and 18 years before independence, according to records. Hassoum Ceesay, historian and Director General, National Centre for Arts & Culture (NCAC) said the first type of elections the Gambia had was the legislative elections in 1947. He recalled that Gambians first voted their representatives in parliament in 1947 and continued until 1972. “So legislative elections are very important and Gambians are used to electing their own parliamentary representatives since 1947,” he acknowledged. “But from the statistics in the second Republic, meaning from 1997, the presidential election turnout is always higher than that of the legislative elections.” According to research, in 1970 after a referendum, the Gambia became a Republic and a new Constitution (the 1970 Constitution) was adopted. The name of the legislature was changed from the House of Representative to Parliament. At that time, it comprised only thirty-two elected members, four head chiefs, the Attorney General and three nominated members. With the emergence of the 1997 Constitution, the Assembly now comprised fifty-three members and five nominated members. The Speaker and the Deputy-speaker are elected from the five members nominated by the president. Section 87 of the 1997 Constitution made it a requirement for the establishment of a National Assembly, which shall come into existence following a general election four months after the date of election of president.
Candidates interested in a seat at the people's 'Bantaba', National Assembly have begun their campaign for votes across the country. Every five years, Gambians elect people of their choice to represent them in parliament. Most often than not, a lot of voters are left disappointed for their candidates' campaign promises are left unattended to. Women gardeners in Ndemban Tenda in Foni, West Coast Region wouldn't allow themselves to be fooled this time round. They, unlike others say, they will only vote for someone who is likely to come to their aid. Click to listen to the mini podcast produced by Jarra Cham and Alieu Jallow
The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC), on its drive to strengthen a learner centered training approach, trained 14 of its trainers on pedagogy. The Training of Trainers that lasted three days saw participants went through topics such as understanding different learning styles, presentation, lesson plan, giving and receiving feedback and classroom management. Binta Bah, the administrative officer said the training is timely and needed because it is geared towards improving quality delivery from the training staff. “This training couldn’t have come at a better time than this. We know we have great trainers who know their subject matter very well but for management, continuous refresher trainings of such are key in maintaining the standards set by the school,” she said. Binta added that MAJaC focuses more on the hands-on thus such training of trainers will go a long way in helping the Academy produce student who are ready for the labour market. Lars Mollers, the lead trainer said he is impressed with the performance of the participants. Lars is a Danish journalist who has served as a journalism Trainer since 1995. “I worked with trainers who want to grow. They also want want MAJaC to grow pedagogically. I see that these trainers understood and mastered their subject matter very well. All they needed is a little push on the areas we have chosen to train them on,” he said. Isatou Keita, one of the journalism trainers at the academy said the training gave her more insights of how to become a better trainer. “This training challenged me in multiple ways, I’ve learned how to better manage my class and how to engage the learners using different feedback methods,” Isatou Said. This TOT came off the heels of an end of year evaluation the Academy organizes with the class representatives. At such meeting, the students are asked to evaluate trainers, management, facilities, resources and trainers’ punctuality and regularity.
The contribution of the Media Academy for Journalism and Communication-MAJaC to media development and strengthening democracy has been felt by not only Gambians, but also stakeholders closely working in and outside The Gambia. Locally, the institution receives commendation for producing great journalists. A Spanish journalists working with TVE (Spanish Public Television) is the latest to weigh into the discussion. She describes MAJaC as one of the most effective journalism and Communication training institutions in The Gambia saying she has been following MAJaC’s work since 2017. She points that she has seen the amount of award-winning journalists the institution produced within this short period. Pilar Requena, a TVE reporter covering foreign and international affairs made these remarks after she completed shooting a documentary at MAJaC. “I have noticed that in almost all media houses you visit in The Gambia, you’ll find MAJaC students there. This shows how effective the institution is”, Pilar explained. Requena hails MAJaC for producing responsible journalists and communicators. She says having good and responsible journalists could help reduce the unemployment rate and irregular migration. She tells MAJaC Media that she included the Academy in documentary they are shooting because of the institution’s involvement in the fight against irregular migration and youth empowerment. The documentary, Pilar says is looking into the lives of returnees, effects of irregular migration and how the youth could be encouraged to stay home through empowerment programmes such as training. The Media Academy for Journalism and Communication builds and nurtures critical minds for the rapidly evolving world of journalism and communication.
Gambians are preparing for the National Assembly election scheduled on 9 April 2022, which will see them vote to elect a new batch of legislators to represent them in the House until 2027. In The Gambia, transportation is one of the biggest challenges for many people, especially those living in the urban area and commute to and from work or school on a daily basis. The daily commuting is increasingly becoming a misery for many commuters because there are always traffic jams on the roads; especially during rush hours. The situation increases daily and now becomes a nightmare for many. Barely less than a month to the 9th April parliamentary election, voters outlined their priorities that would influence their decision to vote for a candidate, come the day. Many voters have already decided to vote for candidates who would be their voice in the parliament and advocate solutions to their problems, one of which is to ease the current transportation challenge they grappled with. Worry of voters Abdoulie Sanneh, a student and a resident of Brikama who travels to school in Sere Kunda daily is eligible to vote in the 9th April election. Many issues would influence his choice of candidate, but key among them is better transportation system. He would vote for that candidate who would present to the executive for urgent attention, his problems including the transportation constraint he faces now. “Yes I will be voting in the parliamentary elections and transportation should be on top of the agenda for any candidate who wants to earn my vote,” the student expressed. Like many others, Abdoulie acknowledged that the current transportation constraint needs urgent attention; and said parliamentarians as people’s representatives should be pushing at the National Assembly issues affecting their electorates. “They will be our representatives at the decision-making body of the Nation. So issues affecting us are what they should be tabling there (Parliament). Transportation is a misery and the incoming National Assembly should take it seriously," he suggested. Another Student, Lamin Jassey at the Management Development Institute (MDI) in Kanifing, commutes to school from Brikama every day. Like his colleague, Lamin agreed that the difficulty in transportation should be every voter's concern and any politician whose agenda does not cover that should not be considered. “For me, any candidate who does not have any plans to put forward the transportation problems to the executive for it to be addressed is not worthy to have my vote,” he said. Jassey urged the rest of the electorates to vote wisely by voting for competent candidates who would stand for the interest of their people at the National Assembly. Baboucarr Joof, Sinchu Baliya goes to work in Banjul, but getting to and from work in the morning and in the evening is always a nightmare. He called his vote, his voice and would cast it for a candidate who will stand for his interest at the National Assembly to get the transportation problem immediately addressed. “The executive cannot spend money without approval from the National Assembly. Therefore, if the executive brought a budget, the NAMs could cut from other areas of less importance and allocate it to the Ministry of transport to build roads. If more roads are built, it will help ease the transportation difficulties,” he noted. The Sinchu Baliya resident assured that candidates eyeing the Old Yundum constituency seat who wants his vote should be ready to pioneer fixing the transportation constraint at the National Assembly, when elected. Polling staff verifying details of a voter Efforts by Transport Union Omar Ceesay, President, Gambia Transport Union said the lack of good roads in the Gambia is a big factor in the transport difficulty, and added that the government should build more linking roads to ease the pressure on the highways. "I think the government should work on more feeder roads. They should collaborate with the councils and municipalities to construct more feeder roads. So that if we have more feeder roads, the main roads will not be congested," he noted. Ceesay informed that his union is working with the government to introduce a new system called road permitting or road licensing to curb the transportation constraint. The new system, he added, would establish picking points and designate destinations for vehicles; saying ‘this would ease the many challenges commuters face daily’. Commitment by candidate Abdoulie Ceesay was the MP for the Old Yundum Constituency whose tenure just ended. He is seeking re-election under the National People's Party ticket. He acknowledged that transportation is a problem affecting many people; and recalled advocating it among other issues affecting his people, during his just ended tenure. "I think the focus should be adding more buses for GTSC and changing the company from a private one and placing it under a ministry that will be responsible for it," he suggested a solution. Ceesay promised to continue advocating issues affecting his people at the National Assembly including the transport challenge, if re-elected. Meanwhile, in recent years, The Gambia’s population has increased significantly hitting close to two million people, according to the 2013 Gambia Bureau of Statistics population census. This means that there is an increased number of commuters plying the road. As such, there is also an increase in the number of vehicles plying the roads compared to a few years ago. This leads to traffic congestion which causes delay to many commuters in reaching their desired destination on time. Many times, commuters would spend a long time hustling for a vehicle for hours, to commute to and from work or home. Now that the country braces electing representatives in the 58-member National Assembly; 53 of whom are elected by electorates in the 53 constituencies across the country; and 5 are nominated by the President as per the the 1997 Constitution, voters decided to vote in representatives who would advocate rapid solutions to their problems, mainly transportation.
Farmers in the North Bank Region have lamented that post-harvest losses is a serious problem be-setting crop production in the area, affirming that candidates with plans to tackle the problem would greatly influence their voting in the 9th April parliamentary election. A cross-section of farmers who spoke to this medium, acknowledged that post-harvest losses affect their earning and therefore needs urgent attention by concerned authorities. Farmers’ concern Lamin Njie, a 35-year-old gardener in Njaba Kunda in the Central Badibou said he encountered a challenge in controlling pests in his garden because he does not have enough pesticide to eradicate the pests at his garden, as a result, he losses many of the produces he harvested in his gardens to them. He informed that community gardens have a great impact at community level, especially in small villages, adding ‘due to pests’ invasion, we experience a lot of difficulties in our gardens’. Njie called on the government of the Gambia through the Ministry of Agriculture, and partners to find a solution to the problem for the well-being of farmers and the country, by extension. Like other farmers, a solution to the problem would greatly influence his voting in the parliamentary election. “I would only vote for the candidate who advocates the well-being of farmers in the Central Badibou District in the 9th April 2022 parliamentary,” he said. Another farmer, Ndey Fatou Sanyang, a vegetable grower at Jokadu Karantaba, is also affected by post-harvest losses mostly caused to her crops by pests and diseases. “Most of us (women gardeners) use the money we get from the garden to pay the school fees of our children and also take care of our other needs for our families,” she said. The vegetable grower in Karataba confirmed that gardening has transformed the livelihoods of many women; and said that any candidate vying for the parliamentary seat of Jokodu should be ready to fight for the best interest of the farmers, as their representative at the National Assembly. What aspirants offer? Fatou Busso, an aspirant under the National People’s Party (NPP) for Upper Niumi said if elected, she would empower the women through government subsidies to remedy their problems. “If I win the 9th April parliamentary election 2022 for Upper Niumi, I would not only focused on pests and diseases control, but I will also lobby projects including boreholes for clean drinking water, as most of the people of Upper Niumi lack clean drinking water in their areas,” she assured. Aspirant Busso promised that the lack of fertilizer, seeds, and controlling pests and diseases would be her priority, as well as empowering women and youth farmers to access markets. Sulayman Saho, the sitting National Assembly member for Central Badibou seeking re-election under the United Democratic Party (UDP) said if elected as the lawmaker for his constituency, he would liaise with the government through the Ministry of Agriculture to effectively control pests and crop diseases for the well-being of his electorates. “If I am re-elected as the National Assembly Member for Central Badibou, I will make sure that the pest and crop diseases will be controlled- whether it is cultural, chemical or biological control for the betterment of agriculture for my people and the country at large,” he promised. Expert observation Lamin Fatty, an agriculturalist observed that the absence of permanent and standard selling places such as poor marketing structure, lack of simple storage technologies to maintain and prolong the life of produce which causes post-harvest losses. He added that the unavailability of well- established markets, storage facilities, poor transportation and lack of practical skills related to post-harvest handling, temperature and humidity management, also cause losses to farmers after harvest. “Post-harvest losses and quality deterioration of horticultural crops are mostly caused by pests, microbial infection, natural ripening processes and environment conditions such as heat, drought and improper post-harvest,” Fatty said. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), poor seed quality, inadequate farming practices, or insect attacks in the field can provoke post-harvest losses for farmers. The research added that broken grains from threshing could encourage the development of insects caused by the combined action of moulds, insects, rodents and other pests leading to post-harvest losses; as well as premature harvest, poor maturation, poor threshing, insufficient drying, and bird attacks, among others. In many developing countries, overall post-harvest losses of cereals and grain legumes account for about 10 to 15 percent, and it is estimated to be about 50% in some regions of Africa and Latin America.
Like many countries, Agriculture remains a key contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of The Gambia, yet farmers remain poor despite the positive influence their agricultural activities have on the country’s economy. Of those farmers, many are women who engage in vegetable gardening for their upkeep and that of their families. Mostly, the women gardeners sustain the needs of their families from the income generated from the sales of their vegetable products. Contrary to the energy and time invested in the community and/or back yard gardens by them, there is limited access to the market for the hardworking and committed women to sell their products post-harvest. That makes access to market a challenge for them, especially those in the rural area. Due to the limited access to markets for most of the women post-harvest, they are compelled to sell their vegetable products at a cheaper cost within their communities or travel afar to the nearby markets in major towns to sell. Either of these options has numerous challenges for them. In addition, due to the nature of most of those community markets and the distance to the major markets in the nearby towns, many of their products go on unsold and perish in the end because of the lack of storage facilities at their disposal to preserve the leftovers. The perishing of their unsold products causes economic losses to them and further toughens the sustenance of their families from the income they generated from the sales of the products. In the build up to the April 9 parliamentary election, women gardeners in three districts in the Fonis- Berefet, Bintang and Kansala told this reporter that their votes are for candidates who would ease their nightmare. In other words, a candidate who would ease their challenge to access the market for the sale of their vegetable products, after harvest. Access to market, decider for the women What supposed to be a moment of joy and gain for her, Manlafie Jarjue, the head of vegetable growers in Somita in the Foni Berefet District enumerated the numerous difficulty she faces accessing market, anytime she harvests her vegetables for sale, which leads to economic losses for her, instead. “Most of my vegetables get rotten along the way, although the road is good but Brikama is far from here (Somita). And upon arrival, the price that I fix for my vegetables won’t be realized, because those in the market usually set their price prior to my arrival, which I can’t refuse because that is the only place I can sell my vegetables. As we are heading to choose someone to represent us, I will vote for the one who has the plight of the women of Foni at heart, especially us gardeners,” she said. Among others, every farmer wishes to make profit at the end of every harvest, but that is not the case for Kaddy Camara, a tomato grower. She lamented that most of her leftover tomatoes are usually thrown away after sales saying, ‘no matter how much I struggle to arrive early in Brikama, before I reach the market, people are done with buying, which is a loss for me’. Kaddy stressed that despite the efforts she puts into gardening does not pay off due to difficulty in accessing markets; adding that she caters some needs of her family from the gardening, among others. She assured to vote for a candidate with plans to facilitate easy access to the market for her to sell her vegetable products: “Hence I own my votes, I will vote for an individual who will help me put an end to my struggle here in the garden.” Another vegetable grower, Kaddy Touray, 'Joofoo’ goes all the way to Sibanor or Bwiam to sell her vegetables, which is far from her village (Somita). Like her colleague, she makes a little or no profit thanks to the marketing constraint. Anytime she could not go to Sibanor or Bwiam to sell her vegetables, she goes house to house to sell, and not all is sold, sometimes. “Sometimes, I even give my vegetables as a loan and at the end they won’t pay or sometimes, I give it out for free but this wouldn't have happened if there was easy access to the market,” she lamented. Fatou Darboe, also a vegetable gardener, said that she earns her livelihood from the trade. However, limited access to the market is affecting her a lot; thus, she is not able to sponsor her children’s education anymore as her income level falls. ‘If accessing the market were easy, then all my children would have been in school by now’. For her, the parliamentary elections will be decider, especially for her children’s future because if that candidate can facilitate easy access to the market for her to sell her products, then, the candidate deserves her vote as all her children would go to school and have a bright future. Vegetable production provides a promising economic opportunity for reducing rural poverty and unemployment in developing countries and is a key component of farm diversification strategies; as vegetables remain a source of vitamins and minerals needed for good health. Agriculture is a vital sector in The Gambia. It accounts for about 17.8 percent of the GDP, ranking behind the service sector, which recorded 68.8 percent of the GDP. An Onion bed at Somita women gardeners Promises Amie Colley, an aspirant for Berefet argued that the challenges of women are beyond access to market, but marketability of their products, due to importation. If elected, she promised to ensure that a cold store is provided for the gardeners so that their leftover products would not perish after sales. Ebou Colley, an aspirant for Berefet under APRC ticket, observed that another problem the vegetable gardeners encounter in the constituency is water, and he would work with relevant stakeholders like the Ministry of Agriculture to solve, if elected. The APRC aspirant said if elected, he would influence the authorities concerned to solve the problem. Stakeholder reaction Meanwhile, Lamin Darboe, deputy director of administration at the Ministry of Agriculture said the population of a community determines markets and said Brikama market is good because there are a lot of people and buying and selling can take place. He said his ministry in partnership with donors is building a warehouse in every constituency of Foni where the women can preserve their vegetables for long. Expert view Mustapha Camara, horticulturist said marketing is a key challenge in production and suggested farmers to practice growing one group of crops at a particular period, as a solution. The practice, he suggested, would help them to determine the market demands and enable them to avoid growing the same variety of vegetables at the same time. “If all are grown at the same time, not all will be sold…if this is done farmers will make profit and they will not go to markets to sell, instead customers will come and buy from them,” he suggested. Camara advised gardeners to do market surveys, saying ‘know what the market wants, have a plan and have farming skills so that you can have profit and enjoy the beauty of gardening’.
