Displaying items by tag: Gambia

Gambian lawmakers have upheld the 2015 ban on female genital mutilation (FGM), rejecting a bill which sought to decriminalise the practice, after months of heated debate and international pressure. The bill argued that female circumcision is a deep-rooted cultural and religious practice. Despite passing a second reading in March with minimal opposition, it faced a strong backlash from rights groups, who labeled FGM a harmful violation against women and girls. The 2015 ban penalises FGM, with up to three years in prison. On 15 July lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected each clause of the bill, and the Speaker halted its progress. FGM, which involves the removal or injury of female genitalia, can cause severe health issues, including infections, bleeding, and psychological problems. The Gambia has one of the highest FGM rates, with 73% of women aged 15 to 49 affected.

Yahya Jammeh, the Gambia’s brutal former dictator, may soon lose his vast mansion in Maryland, in a much anticipated step by the US Department of Justice. He paid US$3.5 million for it in 2010 with funds stolen from the Gambian people. In 2017 he fled to Equatorial Guinea. In the short time since Jammeh was ousted from office, the country has shown progress in many critical areas. There are encouraging signs that the repression and violation of basic rights that marked Jammeh’s time in office are slowly being changed by a commitment to democratic norms, good governance, and the rule of law.

Ending the illegal timber trade in Africa should be the first order of business at the G7 summit (see the article in Europe section). There is no wildlife sustainability when timber traffickers and their powerful backers get away with their crimes. Gambia, Madagascar and Senegal all have new governments, who must take steps against impunity for illegal timber trading. Before any new trade proposals can move forward, these countries must start holding perpetrators of past crimes to account. In the Gambia, US$325 million worth of illegal timber went through its ports from 2010 to 2016. Its former president took advantage of poverty and instability at the border to gain control of the illegal rosewood trade from neighbouring Senegal.

As previously reported (see Prayer Alert 17 February), Gambia's new president Adama Barrow has announced that the country will no longer officially be called an Islamic republic, reversing the decision made by his predecessor. Christians have been experiencing violence from Islamist mobs attempting to enforce Islamic dress codes. There are now encouraging signs that Barrow, a Muslim, will begin an era of positive relations with the Christian minority (5-8% of the population) - a courageous step away from the Islamist agenda promoted by Gambia’s previous president.

Not all have been heard or written about what led to the smooth exit of Yahya Jammeh, the erstwhile President of the nation of Gambia, who ruled the tiny African country for twenty-two years, from 1995. The peaceful exit of Yahya Jammeh still remains a surprise in a continent known for turbulent elections and “sits tight” presidents.  

Unknown to many, for five consecutive years, beginning from 2011 to 2015, leading to the Jubilee celebration of the nation of Gambia, corporate prayers were held by the Church for the peace, stability and progress of the nation. It is my view, as one who actively participated in those prayers, the peaceful exit of Yahya Jammeh without any gunshot and any soul lost, could not have been but for the corporate prayers which were made for the nation from 2011 till date. No doubt, international diplomacy brought tremendous pressure on Jammeh, but behind the scene prayers were made starting from 2011. What eventually happened 21st January 2017, was God's intervention in response to prayers. 

Engineer Chinedu Meribole has been a missionary to the Gambia for over 25 years. After graduating in civil engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, he answered the call of God in 1986 and was sent to the Gambia as a missionary. For years, he had carried the burden of that nation reaching out to the unreached peoples with the gospel.  For five consecutive years, before the Jubilee celebration of Gambia on 18th February, 2015, he held prayer seminars under the theme A NEW DAWN, and mobilized the Church in Gambia to pray to experience full spiritual Jubilee, not knowing what lay ahead of the nation. The peaceful exit of Yahya Jammeh from the stage without any blood bath was a political Jubilee of some sort. Indeed a New Dawn has come to Gambia.

Prior to the elections held on the 2nd of December, 2016 which saw the emergence of Adama Barrow, Gambia has been the most peaceful West African nation. The beautiful Gambian beaches are daily full of tourists especially from the months of January to April of each year. Though one of the most poorest nations in Africa, her main export is groundnut, yet the nation boasts of having one of the cleanest and most beautiful beaches in African which makes her a tourist attraction. What strikes a visitor is the security and the low crime rate of the nation. Visit the nation and you will see tourists roaming the streets and surrounding villages with their families as late as midnight. Credit must go to Jammeh for the low crime rate, but at the same time, he is responsible for the poor economic development of the country that has given rise to its having the highest rate of migration of youths in the African continent.

The aphorism that "when we work, we work, but when we pray God works" is exemplified in the Gambia political situation. Gambia is a testimony of the ability of the Church to unite in corporate prayers and prevail in politics. After 22 years of misrule, Yahya Jammeh finally fled the country looting the nation's treasury, and leaving the poor nation bankrupt. We must however, continue to pray for the success of the new President, Adama Barrow. We must pray that the bug of corruption and political misrule that has plagued African nations for decades will not inflict him. We must pray for him to maintain religious tolerance. Jammeh had declared Gambia an Islamic State. Barrow has started well by reversing that declaration. Prayer works even in the politics of a nation!

AUSTEN C. UKACHI

IPC, WEST AFRICA

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A final deadline has been declared in Gambia, a country in flux with two presidents and West African troops poised to take action. Outgoing president Yahya Jammeh has refused to step down since losing the December election to rival Adama Barrow, who has been sworn in as president in the Gambian embassy in Senegal. Troops from several West African countries, backed by the UN, have entered Gambia in support of Barrow, but have given Jammeh a few more hours to step aside before taking further action. Unless last-ditch negotiations are successful this morning, military intervention is regarded as inevitable. Jammeh has held power in Gambia since a military coup in 1994. See