Young journalists like Gibarou Janneh of the Daily Observer who is also general-secretary of the Gambia Press Union could benefit enormously from the EU cash injection. - Pic by Trevor Grundy

By Trevor Grundy

The Gambia and the European Union have signed a good governance support programme which has an envelope of 10 million Euros, equivalent to about 400 million Gambian Dalsai.

The programme will be financed from the 10th European Development Fund National Indicative programme.

A statement released in Brussels and Banjul on 3 February said the overall objective of the programme was to contribute to better democratic and economic governance and the project will have three components:

- Access to justice and legal education
- Journalists and media
- Public finance management

With specific reference to journalists and the media, the joint statement said:  “Through a dialogue between the government and its citizens, communication between the two can be improved. This can contribute to enhancing democratic governance through transparency and information accessible to all.” The specific objectives of this component is to improve:

- Legal and regulatory frameworks
- Capacities and media professionals

“A huge chunk of the EU grant will go to the media for self-regulation and capacity building,” Aloa Ahmed Alota, Executive Director of the Gambia Press Union (GPU) wrote in an email to the UK branch of the Commonwealth Journalists Association(CJA).

The EU/Gambian statement said: ”The National Authorising Officer Support Unit and the EU Delegation will work in close partnership to ensure appropriate implementation of this important programme. The ways of implementation will vary from component to component in order to meet the requirements of each result area and ensure achievement of the best results. In particular, implementation will build an enhanced dialogue with civil society and non state  actors and, in the area of public financial management, on the expertise of partners such  as the International Monetary Fund  and the World Bank.”

The project has a duration of five years, commencing in 2012.

Last year, a five-day Media Forum and Capacity Building event convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with the Management Development Institute and the Gambian Government was held in Banjul (1-5 August)

It was attended by a host of leading African academics, journalists and politicians including the Gambian Minister for Information Infrastructure, Alhajie Cham and Foreign Minister, Dr Momodou Tangara.

Journalists told members of the CJA-UK, who also attended, that there was an urgent need to free-up the press in The Gambia and step-up training programmes. The Commonwealth was urged to play a leading role in reforming, or  helping to do away with,  draconian media laws which curtail the activities of reporters, broadcasters, authors and the activities of leader of civic society.

Dr Mamadou Tangara has been retained as Foreign Minister. - Pic by Trevor Grundy

Cabinet dissolved

The announcement of the EU/Gambian agreement came the day before President Yahya Jammeh dissolved his entire cabinet without filling vacant positions.

All ministerial positions, including the office of the Vice-President, were declared vacant, leaving a power vacuum filled only by the Kanilai-born leader who many inside and outside The Gambia regard as a dictator.

On 8 February, he set about re-building his government and announced that Dr Tangara would retain his position at Foreign Affairs.

President Jammeh has ruled Gambia since seizing power in a military coup in 1994. He won a fourth term of office in electiions in November 2011.

That election was condemned by the Economic Community of West African States which refused to send observers saying the political environment was not conducive to free and fair elections.

As at the end of 8 February, some 14 of the 21 positions in The Gambia’s previous Cabinet were yet to be fulfilled.

West African political observer Pa Nderry M’Bai said in a report on The Gambian situation that President Jammeh was stuck for ideas and men to carry on the day-to-day business of government.

Some of the elites approached by President Jammeh’s emissaries have turned down his ministerial position offers. M’Bai said in his report: ”They politely told emissaries that they are busy with other job commitments and reject the job offers extended to them.”

One source told the correspondent:  ”I know for a fact that some people have received their appointment letters. They are waiting to be sworn in once Jammeh finalises his selection and appointment process of ministers. He has nothing to offer to this country. He is trying to assemble old wine in a new bottle. This man has proven to be incompetent to run this country. He has no clue about how to run a government. It’s a big mistake for some of us to work with this man. We will be better off without working for Jammeh’s failed government. That’s why some of out colleagues are leaving to work for the UN and other international organiations.”