Iranian arms in West Africa: Set-up or mess-up?

RNW-Dec 2010- Late October, news came in that Nigerian police in Lagos had seized a ship carrying 13 containers with heavy arms and ammunition. Estimated price tag: some 20 million US dollars. Origin: Iran. Destination: the Gambian presidency. Now, two months later, relations between Senegal and Iran have reached breaking point.
 

By Bram Posthumus and Sheriff Bojang Jnr

Three questions. First, why would Iran send arms to West Africa? Second, does the Gambia, a small country along the river of the same name, need such a copious quantity of arms? Thus: third, who were they for?

Gambia's ambiguous role
Let us begin with that last question. Since 1982, there has been a low-intensity conflict going on in the southern Senegalese region of Casamance, which shares a border with the Gambia and another with Guinea Bissau. Northern Guinea Bissau was a rear-base for the Casamance rebels for years but recent incursions into Senegal from there have been rare. While still a nuisance, the rebel force itself is weak and splintered.

So what of the Gambia? Its role in the Casamance has been ambiguous. It has tried to facilitate peace talks but it has also been a shelter to the rebels and arms have reached Casamance through the Gambia before. So the news of this particular shipment caused consternation in Dakar, especially since the stated destination was the home village and permanent residence of Gambian president Yahya Jammeh, Kanilai – a few kilometres from the Casamance border.

Mutual suspicion
Gambian diplomats have denied that their country was the destination for the arms and the country has now also severed ties with Iran. But Senegal remains unimpressed and suspicious. That feeling, by the way, is mutual.

But even though the arms saga has further soured the mood between Dakar and Banjul, things still do not add up. As we said, the rebel movement in Casamance is hardly worthy of the name and such a quantity of arms and ammunition would be wasted on them. So: who were these arms for?

"We have looked at several possibilities," says Mark Schroeder, the Africa analyst at Stratfor, a global intelligence company. "Individual countries such as the Gambia don’t need so many arms. Another one, like Ivory Coast runs its own ports and can source weapons independently. So then we thought about various insurgent groups in the region, like MEND in Nigeria and the Casamance rebels. And we have certainly been thinking about AQMI (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, a loosely organised series of groups that has been involved in kidnapping foreigners in among others Mauritania, Mali and Niger)."

Schroeder thinks that the weapons shipment could easily have had multiple destinations. "And I’m sure the US government would love to get proof if AQMI were to be one of the recipients of these arms. The US is concerned about AQMI and has worked with various countries in the region to keep it in check."

The Iran connection
The sender, Iran, does not have the habit of shipping arms directly to its clients, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. One Iranian deputy has declared that it’s all a set-up by Western intelligence, designed to cause embarrassment between Africa and Iran. Stratfor’s Mark Schroeder does not rule that out. "This is not a high cost activity for Western intelligence," he says, "and the US is always trying to put pressure on Iran’s behaviour. Every little bit helps."

If so, they have succeeded and Senegal is a case in point. Iran was a welcome guest at the summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference that was hosted by Dakar in 2007. Two years later, Iranian president Ahmadinejad paid a high-profile visit to the same city. Iran runs development projects in Senegal, Iranian Khodro taxis (assembled locally) ply the streets of Dakar – and crucially, Senegal supports Iran’s quest to go nuclear.

Tehran maintains that the intercepted arms were part of a private business transaction. But Nigerian newspapers report that the two Iranian businessmen involved, Azim Aghajani and Sayed Akbar Tahmaesebi, were operatives of the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s chief military force.

Two losers
That would confirm Senegal’s view that you do not organise a private arms shipment of this magnitude without the Iranian state knowing about it. Dakar recalled its ambassador to Teheran on December 14th “for consultations”. A break-up seems imminent.

So far, the fallout appears to affect mostly Iran and the Gambia. Both have dreadful reputations internationally, in part thanks to their human rights record. In addition, there is controversy over Iran’s nuclear plans, while the Gambia is mostly known as a regional hub for money laundering, drugs trafficking and now weapons smuggling. But it is even worse for Iran.

According to Mark Schroeder, it has just lost a valuable pipeline. "This is an old supply chain that Iran has used for channelling political interest and also drugs, weapons and money. Now it’s blocked. Things may still go through Lagos but they will have to find new ways."

Hero abroad, Criticism at home: The two tales of President Wade

New African – Dec 2010 - Senegal’s 84-year-old president, Abdoulaye Wade is one of the African leaders championing the course of a United. But while he is busy solving problems across the continent, resentment and discontent over his government back home are growing.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

Soon after the devastating earthquake struck Haiti killing up to 200,000 people in January, President Abdoulaye Wade surprised the world when he offered free land and repatriation to the Haitians.
He said ‘Haitians are sons and daughters of Africa and they have the right to return to Africa’. He offered them an estate ‘if they come in small numbers and a fertile region if they come en masse’.

Nine months after the offer, a group of 163 Haitian students arrived in Senegal to take up Senegalese government scholarship to condition their studies at various universities across the country.

Their arrival marked another phase of President Wade’s long quest for African renaissance. The students landed at the Leopold Sedar Senghor Airport to a thunderous welcome and jubilation by Senegalese students and traditional musicians who sang ‘Africa for Haiti, Senegal for Haiti’ and chanted ‘Welcome to the land of your ancestors’.

At a lavish welcome ceremony at the site of the African Renaissance Monument attended by the president of neighbouring Guinea Bissau, Prime Minister of Niger and dignitaries from at least six African countries, President Wade was hailed a hero and ‘true son of Africa’ by various speakers.

Early this year, the President launched the $27 million dollar bronze African Renaissance statue of three figures looming over the Atlantic to ‘give flesh to African renaissance’ and to serve as a symbol in ‘fight against racism.

Power broker

Since he came to power in 2000 after unsuccessfully vying for the Senegalese presidency for 22 years, President Wade has seen himself more than a leader of just Senegal.

From his role in the formation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to his regular advocacy for a United States of Africa, the 84-year-old leader has made a name for himself well beyond the boundaries of his tiny country of about 12 million people. He has become a regional and continental power broker.

In August, President Wade flew to neighbouring Guinea following political a deadlock over transition to civilian democracy. President Wade told the media his role was ‘to advise Guineans to understand the situation and to contribute in unblocking the situation’.

In April, President Wade was invited by stakeholders to mediate in the political crisis in Cote d’Ivoire. Two months earlier, the regional economic bloc, ECOWAS had appointed Wade as mediator in Niger’s political crisis following military overthrow there. Thanks to the mediation of people like him, Niger is still calm despite the fact that the ousted president is still in military captivity.

After a similar coup d’état in neighbouring Mauritania in 2008, President Wade quickly took it upon himself to mediate between the coup leaders and the political elite. There is now a civilian government in Mauritania thanks to mediation like his.

Wade was also involved in political mediation in Chad, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. Outside the frontiers of the continent, President Wade even offered to negotiate in the Middle East crisis and has invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to talks in Senegal.

In 2005, UNESCO awarded the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize to Wade for ‘his contribution to democracy in Senegal and for his role in mediating political disputes in the region.’
Criticism at home

However, as he mediates crises across the continent, the conflict over secession in the Southern Senegalese region of Casamance is today one of Africa’s oldest wars, starting in 1981. Rebel attacks in the region have resulted in the death of at least a dozen soldiers and the displacement of thousands in recent years.

When Wade came to power in 2000, he promised to resolve the conflict in 100 days time. But more than 10 years into his presidency, the Casamance rebels are still fighting. Thus, Wade has been under intense criticism from his people for ‘failing to initiate a serious plan for the crisis.’

On the economic front, his people his people do not have high mark for him. The high unemployment rate in the country has forced thousands of Senegalese youngsters to emigrate to Europe.
The high unemployment rate has forced thousands of Senegalese youth embark on clandestine migration to Europe through the Atlantic by death-trap boats.

While Wade was applauded and hailed as a great leader for giving the 163 Haitian students an academic opportunity of a lifetime, education continues to be a luxury for most Senegalese. The main Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar has become synonymous with protests. Students regularly protest against bad conditions on the campus. Armed police men are now permanently based outside the campus to control any protests by students.

‘It's a good thing to help Haiti considering what it went through. But I don't think giving scholarship to over 160 Haitian students to study in Senegal is the best thing. Students here are facing so many difficulties and the government should have helped them instead’, said an unimpressed female student of the University of Dakar.

Regular power cuts across the country have been met with mass street protests mainly by opposition supporters and the consumers association.

There is also discontent over Wade’s attempt to grooming his son to succeed him as president. Karim Wade is currently the state Minister of Energy, International Cooperation, Territorial Management, Aviation, Air Transport and Infrastructure. Many Senegalese see him as an outsider. His first official entry into politics was in March 2009 when local government elections were held and overwhelmingly won by the opposition.

President Wade’s supporters say he is still the right man for the job, making reference to the tarred roads he constructed mainly across Dakar and other infrastructures.

Senegal takes in Haitian student refugees

Fears country cannot afford generous gesture to earthquake victims as 163 chosen from 2,000 scholarship applicants

By Sheriff Bojang Jr.
Guardian.co.uk

Guardian, London- It is one of Africa's poorest countries, with simmering discontent over power cuts and unemployment with nearly half the population living in poverty. But Senegal  has made good on a promise to give free homes and education to a group of Haitian students who lost everything in January's devastating earthquake.

President Abdoulaye Wade poses with Haitian students

Traditional dancers and singers – and the leaders of three African countries – turned out to greet 163 Haitians who arrived in Dakar on Wednesday night. The students stepped off a chartered plane to a rapturous welcome from hundreds of people chanting: "Senegal for Haiti, Africa for Haiti."

Senegal's octogenarian president, Abdoulaye Wade, the president of neighbouring Guinea-Bissau and the prime minister of Niger were also at the welcoming ceremony.

Adonis Verad, a 24-year-old medical student from Port-au-Prince who lost his entire family in the earthquake, was overcome with emotion. Punching his fist in the air, he said: "I have heard people saying that Haitians are originally from Senegal and right now I'm feeling that this is my root. I can smile now after many months of tears and trauma."

Outside, dozens of Senegalese students held up signs reading: "Welcome to the home of your ancestors."

But the scheme has been criticised as a grandiose gesture which the country can ill afford. Nearly half the population is out of work and the average wage is just $130 (£81) a month.

The Haitian students were driven in a motorcade to a reception hosted by Wade, and then taken to the westernmost point of Africa, where a 49-metre bronze statue of a family rising triumphantly from the ground looms over the Atlantic.

"Your ancestors left here by physical force," Wade told the students. "You have returned through moral force … When the slaves embarked on the ships, this is the last piece of African earth they saw … Dear students, it is on this point of land that sticks out farthest into the Atlantic that we have chosen to receive you," he said. "You are neither strangers nor refugees. You are members of our family."

The enormous monument, built by North Korean engineers, was unveiled this year, and is supposed to symbolise Africa's renaissance. But, like the relocation of the Haitians, it has received mixed reviews locally and has come to represent government profligacy.

The Haitian students were selected from more than 2,000 applicants in what officials described as a "very tough" selection process. They will benefit from a scholarship and free housing from the Senegalese government.

Nelsen Menendez said he planned to study statistics. "All our universities in Haiti are in ruins and we have spent months wondering how we were going to get back to school. But then came President Wade's offer and we are very grateful to him and the people of Senegal for standing by us," he said.

Wade has said that Senegal will pay for the students to complete their studies, but the country's universities have become the focus for discontent and are frequently paralysed by protests over the non-payment of scholarships.

Armed police have been posted at the main university, while many Dakar schools have been closed by flooding. Thousands of families displaced by floods are also sheltering in schools across the country.

Aissatou Thioune, a third-year law student at the university, said: "It's a good thing to help Haiti considering what it went through. But I don't think giving scholarship to over 160 Haitian students to study in Senegal is the best thing. Students here are facing so many difficulties and the government should have helped them instead."

Every year, thousands of Senegalese brave the Atlantic to reach Europe in flimsy wooden boats – just as many Haitians risk their lives trying to reach Florida.

"We are giving the rest of the world a lesson in humanity. Senegal has shown that it's in the hearts of the poor that you can find the gift of generosity," historian Iba Der Thiam, vice-president of Senegal's national assembly, told the Associated Press. "A country that is neither rich nor developed has agreed to share the little it has with its brothers."

Dakar: Senegal's booming sex capital

RNW - Every day at 7pm, 23-year-old Rama carefully packs her cosmetics in a lady bag and heads for a popular bar nearby. The bar is a regular for rich Senegalese men and expatriates with posh cars and big bank accounts.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

"You have sex with some men and they give you a fortune. It's a real business. No one loses." Rama is one of thousands of young sex workers flourishing in the streets, bars and nightclubs of Dakar. Most of them say they are driven into prostitution by poverty, unemployment and lack of opportunities.

Busy night for sex workers in a Dakar pub

Bilkisu is a 31-year-old Nigerian who moved to Dakar in 2008 after her friends told her about the booming sex trade in Dakar. "I was reluctant to come to Dakar because I did not speak French. But once I discovered the amount of money my friends were making and what kind of houses they live in, I packed my bags and moved. Today I say Senegal is my home, because I have better opportunities here. Men are interested in prostitutes and they mostly pay you what you ask for - I'm home!"

In Senegal, prostitution has been legalised for decades. The official reason for this is to keep track of the health status of the prostitutes. But others say legalising prostitution is just a way of attracting tourists.

Police registry
Any woman over 21 can become a prostitute as long as she is registered with the police, has regular health checks, carries a valid sanitary card and is discrete.  But many of the prostitutes on Dakar's streets do not meet these requirements.

Rama, for example, thinks registering with the police is a waste of time: ""Why should I register with the police when I know that it will put me in funny situations? Lots of my friends who registered were discriminated against. The police would harass them, call them names and treat them like trash."

When Bilkisu arrived in Dakar, she was also advised by her room-mate and co-sex worker to register. It turned out to be a nightmare: "I was arrested. The police had a go at me for leaving my country. They said I was bringing disease and immoral behaviour to Senegal."

Rama's scar

Rights groups and NGO's have raised concerns over exploitation of sex workers. One group says sex workers are frequently victims of physical violence.

Rama once was a victim of an attack. She shows her scar in the back of her neck: "I was hit with a torch by a customer who refused to pay after sleeping with me. And sometimes customers deliberately break the condom because they don't like the idea it. They put both of us at risk."

For Bilkisu, however, customers aren't the biggest problem - it's the police. "They often pick you up from the street and trick you into bribing them. If you are unlucky, they take all you earned that night and warn you not to tell anyone."

Although Dakar is reportedly one of the biggest commercial sex capitals of Africa, it is unknown how many unregistered prostitutes work on the streets. So far the Senegalese government has no plans to outlaw prostitution.

So, as long as men are willing to flash their cash, no amount of risk or exploitation will keep Rama, Bilkisu and many of their colleagues from going onto the streets.

Octopus Paul final prediction puts off Senegalese football fans

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

At 6pm Sunday, 24-year-old Bachir Diallo hopelessly stood in front of his popular game shop in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, where just about ten football fans turned up to watch the world cup final clash between Spain and the Netherlands.

At the beginning of the world cup in June, at least 50 fans paid money on a daily basis to watch games on one of the three 55-inch screens in the shop. Watching the games at the overcrowded shop give fans an opportunity to shout and yell at each other and according to Bachir, "sometimes exchange blows out of love for their teams. Everybody loves it."

But more and more fans stayed away from watching games at the shop since the German-based octopus Paul started predicting the results successfully.

“A world cup final is the biggest football match in the world and it is every football fan’s dream to watch it. I was expecting my business to boom come this final but look at the shop… only a handful of people. Everybody’s telling me that they wouldn’t pay to watch a game which is already predicted by that so-called seer Octopus”, says Bachir.

About 100 meters away from Bachir’s shop is a sandy and dirty empty land where dozens of boys were busy playing football while the Spain-Netherlands game was about to start.

Serigne, one of the lads playing football there said "everybody said that octopus never predicted wrong. And now it predicted Spain would win. So why should we bother watching the game when we already know the winner? There’s no point. That’s why we decided to play our own game here. We’ll watch the Spanish victory celebration later”.

Many households in Dakar watched a Latin American soap opera on TV instead of the world cup final.

While the Spanish team was lifting the trophy, thousands of Senegalese football fans were at various beaches enjoying music with their loved ones.

And for Bachir Diallo, “congratulations to the octopus, but it has spoiled my business and it has spoiled the world cup for thousands of fans. Now that the world cup is over, someone should just fry this sea food with pasta or something and eat it once and for all”.

Deported from own country for being black

 "They invited me for interrogation about my nationality. The next day I was arrested, put on a military plane and deported to Senegal just because I am black", says a victim of Mauritania's repression against black citizens.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

RNW - Racial tension and animosity continues in Mauritania after violence erupted recently on a university campus in the capital Nouakchott. Students of African descent and those of Arabic origin recently clashed on the use of Arabic and French as common languages.

The racial tension is a result of Prime Minister Moulaye Ould Mohammed Lagdaff governments intension to introduce compulsory Arabic as the only official language in the country. Black students interpret this as an insult to their identity. Students of Arabic descent, on the other hand, hailed the Prime Minister's declaration as a wake-up call to their supremacy over blacks.

Racial repression effectively started in Mauritania in 1989 following a border dispute with Senegal. The government of President Maaouiya Ould Sid' Ahmed Taya used the opportunity to expel its black citizens to Senegal, accusing them of being Senegalese. According to Human Rights Watch, hundreds were killed or tortured, while those who remained in Mauritania were subjected to gross rights violations.

Sissoko's ordeal
Aldiouma Sissoko is one of the victims of racial repression. He was born in Senegal in 1951 to Mauritanian parents, who migrated to Senegal in 1946 for work. Sissoko moved to Senegal as maritime expert in 1973 after his father encouraged him to contribute to the development of Mauritania.

From Mauritania Sissoko was sent to Canada, USA, Portugal, France and Morocco as a maritime officer. He was later appointed to be in charge of all the fishing operations in Mauritania.

Deportation
On May 7 1989, Sissoko was interrogated for over seven hours before being arrested. "They asked for my national documents and when I handed them over they confiscated them because I was black and therefore not Mauritanian".

Within few minutes, the authorities put Sissoko on a military plane and deported him to Senegal. "It was the worst day of my life and I will never forget it. They sent me to Senegal with nothing but the clothes I was wearing. I was wise enough not to resist because they would have killed me as they did with others".

The memory will haunt him forever.

"I get very angry and bitter every time I think about it. They took away everything I worked so hard, my livelihood, everything. But the most important thing I lost is my nationality."

No to Senegalese citizenship
Despite being born in Senegal, Sissoko never took Senegalese citizenship. Since his deportation, he was approached several times by the Senegalese authorities to take citizenship and move on with life. But for him it is not as simple as that. “My father told me before he died that I must remain a Mauritanian and nothing else. It is a struggle for justice and dignity. It's a mental obligation to me and my father. I will die struggling to reclaim my Mauritanian citizenship and to go home to Mauritania.”

Sissoko is jobless and often struggles to provide food for his family.

“I shed tears sometimes when my children ask me why we are facing such hardships. But I always tell them the truth. When they grow up they can choose what nationality they want but for now, they must remain Mauritanians and nothing else.'

Hero
Mauritanians in Senegal look up to Sissoko as their hero. For Madame Ba, Sissoko gives hope and strength to all of us battling for justice. “He is well educated and he has a choice of taking Senegalese citizenship and acquiring a lucrative job in Senegal but he chose to stay in the struggle no matter what”.

As a jobless man in the streets of Dakar, Sissoko's day-to-day activities include helping other Mauritanian refugees with various paper works, solving disputes between them and taking up their cases at especially the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on their behalf.

"Sissoko represents all the Mauritanian refugees here. I don't know what life would have been for us without him. He is our hero", another Mauritanian refugee says.

Gambia: The nightmare of Femi Peters' son

On 30 March, Olufemi Peters Jr rang his father, Femi Peters, from the UK where he is studying. It was just two days before his father's trial at a magistrate’s court outside the Gambian capital Banjul. Femi Peters, 64-year-old campaign manager for the United Democratic Party (UDP), had been arrested for holding an illegal political rally.

by Sheriff Bojang Jr

"He was confident on the phone that he would win the case, and so was I, because we knew that the state didn't have a genuine case against him".

But in the late hours of 1 April, Femi Peters was convicted and sentenced to a one-year jail term 'for holding a public rally and using a loudspeaker.'

The verdict bewildered his son: "The judgment has traumatised my whole family. I have always looked up to the man who gave me all his names and life and the last place I ever thought he would be is jail."

Outspoken
Opponents of  Gambian president Yahya Jammeh have been the victim of arbitrary arrests, torture and incarceration ever since Jammeh came to power in a military coup in July 1994. Even though he is now an elected head of state, opposition politicians still have a hard time under his rule. 

This was also the experience of Femi Peters, whose UDP is a very popular opposition party in Gambia. Since 1996, it has been contesting elections to 'bring back democracy, human rights and the rule of law to the Gambia'. Femi Peters was an outspoken critic of the policies and programmes of the government.

To his son Olufemi, his father's jail sentence was 'a political orchestration from the outset. If his political affiliation had been somewhat different, he wouldn't be languishing in jail right now. Let's face it... who else would go to jail for merely organising a legitimate political rally and using a loudspeaker to address a crowd?'

Travesty of justice
Human rights groups and the international community have criticised the Gambian government and the judiciary for the way it handled Femi Peters' case.

Ousainou Darboe, UDP leader and lawyer for Femi Peters, has called the judgment 'a travesty of justice'.

Since Femi Peters was sent to jail, concerns have been raised about his health and the bad prison conditions. Medical reports confirm that he is a diabetic and this deeply troubles his son:

"My dad's poor health is giving me nightmares. He is a diabetic and he had malaria the last time my family visited him in prison. I know he won't have the best medical care in there. I am very worried because in a nutshell, these guys are trying to kill my dad!"

Tough
Despite the imprisonment and the health fears, Olufemi is convinced that his father will not give in to pressure to change his position on issues of democracy and human rights:

'My dad is made of tougher stuff than that. He will not quit. That is not the man who sired me. He is very determined to see a free and democratic Gambia where we can all contribute, irrespective of our political affiliation and not get jailed, tortured or killed for it. And he will fight for that to the very end.'

Femi Peters' family and lawyer have appealed against his sentence, though there is no hope among UDP party members that the appeal will make any difference.

UNHCR to meet Senegal refugees

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr

RFI - Africans who have sought shelter in Senegal are today meeting officials of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Dakar to discuss their plight. It is estimated that thousands of refugees, mainly Mauritanians, are living in Senegal. The meeting is expected to focus on refugee grievances.

Senegal plays host to thousands of refugees from different African countries, partly because of its political stability. Most of these arrived in Senegal expecting personal security and better living conditions.

But many refugees say Senegal has failed them. They complain about neglect and discrimination by both UNHCR and the Senegalese government.

They report that locals sometimes call them "nyags", which means "little rats".

"People beat our kids; do many many things. I'm just fed up really," said one Sierra Leonean refugee.
Another said they were not treated like humans.

"No support, no nothing, no shelter, no supply for food, no help for our children," she said. "We are suffering in this country."

UNHCR Representative for West Africa Elike Segbor said assistance to some refugees had been stopped.
"We have stopped assistance to a lot of them because they have been refugees for the past ten years or so," he said. "We felt that the country has reached a certain stage where they can go back home. We initiated the repatriation. A lot of them went home. Those who decided to stay, we warned them that if you stay you stay on your own."

For John, a Sierra Leonean refugee who arrived in Senegal 1989, going home is not an option.

"Over our dead body we are returning home," he said. "If I am dying here I die, but the UNHCR is supposed to rectify our problems."

Today’s meeting will at least bring the angry refugees face to face with the authorities they blame for their sufferings.

Tired of deportation, Senegal’s youth turns to fishing

RNW - In December 2008, Mamadou Gaye and dozens of other youth from the northern Senegalese fishing village of Kayar set for a ‘do or die’ boat trip to the Spanish Canary Island.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr

It was Gaye’s third unsuccessful trip and it took his family six months to raise the boat fare of nearly US$1500 which they borrowed from relatives and local fishermen. They’ve agreed to pay the debts within six months as they were hopeful that Gaye would make it to the Spain, start work and make enough money for that.

False hope
But like in many other cases, Gaye and his family’s project was based on false hope. After ‘very difficult’ weeks in the dark, cold and quiet ocean, Gaye and his fellows made it to the Canary Island. But only three weeks later, he was sent back to Senegal by the Spanish immigration authorities.

"I was so proud to have made it to Spain but considering the huge amount of money that was borrowed for my trip, I thought I was a liability to my family. They thought I was a loser. They preferred I die trying to succeed than to be sent back home empty-handed."

Besides the fact that dozens of youth from the small village of Kayar embarks on the boat trip to Europe each year, the sea at the village is a popular starting point for hundreds or even thousands of youth from all over the sub-region bound for Europe.

In December 2009, a boat with nearly hundred young people left Kayar for Spain. Everybody on the boat, except three who died on the way, were sent back home by the Spanish authorities.

Why not stay?
After that trip, the youth of Kayar started a project to campaign against clandestine boat migration to Europe. Under the project, they decided to dedicate their time and energy to fishing and environmental protection.
“We wasted our times and created problems for our families. So why can’t we stay here and make the best use of our sea, fish and environment rather than going to Europe only to be sent back?” Gaye said.

Recently, Diana Mrazikova, an award-winning Slovakian photojournalist organised an international outdoor photo exhibition in Kayar to promote the village for tourism.

‘Turning Oppression into Opportunity’, was the theme and Diana installed images on the same pirogues used a few years ago as means to get to Europe.

"It was a way of showing the local people that the white girl who was taking pictures in their village was not shooting postcards as they thought. On the contrary, she wants to promote their extraordinary village around the world."

And for Gaye, “the clandestine migration mentality is quickly fading away and we are hopeful that we can make a difference without risking our lives to go to Europe. Our fish will see us through.”

Senegal targets children in the fight against malaria

RNW – 22 June, 2010 - Pupils at the Garage Beintegnier Basic School in the outskirts of the Senegalese capital, Dakar stands in front of visiting USAID Administrator and staff, shoulder-to-shoulder, and sang an emotional song to their parents.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

“Dear Mama, my room is a haven for mosquitoes. Dear Papa, my bed is without a mosquito net. I need protection from malaria in order to go to school or to reach my full potential...”

The song was written by 12-year-old Salieu and his 13-year-old classmate and best friend, Amadou.
With a population of about 2000, Garage Beintegnier is one of the suburbs of Dakar with a high annual malaria rate. It has just one tiny health center with hardly any drugs.

According to Salieu, “everyday a classmate or friend is absent from school or misses an exam because of malaria. Everyday a friend or a neighbour is rushed to a hospital in Dakar to be admitted for malaria. It frightened and worried me and so I decided to write a song with my friend about our fears.”

The song inspired Salieu and Amadou’s school teachers and health staff in the community to start a special project in which they give daily after-school lectures to children about malaria and mosquitoes. The idea is for the children to transmit the message to their parents, most of who are illiterates and are reluctant to apply any malaria precaution.

Magamou Gueye is a community health officer and one of the coordinators of the project. For him, “this is like a training of trainers project. We are preparing them to go out there and sensitize their parents about the consequences of malaria and how to avoid it.”

Gueye said the children are targeted ‘because in this community, parents are so poor. They can hardly afford one meal a day. But their children are their pride. They love them, they believe in their future and they listen to them.”

For Amadou, the project has made a big difference in his household and the rest of the community.

“I tell my parents everyday that mosquito is a threat to our survival and happiness. Thanks to the project and my advice, using mosquito nets and cleaning the house have become everyday routines in my household and we don’t have malaria anymore.”

As a result of his song, Salieu is treated by fellow pupils as a little celebrity. But Salieu, wearing an orange t-shirt underneath his blue uniform top, is more proud of the message he sends than his new-found popularity.
“My parents initially thought malaria is unavoidable and that when you have malaria you shouldn’t do anything about it. But after I sensitized them, they are now as conscious of it as anybody else. It makes me cry seeing them tying the mosquito nets, cleaning the backyard or advising their friends about malaria.It feels so good to sit quietly and watch them do all these things.”

The worst period of the year in Senegal for malaria is from July to September (rainy season) and it is Gueye’s hope that ‘children nationwide are used to spread the message’.

And for Amadou, ‘this should go beyond Garage Beintegnier. Children all over the country should be involved in fighting malaria because our parents are both the problem and the solution and we are their best friends. Every parent listens to his or her child.”

Hopes fading and time ticking in Senegal’s southern region

RNW - Karamo Souane is a middle-aged mechanic from the southern Senegalese region of Casamance. He has always lived in Casamance where he is the breadwinner of his large family. Last week, he filled his bag with as much belongings as he could and embarked on an approximately 10-hour journey to Thies, in the outskirts of the Senegalese capital, Dakar.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr, Senegal

Souane decided to flee, leaving his old parents and family behind following weeks of sporadic gun battle between Senegalese troops and rebels from the secessionist Movement of Democratic Forces in the Casamance (MFDC).

“Since in the 1980s, me and my entire family have always stayed put even when things were hot. But personally, I don’t feel safe anymore. We could not sleep for days, weeks because of gun sounds and we don’t know how long we are going to survive this madness. We are tired of being afraid and that’s why I decided to flee.’

Guerilla warfare

Souane is one of the thousands of people who are reported to have fled the troubled Casamance region over the past two weeks. They complained of being attacked by both the state troops and the rebels.

The MFDC has been waging guerilla warfare against the Senegalese government over autonomy of Casamance since 1982, becoming one of Africa’s oldest armed struggles. Over the past ten years, the intensity of the Casamance war dwindled, resulting to increasing optimism that the rebels have lost ground.

But the conflict flared up when the state troops were ambushed by the rebels three weeks ago, killing two soldiers and injuring at least a dozen. The troops reacted with the fiercest attack on suspected rebel bases in a decade. Over the past weeks, they have been attacking suspected MFDC positions with shells and bombs.

Possible humanitarian crisis

A local humanitarian agent told RNW that ‘what’s happening in Casamance right now is not a humanitarian crisis but there is a possibility that we will have humanitarian crisis in our hands if the problem is not addressed quickly’.

The agent confirmed that most of those evacuating are women and children and there is not much in place to cater for their daily basic needs.

The MFDC officials earlier this week sent out a statement calling for negations over Casamance independence to be opened. Senegalese Foreign Minister, Madicke Niang retorts that ‘when they want to talk about an autonomous Casamance, an independent Casamance, I replied to them, looking straight into their eyes, that Casamance is part of Senegal, and until the sun is extinguished, Casamance will be part of Senegal.”

It is feared that Niang’s reaction will further wound the MFDC rebels who seem determined to fight for the autonomy of Casamance all the way.

Many natives of Casamance are backing the MFDC because they have always felt that the region is neglected by the government despite the fact that it produces most of the local food consumed in mainland Senegal.

West Africa, drug lords’ new El Dorado

It has mainly been Guinea Bissau all along in the sub-region. Now a poor, tiny West African state of The Gambia is also making international headlines for illicit drugs.

On Tuesday, the National Drugs Enforcement Agency in Banjul discovered over 2 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of over US$1 Billion. This is the biggest drugs scandal in West Africa and twelve suspects, including three Dutch nationals have since been charged with various drugs offences.

The scandal in Banjul is another manifestation that drug trafficking is becoming more and more a huge problem in West Africa. Until less than a decade ago, the region’s major problems were internal political instability and corrupt leadership. But the emergence of Latin American drug kingpins at the West African ports and borders has opened up another challenge for a region already battling with poverty, diseases and violence.

Corrupt officials
The International Police (Interpol) estimated that two-thirds of drugs sold in Europe from Latin America in 2009 were trafficked through West Africa. Various studies by various international organisations revealed that while the drug lords target West Africa due to poverty, senior West African officials, including politicians, lawmakers and security personnel benefits directly from the drugs trade in the countries.

Recently, Ousman Conte, an influential son of late Guinean president, Lansana Conte was arrested for alleged drug dealings. In April, former Guinea Bissau Navy chief, Rear Admiral Bubo Na Tchuto and the current chief of the air force, were listed by the US Treasury Department as drug kingpins. In March, Gambian authorities arrested Police Inspector General as well as the Head of the National Drugs Enforcement Agency for alleged drug trafficking.

In countries like Guinea Bissau, one of the poorest and underdeveloped countries in the world, top officials drive big American trucks such as Hummer on a daily basis when their annual legitimate income is half the price of a used Hummer.

Latin American drug lords come to West Africa with lot of money and with it, it is obvious that they bribe their ways in and out of the porous West African ports and borders.

Insecurity and escalating crime rate
One of the major concerns about drug trafficking in West Africa is the threat that it poses to the region. Drugs use and trafficking are singled out by experts as being responsible for West Africa’s escalating crime rate and political instability.

In Guinea Bissau for example, the numerous assassinations of army chiefs and eventually the president, Joao Bernardo Vieira are blamed on booming drugs trafficking in the country.

According to Gambia’s Drugs Enforcement Agency chief, ‘the successful operation in Banjul will serve as a new warning to Latin American drug dealers that West Africa is ready for them’.

But West Africa is the El Dorado for those drug lords and certainly, it will take a lot of efforts and fight to put them off the region.

Stature of controversy

 New African - May 2010 - Is Senegal brand-new ‘African Renaissance Monument’ a triumph of African liberation or a monumental gaffe? Critics have condemned it but its supporters have praised the man behind it, President Abdoulaye Wade. Sheriff Bojang Jnr reports from Dakar.

At the top of a 300-foot-high hill along the western coast near the Senegalese capital, Dakar, now stands a gigantic bronze statue called the ‘African Renaissance Monument’. The 164-high statue, a few feet taller than the Statue of Liberty in New York, USA depicts a muscular man, a fatherly figure triumphantly holding a woman with his right hand and with his left hoisting a child aloft, who is eagerly pointing to the sea.

The $27 million monument was built by a North Korean firm based on the ideas of Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade to mark Senegal’s 50th independence anniversary. The president wanted the monument to ‘symbolise the fight against racism’. 

After much controversy over the merits and demerits of the monument, it was finally inaugurated at a lavish ceremony on 3 April, attended by 19 African heads of state, a group of 100 African-Americans led by famous civil rights activist, Rev Jesse Jackson and hundreds of other dignitaries from other parts of the world.

President Wade told his guests and jubilant supporters that ‘there is a Statue of Liberty in the United States, an Eiffel Tower in Paris. I wanted to give flesh to African Renaissance so that people know that we came through nearly six centuries of darkness, and we are going towards the light’.

He said the monument symbolised the triumph of African liberation from centuries of ignorance, intolerance and racism. And he hopes ‘the statue will rival the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower as a tourist destination’.

Echoing the sentiments, the Chairman of the African Union and Malawian president, Bingu Wa Mutharika, said the monument was a symbol of hope for the African child. To the former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, ‘the stature is a message to the world that Africans were born free’. For Jesse Jackson, his hope is that the monument ‘will attract tourists from all over the world’.

But critics of the monument have accused President Wade of excessive spending on ‘prestige projects’ while ignoring urgent economic issues. Senegal is one of the countries hit hard by the global financial crisis and rising food prices. Unemployment is high, the health and education sectors are in crisis, and the economy is declining.

Sokhna Fatou Thiam, a middle-aged jewellery seller in Dakar and an ardent critic of the monument says: ‘This statue is an example of our president’s disconnection from the common people, the people who stood by him through thick and thin during the years of his struggle as an opposition leader, the people who voted him into power. Give me $27 million and I will spend it on upgrading hospitals and schools, and providing water and food for the needy rather than building a statue.’

Many Senegalese feel the same way as Thiam. While President Wade’s supporters see the statue as an investment that will generate income for the country, many others see it as a misplaced priority. The high cost of living, frequent power cuts and the high unemployment rate have resulted in regular street protests across Dakar and in the suburbs over the past two years. Besides, thousands of Senegalese youth take to the sea each year in a ‘do or die’ trip to Europe by flimsy boats. Most do so because of the lack of economic opportunities at home.

Abdoulaye Bathily, opposition leader and university professor, has accused Wade of spending ‘millions and millions’ on prestige projects while his people are struggling to eat one meal a day. Bathily has vowed to defeat Wade in the next elections in 2012 after which ‘we will dismantle this statue the same way Saddam Hussein statue was dismantled in Baghdad.’

According to the local Le Quotidien newspaper, the cost of the monument is equivalent to the debts of all the public hospitals in Dakar, where many sick people are sent away daily because of lack of enough beds to accommodate them.

But the monument has its own supporters too. Mame Mbacke Saine, an independent architectural consultant (who once served as an unofficial consultant for the monument), says the statue will bring long time benefits. ‘When the media tries to make a fuss out of the controversy surrounding this project, it baffles me. Come on, where in the world is there a national statue without problems and controversies? This statue represents hope and optimism, love and affection for our women, and a sign of positive change for our politicians.’

His views are echoed by Ouleye Sidibe, a high school teacher in the suburbs of Dakar. According to her, ‘there is nothing sexist about this statue. The fact that there is a woman present is enough proof that women are a priority of this government. The problem in Senegal is not what is done right or wrong by the government. It is that a lot of people hate President Wade for nothing, and no matter what he does, they will always have something horrible to say about it

My idea, my share

President Wade shocked the nation when he announced that he would personally take 35 percent of all tourist revenue from the monument. He claimed intellectual property rights as he said the project was his own idea. The remaining 65 percent share of the revenue, Wade said, would go to the state.

His announcement caused furore and anger among many Senegalese who felt strongly that he should not be entitled to any share. But experts in intellectual property rights had mixed opinions. While some said the president was entitled to the share as a man who conceived the idea, others argued that as a sitting Head of State, he cannot claim intellectual property rights for the project.

‘By claiming intellectual property rights, President Wade is acting more like a businessman than a leader elected by his people’, said one property rights analyst.

The monument has also been criticised by local feminists for what they see as ‘an attack on the fight for gender equality in Senegal.’ They don’t agree with President Wade that, put together, the three figures of the statue represent ‘victory and renaissance’. Whose victory and whose renaissance?’ the women ask.

Fatou Kine Camara, a Senegalese law professor, feminist and visual artist does not think that the statue represents any kind of victory for women. According to her, the statue is ‘an insult to all women, and men who are respectful of women in this country because what it symbolises is the triumph of patriarchal values in our society’.

According to the critics, the monument portrays a child in the arms of his father while his mother is swept along by the father.

Prof. Camara said ‘when there’s a sculpture of a couple and a child, that child is always with the mother, usually at her mother’s breast… to show that she’s the giver of life, she’s the nurturer’. What baffles Prof. Camara is that the father has the child on his muscular arm ‘as if the child will be fed by physical strength… no, he should know about love, mother’s love and tenderness, human values’.

Aissatou Laye, a newspaper columnist wrote that the statue ‘represents a singular idea and specious renaissance that places man at the heart of the problem and reduces woman to a subordinate status that can be crushed or raised depending on the mood of the man’.

The portrayal of the woman with bare thighs has also come under criticism from women’s rights activists and Muslims. The architect of the statue has hinted that the woman’s body might be covered to appease women who feel insulted by the bare thighs.

Some critics have claimed that the woman is naked from neck to waist, but an objective look reveals a torso wrapped in a light apparel or ‘sea-though’ material. She is, therefore, not naked.

Other art lovers in Senegal have rejected President Wade’s claim that the monument represent African victory. Many of them say the statue has no African appeal.

When Imams and other Muslim leaders in Senegal called for the statue to be knocked down because it was ‘idolatrous’, President Wade accused them of hypocrisy and ignorance. 

He told a public gathering that ‘in churches, Christians pray to Jesus and he’s not a God. Everybody knows this, but nobody has ever said we have to knock down churches. Nobody has ever objected or cared what the people do there’.

The Catholic community in Dakar took umbrage and called a rally in which the Archbishop of Dakar, Adrianne Theodore Sarr said the Christians were ‘insulted and humiliated’ by the president’s comment.

Violence erupted between hundreds of young Christians and the Senegalese police when the Christians took to the streets to express their disgust at the president’s comparison of the statue to Jesus.

On the eve of the inauguration of the statue, a group of Muslim clerics issued a fatwa against the project and prayed that ‘God should punish anyone who attended the inauguration’. A fatwa is a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority. It is popularly associated with negative things, such as a death sentence on a person or a severe punishment.

But despite all the criticisms, the African Renaissance Statue is open for business. So far, the critics have failed to look at its long-term benefits, and how the monument will pay for itself over time. They have not asked themselves how much revenue the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty or the London Eye accrue each year, or have accrued over the decades since they were built.

‘One hundred years from now, when President Abdoulaye Wade will be no more, this monument will still be earning money for Senegal to be put into poverty-eradicating projects’, said a supporter of the monument.

That notwithstanding, the monument might well mark a turning point in Senegal’s 2012 elections. 

Ten long years

Yesterday marked the tenth anniversary of a popular election that brought incumbent Senegalese president, Abdoulaye Wade, to power.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

On March 19 2000, Wade defeated Abdou Diouf in the second rounds of the ballot, ending 40 years of socialist rule in the former French colony. He won the race with the help of other major opposition parties that went into alliance with him under the banner of Sopi (change) 2000. He finally won the race after trying in vain four times starting from 1978. Wade defeated Diouf on a promise of sound and effective policies and programmes in the areas of economy, education, infrastructure, democracy and the rule of law. There was an optimism that the new president would live by his promises and keep the hopes of the nation alive.

Gambia's secret torture chambers

“My hands were tied together, my head covered with a black plastic bag… they poured cold water on me and the four men from the State Guard started beating me… until I became unconscious”, says ex-Gambian parliamentarian.

By Sheriff Bojang Jnr.

The Gambia is one of West Africa’s major tourist destinations. Every winter season, thousands of tourists from mainly Britain, The Netherlands and Scandinavia visit the country to escape the freezing weather in Europe.

For the holiday makers it is a paradise, one of the most peaceful and relaxing countries on the African continent. But there is another side of The Gambia that is worlds apart from the one presented to the tourists and the one they fall in love with.

Enemies of the state

Less than 15km away from the Tourism Development Area, a vast area where most of the hotels are located, are the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Mile 2 Central Prison. These are The Gambia’s two most notorious and hostile detention centres where the authorities illegally detain and torture people they perceive as enemies of the state.

Demba Dem was a National Assembly member who won his parliamentary seat under the ticket of the President Yahya Jammeh’s ruling party. Unlike his peers on the ruling bench, Dem was renowned for challenging and voting against controversial pro-government bills. This had put him on a collision course with his peers and top government officials who confronted and threatened him on various occasions.

Demba Dem