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| kobo |
Posted - 20 Feb 2014 : 03:31:12
 1. Jammeh vows to fight homosexuals the same way as mosquitoes
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
President Yahya Jammeh has once again launched another attack on homosexuals or gays, calling them vermin, and vowing that his government “will fight them the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes”.
In an Independence Day anniversary statement delivered on his behalf by the mayors of Banjul and the Kanifing Municipality Tuesday to mark the country’s 49th independence anniversary, which has been decentralised, President Jammeh said while his government wishes to maintain peaceful relations with all countries near and far, he will “never accept any ungodly, satanic and anti-human behaviour as a way of life or a human right”.
‘‘We will, therefore, not accept any friendship, aid or any other gesture that is conditional on accepting homosexuals or L.G.B.T.as they are now baptised by the powers that promote them. As far as I am concerned, L.G.B.T can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis; all of which are detrimental to human existence,’’ he stated.
Homosexuality, Jammeh added, will never be tolerated and, in fact, will attract the ultimate penalty since it is intended to bring humanity to an inglorious extinction.
According to President Jammeh, The Gambia will continue to pursue a foreign policy based on equality and genuine friendship with the rest of the world.
‘‘Such friendship must be anchored on mutual respect and the inviolability of our sovereignty and independence. We are not against any country or race, but we demand absolute respect for our religious values from all nations regardless of size, race, wealth or ideology......
SOURCE: The Point News & full report
2. JAMMEH TASKS CITIZENS TO JEALOUSLY GUARD GAMBIA’S PEACE, STABILITY
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
The president of the Republic, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Jammeh has addressed the nation on the eve of The Gambia’s 49th independence anniversary, using the 12-page speech to, amongst others, call on the citizens to continue to jealously guard and protect the peace and stability of the nation.
The Gambian leader pointed out that his government has put a high premium on security, a sacred national interest, he said, that would never be compromised. He indicated the Economist Magazine has ranked The Gambia among the most stable countries in the world, stressing that such a feat must never be taken for granted but should propel all citizens to stand firm in unity to safeguard and preserve it for posterity.
Jammeh, whose statement touched on a whole range of important domestic, regional and global issues, further used the opportunity to affirm his government’s commitment to deliver The Gambia from the status of food dependence to food independence. Renewing his call for Gambians to “grow what you eat and eat what you grow”, the Gambian leader, a notable farmer himself, vowed that he is “determined to end the importation of basic food items by 2016 without fail by the Grace and Might of the Almighty Allah”.
Below is the full text of the presidential speech.....
SOURCE: Daily Observer News & full report
3. Related Bantaba topics;
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| kobo |
Posted - 06 Mar 2014 : 16:58:35
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| kobo |
Posted - 06 Mar 2014 : 16:56:34
quote:
Originally posted by kobo
Gay people mustn't be left to fight American and African religious zealots alone. Help us
As Arizona passes a law against gay rights and Uganda ratifies similarly savage homophobic rules, Alice Arnold argues that supposed 'religious freedoms' are being pitted against the human rights of gay people.
Fyodor Dostoevsky once said: “You can judge a society by how well it treats its prisoners.” That may still be true, but a new criteria is focusing the division between liberal democracies and the rest of the world: the way societies treat their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population.....
UPDATES:
1. Los Angels Times Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer vetoes divisive bill seen as anti-gay
2. What’s the matter with Arizona? The state Americans love to hate
 
Another bad law avoided
IN THE end, death came decisively. After days of feverish speculation, on February 26th Jan Brewer, Arizona’s Republican governor, vetoed SB 1062, a bill passed by the legislature a week earlier that would have allowed private businesses to cite religious beliefs as a defence against lawsuits over discriminatory treatment. Although the law made no mention of sexuality it was widely, and correctly, interpreted as a licence for business owners or their employees to deny service to gays. Large corporations, local business groups and Republican bigwigs had fallen over themselves urging Ms Brewer to ditch the law. A group of Hispanic lawyers scrapped plans to hold a convention in Phoenix, the state capital; other boycotts, including of the Super Bowl in Glendale next year, might well have followed.
To have signed the law would thus have amounted to a huge provocation. Still, Ms Brewer, who has not made courting minority groups a signature theme of her administration, was surprisingly full-throated in her rejection of SB 1062, saying it could have divided the state in ways that “we cannot even imagine”. That seems right; the law’s wording was worryingly vague.....
SOURCE: The Economist & full report |
| kobo |
Posted - 01 Mar 2014 : 22:29:29
1. Dida Halake Responds.
“Even in ancestral Africa, homosexuality did exist”
Says Kalil Laye.
Mr. Laye: “Even in ancestral Africa, homosexuality did exist … there is no evidence whatsoever that gays as a group were persecuted is pre-colonial Africa”.
Halake says: “Absolutely, Kalil. We have always been a civilised and tolerant people – until the imperialists interfered! The “tolerance” of homosexuals in Africa that you refer to was also mentioned in the judgement I quoted at the Royal Courts of Justice here in London. As teenagers around the Swahili Coast (Mombasa), we were aware that some local Arabs practised homosexuality … the Gay Pop-Icon Freddie Mercury of the band Queen was born in Arab dominated Zanzibar. In 2009 there was a “Gay Community” around Senegal’s tourist are of M’Bour – and even on the Smiling Coast (though these later were very discreet). This just goes to underline your point about the “tolerance” of homosexuality in Africa.
Mr. Laye: “…homosexuality was tolerated - though not openly promoted”......
SOURCE: Maafanta.com News & full report
1. Gambia’s Islamic Council Backs Jammeh On Anti—Gay Crusade
Thursday, 27 February 2014
(JollofNews) – The head of Gambia's highest Islamic body has endorsed President Yahya Jammeh's stance against homosexuality despite international condemnation.
Alhaji Momodou Lamin Touray, president of the Gambia Supreme Islamic Council, (GSIC) said in an exclusive interview with JollofNews that President Jammeh has the full support of his organisation in his crusade against homosexuality in the West African country.
Mr Jammeh said homosexuality will never be tolerated in his country and anyone suspected of being gay including diplomats will pay the ultimate penalty because they intend to bring humanity to an inglorious extinction.
Endorsing Mr Jammeh’s position, the head of the country's Islamic body described the President's move as 'salutary' and said, "Homosexuals have no place in society." "Homosexuality is forbidden in Islam and we should not allow such a horrific tendency to flourish in the country. Even animals follow the laws of nature."
Imam Touray, however stated that while he is against homosexuality the Gambia has not yet reached a stage where capital punishment can be used on suspected gays and lesbians.
He called on Gambians to desist from failing into temptations of the 'so-called modern world,' which causes the 'degradation of religious value'.
As a Muslim dominant country homosexuality is regarded as a taboo and an alien practice that is being imported into the country by Westerners.
The tiny West African State is ruled with an iron fist by President Yahya Jammeh who came to power in a 1994 military coup. He keeps on making headlines for recurrent attacks on gays and lesbians; gross human rights violations including crackdown on the media and political parties.
Written by Abdoulie John
SOURCE: Jollof News |
| kobo |
Posted - 28 Feb 2014 : 10:16:59
1. The Gay Debate across Africa By Dida Halake, London, UK.
“They that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind”
Editor,
I have been sent this bold statement from an African newspaper with a request to “comment”.
“African leaders and same-sex relationships: the masses should not be diverted from the issues that affect their lives. … Many African leaders are treating this same sex issue as if they are attacking Western values values. In actual fact, this issue has sparked controversy in all these countries. It raises questions on how a government should deal with its own people. That is the crux of the matter. It is not about western values.”
Well, briefly, my comment is that this matter was a non-issue across much of Africa until the West tried to impose its “Gay Values” across Africa. It is not factual to say “it is not about western values”!!! “Gay issues” and “Gay values” are by definition Western values. Homosexuality is taboo across every single country in Africa – and that is how it will remain. No President in Africa, other than Nelson Mandela who was still operating under the white Apartheid system and values (Western values), can legalise “Gay Rights” in Africa and survive in office. Homosexuality remains taboo amongst the majority African population in South Africa – and infact the law legalising it may possibly be repealed by Jacob Zuma’s administration.
As I once wrote, the majority of the people of Africa live by the tenets of the Koran and the Bible – and the laws of the African countries reflect those values and cultures. The West must respect those African beliefs and values, pure and simple. I live in the UK where homosexuality is legal and I respect that. My son’s High School headteacher is gay but that is neither here nor there. The headteacher has done a remarkable job in turning around one of London’s secondary schools – bringing it up from being one of the worst to being one of the best. My son gained 7 straight As and 3 Bs in his exams (10 GCSE passes altogether). That is superb. I have great respect for the headteacher – gay or not gay.
Now, coincidently, I think my daughter’s headteacher is also gay: a parent told me and said I must be blind not to have noticed for 3 years! But really, I may have failed to notice the so-called “gay-mannerism” because it does not matter to me! He is a great headteacher doing a great job – if he wasn’t I would have challenged him in an instant (I am well known for that!).
My point is that the millions of us, Muslims and Christians, respect the laws and culture of this country, and the West, even when we don’t on a personal level share the homosexual values espoused. From that perspective, I feel outraged, like the overwhelming majority of Africans, that Obama and Cameron should demand that Africans should abandon their own cultures and values and embrace homosexuality or face the denial of Western development assistance. It really is extraordinary that intelligent people like Cameron and Obama should couch that demand in the language on an explicit threat: Gay Rights or No Aid! That is blackmail, pure and simple. And it is not wisdom we expect from “World Statesmen”....
SOURCE: Maafanta.com News & full report
2. RESPONSE TO Mr. DIDA HALAKE’S “THE GAY DEBATE ACROSS AFRICA” By Kalil Laye
Once again, I read Mr. Dida Halake with great interest. But I must admit after reading his piece that he [Dida Halake, the man who has always feigned perspicacity and erudition in all matters African] is once again pathetically wrong. For indeed the real question that faces us as Africans is not the BANNING OR LEGALIZATION of homosexuality. For as far as we are aware, homosexuality had never before been banned, nor had it needed to be banned. Hence, this is a non-issue, just as we in Africa have never felt the need to legislate for or against heterosexuality. I should however confess that I do admire Mr. Halake, if only for his sophistry and cunning-ness in turning a lie into a truth and vice versa.
To contend that Homosexuality is a foreign value, an import into the African values system is downright ignorance of African history [and by extension, of its sociology]. For indeed, even in ancestral Africa, homosexuality did exist, and was not less frequent than in other societies. Furthermore, it was equally tolerated [though not necessarily openly promoted] as there is no evidence what-so-ever, not even the slightest, that gays as a group were persecuted is pre-colonial Africa. And, as has also been corroborated, in most African languages there is a word for homosexuality: for example, in the Gambian or Wolof lexicon, we say “GORR JIGEN.”
Thus, it is clear from linguistic and other sociological evidence that we did not have to await the arrival of Western imperialism [nor Arabian hegemony and domination, as it is evident in the Gambia,] before Africans could coin an appellation for homosexuality, which Mr. Halake loves to qualify as a foreign cultural import.....
SOURCE: Maafanta.com News & full report |
| kobo |
Posted - 26 Feb 2014 : 21:11:11
1. Gay people mustn't be left to fight American and African religious zealots alone. Help us
As Arizona passes a law against gay rights and Uganda ratifies similarly savage homophobic rules, Alice Arnold argues that supposed 'religious freedoms' are being pitted against the human rights of gay people.
Fyodor Dostoevsky once said: “You can judge a society by how well it treats its prisoners.” That may still be true, but a new criteria is focusing the division between liberal democracies and the rest of the world: the way societies treat their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population.
This week began with the news that President Yoweri Museveni has ratified savage new anti-gay laws in Uganda. There was a delay as he waited for the results of a report from a team of ‘medical experts’.
Simon Lokodo is a former Catholic Priest and currently Uganda’s state minister for Ethics and Integrity. He explained why he felt that the state should interfere in the choices of consenting adults in private. He said: “Homosexuality is unnatural, abnormal and strange to our cultures. You cannot have a right to be a sick human being. There is no right in homosexuality. It must be cured.”.....
SOURCE: Telegraph & full report
2. AFRICAN LEADERS AND SAME SEX RELATIONSHIPS THE MASSES SHOULD NOT BE DIVERTED FROM THE ISSUES THAT AFFECT THEIR LIVES
Published on Wednesday, 26 February 2014 | Written by Ousman Njie
Many African leaders are treating this same sex issue as if they are attacking Western values values. In actual fact, this issue has sparked controversy in all these countries. It raises questions on how a government should deal with its own people. That is the crux of the matter. It is not about western values. It is how African governments should deal with its own people. Many Gambians find it difficult to understand how same sex issues have become a matter of priority to the government of the Gambia to the point of being a subject matter for the Independent anniversary.
What leaders should be doing is to take note of the concerns of their populations and set up commissions of enquiry to make findings and formulate enlightened policies and relevant laws to enable human beings to live in liberty, dignity and prosperity. If many leaders of countries are to be asked to give the number of people who are involved in same sex relationships in their countries they would not be able to give figures.
In places like the Gambia, one does not need laws to make people invisible; the socialisation process had already served that purpose. Hence, the campaign is not serving any purpose other than to divert the attention of the public from the key issues of life and death. Many people want to enjoy normal family life but cannot get married because of unemployment and low incomes. Hence tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of youths are sitting down without wives or husbands and could only have children out of wedlock.
Poverty has also made the divorce rate to be extremely high. Is the government taking note of the number of children who are being born out of wedlock? Does it see this as a legal or social problem? Will it make all people to abstain from extramarital relationship or non marital ones by imposing a life sentence for such acts in the name of promoting public morality? Social issues should be addressed through enlightenment rather that fanning prejudice and intolerance.
What Africa needs are enlightened leaders who could order studies to be conducted by experts in psychology, sociology and physiology to study the issue of same sex relationship and come up with knowledge that could be debated by a people in order to have a thorough understanding of the matter so as to be better capable of shaping public opinion.
A dictatorial tendency that leads to the use of coercion to solve all problems simply does not work. The legislation on skin bleaching is just one example. What is needed is an enlightened leadership and people who could look at all social phenomena objectively and come to a consensus on what is in the enlightened interest of their populations.
SOURCE: Foroyaa Editorial |
| kobo |
Posted - 26 Feb 2014 : 01:41:21
1. Former Canadian Law Professor at the University of The Gambia says he is gay!!
This Is How America Should Respond When the President of Gambia Calls Gay People Ungodly Vermin
 By Josh Scheinert
Very few heads of state could get away with calling gay people ungodly vermin, but that’s what Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh just did. And he didn’t stop there. In a public address on the country’s independence day last Tuesday, the leader of this tiny West African nation went so far to declare:.....
SOURCE: Slate.Com blog & full report
"Josh Scheinert is a Canadian lawyer who spent a year teaching law at the University of The Gambia, where none of his students knew he was gay. He is also a researcher with global LGBTQ rights project Envisioning. You can follow him on Twitter."
2. Also related interesting report from same Slate website Gay Denialism Is the New Homophobia—and It’s Terrifying By Mark Joseph Stern |
| kaanibaa |
Posted - 23 Feb 2014 : 04:18:57
I only hope this new hype wont be used to eliminate opponents |
| kobo |
Posted - 20 Feb 2014 : 06:54:21
 1. Anti-LBGT Rhetoric in The Gambia
Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
February 19, 2014
The United States is deeply troubled by the hateful rhetoric used by President Jammeh in his National Day speech on February 18. All people are created equal and should be able to live free from discrimination, and that includes discrimination based on sexual identity and sexual orientation. We call on the Government of The Gambia to protect the human rights of all Gambians, and we encourage the international community to send a clear signal that statements of this nature have no place in the public dialogue and are unacceptable.
Human rights and fundamental freedoms belong to all individuals. The United States stands by you no matter where you are and no matter who you love.
SOURCE: US Sate Department
2. US congratulates Gambia on 49th independence anniversary
Thursday, February 20, 2014
The government of the United States of America has sent best wishes to the government and people of The Gambia on the occasion of the country’s 49th independence anniversary, which was celebrated on Tuesday 18th February.
In a statement issued on behalf of the American people and posted on the Facebook page of the US Embassy in Banjul, US Secretary of State John Kerry said: ‘‘On behalf of the American people, I send best wishes to the government and people of The Gambia as they celebrate 49 years of independence on February 18.
‘‘We celebrate with you on this joyous occasion, and look forward to working with you to build a better future for all Gambians.
‘‘The United States wishes the government and people of The Gambia a festive celebration and prosperous year.’’
SOURCE: The Point News |
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