Dr Amadou Scattred Janneh, a Political Scientist and former Information Minister under the exiled Gambian President Yaha Jammeh has today presented food and other items worth ninety thousand Dalasis (D90,000) to prisoners at the Mile 2 central prisions. The donations this year were also complimented by TechWorld founder and CEO Ebrima Touray.
Dr Janneh spent 15 months in custody - ย seven months of which was in Bamba Dinka at the Jeswang prisons, and eight months at the Mile 2 prisons following his treason and sedition trial and sentencing to life in prison for printing and distributing T-shirts calling for an end to dictatorship in The Gambia.
Fifteen months into his life sentence, Dr Janneh and Tamair Jassey both American citizens were freed and expelled from the Gambia following an intervention by Reverend Jessie Jackson who convinced former President Jammeh to release the duo, but on condition they must leave the country. His release from prison also coincided with his birthday.
Having gained first hand experience of conditions in the prisions, in 2019, Dr Janneh celebrated his birthday by donating food and other items to Mile 2 prison as his traditional distribution of food items to needy households in Gunjur, Sifoe and Sanyang on his birthday reaches the prisons. This started in 2009 where truck load of rice and other food items are distributed in these settlements as celebrates his birthday.
Items presented presented at the Mile 2 prisons include:
10 x 50 kilo bags of rice
10 x 25 kilo bags of rice
10 x 20-liters of cooking oil
10 x 5-liters of cooking oil
360 x bars of soap
2 boxes of sanitary supplies.
Speaking to Gunjuronline.comย following this yearโs presentation of donated items, Dr Janneh said:
" We are very grateful to the Gambia Prisons Services for affording us this opportunity to provide assistance to prisoners. I had spent time in these very prisons and know the many challenges that both prisoners and guards face. Itโs incumbent upon us all to help in any way we can to ensure that prisoners are well taken care of and their rights are upheld. I believe these donations will remain a tradition for me. I wish to extend my gratitude to Neneh MC Cham for regularly supporting this initiative and to Ebrima Touray of TechWorld for his enormous financial support this year."
For her part, Neneh Cham reiterated her particular concern about the plight of female prisoners and advised prison officials to ensure the humane treatment of all prisoners.
Reacting to the donations, Deputy Director-General of Prisons Modou Jarju offered these words: "We thank Dr. Janneh and team for this noble gesture and hope others will emulate this. Though the government is contributing a lot towards the welfare of prisoners, we still need these kinds of support to better secure the welfare of our inmates. We have improved the standards of the prisons but more still needs to be done especially in the area of skills training."
Also in attendance were Omar N. Darboe of Gunjur and senior prisons officers.