Gambian
authorities have strongly refuted a publication by one of the leading U.K.
online newspapers - The Sun, which recently published an article about paedophile in The Gambia.
The
U.K. online newspaper recently ran an article headlined: “Inside ‘pedo
paradise’ The Gambia, where sex beats are buying African children and toddlers
to rape.”
In
the said article published on 16 January 2020 in England, the newspaper
reported that “Gambian children are being sold to British paedophiles for as
little as £2 (two pounds) equivalent to D132 (one hundred and thirty-two
Dalasis) by their desperate parents.”
The
author further in the article indicated that “sex tourism is already huge in
The Gambia as some bars are like brothels” and that more children are lured
into prostitution to feed their families.
Reacting
to this damning report about The Gambia, government through the ministries of
Women, Children and Social Welfare, Tourism and Culture and Information and
Communication Infrastructure recently convened a press confab to dispute the
said article, which according to authorities, is malicious and based on
misinformation and mischaracterisation of the facts.
Fatou
Kinteh, minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare, strongly refuted and
challenged the authenticity of the said article published in one of the leading
newspapers in the U.K.
“The government of The Gambia as a State party
to various international treaties, most notably the United Nations Convention
on Rights of the Child, the Convention for the Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of
the Child, has invested heavily in the promotion and protection of the rights
against children in The Gambia,” she said.
The
Children’s Act 2005, she went on, protects all children in The Gambia and
places a duty on everyone to report to either the Police or Department of
Social Welfare any case of child abuse or violations of the right of any child
that he or she is aware of.
According
to her, the act expressly prohibits sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of a
child in any form or to keep a brothel or allow a child to be in brothels,
adding that, the Tourism Offences Act strictly prohibits unlawful sexual
advances towards a child, procurement of a child for sex, child pornography and
indecent acts by tourists among other offences.
“The
government through the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare together
with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture has taken a firm stand against
child sex tourism in the country and measures are in place to protect children
most especially in the tourism sector,” she said
Minister
Kinteh noted that the government of The Gambia is informing the general public
that there is zero tolerance for child abuse or child exploitation and any
person found wanting will face the full force of the law.
Also
speaking, Hamat N.K. Bah, the minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture said after
the said publication, the government is doing everything possible to prove that
the article is not only malicious but also unfounded.
“The
article was written and published just to destroy the country. Investigations
are ongoing to get to the bottom of it. We have an open press in the country
and our records are clear but we want responsible journalists and not people
who are out to destroy a country that is emerging from 22 years of
dictatorship,” he said.
According
to him, they have fought so much to rebuild the status of The Gambia after 22
years of dictatorship, and that they (government) will not take such
allegations and maligning article lightly.
Minister
Bah indicated that they will not allow journalists from foreign countries to
write maliciously and damning articles just to tarnish the image of The Gambia.
“We
will follow the due process of law to do what is right in protecting this
country, the integrity of Gambians and the image of Gambia at every level.
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