The politically motivated ban imposed on Bakawsu Fofana, a popular Muslim cleric by the Supreme Islamic Council (SIC), a coalition of Muslim associations in The Gambia was lifted with a stern warning issued to him by President Yahya Jammeh.

President Jammeh during a reconciliation meeting between Fofana and the leadership of the SIC held in his office warned Fofanah to refrain from his manner of propagation, which according to him, was characterised by incitement and agitation to cause confusion among Muslims in The Gambia.

The meeting was facilitated by the Ministry of Interior and the NGO Affairs following a request by Fofanah to President Jammeh to intervene in the impasse between him and the SIC.

“What I want to tell you is that this will be your first and last chance. I will appeal to SIC to revoke the ban, but if it occurs again, that will be an issue between you and me,” Jammeh warned Bakawsu.

President Jammeh then ordered Fofanah to apologise to the SIC. Fofanah became an ardent critic of the SIC after he lost his bid to be the President of the Council.

According to President Jammeh, his government has given the SIC a mandate to steer the affairs of Islam in the country and that it is the only body with authority to regulate problems and urged Imam Fofanah to respect the decisions of the institution and its leadership

The SIC at an emergency meeting on September 16, resolved that Fofanah should be banned from engaging in any religious activity in the country. According to him, the ban resulted in mass boycott of his school and his mosque.

The meeting presided over by President Jammeh brought together leaders of the Supreme Council and Cabinet members of the administration.

The ECOWAS Community Court would on September 30, 2010 rule on whether Musa Saidykhan who was tortured by the Gambian state security agents in 2006 could amend his statement of claim and provide material evidence to tally with his oral submission.

At the last hearing the Gambian authorities, represented by a team of five defence lawyers led by Martin Okoi argued over the amendment for about one and a half hours with Shola Egbeyinka, a member of Saidykhan’s team.

Saidykhan had on July 9 brought the motion to enable him produce the clothes that he wore and his medical records after he and his physician had testified in court on June 7, 2010.

Saidykhan, a former editor-in-chief of The Independent, the banned Banjul-based newspaper, was among several victims who were illegally detained and suffered all manner of cruelty at the hands of the Gambian security agents in the aftermath of an alleged coup attempt in March 2006.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in November 2007 initiated the action on Saidykhan’s behalf in order to seek justice for him and many others.

The Supreme Islamic Council (SIC), a coalition of Muslim associations in The Gambia wrote to the authorities to enforce its resolution banning Bakawsu Fofanah, a popular Muslim cleric, from engaging in any religious activity in the country.

At an emergency meeting, the SIC resolved that Fofanah should be banned from delivering sermons in mosques in The Gambia and lectures during religious ceremonies.

The SIC also banned the popular Muslim preacher from using written, visual or audio media, to address gatherings in the name of Islam and called for all his cassettes currently being sold on the market to be withdrawn.

The letter was addressed to the Secretary General of the Office of the President, and copied to the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Information Technology as well as the Inspector General of Police.

Fofanah, who has been very critical of the leadership of the SIC was summoned and questioned by the notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and released without charge.

This high-handed decision came after a meeting of the leadership of the SIC and also followed a directive by President Yahya Jammeh’s threats to shut down any radio station which broadcasts any information from scholars like Fofanah who has always held different religious views, especially on the sighting of the new moon before and after the end of the Ramadan.

“Let me say it in English so that the white people can understand properly what I am saying. I said I will close down any radio station that broadcasts any information as far as Islam is concerned which contradicts the statement from the Supreme Islamic Council. I would not tolerate this nonsense again from any of the so-called scholars”, furious President Jammeh, swore before Muslim worshipers on August 13, 2010.

Fofanah is an ardent critic of the pro-Jammeh SIC leadership. He had earlier been banned from preaching on the state-owned Gambia Radio and Television Service (GRTS)