''The Daily Observer'' is a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

published in

Bakau Bakau is a town on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Gambia, Gambia, west of Gambia's capital city of Banjul. It is known for its botanical gardens, its crocodile pool ''Bakau Kachikally'' and for the beaches at Cape Point (Gambia), Cap ...

Banjul Banjul (, (US) and ), officially the City of Banjul, is the capital city of The Gambia. It is the centre of the eponymous administrative division which is home to an estimated 400,000 residents, making it The Gambia's largest and most densely ...

the Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

. The paper, Gambia's first daily newspaper,Gabriel I. H. Williams, ''Liberia: the heart of darkness'', Trafford Publishing, 2002, p.333 was founded by Mae Gene and Kenneth Best in 1990. Kenneth Best had previously managed another paper called the '' Daily Observer'' in

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, until the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War was the first of Second Liberian Civil War, two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread Political cor ...

caused him to relocate with his family to the Gambia. In October 1994, following

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 ...

's military coup, Best was expelled from Gambia, although the newspaper was allowed to continue. Ebrima Ceesay, who was a journalist with the Observer at the time, became the editor of the Daily Observer newspaper after the deportation of Kenneth Best to Liberia. It was eventually shutdown by tax authorities on 23 August 2017 for non-compliance of its tax obligations. In the early 1990s, the paper ran its ''History Corner'' on its weekend supplement (the Weekend Observer). The Gambian statesman and historian Alieu Ebrima Cham Joof "pioneered" this column (the ''History Corner'') in 1993 before asking the paper's resident journalist Hassoum Ceesay to take over the column. Ceesay took over it in 1996. Some of the topics covered during the tenure of Cham Joof included: :*History Corner with Alhaji A. E Cham Joof, ''Diamond Jubilee of Scouting in The Gambia, Senegambian Scouting Joint Committee Senegalo/Gambian Katibougou old Scouts'' (Weekend Observer, 29–31 March 1995. p. 9 (Gambia)) :*History Corner with Alhaji A. E Cham Joof, ''The History of the Banjul Mosque'', (Weekend Observer, 5–7 May 1995)

Ebrima Manneh case

In July 2006, ''Observer'' reporter Ebrima Manneh was reportedly arrested by state security after attempting to republish a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

report criticizing Jammeh shortly before an

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

meeting in

; his arrest was witnessed by coworkers. Though ordered to release Manneh by an

Economic Community Of West African States The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa. Collectively, the present and former members comprise an area ...

court, the Gambian government has denied that Manneh is imprisoned. According to AFP, an unnamed police source confirmed Manneh's arrest in April 2009, but added he believed Manneh "is no longer alive."

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

considers Manneh to be a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

and named him a 2011 "priority case." The

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

has also called for his release.

References

External links

The Daily Observer
English-language newspapers published in Africa Newspapers published in the Gambia 1990 establishments in the Gambia Newspapers established in 1990 {{Gambia-stub