Gambia coup plotter sought spiritual help -Marabout

The trial of four military officers and a policeman accused of plotting to overthrow the Gambian president continued at a high court in Banjul on Thursday.

The five men, including alleged ringleader Lance Corporal Sana Fadera, were charged with five counts including treason and inciting mutiny.

Gambian authorities say they have secured worldwide red notice to arrest another suspect, army personnel Lamin Jadama, who is on the run.

A state witness - marabout and Islamic teacher Yaya Manjang - gave evidence in a court packed with families of the accused.

He told the court that police officer Fabakary Jawara visited his house with another man last year, with Mr Jawara allegedly asking for spiritual guidance because they intended to overthrow President Adama Barrow so as to rid The Gambia of poor living conditions and hardship.

Mr Manjang says that when the two men returned to his house the following day, he told them he couldn’t offer them prayers but advised them to hand out bitter kola nuts as charity to seven mosques and also slaughter a white goat.

The marabout also says he advised Mr Jawara to travel toto Guinea-Conakry and Mauritania for more prayers, if he wanted the coup to succeed.

Days after that visit, the marabout left the country for Senegal and he heard the news of the coup plot on social media and upon his return, he was arrested and detained for several days before giving testimony to investigators.

Pensioners protest as Ghana dips into savings bonds

Ghana’s bid to get out of an economic crisis has pushed the government to tinker with the savings of the country’s pensioners, triggering protests and picketing of some pensioner bondholders.

The government’s hope to qualify for $3bn (£2.5bn) in IMF bailout money requires it to readjust its investment bonds, to be able to bring the country’s debt to a sustainable level.

The government desperately needs a deal with the IMF by the end of next month ,as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

Pensioners who have invested in the government’s bond fear they could lose their money or part of it.

To reassure the investors, Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has said that individual pensioners who had invested in the bonds will be exempted from the country’s Domestic Dept Exchange Programme.

The minister told parliament on Thursday that the interest on the investments including principal amounts would be paid when the date is due.

But the problem is that pensioner bonds that matured in early February