Gambia News : More butchers arrested in The Gambia for disobeying President

A magistrate court in Gambia’s commercial town of Serre Kunda has convicted two more butchers, Fatou Jeng and Essa Ngum, imposing a fine of 1,500 Gambian dalasis (approximately US$ 75) on each for failing to comply with President Yahya Jammeh’s ultimatum to bring down the price of meat, judicial sources in Banjul confirmed Tuesday. Sainabou Wadda-Ceesay, sitting at the ‘Kanifing Magistrates’ Court’ in Serre Kunda, convicted the two butchers who were accused of selling beef at “Tipper Garage ” above the presidentially-decreed price. Jammeh recently pegged the price of a kilogramme of meat at 80 Gambian dalasis (about US$ 4), ordering butchers to stick to that price or face a serious consequence. However, many butchers have refused to comply and have secretly continued selling at their own market price of 100 Dalasis (about US$ 5) per kilogramme. On his return from Saudi Arabia recently, Jammeh renewed his determination to force down the price of meat, insisting “no negotiation with butchers". Since then, many butchers have been periodically raided and dragged before various magistrates’ courts in Gambia