The Gambian government has switched off its telecommunication gateway from the outside world ahead of Thursday’s Presidential elections. Gamtel’s the nation’s main telecommunication company has turned off its international call gateway. International calls have been blocked. No one can call The Gambia from Europe, Asia, the Arab world, America, and Africa at this hour.

Local and international outcry greeted Gambia’s move to disrupt international calls. A Gambian living in New York, told the Freedom Newspaper he has phoned ten different lines in The Gambia without success. All the lines he dialed were off.

Another Gambian based in Denmark said he has spent over two hundred Euro to reach his family in The Gambia without success.

“I am disappointed at Jammeh’s move to disrupt international lines. This is outrageous,” he said.

A Gambian living in Sweden, said his wife also dialed five different lines in The Gambia, without success. He said his wife was trying to reach her parents, but the phone lines were switched off.

STORY BACKGROUND

Gambia’s unhinged dictator Yahya Jammeh, has given directives to the country’s main telecommunication company Gamtel, for the Internet to be shut down on Thursday morning, marking election day in The Gambia, the Freedom Newspaper can reveal. International phone calls would also be blocked on polling day, sources said. Gambians on the ground will not have access to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Viber, Tango, and snap chat.

The intercepted circular spelt out a game plan designed by the dictator to keep Gambians both at home and abroad from reporting happenings on elections day. Our trusted and dependable sources at Gamtel have alerted us about Jammeh’s plans to rig the polls and cover up the atrocities he intends to wage against the opposition.

Mr. Jammeh is seeking a fifth term re-election. He is one of the most unpopular candidates in this race.

Gamtel insiders said the order to yank the Internet from the outside world will commence in earnest at 7:00 AM Gambian time. Gamtel engineers are on standby to implement Jammeh’s order, sources said.

There are reports also circulating that on the spot counting might be abolished. The dictator wants to resort to his old trick of escorting ballot boxes to Governors offices for counting. The rigging usually occur during the transportation of ballot boxes.

In the meantime, some police men were seen around the vicinity of the Amadiyaa hospital carrying ballot boxes of Jammeh. There is growing suspicion that the dictator is going to rig the polls.

In another development, armed soldiers assaulted supporters of the opposition alliance, and Mama Kandeh’s GDC party. Some causalities have been recorded during the soldiers assault waged against the opposition followers late Tuesday evening, Some opposition supporters have been detained ahead of the polls.

Written By Pa Nderry M’Bai