The Gambia government says it will investigate the Sun newspaper’s ‘paedo paradise’ story, describing it as “malicious”.  

On January 16, the UK based The Sun newspaper published a special report on sex tourism in The Gambia alleging that the country’s lax laws are allowing British paedophiles to target vulnerable Gambian children. 

The report quoted an official of the Child Protection Alliance as saying “sex is cheap in my country and children are being sold for as little as 150 dalalsis, or just above 2 pounds in your currency”.

But on Monday, the Gambia government convened a joint news conference to react to the Sun newspaper article.

Reading a two-page document on behalf of the government, Fatou Kinteg Sanyang, minister of Women, Children and Social Welfare said: “the article is malicious and based on misinformation and mischaracterising of the facts.

“The government of The Gambia as a State party to various international treaties, most notably the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, has invested heavily in the promotion and protection of the rights of children in The Gambia.”

Meanwhile, Tourism minister Hamat Bah who also spoke said: “since the article was published in the Sun newspaper, every effort was made to prove that the article was malicious (and) was done in bad faith and intend to destroy the country.”

According to Mr Bah “investigations are ongoing to get to the bottom of the issue, adding “we will follow the due process of (the) law to do what is right in protecting this country.

“Protecting the integrity of Gambians and the image of The Gambia at every level.”

However, the Tourism minister said despite having “free press in The Gambia” that they wouldn’t “allow irresponsible journalism to destroy the country particularly foreign journalists who are not based in this country (and) who do not know what we have done in rebuilding our tourism.”

Reporting by Adama Makasuba