The ECOWAS representative in The Gambia has accused the Freedom Newspaper, a U.S based Gambia media platform, of peddling fake news.

In a strongly worded press release the ECOWAS official, Vabah K Gaflor, chided Freedom Newspaper for a story it ran last month (February 22nd) about the former ECOWAS vice president, Edward Singhateh. In the story it was claimed that Edward Singhateh was still working at ECOWAS. Gaflor denied it and said the story ran by Freedom Newspaper was a fake publication to discredit the regional organisation.

“This information is untrue and is viewed as a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of ECOWAS as a regional organization, and further undermine the peace, security and stability of The Gambia.

“The ECOWAS Permanent mission in The Gambia therefore wishes to inform the general public that former Vice President, Mr. Edward Singhateh is no longer a staff of the ECOWAS Commission as purported by the Freedom Newspaper. The Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission is Mrs. Finda Koroma, a Sierra Leonean, who immediately took over from Mr. Edward Singhateh in 2018.   

“The regional bloc also called on the media to crosscheck its stories with the body before publication. The Freedom Newspaper and other media houses including the print, electronic and social media are therefore advised to crosscheck information with the ECOWAS Permanent Mission in The Gambia to avoid the misinformation of the public.”   

The editor of the Freedom Newspaper, Pa Nderry Bai, refuted the ECOWAS representative’s allegation of spreading fake news.

“We reported the story in good faith, without malice or ill will. We were merely performing our required journalistic duties. When was it a crime in journalism to reference or cite the place of employment of vicious folks like Edward Singhateh?

“Agreed, we erred by inadvertently reporting that he was still under the employment of the African bloc. Our apologies for the misreporting.”