The Daily Observer (Banjul)
Amadou Jallow
10 July 2009
Juma K Camara, with voting number 0002, has emerged the winner of the July 22nd Revolution anthem competition after a final voting conducted, yesterday, by cabinet members at the Cabinet Room at State House in Banjul.
The initiative is the brainchild of President Jammeh himself, and a winning prize of one million dalasis will be handed to the winner on 22nd July 2009. The anthem will be the official anthem of the July 22nd Revolution. Eighteen competitors had taken part in the final competition.
In his statement, shortly after Camara was voted the winner, the president of the Republic, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, thanked the panel of judges of the competition for their efforts in making the competition a fair one. The president also commended all the contestants for their participation. According to him, selecting the winner was a difficult task for him and that was why he did not want to do it alone. "It was a competition and the objective was for someone to win," the president noted, and added: "All the songs put forward by the contestants were fit for the revolution."
According to the president, the voting was done in a democratic process, saying "as a Cabinet, we are more concerned with the content of the message it conveys about the July 22nd revolution so that it can be valid". The president then said that he is aware of the fact that all the contestants have shown their talents to come up with a final anthem for the revolution, "but what is important is we need the one that can inspire the people to take up their responsibilities."
The winner's message, the president went on, has encapsulated all what is needed in the anthem, ranging from self-sufficiency to the challenges encountered by the APRC government.
The Gambian leader then used the occasion to congratulate Juma K Camara, the winner, saying "the 22nd July has now gotten a revolution style that can be used everywhere." He also commended all the contestants in the competition and promised that they will also be given consolation prizes according to their rankings.
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