Fabakary
Tombong Jatta, leader and secretary general of opposition Alliance for
Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction (APRC) has urged President Adama
Barrow’s government to investigate the murder of Haruna Jatta.
The
seasoned politician was speaking to The Point in an exclusive interview on
Thursday at his residence in Talinding. He added that government did promise to
make an enquiry about the murder of the departed soul but nothing came out of
it as no report is presented before the public.
Haruna
Jatta was allegedly gunned down by an ECOMIG soldier during a peaceful protest
held at Kanalai in 2017. Government
promised to investigate the murder case but yet no report is presented.
“President
Adama Barrow and his government are entrusted with the sovereignty, integrity
and the defence of our country. So they should make sure this case is
investigated and the culprits be brought to book,” he said.
The
former lawmaker described the failure to investigate Mr. Jatta’s death case as
unfair, saying government is responsible to investigate any incident that
claims life across the state and deliver the report.
The
APRC leader further said the Barrow administration is fully aware of the
“erroneous act” against Haruna Jatta. But it just deliberately failed to ensure
justice for him and his family.
Jatta
added that government refused to find out about Jatta’s murder case because
they associated him with former President Jammeh on the grounds that they live
in the same community.
He
recalled that the government was not represented during funeral to express
condolences to the Jatta family and yet his murder case is not investigated.
Jatta
further argued that Haruna’s murder case should have been investigated as other
cases in the country, adding “if Jatta’s case was investigated, other murders
would have not happened in the country.”
“Haruna
Jatta cannot be brought back but government should investigate his murder to
prevent reoccurrence,” he said.
“President Barrow would be account for the
murder of Haruna Jatta either here or hereafter. So the best thing is for him
to investigate the case while in office. If not the case will be investigated
when he leaves office,” he said.
The former majority leader of the National
Assembly accused government of neglecting all attacks on APRC and its
supporters since the President Barrow administration took over power, citing
the murder of Haruna Jatta, APRC supporters’ attacks at Busumbala and Mankamang
Kunda villages.
“For Ecowas to gain credibility within the
sub-region it should ensure that justice is carried out if its officers are on
duties.”
“If
Ecoming are on duties, they should make sure that if their security officer
shoots someone innocently the case is investigated.”
