The
monument in front of the Arch 22, when entering Banjul, has been demolished by
an unknown source apparently due to its association with the former president,
Yahya Jammeh
The
mayor of Banjul City Council, Abdoulie Bah, said his council was not informed
when the demolition was being carried out.
“I
was told in the morning that there was a task force that was working on this
thing. But if at all my line of ministry
was part of a protocol, I think it was more proper for them to inform the
Council, and that has never happened, well not to my knowledge,” he said.
It
was also a surprise to discover that no consideration was given in informing
personnel at the National Centre for Arts and Culture.
The
Senior Museum and Monument’s officer, Damba Y. Baldeh, said if such a thing was
to happen, they should have been informed.
“If
this thing is to happen, you remove and replace another meaningful thing so
that you will not leave people in a vacuum,” he said.
“As custodians of culture, we should have at
least been informed. Our statues as well
have been stolen; the ‘griots’ that were seated near the ‘soldier and the
baby’. We have sent our senior security
officer to go and investigate that.”
Some
Gambians are of the opinion that demolishing it was the right thing to do.
Sarjo
Jallow, staff of the Ministry of Finance, said he was fully in for the
demolition of the monument.
“I
am 100% sure that we don’t need it anymore.
Now we’re in a new era, the monument was Jammeh’s and all that he
represented and still represents. It must be completely out of sight,” he said.
However,
the majority of the populace are disheartened by the sudden eradication of this
historically important monument.
Sanku
Sonko, a native of Banjul, said: “I don’t think it was necessary, but maybe
because it looked a lot like the former president Jammeh that might be part of
the reason why it was destroyed. Looking
at the historical impact it had, I believe it was totally wrong. You cannot
just wipe out history like that.”
