The
party of former President Yahya Jammeh has made a 9-point demand from the
government of President Adama Barrow.
At
a press conference on Wednesday in Tallinding, the interim leader of the
Alliance for Patriotic, Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party, Fabakary
Tombong Jatta, said the ARPC demands government to:
1. Immediately
appoint a vice president of The Gambia
2. Immediately
launch an independent investigation into the death of Haruna Jatta
3. Drop
all politically motivated charges against APRC members such as the Kanilai
peaceful demonstrators and those arrested during the victory celebration in
Sibanor
4. Stop
the unlawful termination of public servants and servicemen base on political
affiliation
5. Defreeze
the accounts of the APRC party which were funded mainly by members contribution
and fundraising
6. Reintroduce
the monthly ‘set settal’
7. Demilitarise
the Fonis, especially Kanilai
8. We
call on government to put up measures to curb the growing rate of armed
robbery, rape and murder especially in the Greater Banjul Area
9. Gambians
demand the coalition government fulfils its campaign promise:
a. Creation
of youth employment
b. Price
reduction of basic commodities e.g. bag of rice to cost five hundred dalasi
c. Free
visa for youths
d. Reliable
and efficient electricity supply
e. Introduction
of presidential term limit
f. Protection
of fundamental rights including freedom of association, assembly and expression
g. Protection
of life and property
h. Provision
of seed nuts, farming implements and fertiliser to farmers. It is to be noted that the distributed
fertilisers were that of APRC government
i. Construction
of course ways and bridges to rice fields especially in the Central River
Region
j. Salary
increase for civil servant
k. Tax
reduction to encourage businesses to continue
l. To
jealously guard the independence and sovereignty of our dear motherland.
The
former majority leader at the National Assembly, Mr Jatta said the Barrow
government should focus on fulfilling the promises and demands “rather than
being paranoid about APRC and former President Yahya Jammeh”.
“We
wish to be on record to say that the APRC and all its membership believed and
accept that His Excellency Adama Barrow is the current president of the
Republic of The Gambia,” he said.
July
22nd anniversary
This
year marks 23 years since Yahya Jammeh, then a young army lieutenant, led a
group of other disgruntled soldiers on 22 July 1994 to overthrow the
democratically elected government of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara.
Jammeh’s
reign lasted for 22 long years during which a lot of infrastructural and social
developments took place but the country’s freedom reached its lowest ebb with
the killing, torture, exiling and suppression of dissent and dissenters.
Mr
Jatta said in order to celebrate the 23rd anniversary, the party’s executive
committee applied for a police permit to hold series of public events including
a rally and musical jamboree.
The
application has been denied, he said.
“We
have been denied a permit to celebrate our party’s unprecedented achievements
which undeniably impacted positively on the lives of Gambians,” he said. “We call on government to respect our rights
and freedom and not to push us to our limit when we would be forced to express
our frustration within the ambit of the law.”
However, Mr Jatta called on all APRC militants, members, and sympathisers to stay calm, go about their normal business and pray for the peace and prosperity of The Gambia and APRC.
