Former
President Yahya Jammeh who is currently in exile in Equatorial Guinea says the
proposed protest by the APRC is to demand the implementation of the agreement
he signed with UN, ECOWAS and AU about a possible return to The Gambia.
He
said some people ask as when he (Jammeh) is coming back. However, he added if
anybody wants to know when he (Jammeh) is coming back to the country, they
should ask GRTS to play his last statement when he spoke to President Barrow.
“I told Gambians how long I will be out and when I will be returning, by the
grace of Almighty Allah I will be coming back.”
“On
the issue of the planned protest demanding for the respect of a joint
communiqué with the UN, AU, ECOWAS and the government; I don’t want any
violence and I don’t want anybody to touch anything or to destroy anything,”
Jammeh told his supporters in a leaked audio.
He
was speaking to APRC’s deputy leader, Rambo Jatta, in a conversation on
Saturday. The protest, he said, is to meet the authorities and inform them that
the agreement must be implemented. “I don’t want any violence and I don’t want
any destruction of anything and I don’t want any insult,” he advised his
supporters.
Insults,
he added, are a curse to any organisation or a country. “Any country where
there is no discipline and people are insulting each other; those people will
suffer more because the Almighty Allah doesn’t want us to be insulting each
other.”
In
his 45 minutes conversation with Jatta, ex- President Yahya Jammeh also seized
the opportunity to wish the entire APRC executive and party supporters in The
Gambia and the Diaspora a happy new year.
The
march pass, he said is to demand for the implementation of the joint communiqué
that was signed with the different entities. He warned that anybody who wants
to infiltrate their ranks and try to create problem will pay the price.
“If
you are a trouble maker, don’t go anywhere near us because we are not out for
trouble and we are not going to create trouble. But if trouble comes to us;
then you can defend yourself at any cost. We are not therefore anything but
just to ask the government that what has been signed must be implemented,” he
clarified.
“I’m
very grateful to each and every one of you both inside and outside The Gambia
for standing up for the APRC and for standing up for the truth and for the discipline
you have always exhibited based on my advice.”
“At
no time should the APRC be involved or instigate violence, but if violence is
directed to APRC you have right to defend yourself in any way and to any
extent. But I don’t want any member of the APRC to be indiscipline or be
involved in issues. I have heard so many insults directed to APRC supporters,”
he stated.
He
said as Muslims we are supposed to follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammed (SAW)
and his ways of life.
“Let
me make it very clear that the APRC will not go for a coalition or alliance
with anybody whose hands are not clean. In fact, we don’t need any alliance
with any party because we’re a party of discipline and we can’t bring unruly
people in our midst to do bad thing.”
