A
sea of people on Monday thronged the Banjul Highway protesting against
President Adama Barrow’s desire to rule the country beyond the three years in
contrast to Coalition 2016 Agreement that brought him into office on 19 January
2017. The protesters are demanding that Mr. Barrow steps down by 19 January,
2019.
The
protest was spearheaded by ‘Operation Three Years-Jotna – a movement that was
formed in 2018 on the grounds to make Barrow honour his agreement with
coalition partners by stepping down.
According
to the movement, Mr. Barrow had campaigned for Gambians to vote him three
years; and then he would step down after three years.
Some
protesters were carrying banners with different inscriptions: ‘No to
Self-Perpetuation Gambians Voted for Three Years Transition; An Agreement is an
Agreement, Respect the 2016 Coalition Agreement; Barrow Put Gambia First and
Barrow Last; ECOWAS Come and Get Your Adama Barrow 3 Years Jotna.’ among
others.
The
protest letter was handed to Ebrima Sankareh, the government spokesperson
through Haji Sawaneh, the Public Relations Officer of the 3 Years Jotna.
The
five hour protest started at Sting Corner on the outskirts of Old Jeshwang and
stopped 200 meters before the Denton Bridge. Personnel of the Police
Intervention Unit (PIU) dressed in combat-ready gears, with anti-riot full face
masks were stationed at the Denton Bridge.
The
3 Years Jotna had also handed over their letters to the UN, ECOWAS, U.S.
Embassy in Banjul, Nigerian Embassy, Gambia Press Union and civil society orgaisations,
among others.
Abdou
Njie, the chairman of 3 Years Jotna ,who spoke to journalists after the handing
over of the letter said: “Everything is now left to President Adama Barrow. We
have done what we intended to do and it was ‘very successful’. I believe if you
write a letter to someone you listen to the individual first before you take
another step.”
Mr.
Njie expressed optimism that President Barrow would reply to their letter
before the stipulated date. “President Barrow knows that people voted for him
in the 2016 Presidential election based on the three years agreement.
Therefore, he should respect and honour the three years agreement,” he said.
He
added: “I am confident that Barrow will reply to our letter because he has seen
the number of people that turned out during this protest. I’m sure he will
reply because it’s not donkeys that come out to protest. We’re humans so he
will respect that.”
According
to him, if President Barrow wishes he could throw the letter to the dustbin.
“What is more important is that the entire world knows that people turned out
largely to protest against his desire to rule the country beyond three years
2016 coalition agreement”
