Dembo
Mamud Bojang, a victim of the 2009 infamous which hunt exercise ordered by the
exiled former Gambian leader, Yahya Jammeh yesterday told TRRC how the UDP
leadership abandoned him alongside his colleagues when they had a fracas with
APRC militants that led to their detention at the Brikama Police Station.
Appearing
before TRRC, as its regional hearings into the 2009 infamous witch-hunt
exercise widens, Bojang maintained that this no-show of solidarity to him while
in detention even led to his dislike for the party and its leadership.
“I
will never vote for UDP, neither Ousainou Darboe. I will rather vote for a new
candidate than him. And I even dislike anyone who speaks to me about Darboe.”
A
native of Kombo Jambur, Bojang recalled that his dislike for the party all
started when he alongside other UDP supporters had a fracas with some militants
of the APRC that led to their detention at the Brikama Police Station.
He
disclosed that during detention at Brikama Police Station, the party leader
Ousainou and the party senior members never visited them.
On
2009 infamous witch-hunt, Bojang recalled that they had visitors in the
village, who told them they will be going to the cemetery to make some prayers.
“I
heard that they went with a cock and a goat but I didn’t know what transpired
there. I was also told that they came to cure people and they were dressed in
reds and others such as green boys dressed in their green T-shirts”.
The
group, he recalled, was led by Hali Ceesay of Latriya but he also recognised
Solo Bojang among the delegation.
The
witness disclosed that he was captured alongside others and they were taken
into vehicles one after the other before being moved to a compound belonging to
the late Baba Jobe in Kololi.
“During
our detention in Kololi, Solo and colleagues had their launch, while no food
was given to them. As we were sitting, they told us to come one-after the other
to drink local concoctions. They will put the water in cup and ask us to drink.
Went I drank it, it really disturbed me because I used to vomit and urinate
frequently and others were like a drunken person.”
The
witness indicated that they didn’t see any reaction or sign of confession from
him alongside those arrested in Jambur, however, he added that they were at one
point ‘unconscious.’
He
maintained that no one was made naked in that particular incident, but
testified that after drinking the concoctions many people fell sick.
“About
10 people died while some were paralyzed and others in their sick beds,” he
recalls.