He dissolved the executive committee and formed a new 11-man committee and revealed that his party APRC will form an alliance with Gambia Alliance for National Unity headed by Shiekh Tijan Hydara. The executive members whom he sacked said they are in control of APRC. Political analysts believe Jammeh is making a political new deal to distabilise and make sure elections don’t happen in December. Many people know that Jammeh is a chameleon; today he is red tomorrow he is white. He is not constant with his words.
Mr. President, this morning, we are compelled to draw your attention to the lingering tragedy that your predecessor, Yaya Jammeh continues to have on The Gambia.
After 22 years characterised by massive human rights violations and acts of blatant impunity, he was ousted from power by a formidable opposition alliance of several political parties with you as presidential candidate.
He first accepted defeat and within a short time, clung onto straw to rescind his concession speech leading to an unprecedented impasse in the annals of Gambian politics. His colleagues statesmen jetted to Banjul several times to amicably resolve the mess and safe The Gambia from looming political catastrophe but Jammeh remained defiant. Throughout the discussions, Jammeh showed no respect to his colleagues and true to his character, was bent on clinging on to power at all cost.
In the end, his colleagues in concert with the international community threatened force and the he hurriedly fled to Equatorial Guinea where he remains in exile, always stoking the fireworks to destabilise The Gambia.
Mr. President, despite the combined damning revelations of the Jamneh Commission and The TRRC; that unveiled massive misuse and abuse of office, financial improprieties, malfeasance and gross human rights violations, Yaya Jammeh’s latest utterances show a very defiant, remorseless, dangerous but above all, an utterly irredeemable man always, on a very violent trajectory.
Mr. President, his latest speech, delivered over the weekend, shows that Yaya Jammeh has not changed and will never change despite all the criminality and state-orchestrated banditry the Commissions have established against him and his cronies during his 22 years rule.
Mr. President, for Jammeh to wait until the wee hours of a Presidential Election and make such reckless and provocative utterances shows how disrespectful and vicious Jammeh is. We therefore, urge your Government to take Yaya Jammeh as a ‘serious National Security threat’ and quickly work with Equatorial Guinea to ensure that he respects the rules governing political asylum and stay clear off of the upcoming election.
Mr. President, the victims of former president Yahya Jammeh have been crying for justice for the past 25 years but to no avail. We are quite optimistic that your government will do everything possible in ensuring that perpetrators that bear the greatest atrocities during the Jammeh regime are brought to justice. Reconciliation is indeed important, but we can only reconcile if people that commit heinous crimes during the former regime are brought to justice. Your government has demonstrated commitment towards the transitional justice process as it is manifested in the establishment of the country’s Truth Commission among others. We therefore hope that under your leadership, the goals of the transitional justice process will be achieved especially with regard to the TRRC. This can only be achieved if the full recommendation of the TRRC is implemented.
Mr. President, over the weekend, victims of the former regime, including some victims’ families as well as human rights activists, thronged the Kairaba Avenue road and marched demanding the full implementation of the recommendation of the TRRC. It’s also important to note that your government has reassured the victims of your readiness to not implement the recommendations of the TRRC but to also provide reparations to the affected victims and their families. Victims should be granted justice, accountability and reparation and say never again before reconciliation. It is gratifying to note that the minister of justice stated over the weekend that it is working with the UN and other multilateral and bilateral partners on securing additional funds for the post TRRC activities which includes finding the best route to achieving justice for the victims. Government promises D150 million in the draft 2022 budget to be utilised as part of the reparations fund which is a good move.
Good day