“I am sorry. I am not in line with Yahya Jammeh. I do not accept what he and his government did. I am the first person to condemn it but I think we need healing in the country. So, we can let him free. I know many would be angry with me on this,” he told Star FM wake up show on Wednesday.
Professor Dumbuya said a DP government has a very good compensation plan for victims of the APRC government, noting his government will sponsor children whose parents were killed by former President Jammeh’s regime from primary school to the university.
“Wives of people who were killed by the Jammeh’s government would also be paid for a period of time or until they have husbands,” he added, noting he would use Nelson Mandela’s policy to reconcile Gambians.
The new politician claimed that there is no real democracy in the country, claiming that politicians are not fulfilling their promises to the public. He added that democracy has gone beyond freedom of speech.
However, he said DP believes in the principle of real democracy and will give Gambians what they waited decades for.
He promised that after two weeks of victory, he would send a two- term limit bill to the National Assembly to enhance Gambia’s democracy.
Speaking further, he said: “DP will not form a coalition with any party and we are going to win the election.” He justified that coalition is not in the best interest of his party.
On national development
The Washington Adventist University professor claimed that The Gambia is not developing at all, arguing that the country’s roads are always congested and the sewage system is very poor. This, he said, is a signal that nothing is going well in the country.
“There cannot be a serious economic system if the transportation system is poor,” he argued, adding “20 years ago, The Gambia was equal to Senegal in terms of development but now Gambia cannot be compared to Senegal in terms of infrastructure.”
Professor Dumbuya claimed that he has not seen a single project that was initiated by the Barrow administration and said all his projects were inherited from the APRC government.
DP aims for Gambians
He said DP will implement recommendations of commissions; remove unnecessary detention. “I will take out an unnecessary Appropriation Bill that will go into buckets of ministers and deputies,” he promised.
Dumbuya further vowed to modernise the agricultural sector to ease work of farmers as well as commence production; combat crime through massive investment in electricity, trade centres, skills centres and other areas to reduce unemployment.
He said a DP government would standardise the health sector to international level.
