The interim chairman of the APRC party, Fabakary Tombong Jatta, has said that former President Yahya Jammeh will not be expelled from the party.
There have been growing calls for the former ruling party to sever ties with its founder following the exposés of gross financial malfeasance in the ongoing Janneh Commission and the negative impact it could have on Jammeh and the APRC.
But Jatta who took over the stewardship of the party after Jammeh went into exile, told The Standard over the weekend: “Those who don’t believe in APRC are the ones saying such things. Those of us who truly believe in the APRC, believe that APRC party has sanity and all what we have gained was through former President Yahya Jammeh. You are expelled for a reason. Even myself, if I do something contrary to the laws of the party, I can be expelled, but just to sit down and say we are expelling somebody because we want a good name, no, we don’t do that.”
Jatta, a former majority leader of the National Assembly, was questioned by the police last week for public comments he recently made.
He explained: “I only want what is good for The Gambia. I am not power hungry. I don’t even want to be president of The Gambia. I don’t intend it, only God knows. I’m in the APRC party to stabilise it and put it on good footing and allow the party to go through its congress and come out with whatever leader they want for us to move forward. We acknowledge that we made mistakes and there is no government in the world, which does not make similar mistakes.”
He said people often ask him why he championed the state of emergency declared by the former president during the political impasse after the 1 December presidential election. “I’m proud to associate myself with the state of emergency and I want journalists to ask me one million times and I will answer it proudly, one million times.
Jatta said his concern with the current government is that after nine months in office and with all the aids that are being pumped into the country that Jammeh did not enjoy, “Gambians are yet to witness one programme that the Coalition government can call their own”.
He added: “Things are getting more difficult by the day. You know why I will die to associate myself with Jammeh? It is because he brought unprecedented developments to The Gambia and if anyone told me in 1994 that The Gambia will be where it is today, I would have denied it.”
He said the APRC party is still relevant and resilient despite the difficult conditions. “When the former president left and they took over, we were evicted from our bureau without notice, our vehicles were seized and Jammeh’s accounts and properties were frozen. Our own APRC accounts to which we, as members of parliament, ministries and some other members through fundraising we put money in to, were all frozen. With all those things, were able to survive, we held fundraising and we are able to have very successful victory celebration in Kanilai and participated in parliamentary elections. So as we move, we are gaining momentum,” Mr Jatta said.
By Omar Wally
Courtesy of The Standard
People like Fabakary Tombong Jatta, brings shame not only to Gambians but to the entire African continent. Shame in him. Congratulations to all Gambians great thinkers. Together we will always STAND TALL……. GOD BLESS GAMBIA.
APRC to retain jammeh’s membership !!! That’s as bad as rubber stamping all the bad he has done to the people who suffered a great deal. Don’t need to remind you all of the murders he ordered,the exicutions at mile two,the beatings and torture many suffered. Get a grip of yourselves your a joke. Everyone is talking about what you are all responsible for. Jammeh s attitude was ,DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO or else
Torturing and killing innocent people is not a mistake but a crime, and as Jatta defends Jammeh’s crimes he is nothing but also a criminal.
Mr Jatta said that he acknowledged they (APRC) made mistakes and wanted to know which government is free of mistakes. I think someone needs to assist Mr Jatta to understand that there is a difference between “mistake” and deliberate, willfully, calculated criminal behaviour. Jammeh’s actions, that have caused so much pain, loss and damage to the country, were deliberate, and intended to quench his love for affluence, as well as, keep the nation in perpetual fear to maintain power. The least Mr Jatta and his folks should do, if they have any decency at all, is to apologise for their role in this tragedy, and disassociate themselves from the monster. It is certainly not right to rub salt into our fresh wounds by talking about what good Jammeh has done, especially when we don’t even know how much funds meant for our develop since 1994, was entrusted to his administration.
I think Mr Jatta should be ashamed of himself for daring to say that an 8 month old government has received more aids than Jammeh’s 22 year old administration. Even Taiwan alone may have given more funds to Jammeh’s administration than the entire amount of aids received by the Barrow Administration. He should also be ashamed to blame current hardships on the new government. Poorly investment in the energy sector is the consequence of the water and electricity shortages being experienced currently, whilst loss of value of the national currency (Dalasi), due to low productivity, leading to a low supply of, but expensive Forex, is the reason for rising cost of goods and services. It is an abdication of responsibility to blame all on the new government of just 8 months.
The APRC could elect Jammeh, as their life president, if they so wish, but we must ensure that the necessary measures are taken to stop him from coming straight back into politics, whilst his crimes must be well publicised and constantly keep in the public domain, and once the commission completes it’s work, prosecution proceedings must start, if evidence supports a case against him and his officials.
Yahya Jammeh is a thief, murderer and a sadist. The Barrow administration should take steps to ban him from holding public office or being a member of a political party in The Gambia.
I think much will depend on how the electorate view the progress or lack of it from the coalition. Also when the transitional government chooses to call the Presidential election. Apart from the UDP the rest of the coalition members can’t really add many votes individually. Normally party leaders who form a coalition suffer badly in the polls. So it may come down to a straight fight between the APRC and the UDP with Mr Kandeh holding the balance of power. I can’t see Mr Kandeh throwing in with the UDP…so many questions remain. President Barrow may resign, leaving Mr Darboe as UDP leader. Jammeh’s position is held firmly within the agreement with Ecowas and the UN. Legally he could wave the agreement in the face of any challenge. The legal situation is at best ,,complex. I think the situation is very much dependant on who wins the next Presidential election. The coalition could bring charges against Jammeh and Co….But I am not legally competent to know if they can cross borders and challenge the Ecowas/UN agreement and all the conditions granted. Of course all criminals should face justice and those found complacent in criminality within Gambia, may have to answer. But I can’t help having sympathy for those who served there country under jammeh with grave risks only to face the double ignominity of being prosecuted for service and unavoidable collusion through employment.But this is only my opinion.
Mike, am glad you said it is based on your opinion because the facts speak for them self. The Gambian people have spoken loud and clear in April’s National Assembly elections when they rejected APRC throughout the country and Mama Kandeh didn’t do well either considering all the hype about GDC. It was this same analysis that were given by some of you guys before the April elections and you were all proven wrong. And you will be proven wrong again. Can you please enlighten me how you reach the conclusion that the next elections is going to be a straight fight between APRC and UDP??? I could have understood GDC a bit giving UDP a bit of a run for their money but APRC?? Please!! GDC and APRC as a major political force is only mainly in the imagination of those in the diaspora who are anti UDP but not the people in the Gambia that is a fact as per the past elections results. UDP had endured negative publicity from media houses, Journalists and political analysts who all claimed to be neutral but were completely bias against UDP in the run up to that elections. But despite all that and against all the odds they did well. Come next elections, it will be political suicide for any political party to associate with APRC. What makes you think that Mr Darboe will be the one to contest for UDP??? After all UDP have demonstrated that they can survive as a party without Ousainou. Jammeh has every right to return to the Gambia as a Gambian citizen but that right also means he will be subjected to the laws of the Gambia and that includes prosecution for any crimes he may have committed. Whatever agreement he had with Ecowas and UN does not give him any immunity from prosecution for unconstitutional activities. Therefore, in Jammeh’s case that agreement is not worth the paper it is written on.