By Kebba Ansu Manneh
The Ministry of Justice on Wednesday 5th October 2022 revoked the certificate of registration of the Coalition of Progressives Gambians (CoPG), a civil society group that threatened to protest against the Government of President Adama Barrow on 11th November 2022.
The group has called on the government to address corruption, hiking prices, high cost of living, a dysfunctional health system that resulted in the death of over 66 children and a D11.1 million dalasi corruption scandal at Central Bank, D11million corruption scandal at the Judiciary, D669million corruption exposed by National Audit Office, $25 million Petroleum saga among other rampant corruption revelations that characterised the Barrow-led administration at loggerhead with the government since last month.
Sources disclosed that the Ministry of Justice’s decision to revoke the association Certificate of Registration has been influenced by the Government of President Adama Barrow who has since stated that after December 2021, election IGP will be instructed not to issue permits for protest in the country.
However, the Coalition of Progressives Gambians has on Thursday, 6th October, 2022, reacted to the decision of the Ministry of Justice to revoke its Certificate of Registration.
“It is with total dismay that we received news of the arbitrary revocation of the registration certificate No. 2022C19361 of the Coalition of Progressive Gambians (CoPG).
Given this unjust use of state powers, we are hereby registering our total disappointment and condemnation of the Barrow administration over this blatant violation of our rights as bonafide citizens of The Gambia,” CoPG reacted in a letter dispatched to the press.
They added: “The CoPG was legally registered as an association on the 28th day of September, 2022 at the AG Chambers, in Banjul. This was achieved after the association fulfilled all the requirements for registration.”
The group disclosed that following the receipt of the Certificate of Registration on 28th September, the group was called back on 29th of September 2022, by the Registrar of Companies (ROC) to rectify some typographical errors made on the certificate in the form of ‘coalation’ for‘ coalition’ and‘ Gambia’ for ‘Gambians’, adding that based on the errors the group decided to return the certificate for the necessary corrections to be carried out.
“We returned the certificate to the AG’s Chambers for the due corrections on Monday, the 3rd of October, 2022. Upon arrival and submission of the certificate, we were told that the lady responsible for the registration and correction of the certificate was not in the office and therefore we were asked to deposit it with them and to collect it on Wednesday, the 5th of October, 2022, ” CoPG disclosed.
It added: “To our surprise and disappointment upon our return for the collection of the corrected certificate, we were informed of the revocation of the registration certificate of the association, CoPG.
We were told that the action was necessitated due to an order from ‘the top’ which suggests an official pressure, likely from the executive branch of the government, those people who have sworn to carry out their duties without fear or favor.”
The group revealed that the reason given for the deregistration of the CoPG was that they are a pressure group, noting that this is a clear manifestation of arbitrary use of state powers, injustice, and corruption.
The coalition of Progressive Gambians has called on Gambians to brace up for a resurgence of dictatorship in the country as the Government launches its crackdown on the descent, adding that the only part of this distasteful form of governance is extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances and as a result, the CoPG has lost faith in the government of The Gambia as the legitimate protector of constitutionality and the rule of law has been shaken from the core of its foundation.
“The Coalition of Progressive Gambians deemed it necessary to register, in the first place, to be able to operate a functional office with a cardinal objective to raise awareness amongst Gambians and unite the people to fight against the dangerously pervasive corruption and tribal politics in the country.
“That would enable Gambians to make informed decisions about the direction of the country without recourse to violence, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, and political affiliation.
Ultimately what afflicts one Gambian afflicts us all,” CoPG disclosed in the dispatched statement.
It added: “Among the objectives of the CoPG is to promote politics of decency, morality, and integrity for the greater good of the country.
Unfortunately, instead of engaging us as concerned citizens with legitimate grievances, the Barrow government seeks to demonize us as enemies and a ‘threat to national security.