By Kebba Ansu Manneh
Abdou Karim Jammeh, an April 2000 Student victim has described the appointment of Honourables Fabakary Tombong Jatta (FTJ) and Seedy S.K. Njie to the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly as the biggest insult President Adama Barrow has meted out to Gambian people who had fought so hard to end dictatorship in the country.
Abdou Karim Jammeh is among dozens of rural Gambian Students who protested against the shooting and killings of twelve students on 10th April.
He was shot in his ankle by armed security officers and left in a pool of blood without being offered adequate medical treatment which eventually subjected him to using a working stick. According to him, Fabakary Tombong Jatta and Seedy S.K. Njie were among the biggest propagandists and chief architects of the various constitutional amendments meant to prolong the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh in power. He argued that it is unethical and unjustifiable that constitutional amendments eventually lead to the numerous rights violations that occurred in the country.
“To me, the most insulting thing President Adama Barrow and his government did to The Gambian people who fought with tears and blood to end dictatorship in the country is to appoint Fabakary Tombong Jatta and Seedy S.K. Njie, as Speaker and Deputy of the National Assembly. With these people in this sensitive national office coupled with the recycling of other top members of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), it will be virtually impossible to implement any kind of reforms to implement the recommendations of the TRRC,” he expressed.
He added saying “honestly, reforms cannot take place in any of the government institutions as long as those dirty hands stained with blood are still in the system. To us (victims) the appointments of Fabakary Tombong Jatta and Seedy S.K Njie will only derail the reforms process of the government including the recycling of all other bigwigs of APRC in the government.”
He continued that the present situation of the country is a result of the handy work of the President by recycling former directors and leftovers of the APRC. He claimed that as of now APRC is back to power making it extremely difficult for the government to roll out any meaningful implementation of its reforms agenda.
He added: “It’s very unfortunate that two people who headed the notorious killing and torturing institutions of the Gambia during the era of dictatorship time Ousman Sowe who was the director of operations at the NIA and now Director General of the Agency and Yankuba Sonko former IGP have been sidelined by government Whitepaper.
“I believe that’s very on fair for the victims’ families, survivors, and the whole nation who are all very disappointed with how the government exonerated the duo from bearing the grievous responsibility.”
Further dilating on the slow pace of the implementation process of the TRRC, he expressed concern as to whether the implementation process of the TRRC will happen.
“I think the way forward is for the Gambian people to come together as one like what we did in 2016 and fight against dictatorship in the Gambia because we are heading back to it. The reason why I say that is because no one is safe in the Gambia any longer, criminals continue to attack people in their houses, workplaces, or even in the streets and kill, the lack of proper reform and system change, high cost of living which nothing has been done about it,” Jammeh observed.