By Kebba Ansu Manneh
Seedy Cham, Chairman of Coalition of Progressives Gambia (CoPG) has disclosed that the coalition will hold meetings with stakeholders, namely; the Supreme Islamic Council (SIC), The Gambia Police Force (GPF), National Intelligence Agency, and a representative of the International Police (Interpol).
In an exclusive interview on Sunday, he further revealed that today’s meeting will be the second of its kind in a space of two weeks ahead of November 11, 2022, planned peaceful protest against the high cost of living, skyrocketing basic commodities, and rampant corruption.
He told The Voice Newspaper, that the meeting was to be held on Sunday, November 6 but due to other commitments of the movement, it failed and is fixed for today Monday 7th November 2022.
Cham stated that the movement’s last engagement with the stakeholders regarding the upcoming protest was very fruitful.
“So far, it is only the Government of Adama Barrow that is yet to address the series of demands submitted by the Coalition. God willing, we are hopeful that this meeting will be held today with the view to strengthen our discussions on the planned protest,” Cham Chairman Coalition of Progressives Gambians (CoPG) told The Voice.
He vowed that the coalition has no plan to cancel the protest and also the government is yet to address any of their demands that would warrant their cancellation.
Meanwhile, in his last week meeting with Local Chiefs the Gambian leader stressed that his government will not leave any stone unturned in the fight against corruption
Cham noted the Gambian leader has repeatedly made this statement, but with no action to address the plights and sufferings of The Gambian people.
“This time, the Coalition of Progressive Gambians is not going to stop the nationwide protest on 11 November 2022, if the government failed to act on our recommended actions by the 8th November 2022,” Chairman CoPG emphasized.
We thank the Supreme Islamic Council and the security personnel who took it upon themselves to engage the membership of CoPG in areas of our demands.
These were faithful engagements with the authorities, but after listening to the President’s speech on the issues of staple food and corruption during his meeting with the chiefs at the State House on the 3rd of November, 2022, we felt like it is still just business as usual, the government is not showing any commitment to solving the prevailing national problems,” Cham pointed out.
He stressed President Barrow has failed to address what matters to the majority of Gambians, namely; corruption and injustice, noting that this is due to poor advice from what matters to majority Gambians, namely; corruption and injustice noting that this is due to poor advice of his advisers and technocrats.
“The government rarely enlightened Gambians on rising unemployment, rising prices of goods, the consistent updates on the stages of the implementation of the TRRC recommendation, and the status of the 2019 draft constitution. The Coalition of Progressive Gambians with its knowledge of the current issues in the country has drafted a list of demands which matter to the Gambians but still, no action has been taken by the government to address them,” he pointed out.
“The CoPG believes that the President continues to ignore the high cost of living and continues to blame the world without telling the Gambians how he is mitigating the circumstances in the short-, medium- and long-term. The government has consistently failed to take serious measures in addressing these issues but rather always blaming other countries for our problems which will never be fixed if left alone.” Chairman Cham observed.
He further noted that countries elect leaders to find solutions to their challenges. The Gambia is not an exception, but in this case of Gambia, the current government has failed to find solutions.
He said that leadership should expect the reaction of the public, which CoPG believes should not lead the government to either intimidate or categorize those citizens as unpatriotic.
He observed that the culture of protest should be accommodated in our democracy as we are seeing its occurrence in other parts of the world, specifically Senegal as well Ghana which is also pushing their government to address their concerns.
Cham noted that peaceful protest is the main civilized way of keeping those with power accountable and accord citizens the right to express their voices together, thus strengthening our democracy.
He avowed that with or without a permit the Coalition of Progressives Gambians will embark on their planned protest, adding that it is, therefore, imperative for the Government to issue a permit for the peaceful protest as in line with Section 25 of the Gambian Constitution that guarantees the rights of the citizens to protest.