The CEO of GACH Global Foundation, Abubakary Jawara has expressed concerns over the tribalisation of his court case against former Secretary General Momodou Sabally. Politician Njie Manneh recently released an audio alleging that the court case between Mr. Jawara and Sabally should be seen as a suit against the Mandinka tribe.
But in a statement shared with The Voice Newspaper yesterday, the GACH CEO said: “All my friends, supporters, and well-wishers, I greet you all. I wish to first of all thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all the messages and well-wishes that have flown to me since this case was initiated. I remain forever grateful to all of you.
“I have heard an audio message circulating on social media platforms and shared on this group in which some unfortunate tribalistic statements were made. The author of that audio one Njie Manneh implied that my defamation lawsuit against Momodou Sabally is a lawsuit against all Mandinkas. I condemn this offensive statement and invite all well-meaning individuals to do the do same.
“This lawsuit is a private matter between me and Mr. Sabally, and I have exercised my rights as a citizen to approach the Courts for a solution. This lawsuit, therefore, has nothing to do with Mandinkas this lawsuit does not mean I hate Mr. Sabally; the courts are meant to resolve problems between citizens and I approached them through a civil case to resolve this dispute between the two of us,” he said.
Jawar added: “I am a Sarahuleh and you know we have a very good and cordial relationship with Mandinkas, especially Badibunkas. Many of my closest friends are Mandinka and most more the majority of the employees in my company are Mandinka. We should not, therefore, let anybody fool us that this is a case against Mandinka or try to use it to spread tribal hatred.
“I wish to ask all of you to remain calm and polite. I strongly discourage any personal attacks on insults against Mr. Sabally. I have been informed that some of you will want to print t-shirts and come to support me in Court on the hearing date, with some people planning to come from as far as URR. While I remain grateful for your support I wish to plead that you do not print T-shirts or show up to Court in your numbers.
The Court is a place of respect and order and showing up in large numbers will only distract from the important issues. Also, in this current economic climate, it will be wicked of me to see people using their hard-earned money to print t-shirts to support me and not speak out. I encourage you to use those funds to instead support your families or give to somebody in need.
“I wish to take this opportunity to thank you again and assure you that you will be updated on all the latest developments on the case after the Court sitting. I pray that Allah(SWT) continues to bless and protect all of us,” he concluded.