By Mama A. Touray
As Gambians thronged in the city of Banjul on Tuesday to pay their final respect to the late Political Activist, Solo Sandeng who died in April, 2016 for electoral reforms, a prominent Gambian Human Rights Activist Madi Jobarteh has taken a different dimension on the state funeral of Mr. Sandeng whom he said did not die for a funeral but he died for a system change.
Speaking to the press shortly after the tribute ceremony with a placard in a procession Madi Jobarteh said: “Solo did not die to be given a burial, he got up because he wants to salvage the Gambia, defend human rights, democracy and rule of law and that he was the catalyst that brought us where we are today therefore Solo died for a cause.”
The controversial right activist Mr. Jobarteh in a weird voice added: “It’s a sad day for the Gambia in the sense that we have lost a lustrous son like Solo Sandeng but it is a day of celebration because through his life we were able to defeat dictatorship and restore a democracy that we are not satisfied with until now and it is a day of sadness too because it is a day that manifest betrayal.”
Mr. Jobarteh also seized the occasion to blast the 2016 Coalition Leaders for attending the state burial of late Ebrima Solo Sandeng describing them as “betrayals to the late Solo Sandeng.”
He concluded: “For the legacy of Mr. Sandeng to maintain there has to be honesty particularly the president and the executive, the legislature and the political parties those that came to form a coalition in the wake of his protest who benefitted from his death because thanks to Solo Sandeng all of them came to power.They were members in the executives, legislature and they have the power and resources to bring about legal and institutional reforms but they failed to do so, Solo’s legacy remains constant and unshakable.”