The government of the Gambia has made it clear that July 22nd, the coup day that ushered in the 22 years dictatorial government of exiled former President Yahya Jammeh will not be celebrated or glorified in the country.
The government maintains that the 1994 coup was an illegal act, staged principally, to usurp power and subvert the popular will of the Gambian people. In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure ahead of the plan celebration by APRC party militants, the government said it is on record that the Inspector General of Police has not issued any permit to authorize any individual, political party or any other group to hold festive celebrations of the July 22nd 1994 coup.
The government insisted that memories are still fresh of the brutality that the July 22nd coup brought on Gambians. “The July 22nd coup still leaves painful reminders of torture, unexplained disappearances, killings and plunder of state resources. This day therefore should not in any way be glorified, hailed or celebrated by any well-meaning Gambian” it stated.
Below is the full press release issued:
Press Release of The Gambia Government on the APRC’s plan to celebrate July 22nd Coup.
It is on record that the Inspector General of Police has not issued any permit to authorize any individual, political party or any other group to hold festive celebrations of the July 22nd 1994 coup.[…].
The Gambia government maintains that the 1994 coup was an illegal act, staged principally, to usurp power and subvert the popular will of the Gambian people who fought through their sweat and blood to establish and nurture a democratic culture for 30 years that became an envy of the whole world.
Memories are still fresh of the brutality that the July 22nd coup brought on Gambians. Families were torn apart; innocent citizens willfully killed; businesses unlawfully closed and so many of The Gambia’s most experienced and finest brains forced to flee the country because of the organized and systematic abuse of their fundamental rights.
Notwithstanding its unwavering position to respect and broaden democratic principles and personal freedoms of citizens, the government of The Gambia maintains that the July 22nd coup still leaves painful reminders of torture, unexplained disappearances, killings and plunder of state resources. This day therefore should not in any way be glorified, hailed or celebrated by any well-meaning Gambian.
