By: Dawda Baldeh
The then ruling Alliance for Patriotic Re-orientation and Construction (APRC) party has denied claims in a viral WhatsApp audio of one Sheriff Sanyang confessing to burning down the APRC national headquarters in Kanifing South in 2016 on the assignment of Hon. Fabakary Tombong-Jatta and others.
In a statement, the party, headed by Hon. Fabakary Tombong Jatta, denied the allegations and described them as misleading while threatening to take legal action on the matter.
“The APRC will take up the matter with the Inspector General of Police and further engage our legal experts to help us bring to justice anyone responsible,” the party said.
The party distanced itself from what it described as “unruly statements and false accusations” to the arson attack of the then APRC head office in Kanifing South.
“It could be recalled that there were individual Gambians (names withheld) who made mention on the Freedom Online Radio in America, which was run at the time by the late Pa Nderry Mba, that they sponsored the arson attack on the APRC National Bureau through one soldier resident in The Gambia, which they made public and categorically clear that they were responsible,” the party explained.
The APRC party further described the viral audio as “absolutely misleading and pure fabrication” which it said sows a seed of discord and misunderstanding in the party’s hierarchy.
The party added that the then APRC national bureau contained valuable properties, important documents, asobis, and assets that got burnt inside the offices, adding that the party still has pictorial evidence of remains of the burnt materials at the time.
The statement commits the party’s allegiance, confidence, loyalty, and support to its accused national leader, Hon. Fabakary Tombong Jatta who doubles as Speaker of Parliament, adding that the party is in solidarity with him and all those “falsely accused” in the viral audio.
