By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The National Assembly Member for Foni Kansala, Almameh Gibba, has criticized the Victim Reparations Bill 2023, stating that it is not progressive and is instead a witch-hunt as it mentions Yahya Jammeh, the former president, four times.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Dawda Jallow, submitted the 2023 Victims Reparations Bill, as per the recommendations from the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) to the parliament for approval.
However, during the discussion of the bill, the NAM for Foni Kansala, Honourable Gibba, argued that the bill was specifically targeting the former president whose term the TRRC was centred on. He stated that the bill is not progressive and should not be passed.
“Honourable Speaker, I believe, in all honesty, this bill is not progressive. My take is clear. The bill has been sanctioned for the period from 1997 to 2017 based on the recommendations of TRRC.
“Secondly, the bill is also a witch hunt. It is very clear. You cannot have a progressive bill where the name of the former president is repeated more than four times. Are we serious to talk about the victims?” He asked in his deliberations.
He further argued that the bill is targeting a cohort of people.
The members of parliament are currently debating over the certificate of urgency attached to the bill. While many of them are okay with the bill, some argue that a certificate of urgency is not necessary, and they need a bit of time to go through the bill rather than debating over it and agreeing within hours during the day.
The Victim Reparations Bill, 2023, is the first of the three bills the government submitted to the parliament in this extraordinary session.
