Police in The Gambia on Thursday blocked a group calling themselves #OccupyNA from entering the National Assembly to demand for the rejection of the government’s controversial supplementary appropriation estimates.
#OccupyNa stormed the National Assembly Thursday morning to put pressure on Gambian lawmakers to reject over one billion dalasis in estimates the government said is to cater for shortcomings made in the already approved 2018 budget.
The National Assembly Member for Serrekunda, Halifa Sallah, attempted to grant the protestors who were mainly youth access to the National Assembly but the PIU in full riot gears insisted and denied the youth entry.
Speaking to journalists, Raffiel RD Diab a member of #GambiaHasdecided said: “I feel very angry and disappointed because I feel this people parliament. It belongs to all of us.”
He added: “We didn’t come here with guns, we are well dress and we the right to come here and watch. So why should they bar us from entry? This parliament is paid by taxpayers’ money.”
But Tony F Mendy, a protestor and student of University of the Gambia, said neither the government nor an individual can stop him from exercising his citizenry rights.
The National Assembly has since rejected the supplementary appropriation estimates.
