By Lamin Drammeh
One way to kill the bad legacy of Jammeh in the Gambia, is by preventing his Party dominance in the National Assembly.
It is important to remind Gambians about some of the crimes and bad laws implemented by Jammeh and his rubber stamp APRC national assembly. It is extremely important to advocate the need to defeat them through the ballot box in April.
Don’t vote for APRC, any vote for this criminal party is a vote for the endorsement/validation of all the heinous crimes Gambians endured since 1994.
Gambians have suffered gross human rights violations and other atrocities masterminded by Jammeh and his APRC enablers during the past 22 years of his autocratic regime.
It is worth mentioning that Jammeh’s presidency came to an embarrassing end after Gambians went to the polls to vote him out in a historic fashion which eventually sent him into exile against his will, just like he violated our Constitution with the help of his incompetent National assemble members to maintain his trip in power.
While Jammeh, was in power, so many people notably, political opponents and critics were illegally tortured to death, jailed and in some cases disappeared for good.
The case involving a prominent, Gambian journalist Chief Ebrima Manneh, who at the time of his unceremonious disappearance, worked with Daily Observer Newspaper in the Gambia, is a perfect example of how quickly Gambians can go missing under Jammeh’s watch.
However, countless number of innocent citizens also lost their valuable lives in the most brutal manner by Jammeh and his APRC Party.
The same Jammeh, with his obsession for power used his APRC national assembly members to violate our Constitution by making unending amendments in an effort to have him rule against our will forever.
Also during Jammeh’s presidency, Gambians have witnessed a record number of human rights violations, more than any other country in Africa.
His crime rate is believed to be one of the highest around the world, largely owing to some of the terrible laws that were approved and passed much to his advantage by group of unpatriotic citizens occupying the most important law making body in any country.
He has also lived the life of a king with the help of the National assembly and embezzled state funds to enriched himself with expensive houses, cars amongst other luxurious properties, leaving the state coffers virtually empty.
Jammeh who’s so much protective of his presidential seat would get rid of anyone he perceived to have cause a serious threat to his leadership.
This is why he is reported to have killed his cousin and sister Haruna and Masey Jammeh, who according to family members, never encouraged or entertained the idea of Jammeh’s barbaric and murderous style of leadership.
Many were not surprised when Jammeh, killed and betrayed all the army officers who were with him when he forcefully removed the democratically elected president Sir. Dawda Kairaba Jawara, from power in a bloodless coup in 1994.
And countless examples of how Jammeh destroyed everything in the Gambia including journalists and businessmen cannot be forgotten.
It is obvious that Jammeh could not have done/performed all the evil practices alone.
He was using our own people mainly diehard APRC enablers to get what he wanted at our own cost, albeit the need to mention some of his crimes partly endorsed by members of his party occupying the national assembly with no Gambia’s interest at heart.
It is against these backdrop that I write to remind my fellow Gambians on the need to not allow the bad elements Jammeh left in our midst.
No democratic nation that respect freedom of speech and rights to support parties of one’s choice would encourage censorship of individuals who want to support The APRC or any other party.
However, you could use your vote to send them (APRC) packing just like we did when we came together and sent Jammeh away to Equatorial Guinea in the most embarrassing manner.
This is the only means to prevent APRC’s future dominance in the national assembly and the elimination of the nightmares and bad legacy surrounding Jammeh and his Aprc.
They don’t have Gambia’s interest at heart and for that reason they would not represent/serve the interest of Gambia as they did in July, 1994 to January, 2017.
We are talking about good 22 years of bad governance, self enrichment, flamboyant lifestyles, unending amendments of the constitution, adopted by the very APRC parliamentarians shamelessly looking for re-election and fighting for a place in the national assembly.
What happened in January, 2017, during the final days of Jammeh’s terrible rule (declaration of state of emergency and many others, by APRC dominated National Assembly), was evident to the fact that APRC parliamentarians have not and would never serve your interest.
If you vote them in the national assembly elections, they will use their dominant powers to pass laws for the return of the worst son of our land, Yahya Jammeh.
They will also block anything that would be of benefit to the new government that you already put in place to build the new Gambia.
Already efforts are being made to destablize peace and stability we are enjoying in the new Gambia by APRC’s Seedy Njie, and some other disgruntled unpatriotic Gambians vying for reelection into the Parliament.
They falsely accused Barrow government of tribalism, iligal arrest and lack of space for APRC to exercise their constitutional rights, forgetting that if there is no freedom of assembly and human rights, the APRC party would have been disbanded for they are an embodiment of criminality.
Therefore, even a single National Assembly seat for Aprc is a threat to our freedom, peace and everything that we fought for. They are working towards capitalizing on the slightest opportunity to bring chaos in The Gambia as they did during Yahya’s divide and rule regime.
It is important to reiterate the need to deny them our voice, for our vote is our voice, let’s use it wisely, together we can elect highly competent, professionals and patriotic citizens who will protect and respect laws of the land, safeguard Gambia’s interest and jealously promote and protect peace that exist in the smiling Coast of Africa, The Gambia.
Wishing all the electorates the very best of luck as you head to the polls to vote for parliamentarians of your choice in the next three weeks.
