We, the APRC National Executive Committee under the leadership of His Excellency Sheikh Prof. Dr. Alhagie Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh and the interim party leader Hon. Yaya Tamba, view with serious concern and condemn in the strongest possible terms the continued illegal, unlawful logging and looting at the former president’s home and forest park, respectively, by the Gambian government and its agencies, including the Army.
Evidence that illegal and unlawful logging and looting have been the order of the day is the recent illegal felling of trees by Sergeant Pa Hally Gibba, officer in charge of the 4th Infantry Battalion at Kanilai, who claims to have been instructed by the Army high command. As a result, buildings of the former president were destroyed.
Among the looted and destroyed items were buildings, boreholes and generators that powered them, valuable materials such as furniture, beds, and clothing, destruction of the fence allowing trucks to enter, removal and looting of park chain link wire and selling it in both Casamance and The Gambia, and continued logging of trees in the park to an extent that no valuable trees were left for animals to graze. The animals were hunted and sold for their meat, leading to their disappearance.
This has resulted in an acute shortage of water in Kanilai and the Animal Park and caused a gross violation and breach of confidence and responsibility by the UN, ECOWAS, and the African Union, as enshrined in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both parties, witnessed with the full participation of heads of state assigned by the parties to mediate and facilitate the departure of H.E. Sheikh Prof. Dr. Alhagie Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh into exile.
The MOU stipulates that Jammeh’s assets and properties must be protected and that his supporters must not be subjected to any form of retribution, maltreatment, or harassment. However, the UN, ECOWAS, and AU have failed in their responsibilities, turning a blind eye to this outrageous violation by the Adama Barrow government.
The failure of the UN, ECOWAS, and AU to uphold and enforce the MOU, despite their knowledge of what was going on, facilitated the looting and destruction of the said assets and properties, and they are therefore held responsible and accountable.
It is also evidently clear that the sale of Jammeh’s assets by the Janneh Commission was unlawful, given the fact that they started selling his assets before the commission concluded its findings. Therefore, we inform the parties and the general public that enough is enough and call on the UN, ECOWAS, and AU to live up to expectations. We challenge The Gambia government, the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice, the military high command, and the Ministry of Defense to investigate and bring those responsible to book in accordance with the 1997 Constitution and other laws of The Gambia.
The government must immediately halt the destruction, logging, and looting of the properties of the former president and related activities, which constitute a violation of the MOU signed between the parties and threaten the peace and security of The Gambia.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to hold the government and its partners accountable for their failure to live up to expectations, undermining the peace and security of The Gambia.
APRC, in its totality, condemns the actions of the Gambian government and its agencies, including the Army, in the strongest terms, describing it as a flagrant violation and an infringement of the rights of former president H.E. Sheikh Prof. Dr. Alhagie Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, as outlined in the MOU signed by both parties concerned and in line with the Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia.
We assure H.E. Sheikh Prof. Dr. Alhagie Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh and his family of our full solidarity and support at all costs, times, and levels, and pray that our country continues to enjoy the peaceful atmosphere we have always known.
Signed: Hon. Alhagie Matarr Kujabi
Administrative Secretary 1
APRC National Executive Committee
