By Lamin Cham
Members of the rival APRC faction loyalty to former president Yahya Jammeh have announced they will mark the 26th anniversary of the coup that brought him to power in 1994.
Jammeh’s long reign came to an end in 2016 when he lost in an election that he disputed after conceding defeat. As he stays in exile, his party, the APRC split into two over whether to go into alliance with President Adama Barrow’s NPP. With his blessing, a large chunk of the party refused to join the alliance, hence its name No To Alliance. The group won five parliamentary seats in its stronghold Foni as well as number of Area Council seats.
In line with its unbending support for the former president, the group said it will stage celebrations marking his ascension to power at his native village, Kanilai beginning Friday.
A press statement from the group shared with The Standard explained that an Islamic conference would be held on Friday. The following day, there will be communal work on the farm to be followed in the evening by a ‘Mega Back To The Land’ fundraising event designed to mobilise funds to finance the 2023 farming activities, in line with the former president’s philosophy of ‘Grow what you eat, and eat what you grow’.
