By Amadou Jadama
Muhammed Jawneh a Gambian businessman has urged The Gambia government “to take the sternest action” and prevent former president Yahya Jammeh from interfering in Gambian politics “in the interest of peace and stability in the country”.
In recent addresses via telephone from his exile home in Equatorial Guinea to his supporters in The Gambia, Jammeh claimed he was cheated at the 2016 election and accused the UDP of being a tribalist party.
Jammeh’s tirade against the Mandinkas was met with widespread condemnation. Adding his voice to this chorus, Jawneh said: “This is not the first or second time this failed tyrant is attacking the Mandinkas. For 22 years he ran a dictatorship where thievery, killings and criminality was the order of the day. Many victims are still suffering from the pain and trauma he inflicted and yet he is here interfering in our politics. This is an insult to all decent Gambians.
“I could not even sleep when I think about the way politics is being conducted in this country. The government has totally ignored what Jammeh is doing in this country. His comments towards Mandinkas tantamount to incitement of violence in the country, and therefore, President Barrow and his government should come out and take serious action against him, because the country is heading towards the election.”
Jawneh further called on the IEC to caution all party leaders especially Mamma Kandeh whose GDC has gone into an alliance with Jammeh’s faction of the APRC, not to give platform to the sulphurous poison being spewed by Jammeh.
“Let him stay away from interfering in our politics in the interest of peace and stability of our country. The Gambia is a peaceful country and a one family state. I am also very disappointed with Kandeh for allowing Jammeh to use his political platform to insult and denigrate Mandinkas.
“How can you as a responsible political leader, allow somebody to use abusive language directed at a particular tribe which happens to be the majority tribe of that country. That shows you want to cause violence in the country,” Jawneh criticised.
The Standard has learnt that the government through the ministry of foreign affairs has written to Malabo to rein in Jammeh. However, Jammeh made the last of his “interfering” calls days after the government sent the dispatch.
