By Omar Bah
Former Speaker of the National Assembly Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay, a staunch supporter of APRC, has said although Yahya Jammeh had made mistakes during his 22-year rule, his good work can still be noticed everywhere in the country.
“Yes, there were mistakes. If anyone tells you there were no mistakes in his governance, that person is not a human being or he must be a liar. Even Jammeh knows he had made mistakes, some of which are very close to him both in his administration and his family. Nobody is perfect. But he has equally done some very good things that are benefitting people today,” she told a Star FM Radio programme to be aired today.
FJC said Jammeh has always been a principled man since his days as a military officer and many people might have taken that as his weakness or wickedness.
“I remember him during Jawara’s days stopping ministers from entering Cabinet meetings or state functions because they came late. Jammeh has always been a no-nonsense man. Even if you don’t like him, you cannot take that away from him and to me, Jammeh is a very good person and all what people are saying about him today were not known to me. I never heard he kill somebody or he has done anything to anybody,” FJC said.
She said Gambians should not be blinded to the fact that Jammeh has done a lot for the country. “Things that nobody can wipe out of our history. Jammeh had even bigger plans for this country and had it been the 2016 election were not manipulated, he would have taken this country to another level,” she said.
Turning to the resurgence of the former ruling APRC, Madam Ceesay said: “We are rebranding the APRC. We will rebrand it to a level that people will realise that it has been really rebranded.”
She said the APRC will continue to stand with Jammeh as their supreme leader, although he is no more influencing the running of the party.
Ceesay also sent strong warnings to those she claims are stealing or buying Jammeh’s properties.
“Jammeh is generally sitting in Equatorial Guinea minding his business despite all that they are doing to his property. Those who are stealing his properties will return them. We know them and when Jammeh returns, they will give him back his properties,” she said.
She said it is easy to blame Jammeh for violating human rights but “they don’t talk about the high degree of corruption in this government. All we hear is Yahya Jammeh’s human rights violations.”
She also denied reports of herself being groomed as a potential APRC flagbearer.
“The party has no flagbearer yet. Fabakary Tombong Jatta is the leader. What we are doing now is to increase the party’s support base,” she said.
Asked whether the APRC will form an Alliance with NPP, Madam Ceesay replied: “As far I am concerned, we have good relationships with all the political parties including UDP and NPP. It is possible that we will even work with the UDP. It is politics. No one can
