By Omar Bah
APRC leader, Fabakary Tombong Jatta, has told the people of Foñi that it was former president Yahya Jammeh himself who sanctioned the party’s negotiations with President Adama Barrow.
“I shake hands with President Barrow thanks to Yahya Jammeh. I swear to God, it was Jammeh who asked us to go to him [Barrow],” he said at a meeting on Sunday.
He hinted that his faction of the APRC had perfected all plans for the return of Jammeh but their strategy suffered a blow through the actions and utterances of the APRC No Alliance members.
He said when they were entering into the negotiations, people told them Barrow would betray them and that they should not trust him.
“But I can tell you everything that he promised us has been fulfilled. The biggest regret we have is that we cooked everything and it was only a matter of time for us to dish the food but they [No Alliance Movement] came from nowhere and poured sand into it. If we say we don’t like Yahya Jammeh, what do you think will make us do what we did, if we don’t like him? Because it is thanks to our decisions that APRC is relevant today,” he added.
He said his executive has realised that the only way they could have secured Jammeh’s return is to negotiate with President Barrow.
“We all know the West don’t like Jammeh and even in West Africa, 95% of the leaders don’t like him. How will he be able to come back if not through strategy, forgiveness and negotiation? We should accept that Jammeh’s presidency has ended and look for means to get him back and live a dignified life in The Gambia,” he added.
He said the people of Foñi should not have allowed the No Alliance people to disrespect his executive because they have made a lot of sacrifices for the APRC.
“If there is an enemy of the APRC or Yahya Jammeh, it is those people (No Alliance Movement). But I want to tell them that APRC is their home despite all their insults and allegations. We have forgiven them,” he said.
He said all the promises made by President Barrow were fulfilled to the amusement of some of his executive members.
FTJ commended the former five Foñi National Assembly Members for standing by his executive through all the difficult times despite all the challenges.
He said the people of Foñi were misled into voting for the No Alliance faction.
“We should be careful with the people we listen to, especially those who are bent on dividing us. When Yahya Jammeh was leaving the country in 2017, things were very difficult – none of us believed APRC would be alive by now but it happened because some of us stood by the truth,” FTJ added.
