By Omar Bah
According to sources close to the transitional justice programme at least US$150 million is needed to implement all the 263 recommendations and 304 activities of the TRRC including the prosecution of former president Yahya Jammeh.
According to the Ministry of Justice’s newly unveiled implementation plan to the government’s white paper on the recommendations of the TRRC, of this amount, US$5,430,000 will go into justice and accountability; US$30,360,000 into legal reforms; US$28,020,000 into institutional reforms and training; and US$50,000 for coordination.
Sources intimate that, most if not all of the funding is expected to come from The Gambia’s development partners.
Addressing a post-TRRC engagement on Friday organised to update stakeholders on the level of implementation of the commission’s recommendations, Justice Minister Dawda Jallow said the government is steadfast in its commitment to implementing the TRRC recommendations as highlighted in its white paper.
“This includes pursuing institutional and legal reforms to strengthen governance, protect human rights and prevent future abuses. Our vision is a New Gambia founded on accountability, justice, and respect for human rights and rule of law. The path we have chosen is rooted in truth and accountability and reconciliation is challenging but necessary,” he said.
Minister Jallow added that the government’s actions today will set the foundation for a Gambia, where the atrocities of the past will never stay in its national conscience.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Momodou Tangara, said: “To ensure the 263 TRRC recommendations are fully implemented, we must mobilise our efforts. By implementing these recommendations, we are not only to rectify past injustices but to forge a future where respect for human rights and rule of law is at the forefront of all that we do and where all citizens are able to live a dignified life.”
He said the country’s achievements in transitional justice thus far have garnered recognition worldwide. “The TRRC has been hailed as an exemplary model by the UN and in many corners of the world. Several countries seeking to undertake their own transitional justice processes are looking to The Gambia’s approach as a source of inspiration…from Lesotho to South Sudan, Ethiopia, and beyond,” he added.
Minister Tangara said the TRRC only serves as a stepping stone, but it is the implementation that would ultimately determine whether “our efforts are celebrated as a triumph or remembered as a failure.
Above all, we owe it to the victims and survivors of human rights violations.”
Before we went to press last night, we made several attempts to elicit a response from Minister Jallow to confirm and explain these figures and statements to no avail.
