By Omar Bah
The opposition Gambia Action Party has called on President Adama Barrow to serve as a unifier and stop uttering divisive statements.
In a statement reacting to the president’s comments that UDP members went to cemeteries to desecrate graves and place amulets in them for Ousainu Darboe to get out of jail, GAP said the statement uttered by the Gambian leader is a concern and a threat to national security.
“Thus, we are urging him to desist from such statements as well as uphold the ethics of the highest office in the Gambia and spearhead the peace building process in the country.
“Historic moments on personal matters must not be trivialized for political points and are meant to be respected and reserved from public space. We expect the President to be responsible enough and exhibit those standout qualities that accompany the presidency,” GAP said.
The party added: “Climbing on five-hundred-meter trees and placing amulets beneath dead bodies are not necessarily worth our hearing for not being a national discourse. We urge President Barrow to publicly apologise to the Gambian citizenry and desist from such comments further.”
Meanwhile, in a separate statement signed by the party’s presidential candidate, Alieu Sowe, GAP called on the government to turn a deaf ear to the 7 British MPs calling for the full implementation of the TRRC recommendations.
“We would like to remind the UK government that Gambia is a sovereign country and our affairs must be dictated by our people without any duress and adherence to any personal pleas will be catastrophic to our judicial system and years to restructure that dented reputation,” the party said.
The affairs of the former president, GAP presidential candidate added, “remain crucial in our history and national unity should ring in the mindset of our government to ensure that justice is never delayed or denied”.
GAP said the UK government especially the 7 MPs should rather work together and enact drastic measures to ensure racial discrimination is eradicated in the UK and other parts of the world.
“We call on the government to restore public confidence and defy all odds in dealing with the outcome of TRRC recommendations without being forced, persuaded or biased as more people with personal whims and caprices have shown interest in extradition of the former president prematurely without evidential approval from a constituted body backed by the National Assembly of The Gambia,” the party added.
