There is no apparent end to the ever-evolving crisis in the Gambia Football Federation GFF election saga.
From nominations to appeals to negotiations at the ministry of sports and to the courtroom, the controversy still rages.
In the latest twist, the 5 aggrieved disqualified candidates of the Malick Sillah Camp have signed a letter to the Select Committee of the National Assembly on sports seeking their urgent intervention on the matter.
In the letter the aggrieved persons who according to GFF are also suspended by law, lodged a protest against the nomination of Lamin Kaba Bajo and his colleagues, alleging that their nominations cannot stand the test of morality.
The full letter addressed to the chairman of the select committee reads:
“We are writing a protest letter to your office against the acceptance of nomination of Mr.Lamin Kabba Bajo as President, Mr. Bakary Jammeh, as the 1st Vice President, Mr. Ebou Faye as 2nd Vice President and Mr. Lang Tombong Tamba as 3rdVice president.
Mr Lamin Kaba Bajo, Bakary K Jammeh and Ebou Faye were implicated in the alleged tax fraud investigated by The Gambia Police force. The aforesaid persons were suspended by the National Sports Council for involvement in the alleged tax fraud and the suspension was subsequently rescinded by the Minister of Youth and Sports even though he has no such powers under the Act.
If the disqualification of our candidates to participate in an election can be based on denial of authorization of signatures, then those who acted willfully to defraud the nation of its taxes should be barred from holding public office.
Mr. Lang Tombong Tamba was convicted and sentenced for treasons and other felonious offence by the High Court of the Gambia which decision was affirmed by the Supreme Court on appeal. Article 34.4 paragraph c of the GFF Constitution provides that“the members of the Executive Committee shall not have been convicted of a felon.”The acceptance of his nomination for the position of 3rd Vice President is flagrant violation of the article 34.4 of the GFF Constitution.
We have exhausted all the legal remedies within the GFF and Sports Council hierarchy and justice is yet to be served and we fear that if this deadlock is not broken, the situation may spill over into an unpleasant situation and this will not be in the interest of the Gambian Football. We believe your intervention will be the only way of defusing the ill-fated tension that has been imposed on us by GFF.
We are looking forward to your urgent attention.”
