By Fatoumatta K Jawara,
Hon National Assembly
Member for Tallinding
It is with dismay and consternation that I listened to an Honourable Member of the National Assembly, Kaddy Camara, in her address to the APRC supporters where she made serious derogatory remarks against the UDP and the government of President Adama Barrow, thus sullying and bringing our hallowed and consecrated House into disrepute. The remarks made by the Member for Foni Bondali are a gross aberration.
I could have ignored her because I had a lot of regard for her but you cannot insult the whole UDP and the entire government and expect to go scot-free. She kept talking about the unfortunate death of Haruna Jatta. She said Mr Jatta was killed by the government and they kept silent about it to the point of asking the government to establish a TRRC for the deceased, even after a government investigative panel confirmed that he was shot by Ecomig forces following an avoidable protest in Kanilai.
If she is a genuine Member of Parliament, why is she always talking about Haruna Jatta’s death? What about the gross human rights violations by the government of former president Jammeh that has killed and disappeared thousands of Gambians. This is a government that she served and had the opportunity to speak against the brutality of Jammeh and his henchmen but she was just there to do and say things at the whims of the tyrant and sadist. What about Siaka Fatajo who was a strong supporter of the Coalition and disappeared during the impasse; Tumani Jallow, Masireh Jammeh and Haruna Jammeh, Jasaja Kujabi and Ndongo Mboob? Why didn’t she defend these true martyrs of Foni if she is a genuine representative of her people?
Why didn’t she talk about the witch-hunt instigated by Jammeh where people across the country, especially the Foni region, were forced to drink hallucigenic concoctions that had serious health complications on them, with some publicly humiliated and others losing their lives? Was it that she was out of her mind or was she deaf and dumb that she couldn’t talk about all that? Why being particular about Haruna Jatta?
If she talks about a level playing field, she is either a despicable human being or dishonest because the government she served in, denied every Gambian their basic rights and we fought to remove the tyrant and she should be grateful to those who did the fight since it is as a result of that victory that she is enjoying democracy by standing at any platform to say anything, to the point she was clearly heard insulting the person of President Barrow. That is not democracy and even if that is, she was not part of the fight to usher in that freedom, rather she was bitterly against it.
Whether Foni supports or fails to support this government is irrelevant because they are less than 5% of the population and only make numbers in their APRC rallies because they transport people from the Casamance. Kaddy, you rejected this government and we have decided and Jammeh will never return unless when we are receiving him from the airport and directly send him to his very own ‘Five Star Hotel’ of ‘Bamba Dinka’ at the Mile 2.
Isn’t it an irony that you singled out one tribe, the Manjagos, and said you are like them and would never give up to the point you are calling on all those that speak the Jola language to remain loyal to the APRC; what a tribal bigot you are! The UDP is open to all tribes and you can see that each and every tribe in the country has a representative in the central executive committee.
The genuine APRC supporters have since joined government and support its development agenda. But people like you who are desperate job seekers are deceiving the unsuspecting supporters of the party for your own selfish interest.
Editor’s note: This op-ed piece was inadvertently ascribed to Hon Sanna Jawara as the author when Hon Fatoumatta K Jawara is the rightful author. The devil’s error is to blame for the mix-up.
