By Omar Bah
Banka Manneh, a leading political activist in the struggle against former dictator Jammeh who recently returned from the US, has said that he knew since 1995 that Jammeh was a bad leader for the country.
“The last time I was here was in 1995 but I have seen enough right from the start to conclude that Jammeh was bad for the country. You can remember this was when November 11 took place, Koro Ceesay was dead, Sadibou Hydara was dead and lot of other inhuman things had already happened,” he told GRTS Check Point.
“So, there was enough evidence for me to conclude that Jammeh was not good for the country,” he said.
Banka Manneh was also the chairman of Gambia Civil Society Associations of Gambia (CSAG), a “consortium” of organisations in ‘The Struggle’ that took the fight to President Yahya Jammeh.
“I was vocal against APRC regime because what Jammeh was doing was absolutely wrong and undemocratic. He was violating rights of Gambians, plundering our resources, humiliating our citizens, raping our women and the list goes on,” he said.
Asked if he could prove those allegations against the former president, Manneh said: “Well at this point in time I don’t think it is a matter of talking about proofs; all you need to do is to connect to the Commission of Inquiry. I think some of these things really have come clearer. Yes, it is a fact-finding mission but if anybody wants to tell me that somehow those allegations are not true, then obviously we really need to revisit the whole issue of what corruption is all about,” he said.
Banka said all the revelations at the Commission are things that we know already. “Probably this is the time we are getting the confirmation from the actual players that is the only difference.”
