By Tabora Bojang
The leader of the opposition National Democratic Party, Kebba Madi Bojang, has said he is disappointed with the Gambia Police Force for allowing itself to be used by the governing National People’s Party (NPP) to intimidate political opponents.
Bojang made these comments on Kerr Fatou TV after he was summoned by the police to Farato and then to the Busumbala, to be told that they have instructions from the Ministry of Agriculture to confiscate fertiliser he imported and distributing to farmers across the country.
According to the NDP leader, he never imported any fertilser in the country and only bought it from an established, licensed fertilser importer. He argued that the importer’s address and identity is well known to the police and if the product has any problem that is where the police should go and not him.
Bojang, a former key youth leader of the NPP, alleged that the whole issue is a “politically motivated action” to prevent him from distributing fertilser to the farmers who are in need of it.
“This is something the Agriculture Minister and his people failed to do [distribute fertiliser to farmers]. They should have provided adequate fertilser to the farmers but they failed in their responsibility and are now trying to prevent me from helping farmers who are in need,” Bojang said, on his return from police questioning.
He said he refused to sign or provide any statement to the police insisting that he has nothing to answer and the police should instead seek answers from the company he purchased the fertiliser from. “How can any sensible person go after the buyer of a product for questioning about the quality or safety of the product, and not the importer who brought it into the country?” Kebba Madi asked.
He said the whole thing is a political machination by Minister Demba Sabally using state institutions like the Gambia police to intimidate political opponents of the NPP. “This is too cheap and embarrassing to both the minister and the police,” Kebba Madi said. He vowed to continue his distribution of fertiliser across the country. The police have not commented on their encounter with the NDP leader who was let go after his refusal to cooperate with them on giving a statement.
Agric minister Sabally explains
However, Agriculture Minister Demba Sabally dismissed the NDP leader’s claim as “just a conjecture,” adding that the police only intervened following his refusal to cooperate with officials from the Customs Department, National Environment Agency (NEA), Department of Agriculture and the National Agriculture Research Institute (NARI) who visited his premises to seek answers about the source of the fertiliser.
Minister Sabally argued that the fertiliser has not undergone testing and verification by NARI, DOA or NEA while Customs have no records of its importation into the country.
He further stated that Kebba Madi was unable to provide any scientific evidence, laboratory test results or certification from a recognised laboratory demonstrating the validity of the product. “So we cannot allow untested and unverified fertiliser to be distributed to our farmers. We have no scientific evidence to prove that this is fertiliser. So up till now, it is just a chemical. So when we saw it on the NDP page, we dispatched a team but they were denied access to the warehouse where the fertiliser was kept and they could not see Kebba Madi or be given a sample and our records shows that there is no factory producing liquid fertiliser,” the minister said.
Minister Sabally added that since the NDP leader was not cooperating with the officials sent to him, it became necessary for police to intervene and “help us investigate the source of this fertiliser and other issues surrounding its safety and use.”
“The police involvement was not meant to target Kebba Madi, who was in fact one of us because we worked with him in the NPP. So we will not use our offices and powers to intimidate him because who knows, we could work with him tomorrow. I want to assure him that under my Ministry nobody will violate his right. We are ready to partner with anyone who wants to support farmers but let him give us a sample to go and test it. If it is proven that it is a good fertiliser, we will partner with him and support him in distributing it to farmers,” Sabally stated. The minister did not address Kebba Madi’s contention that he did not import the product but merely bought it from a licenced dealer who should be the one to answer questions about the chemical.