By Fatou Bojang
Sess Nen, a new pressure group, has emerged with the objective of holding the government accountable. Sess Nen, meaning ‘we have been pushed to the wall’ is spearheaded by the Gambia Participates, the National Youth Parliament, Niumi Hands and several other CSOs. The group was formed following the breakdown of ferries. Its members applied for a permit to protest but they were denied by the police.
The group told journalists on Friday that the government owes a duty of care to the public.
“They have failed the test of public responsibility and the duty of care they owe to Gambians affected by this crisis. As a result of this gross negligence, they must be held accountable for failing to discharge their public law function,” it added.
Two days ago, the group added, “we received news of the death of two people who lost their lives in the process of labor because it took significant time to reach the Farafenni Hospital where they were referred to. One of them sadly died in Kerewan. On the same day, a passenger on board a boat was severely injured due to poor quality of the boat, thereby exposing him to injuries. In the same vein, our hard-working mothers who are primarily gardeners, petty traders and market vendors who depend highly on the ferry for transportation have experienced significant financial losses, thereby affecting their ability to take care of their families.”
The group expressed frustration that the police denied them permit to stage a peaceful protest, citing the hosting of the OIC. “The OIC Summit is important, and they take pride in it, but the lives and livelihood of the people is more important to us than the OIC. Unfortunately, the police traded OIC with the lives of the people that they ought to protect. As concerned citizens, we consider this a grave betrayal of welfare of the people, a blatant disregard of lives, mindless abuse of power and glaring of fundamental human rights,” it stated.
