By Tabora Bojang
The leader of the African Federalism and Republic Orientation (AFRO) Movement, Momodou Bah, a presidential aspirant in the 2021 election, said police refused to issue a permit to his movement to hold a political rally in Banjul.
Addressing a press conference over the weekend, Bah said denying him the right to disseminate his policies to supporters is “unconstitutional” and “unacceptable”.
“This is a terrorist attack on the democracy of The Gambia. The incumbent [NPP] and their allies are holding rallies everywhere and anywhere in the country but they are denying us that same right. We are the pioneers of political movements in this country and we have the right to hold rallies. We have been here since 2021. We have worked a lot and we deem it necessary to gather our supporters all over the country in Banjul for a meeting organised by our Banjul chapter. But they denied us because they were playing a ping-pong game,” Bah said.
He said his movement “won’t accept again to be denied a permit” to hold a rally. “The next time we apply and get denied, we will go ahead and do our rally without a permit and Gambians will be our witness,” Mr Bah warned. “We are not going to accept this again. I am an aspirant for the presidency of the republic of The Gambia and have the right to talk to the people peacefully.”
According to Mr Bah, the democracy prevailing in the country was not given by the president but brought about by the sweat and tears of the Gambians who made the change in 2016.
“So, we will not be intimidated. We will not be discouraged. We will stand up straight and fight for our rights. We wanted to hold this rally to discuss with the people about our political project. The youths of this country are now ready to bring politics with policies. It is no longer the politics of money, lineage or oligarchs. We need political leaders who will put in policies that will develop the country. Policies that will remedy our failing economy. Right now our economy is on its knees. The Gambia is sick and we need Citamin C which we have,” the AFRO leader stated.
He accused the government of “rampant corruption” citing the forceful removal of the auditor general, the Russian oil scandal and failure of the president to act against ministers implicated in the parliamentary inquiry report as few cases that exposed the government’s “complicity”.
