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· The political party of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced an alliance with the ruling party three months before the presidential election
· This has cast doubts on the willingness to prosecute the former leader for alleged human rights violations
· It is not known how this alliance will help the ruling party to regain the power in the small west African country
The political party of former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced an alliance with the ruling party three months before the presidential election. This has cast doubts on the willingness to prosecute the former leader for alleged human rights violations. It is not known how this alliance will help the ruling party to regain power in the small west African country.
The secretary general of Yahya Jammeh’s APRC party, Fabakary Tombong Jatta, said that his party had reached an agreement with President Adama Barrow’s National Peoples Party (NPP) to support him in the December 4 presidential election. No further details of the agreement were announced at the press briefing he organized recently.
Human rights groups called the alliance a betrayal and questioned the government’s willingness to prosecute Yahya Jammeh. A commission of inquiry into crimes committed during his presidency is due with its findings to President Barrow in September. It is reported that the reports would reveal many omissions and commissions committed by the former ruler during his presidency.
Jammeh ruled Gambia with an iron fist since he took power in 1994 in a bloodless military coup. After losing the presidential election to Adama Barrow in 2017, he fled to Equatorial Guinea. Thereafter, the government established a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) to investigate crimes committed during Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule.
The commission heard chilling testimony about state-sanctioned torture, death squads and the climate of terror that Mr. Jammeh let loose, including among those closest to him. Its findings are eagerly awaited by NGOs. It is believed that the commission will recommend prosecuting the 56-year-old former dictator. Barrow earlier had indicated that he would wait for the report before commencing prosecution proceedings against the former ruler.
