To ECOWAS Political Commission and Heads of State
By Hon.Yahya Sanyang (National Assembly Member,The Gambia)
I am writing to express my deep concern about the recent reckless utterances of President Adama Barrow of The Gambia,which I believe to be a threat to peace and political democratic stability in the country.
In his recent roads project and political bureaus commissioning in the provincial Gambia..President Barrow was quoted as saying that he would crush any opposion to his government and he would deal with anyone who tried to oppose his government..He also made a number of inflammatory statements, including that he owns Gambia and he is the only one who can keep The Gambia united and his party NPP will rule for a very long period of time and that anyone who disagrees with his is a traitor..He will further revoke court bail for trouble makers..
These utterances are deeply troubling and I urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that President Barrow does not act on his threats. The Gambia people deserve to live in a peaceful and democratic country, and President Barrow’s statements are a clear threat to those values..
As a law maker, I am particularly concerned about the potential for President Barrow’s words to incite violence against his political opponents.The Gambia has a bad history of dictatorship and President Barrow’s statements could easily usher us in to fresh dictatorship.
I urge ECOWAS to advise and peer review to persuade President Barrow to renounce his threats and to commit to building a peaceful and democratic Gambia. I also urge the political commission of ECOWAS to constantly monitor the situation closely and to take all necessary steps to prevent violence from occurring.Because the president said business will not be as usual.In addition to the above, I would like to add that President Barrow’s statements are a clear violation of the ECOWAS charter on democracy and good governance Article 2 of the charter states that,,,”ECOWAS member states shall respect the principles of democracy and good governance, which shall be characterised by,inter alia,the rule of law,respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms,politicL pluralism, the holding of regular free,fair and transparent elections, separation of powers,…President Barrow’s statements are clearly at odds with these principles, and I urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that he is held accountable for his actions and utterances.
