After hearing the speech of Honorable Halifa Sallah, Speaker of the Gambian Coalition, and President Elect Adama Barrow, I have the following contributions to make towards the developments taking place in our beloved Country, The Gambia.
I Momodou Sahir Drammeh, From Sweden, am hereby advising the outgoing President Mr Yaya Jammeh, The President elect Mr Adama Barrow and the Gambian people in the Diaspora and at home.
Mr Yaya Jammeh came to power unlawfully with the barrel of the Gun in July 22 1994, and promised to hand over power to an elected civilian president within 2 years.
No 1, that was unlawful and against our constitution, and you did not hand over the power to an elected president.
No 2, you banned all the major constituted political parties inexistence by that time, and formed your own Military party “APRC” and went to your kangaroo elections, with the help of your kangaroo courts with the barrel of the Gun. That was unconstitutional.
No 3, you ruled Gambia by decree for 22 years, eliminating all your political opponents, and putting the ones you could hold on to, in Mile2 prison. This was unconstitutional.
To make things short, your terrifying way of ruling Gambia, which was unconstitutional, forced Gambians to go by the back-way in large numbers as immigrants in North Africa, Europe and America. With reports emerging, Gambia with a population of less that 2 million people account for 14% of the people using the dangerously crowded boat crossing the Mediterranean seas, and Nigeria with a population of about 170 million people account for just 18% of the immigrants. This sows the magnitude of Gambians forced to immigrate The Gambia they once loved and still loved, but have to leave because of your 22 years terror ruled. This was unconstitutional.
You now changed the constitution and formed the well known Independent Electoral Commission “IEC” to stand for an unlawful fifth term period. We went to the polls and the verdict of The Gambian people was clear, you lost the elections to Mr Barrow. As we all know, Gambians were not seeking for revolution, but just their democratic rights to vote for a change and that has to be respected. We know that you are in full control of the Arm forces, the police and security forces, but I have to remind them that their loyalty is to the constitution and not to anyone. You went on air after the IEC chairman declares Mr Adama Barrow as the winner of the elections, and conceded defeat. You called Mr Barrow and congratulated him for winning the elections. You even went on saying that you are willing to give advice, if needed and will be going back to farming. This was a good gesture and I advice you Mr. Jammeh to hold on it, if you want history to remember you.
The next we had from you Mr Jammeh was that you went on air and backtracked from your previous statement and reversed your decision, and will be calling for fresh elections. This was unconstitutional Mr. Jammen and no one is going to accept your unconstitutional way of ruling Gambia any more.
My advice to you and anyone in your cabinet and supporters is to accept defeat and hand over power to the elected president Barrow. This must be done immediately and as soon as possible.
Elected President Barrow should now form his Cabinet as soon as possible, so as to enable a smooth transfer of power, without creating any vacuum for speculation. This will enable the International to recognise the newly elected Government of The third republic.
Gambia today can never be Gambia yesterday. We are one People and one Nation, and can never be divided or intimidated again. All tribes in The Gambia are intermarried and for that reason we are one society. Long leave one Gambia
President Obama have told you Mr. Jammeh and other African heads of state that one has to be able to enjoyed an ordinary life after being a head of state, and my advice to you is to take that advice, before it´s too late. I have been staying in Sweden for the past 34 years and have witnessed 7 heads of state come and go, and this should be the way forward in The Gambia and Africa at large.
You have contested an election and were defeated, so hand over to the duly elected President Adama Barrow. You have no constitutional rights to call for new elections or to declare the results none valid. You could only have challenged the results in the Supreme Court, within 10 days, and the courts are not inexistence for the past year. So you cannot pickup and choose any Supreme Court member, because The Gambian people have voted out you and you have no constitutional rights to elect any Supreme Court member.
So I hereby declare my support to The Gambia people by recognising Mr Adama Barrow as The President Elect of The Gambia, and wish him the best with his coming Cabinet.
May the almighty God Help and Guide our Country, Amen.
Momodou Sahir Drammeh
Gambian Politician in Sweden, for the Past 30 years
