FOROYAA contacted Mr. Halifa Sallah to ask him of his views on the Press Release from State House and this is what he had to say.
‘‘The report of the Press Release reached me after speaking to the Gambian Community and the Africans of Caribbean connection in Birmingham, UK. I was on my way to Manchester to speak to the Gambian Community and the Africans of Caribbean connection. After Manchester where the fifth Pan African Congress was held in 1945, I went back to the House of Commons to meet a Parliamentary colleague and then proceeded to hold a conference with the community of Africans of Caribbean connections in London, many of whom have been coming to The Gambia during the Jammeh era and were waiting for me for an explanation on how they could pursue their goals in The Gambia, under the current order. I must say that my mission is well received and everybody I have met so far, is impressed by the clarity of my messages and the sense of purpose, direction and commitment to The Gambia that I strove to propagate in our conversations.
I am now in Belgium. I have met the Gambian Community and a Law firm interested in protecting Gambia’s interest during international arbitration as a result of suits against the Government as well as to prevent future ones. I will be raising a Parliamentary question regarding the losses to Government due to international arbitration and what is to be done to prevent any future losses.
As you go to Press, it is part of my schedule to meet the Flemish Chamber of Commerce in Antwerp, to find out what they have in stock by way of investment in Africa in general and The Gambia in particular, to ensure a win- win situation.
I will then be taken on a conducted tour of the Federal Parliament of Belgium and discuss Parliamentary issues, Exchange views with the Head of the Africa section at the Ministry, have a tete-a-tete with a prominent political activists, grant interviews and address University students at a Symposium organised to explain the role of the Diaspora in a New Gambia.
My visit will end on Tuesday with a meeting at the Foreign Affairs and a tour of facilities that generate value added goods.I will be back on Wednesday 25 October 2017.
My itinerary answers your question to the Press Release from the State house. When I come back I will discuss with the Secretary General at the Office of the President, the Minister of Information and the Director General of GRTS to find out the source of this strange Press Release. If it is indeed maintained to be from the State house, I will give the most fitting of responses that will prevent such a crude Press Releases from ever being issued again.
