As Foroyaa receives reliable information of civilian arrests in connection with the alleged coup plot the nation should continue to take interest in the investigation.
This matter is not just a state matter. Governments come and go but the sovereign people can only remain if their right to elect and remove leaders remains untouched. A national conversation to build a consensus on how to remove leaders should be intensified so that all the political parties and their members would be saved from the unsettling effect of allegations of coups d’état.
2016 should be an eye opener to both those who govern and those who are governed. The Gambian people have demonstrated that they are capable of changing governments when they want. It is therefore necessary for that culture of peaceful removal of representatives and peaceful transfer of power to be consolidated.
Foroyaa will continue to follow developments as reports come in. However, without a state of emergency being declared the state must not allow its agents to detain anyone for more than seventy-two hours without appearing before a court. This is verdict of section 19 of the Constitution which must not be disregarded. To do so is to sink towards dictatorship.
