By: Kebba Mamburay
Momodou Alieu Bah, a former Interior Minister and retired General of the Gambia Armed Forces, has been appointed deputy party leader of the APRC on Thursday 18th January 2018.
According to Bah, his priority is to assist Honourable Fabakary Tombong Jatta, the current party leader, in his day to day management of the political affairs of the party. Speaking to Foroyaa, Bah said his duties among others is to make sure that Gambians are unified and do away with the political mess we have found ourselves; that we are one people who should never be divided by politics; that politics should bring us closer together and enlighten us on the governance of our dear country.
Bah lamented the recent unfortunate and regrettable political manifestations that happened in the country; that the size of the country makes the people to be inter-related. Bah further stated that, one of his roles is to unite parties and educate Gambians that ‘‘we are one and cannot continue to harbour political grudges.’’ He stressed on the Busumbala incident that it has happened and they’ve all regretted; that the issue is still under investigation which would yield a positive result so that such a thing will not happen again. Bah said the APRC is not an enemy to any party and should not be labelled as a tribal party. “What the APRC really wants to address in this country, is the issue of problems in this country. We don’t want problems in the Gambia. If we look carefully, the Gambia is developed by the former APRC government and we don’t want to see anything that will destroy these developments. We have seen other countries where political chaos has caused mass destructions and we don’t want this for our dear country. We should continue to let the peace prevail and hold on to our smiling coast as citizens,” he said. Bah said it has been accepted nationwide that APRC is the biggest and most powerful party in the Gambia, due to the slim margin the party lost the last elections to a coalition of seven parties.
He further dilated on the development agenda of APRC which he said includes free education, availability of portable water and the empowerment of the youth by creating employment; that the provision of social services to meet the desires of the people, has been the hallmark of their party. He stated that APRC has no funds coming from outside and their accounts have been blocked; that they have no support and rely on donors, philanthropists and sympathizers to conduct their activities.
“What I want to say, is for us all to guide the peace of this country. I will encourage the government of the day to take all the necessary steps to make sure peace prevails in this country. Without peace nothing can be achieved. Let them do away with the issue of “maslaha”. Let the president take charge of the country and prioritize the maintaining of peace. The president has to consider himself as an independent president and doesn’t belong to any political party now. He should know that both the UDP and APRC are opposing parties to him. And I am encouraging all political parties to live as one and forget about what has happened. Anybody considering political parties as enemies, is making the greatest mistake of their lives,” he concluded.
