By Nelson Manneh
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) Monday confirmed the registration of All Peoples Party (APP) headed by Alhagie Gumbo Ali Touray as the newest party in The Gambia.
The Independent Electoral Commission notified the general public that having met the requirements for registration of a political party under section 105 of the Elections Act 2009 (as amended), the APP was on 6th of January 2020 duly registered as a bona fide political party.
According to a press release issued by the IEC, the name of the party is All Peoples Party (APP) with its party colour Sea Blue and White. The release further indicates that the party’s Secretariat is located at Wellingara West Coast Region using a Book, a Rice plant and a stethoscope as its symbol and the party’s motto is Putting People First.
The All Peoples Party is the 14th political party registered by the IEC and it is the first party registered by the Electoral Body this year 2020.
Alhagie Gumbo Touray the Interim Party Leader of the APP was once arraigned before the Banjul Magistrate’s Court and charged with Giving False Information to a Public Officer/Servant. He was alleged to have written a petition to Yahya Jammeh the former president, claiming that the then vice chancellor of the University, Professor Mohammadou O Kah, was bent on employing his relatives at the UTG.
Principal Magistrate Taiwo Alagbe of the Banjul Magistrate’s Court who presided over the case later discharged and acquitted Alhagie Gumbo Ali Touray, and also recommended the setting up of a panel of enquiry to investigate the academic credentials of the then vice chancellor of the UTG, Professor Mohammadou O Kah.
Joseph Colley, Director of Communications and Training at the IEC, had earlier disclosed that The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) was expected to announce the registration of three new political parties after it added Citizen Alliance to the list of bona fide parties in The Gambia.
“So far, we are almost done with three other political parties who have submitted all their requirements and we have verified them through our procedures. What is left now is for them to finalize a few things before they are announced as bona fide registered political parties,” Colley said.
He added over thirty political party registration forms had been issued to interested individuals who intended to register parties, although they were yet to see further action from them. Colley reiterated that the political space was opened for Gambians and that this opening did not recognize any limitation in order to make the political field open, level and democratic.
