By Yankuba Jallow
The University of The Gambia Faculty and Staff Association (UTGFSA) has condemned President Jammeh’s rejection of the legitimate will of the sovereign people of The Gambia.
They therefore urge the outgoing president to reverse his current position and peacefully hand over power to President Elect Barrow.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Faculty of Law building where members of the press and staffs of the University where in attendance, the secretary general of UTGFSA Malang Fanneh recalled that on December 1st 2016, The Gambian people went to the polls to decide the destiny of the country for the next five years. He added that on 2 December, Adama Barrow of the Independent Coalition was duly elected president. He asserted that all contesting candidates accepted the outcome of the election and the outgoing president called to congratulate President Elect Adama Barrow and publicly conceded defeat. “This move by the outgoing president Jammeh to publicly grace the victory of the Independent Coalition made the International community applaud him for respecting the decision of the Gambian people,” Fanneh said.
He added that barely a week later, on the 9 December, 2016, President Jammeh made a public speech to reject and annul the elections results and further called for fresh elections.
Students of the university have also unanimously voted not to sit to exams until the current situation in the country is calm and stable. The majority of the students decided through a referendum that they do not want to take exams.
In this regard and for security reasons claimed by the students, the University of The Gambia’s administration has called for “no exams till further notice”.
The reasons given by students were as follows: (1) They are not in a stable state of mind, (2) some of the students are part of the security forces who are currently not taking exams because of their work, (3) they also expressed disappointment for a validly election results nullified by the outgoing president.
The UTGFSA has joined the list of other national groups such as The Gambia Bar Association, Female Lawyers Association, Gambia Teachers Union, TANGO, Gambia Press Union, Peace Ambassadors, National Youths Parliament and Medical and Dental Association in standing against the President’s declaration made on the 9 December, 2016.
