Sedia Jatta attacks fellow NAMS



Sedia Jatta has described his colleagues in the National Assembly as
betrayers of public confidence over the last five years. Making a political
broadcast on GRTS for his re-election into the National Assembly as the
representative for Wuli blamed fellow Assembly members for passing many
“unnecessary” bills into law, which were not of public interest.

He charged that those bills were more than anything else geared towards
giving unlimited power to the president and his cabinet to control the
rights of every citizen. He said the APRC has taken undue advantage of their
numerical superiority in the National Assembly to press home bills
irrespective of how bad or how good they may have been.

He lamented over what he said was the doggedly partisan nature of the
Assembly whose members always voted on party lines on issues of national
significance.

He emphasised that members of the Assembly in the future should regard
themselves as nothing but servants of the people and should desist from any
conduct by which they may seek improperly to enrich themselves. He said it
was heart rending to observe how some of his colleagues had acted selfishly,
leaving him in no doubt that they were there for themselves.

He said over the past five years they had not bothered about the appalling
condition of the peoples whose votes they had counted on to enter the
Assembly. Mr. Jatta cited that the constitution has entrusted the
legislature to decide how much is paid as monthly salary to the president
his cabinet members and National Assembly members. Hon.

Jatta also recalled an argument between him and other members of the
Assembly in relation to their salaries. He said while the document had
proposed that they should be paid D6000 other members had argued that it was
small. Hon. Jatta questioned how many farmers receive D7, 000 after
suffering the rigours of farming.

He said Assembly members should be versatile and well informed to challenge
and scrutinize anything that comes before them as a bill.Jatta also
described the agricultural sectors as a failure both in livestock and crops
cultivation. He said it was serious to abandon farmers to use their own
money to cure their sick animals.



Refugee charged with stabbing man

A Sierra Leonean refugee Joseph Ulangai 33, was charged in court last week
for stabbing one Abdoulie Jallow alias 31 on the neck.

Ulangai appeared before Traveling Magistrate Abubacarr King at the Basse
Magistrate’s Court charged with the offence of assault, causing grievous
bodily harm. The charge was read and explained to him in English, which he
said he fully understood.

He pleaded not guilty. According to Corporal 804 Camara representing the
Inspector General of Police, the incident took place on or about 25th
December 2001 at Basse Santasu in the Upper River Division.

He further applied for an adjournment as his first witness, the victim was
still admitted at the Bansang hospital receiving treatment. His application
was granted and the matter was adjourned to 21st January 2002. Meanwhile
Magistrate King has ordered that the accused be remanded in custody.



Jammeh makes rare attack on PDOIS

Says NRP playing the tribal card



In a particularly blistering campaign speech for APRC candidates for the
National Assembly election President Yahya Jammeh has described the PDOIS
leadership as non-believers in God and Hamat Bah of the NRP as a politician
fanning the flames of tribalism. S

peaking in Wollof and Mandinka from his home village of Kanilai barely two
days before the National Assembly President Jammeh who was recently
inaugurated to begin another five-year term as president said that PDOIS
members are not religiously inclined and therefore have no mercy for
mankind.

“Who has ever seen Sidia Jatta praying? He doesn‘t believe in God. The
source of their ideology of communism in Russia has failed.Why are you going
into it? They believe that to pray to God is a waste of time” Jammeh said.

President Jammeh also leveled blame on Hamat Bah for playing the tribal
card. “Hamat wants to rejuvenate tribalism in The Gambia and if you look at
his National Assembly candidates all of them except two are all Fulas.

This is a clear case of tribalism. He cannot win and I therefore call on
Fulas not to rally behind him because he stands for nothing” President
Jammeh charged. He said it was very interesting that most of the areas
targeted by his government for development purposes are rallying behind the
opposition. Your electricity, water and road problems are in the forefront
of our agenda”, he claimed. In a thinly-veiled protest against Badjen
Sosseh’s bid as the only independent challenge, Jammeh declared that there
wais no independent APRC candidate.

“Anybody who stood as an independent candidate is not recognised as part and
parcel of the APRC. Independent candidates are like the opposition, they
have no future” he posited. President Jammeh concluded by saying that his
party has already secured 33 seats in the National Assembly and will sweep
the remaining 15 seats.

“If you vote for APRC I will consider you and if you don’t vote for APRC I
don’t know” he added. “When the UDP collapsed I thought we must all come
together under the APRC umbrella to work for the development of this
country.

Even the home of the opposition in the Baddibu where Sheriff Mustapha Dibba
is the father of the opposition have now joined the ruling APRC whose aim is
to develop this country” he said.

He described Sheriff Mustapha Dibba as a patriotic Gambian whose decision to
join the APRC marks him as a man of vision. President Jammeh who said
oppositionism is backwardness remains convinced that the opposition cannot
bring any meaningful development.


Copyright 2000 QuantumNET


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