President Jammeh's Citizenship Questioned



The Independent (Banjul)

August 31, 2001
Posted to the web August 31, 2001

Omar Bah
Banjul, the Gambia

Doubts have been raised over the credibility of President Jammeh's claim as
a true Gambian citizen.

Mr. Darboe who is the opposition coalition leader called to question Jammeh
eligibility as a Gambian since there are indications that he was born in
Casamance.




Darboe whose eligibility to run for the presidency is being questioned by
the government accused President Jammeh of introducing a dual citizenship
clause in the constitution in order to legitimize his own citizenship and
that of Yankuba Touray, which he said were questionable.

Mr. Darboe was speaking Sunday in a rally held by the coalition in
Serrekunda.

He told his audience that the citizenship of both President Jammeh and
Yankuba Touray was questionable, as President Jammeh was believed to have
hailed from the Casamance region of Southern Senegal while Yankuba Touray
was of Malian origin. He added that Yankuba Touray only naturalized as a
Gambian citizen after the 1994 military take over.

Mr. Darboe also claimed that he saved Baba Jobe from going to prison when he
was arrested in the days of the first republic. It was Alieu Kama Badjie he
said who pleaded with him to defend Baba Jobe. "Had I known that he was
going to be a poison for this country, I would have left him to rot in
prison," he said.

Mr. Darboe went further to reiterate his party's stand against the APRC,
which he blamed for the economic collapse of the country, the mismanagement
of public funds and being anti-West, which he said was responsible for the
decline in the tourism industry. He gave as example the alleged purchase of
an ordinary pencil for D60 by the Kanifing Municipal Council as being part
of the mismanagement of the economy. While he said they have continued to
collect huge sums of money as compound rates and various other taxes, he
said they have brought no development to the people of the municipality. He
further accused President Jammeh of using KMC money to buy votes maintain
himself in power. He said the APRC slogan of youth and women's empowerment
was just an empowerment to President Jammeh and Baba Jobe. He added that
President Jammeh was the only head of state in the sub-region who had a zoo
at his home and that he was importing different types of animals from
Mauritania and as far away as India, and other countries. "He is also
rearing over 1000 head of cattle at his village of Kanilai," he said. He
remarked that while the rest of the country was undergoing serious economic
and social difficulties, President Jammeh, his family and "cronies" are
living in luxury.

In his turn, the spokesman of the newly registered Peoples Progressive Party
(PPP) Omar Jallow (OJ) reiterated the achievements of the PPP regime, which
he said included various successful public and private sector projects that
the APRC regime were bragging over. "They are just lying but they have not
done anything in this country," he charged. He told the crowd that before he
is qualified to contest the elections, President Jammeh should be questioned
about the sources of the wealth that he was lavishing. "He should also be
questioned over the source of the money he used to build a road to Tuti
Faal's mother's compound in Kembuje, "because when he was taking over power,
he did not even have D150 in his pocket". He also called on the opposition
parties to insist on counting the votes on the spot. The UDP organizing
secretary Lamin Waa Juwara said President Jammeh's assumption of power was
an accident of history. He said Jammeh was not a politician but a soldier
who believed only in power. He said Jammeh and his colleagues who led the
coup fooled the soldiers by telling them that they had come to rescue
Gambians from 30 years of mal-administration and corruption by the PPP. "But
today, after only seven years under Jammeh, the people are now fed up," he
remarked.

Ebrima Dibba a student, told the rally that students instead of
demonstrating against President Jammeh, and give him another opportunity to
shoot them, students would use their voters cards to get rid of him, "like
he got rid of our colleagues in April 2000".

Other speakers at the rally included Alhaji Mass Jobe, Shyngle Nyassi, and
Alkali James Gaye.




_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------