Hamat
NK Bah, leader of the opposition National Reconciliation Party (NRP),
has called on the Inspector General of Police to immediately arrest and
prosecute one Demba Sey, who reportedly defected from the NRP to the
ruling APRC party, and declared that he mobilized Senegalese to register
and vote for the NRP during the 2006 presidential election.
Demba Sey, according to news
reports, told a meeting in Kaur last month, during President Yahya
Jammeh’s meet-the-people tour that he mobilised Senegalese residents in
the border area near the Upper Saloum District in the Central River
Region to register and vote for the NRP during the last elections held
in the country.
Sey, who said he was moved to
join the APRC after realising that it is a waste of time to follow the
opposition in this country, reportedly told the meeting that he has now
realized that there is no credible opposition party that can defeat the
ruling APRC in elections.
Reacting to Sey’s claims, in
an interview with this paper, Hamat Bah refuted the claims, stressing
that, no matter what, only the truth shall prevail at the end of the
day.
“There is no way you can
mobilize Senegalese or foreigners to register and vote for you without
you being caught or punished,” he said, while calling on the IGP to
arrest and charge Sey.
Noting that one of Sey’s
parents was Senegalese, Bah stated that Sey was at one time with his
party (NRP), but had a problem with the community.
“Sey had a problem with the community and wanted my
party to support him”. He added that the problem was related to
farmland, and expected his party to give support on that. “The NRP will
never give its support to people “engage in illegal activities,” Bah
said.
The NRP leader, who said he
will be running as a presidential candidate for the third time in the
24th November polls, said his party wants to get the presidency, come
election day.
According to him, the NRP party manifesto will clearly spell out its programmes.
“We
will make sure that every Gambian has access to our manifesto, reads it
and make their opinion. We are not sure whether the 2011 polls will be
credible, but we wish it will be free and fair,” Bah said, while
commending the IEC for successfully completing the general voter
registration exercise.
In his view, the most
important thing for Gambians now is what will come next in three months’
time. He stated that come 25th November, Gambia will no longer be the
same