PRESS STATEMENT
The United Democratic Party wishes to express its utter disappointment at
the statements that the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Mr Jai Sowe,
has been making lately. It is not his place as a police officer to
transgress in areas that are not his domain. There is a constitutionally
competent body – the Independent Electoral Commission which in time of
elections is competent to make observations as to the observance of
election rules. The UDP therefore, takes the strongest exception to the
biased, partisan and totally fallacious utterances that the DIG has made
and wishes to not only to refute these allegations but also show clearly
that he has abysmally failed in his attempt to paint the UDP in bad light.
Everybody knows that the UDP is led by a decent and very diligent lawyer
and espouses peace and legality. The party will always ensure that its
membership conduct themselves with decorum and within the law wherever
they are. It is for this reason that the party deems it fit to respond to
Mr Jai Sowe’s outbursts. The DIG is openly and unashamedly meddling in
party politics at a time when the police should be seen to be playing a
dispassionate and neutral role. We are not surprised however, since, when
our party leader and his entourages were being detained at Basse after the
ambush by APRC supporters, he, while on duty to investigate the case, was
seen driving around town in the company of Baba Jobe of the APRC Youth
Action Group.
It is difficult to understand why the DIG had to go to the press with this
ill informed diatribe against the UDP. This is not only ill advised but
unconstitutional. The UDP has always said that public servants should play
an evenhanded role as officials serving the whole community without
distinction. It looks as though Mr. Sowe has decided that this principle
no longer matters. It is no wonder his own wife, a police officer herself,
was dressed in a Yaya Jammeh T-Shirt at the Kairaba police station on
Monday 1st October 2001 when OJ was asked to report at the station.
Last month the party leader Lawyer Ousainou Darboe revealed at a rally
that there was irrefutable evidence that APRC was training special thugs
to sow turmoil and chaos during the campaign period and on the day of the
elections. He said he had the names of the people concerned. The DIG
hastily dismissed the information out of hand. One would have expected
that as a professional investigator he would have proceeded to find out
from Mr. Ousainou Darboe the names of the thugs as well as other details.
They all hail from lower Baddibou and the names are available.
We will now examine Mr. Sowe’s allegations. Mr. Sowe knows very well who
the troublemakers in our society have been since 1994. It is common
knowledge that UDP has borne the brunt of all forms of molestation from
the APRC regime and their agents.
Mr. Dembo Ara Sanneh’s case and that of Salka Faal involving O.J are
presently in the hands of the court and it is totally unprofessional for
Mr. Sowe to discuss these when the matter is sub-judice. Several militants
have been detained in connection with the Baba Jobe incident when he waded
through a crowd of UDP militants after the Latrikunda rally accompanied by
two (2) trucks load of APRC supporters. Again this matter is with the
police and Mr. Sowe should know better than to condemn one side before the
matter is settled in court.
The UDP cannot understand what Mr. Sowe means by the APRC
militants “anticipating” an attack by UDP militants. This kind of innuendo
and misinformation clearly shows, how low Mr. Sowe is willing to go to
slander the UDP and it’s militants. As for the Kembuje incident that he
cited, any person with his right senses would know that the story he has
given is far fetched. A UDP convoy of 15 vehicles on its way to Kombo East
passing through Kembuje village and two youths standing on the road side
started throwing stones at the vehicles, in one of which the UDP
sponsored candidate for Kombo North Mr. Yusupha Cham was travelling in.
The occupants alighted and chased the culprits through a compound and
towards a scantily attended APRC meeting that was going on away from the
scene. A scuffle and stone throwing took place before calm was restored
thanks to Cham and the other senior officers of the party.
Kerewan, near Kombo Lamin, a group of APRC youths went rampaging through
the village pulling down UDP flags, with the knowledge of the Alkalo, and
destroying them. The matter was reported to Yundum police and the flags
were returned.
Farafenssssi
The UDP convoy received a hail of tones coming from the residence of the
Chief Sambujang Jagne and there was total pandemonium. The police
intervened later after the Chief, and his stone throwing entourage fled in
face of the immense crowd. Interestingly enough, no arrests were made!
Darsilami, Jokadu – Mr. Momodou Soma Jobe and Tapha Saidy, the APRC
coordinators pulled down the UDP flags that were hoisted around the
village. The Party Secretariat made a formal complaint to the IGP.
Sotokoi
Four APRC ladies threw stones at UDP vehicles. The militants in the
vehicles stones and went into the compound where the women entered. The
yard owner apologised for the behaviour of these ladies and the matter was
laid to rest.
Jiboro
Mr Sowe must have been mistaken. No incident involving our militants took
place in Jiboro - or is probably a figment of his imagination?
Busumbala and Lamin
The local APRC militants went to the meeting approved in the official
programme by the IEC and refused to let the UDP members hold their
meeting. They flung away the chairs brought in by the UDP. It was only
after the intervention authorities - The Assistant Commissioner, Brikama,
the IEC representatives and the police that the troublemakers moved away.
Even then, the UDP militants were taunted throughout the meeting and on
their way home after the meeting.
Basse
Two of our militants were arrested and are under detention since Tuesday
after some APRC women informed the police that they were “insulting Yaya
Jammeh”. When the secretariat contacted Basse, the police officer on duty
declined to give any information and ask that the police PRO in Banjul be
contacted!
Kotu
The meeting of the UDP at Kotu Manjai was constantly disrupted and stones
were thrown by APRC supporters at the crowd. At the end of the meeting, an
APRC supporter tried to attack O J with a cutlass. Despite all this
provocation some of our supporters were arrested and are still being
detained at Kotu Police Station.
The APRC has not had clashes with UDP only; they have had clashes with
other parties. Below are a few examples:
1. NCP convoy “driven” out of Makumbaya village by APRC supporters.
They were also molested in Kombo Kerewan and Lamin
2. PDOIS supporters were attacked by APRC youths in Sami
3. The NRP convoy was stoned in Sami by APRC supporters and its
Leader is said to have been hit.
4. NRP supporters stoned at Bati Ndarr by APRC militants.
5. UDP supporters caught APRC militants loading cutlasses and a rifle
on board an APRC vehicle in front of the shop of the APRC chairman, chief
Tabora Manneh. The matter was reported to Barra police.
The incidents that involve APRC and its militants are legion and no report
has yet been received of problems between any two of the other parties. We
rest our case.
In conclusion the UDP wishes to state DIG of Police wants the Gambian
public to believe that the UDP is a party of trouble makers. The instances
above prove, beyond any doubt, the contrary. The UDP has been, since its
inception a civilised and peaceful party. For the past five years, the
party militants have gone through all types of intimidation, harassment
unlawful arrests and detention, and torture and it is an absolute
misinformation to state that the party is anything less than law abiding.
We know the APRC agenda – to foment violence, as they have been known to
do in the past with their July 22nd Movement, and blame it on UDP for a
pretext to clamp down on our campaign activities. Since the beginning of
the campaign, we have had to report several incidents of attacks on UDP to
the supporters by the APRC. As with the forthcoming election on the 18th
of this month, the public are the judges
Party Secretariat
Banjul
5th October 2001
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