Gambia: the appointment of two former relatives of Jammeh at the head of Parliament worries

The National Assembly of Gambia, in Banjul (photo illustration).

REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The appointment of two former relatives of Yahya Jammeh as head of Parliament is shocking.

The victims of the crimes of the former regime and their families fear that these personalities will prevent transitional justice by setting aside the work of the truth commission. 

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With our correspondent in Banjul,

Milan Berckmans

On social media this weekend,

Toufah Jallow

, a former Gambian beauty queen, who accuses Yahya Jammeh of rape in 2014, speaks to President Adama Barrow: “

Why did you have to choose people you knew were so controversial? ?

“, “

Leave us alone

”.

Today in Canada, this young woman says she is "

on her knees

" after the latest appointments in The Gambia.

These appointments are those of Fabakary Tombong Jatta and Seedy Njie as President and Vice-President of the Gambian Parliament in the new legislature.

Both men are important political figures in the party of former head of state Yahya Jammeh, now in exile in Equatorial Guinea.

Their appointment appears to be a new obstacle to the implementation of legal proceedings against those responsible for crimes committed under the former regime.

Proof of this is that last year, Fabakary Tambong Jatta said he wanted to "

throw

the report of the Truth Commission

in the trash

".

For Ayesha Jammeh, niece of the former president and daughter of a victim, it's a blow, but all is not lost.

She says she trusts the parliamentarians of the new legislature to carry out the work undertaken since 2017.

As a reminder, the government has until May 25 to present its roadmap on the implementation of the recommendations of the Truth Commission report to Parliament.

This report, made public last December, recommends prosecutions against more than 60 people, including former President Yahya Jammeh.

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  • Gambia

  • Yahya Jammeh