Thousands of protesters in the Gambia staged a protest on Monday to demand the resignation of President Adama Barrow.
The demand for Barrow’s resignation is in fulfilment of a promise he made during his campaign in 2016 to cease power after 3 years in a transitional government.
Abdou Njie the leader of the group called operation ‘3 year Jotna’ said the objective is to hold the government and all politicians accountable.
‘’We are here today to express our constitutional right and we demand Adama Barrow to step down after he promise to rule for only 3 years during the presidential campaign,after all we are here to express our disappointment in Barrow and we want him to honor our demands’’ Njie told the press.
When asked if the president fails to honor his promise what the movement will do, Njie said they will make sure he will step down by all means.
He said the protesters delivered a letter to the spokesperson of the government Ebrima G Sankareh for action.
‘’We have submitted our letter and we want the president to listen to us and accept to step down before the 19th January and respond to our letter. If not we will come out in large numbers and will storm the capital Banjul and statehouse’’ he said.
Drone shots of the #3YearsJotna protest in #Gambia pic.twitter.com/A6zWsXYISY
— alhagiemanka (@ALHAGIEMANKA) December 16, 2019
Right to demonstrate
MC Cham Jr the national youth president of the Gambia Democratic Party who joined the protest said everyone has the right to demonstrate peacefully and it is their constitutional right to show their frustration.
‘’For me I am in support of the 3 years Jotna movement because I have been advocating for the president to step down after the expiration of his proposed 3 years MOU by the coalition, now the electorate are out to exercise their democratic right and he should listen to them’’ Cham said.
Mariama Ceesay a protester said Barrow is a betrayer and she didn’t think that he is the right person to rule this country.
“I don’t believ in Barrow .He fooled Gambians by declaring he will step down after 3 years if he is voted into office but he didn’t fulfill his promise that is why we are out to remind him of his own words in 2016’’ she told Africa Feeds.
Received video from Gambia where protests are taking place over President Barrow going back on his promise to step down as President after 3 years (Constitution allows him 5).
Demos are being led by the 3 years Jotna Movement. pic.twitter.com/l4ClYsYtH3— Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) December 16, 2019
President Adama Barrow is already set to outdoor his new political party after months of wrangling over his continuous stay in power.
In a facebook post this month President Barrow confirmed that he will launch his party in a spectacular way.
‘’I have also taken the opportunity to respond to the call for me to form a political party, which we shall do later this month. The formal launching will be done in 2020.
Our experience on the tour will certainly guide us to do better in our planning in line with our development agenda.’’
According to President Barrow he is motivated to form his political party after he had a first-hand experience meeting the people who encourage him to fulfil his political agenda.
Source: Africafeeds.com
