By: Nyima Sillah
A victim of former President Yahya Jammeh has said the focus has now shifted from the victims of Mr. Jammeh to politics, claiming that the President is now preoccupied with consolidating his grip on power.
In an interview with this reporter ahead of the commemorations of the April 10th and 11th student unrest, Mr. Sheriff Kijera, who once served as the head of the Victims Centre, said the interest and focus is not about the victims, rather it’s about the political consideration and how the President can further consolidate his political gains within the APRC camp.
“We can see by all indications the alliance of the NPP and the APRC. The President has been doing everything he can to bring Jammeh’s people under the NPP support banner, which has always been a problem,” he stated. “The President is much interested in consolidating his political gains and his political camp to prepare for the 2026 elections as he has been doing in the presidential election of 2021.”
Kijera said President Barrow has been quite mindful of upsetting Jammeh’s supporters in the Fonis and other parts of the country which, he went on, clearly shows that there is a lack of political will and a lack of commitment from the government to prosecute Jammeh and his enablers.
“The National Assembly is literally controlled by the APRC. The President has shown no interest in implementing the TRRC recommendations. Basically, the victims and the TRRC have just been used as a roadshow to attract international attention to implement some of the programs under the government of The Gambia,” Kijera stated.
He further stated that the government has been heavily dependent on donor support to sustain even the TRRC and other transitional justice components, explaining that a total reparations package for the victims of more than one thousand victims is US$4M. “Just US$4M, the Minister is requesting 60 million dollars to prosecute Yahya Jammeh and a handful of perpetrators. That is close to about 5 billion dalasi, compared to 237 million dalasi that has been recommended for the total reparation package for about one
thousand nine victims. So, it is a joke. It is a slap in the face of the victims,” he stated, questioning the government’s inability to pay 237 million dalasi and its total reliance on foreign aid even to pay out reparations to victims. This, he continued, shows the lack of seriousness of the government when it comes to the welfare of victims and when it comes to dispensing justice to victims. He cited that the pressure they are facing is international pressure from the UN and the international community not the government, pointing out that the implementation of the TRRC recommendations is beyond the Gambia government.
“It is an international demand for international attention, considering the fact that more than 50 West African migrants have been brutally massacred in The Gambia. This focused international attention is why the government cannot clearly wash its hands off implementing the TRRC recommendations and putting in place mechanisms to try the Jammeh-era atrocities. But left to the government alone, this accountability thing would have been dusted long ago,” stated Kijera.
He reiterated that the government is not serious and that they will drag their feet until the next elections again.
“We will not see any public sitting or any public hearing before any court of competent jurisdiction to try Jammeh until after the next elections because elections are very near and the President would not like to upset Jammeh’s supporters,” stated the former victims centre chair.
