By Fatou Camara

The Gambia Civil Society organization release a statement on the  president’s Eid speech  against Madi Jobarteh  which they described as a threat on the right to freedom of expression also may serve as a base to ignite division and instill anger  and fear among the citizenry.

The statement reveals that, during the President ‘s Eid message to religious leaders and Banjul muslim elders, he attacked that,  some people want to set the country ablaze pointing Madi Jobarteh as one of those intending to do such .

John Charles Njie Chairman of TANGO speaking on behalf of the CSOs condemned that accusation on a hard-working citizen without any considerable quality of evidence.

The statement further asserted that,the president called on the media fraternity to desist from giving platform to Mr Jobarteh , where he preach violence which they ( the CSOs) consider to be an insult to their collective intelligence as a country.

The statement expressed their grave concern over blatant attack on their fundamental right and freedom coming from the highest office on the country.

Reflecting on  former president’s regime, John Charles Njie asked Gambians whether they have forgotten so quickly how Yahya Jammeh branded anyone that speaks against him as an enemy of the state and how he  have used the state machinery to instill fear which he eventually silenced them. ” Have we forgotten how people stated disappearing, have we forgotten the dark period in our society that every privacy of our homes, dictatorship  indeed has a start date”. Mr Njie said.

The statement indicated that,Civil Society has not forgotten and that is why they gather today, to the home of NGOs and CSOs, TANGO to demonstrate their distaste at such remarks,unbecoming of a Statesman. They remind their leaders that ‘the horse has already bolted from the stable’ and Gambians are not going back to the days of tyranny. NEVER AGAIN.

Reminding the President about their role, John Charles Njie said Gambian Civil Society is diverse and vibrant and have complemented the government efforts since the 70s and they have worked with communities in different parts of the country, intervening in the areas of Health, Education, Agriculture, Disaster Relief, Gender, Children and Youth, Good Governance, Transitional Justice, Human Resource Development, Elections Monitoring Observation, Conflict mitigation and Resolutions, Mediations, Support to victims of Human Rights Violations, Food Security, Refugee Support etc. He said in all these interventions, tremendous successes have been registered as the Government continually highlights with most of these Organisations are led by well-meaning Gambians, who have sacrificed, at times going without salaries to ensure that their country moves forward and not descend into chaos.

The CSOs urged religious leaders to speak truth to power always, to be God fearing and not men. He also urged Gambians to stick to the NEVER AGAIN Solgan and to let a new Gambian be born, a patriotic Gambian loving country more than self, willing to support the course of national development.