President Adama Barrow has expressed regret over Monday’s incident in his native Mankamang kunda in which two APRC militants sustained injuries after it was alleged that their convoy was pelted with missiles whilst on their way from Basse.
According to The Voice newspaper, who quoted the APRC spokesperson, Seedy Njie, one Muhammed Badjie was injured after he was allegedly hit with a hammer. The victim was rushed to the Bansang hospital for treatment. The paper further intimated that the victim is forty years old, a driver, and a native of Farato.
The director of press and public relations at the office of the president, on Tuesday evening circulated a tersely written press release: ‘His Excellency, Adama Barrow and the government wish to express regret over the unfortunate incident at Mankamang Kunda, yesterday, January 8, 2018 in which some people were injured. President Barrow calls on all Gambians to maintain the peace and stability The Gambia is known for.
In the New Gambia, incidents of this nature in any part of the country, whether the birthplace of the President or any other place is regrettable, as we are One People, One Nation.
In this spirit of One Gambia, people are encouraged and expected to go about their economic, social and political activities in a responsible and civil manner, as a sure way to jointly build a better and brighter Gambia for all.
As a responsible government, the natural cause of action to take, as is expected, is to investigate into the incident so as to get to the bottom of it.
The President has therefore instructed that the situation is urgently and diligently looked into by the competent institutions so as to avoid repetition of such unfortunate acts.’ The release ends.
This latest incident has attracted a volley of criticisms from several concerned Gambians across the political spectrum, who called on the people of Mankamang Kunda to desist from attacking opposition militants. This is the second time, such incidence have taken place in Mankamang kunda, the first one involved the opposition Gambia Democratic Congress, militants loyal to the President prevented the party from holding a rally in the village. The current National Assembly of Jimara constituency, Alhagie Sowe, where the president hailed from is from the opposition GDC.
The former ruling party’s latest countrywide tour is seen by many as an attempt to rally supporters in a bid to woo hearts and minds ahead of the local government elections scheduled to take place in few months time.
In the same vein a similar incident occurred in Busumbala where UDP and APRC militants had a direct confrontation… Details reports will follow..
Filed by Demba Baldeh