‘Governor Sanneh Under Fire’
By Lamin Camara
Two prominent youth activists of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) has been arrested by the joint security tasked forces set up by President Jammeh under the influence of the West Coast Region’s Administrator Governor Alhagie Lamin Sanneh.
According to our sources closed to the youth bureau in Brikama, the youths who have entrusted Governor Sanneh with their finances generated from the four tractors donated to them by President Jammeh for the young people in the region to involve in farming has allegedly been mismanaged by the Governor.The youth group notified the Governor of a meeting with him to find out what happened to their finances which has not been used for almost four years. The Governor reportedly was unhappy with the youth constantly asking about their funds. He allegedly instructed the security tasked force members to raid the bureau as he alleged that they are involved in drug related issues.
A Source closed to the bureau said the reason for the arrest is to distract our minds from the finances issue adding that the meeting which was scheduled to take place Sunday August 17th was cancelled as the two prominent activists; the secretary to the regional youth mobilizer Saikouba Sanneh and another mobilizer were arrested on suspicion of smoking Marijuana locally known as a joint.
One of the Councillors in the region when contacted to shed light on the issue said he is not aware of the arrest but confirmed that the youth used the place to smoke the cannabis and sells it as well. He said it is not a surprise to him that the youth were arrested noting that they are using their affiliation with the APRC to involve in cannabis trade and smoking.
The issue is creating tension between the governor and the youths and many speculate that it may lead to an ugly encounter as the youths will likely use their influence in the APRC to go after the governor who appears to be also using his power to go after them. One observer noted that it is better for both sides to address the issue before someone lands into a bigger problem. As a result of the allegations involving the finances the governor may be under closer scrutiny and could end up in trouble with the President.