Photos from the International conference in Dakar… June 1st & 2nd 2016
Gainako has confirmed that Gambian opposition leader Halifa Sallah of PDOIS, Aja Fatoumata Tambajang political activist and Mai Fatty leader of GMC are among the delegates attending a two day conference in Dakar Senegal. The two day conference organized by Coalition for Change Gambia (CCG) and it’s partners under the sponsorship of Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) is graced by several prominent Gambian activists in the Senegalese Capital Dakar.
According to information received from conference attendees Mr. Halifa Sallah will be speaking on the topic: DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE: Electoral Reforms and what has changed since 14 April? Mr. Sallah who is the leader of PDOIS has strong views about the political tension in the Gambia. He recently made some controversial statements in an interview with his party surrogates where Mr. Sallah called Gambian dissidents “Warmongers”.. He was quoted as saying “Gambians abroad who engage in war mongering without combat preparedness only succeed in transforming those under their command into fodders for rifles, bayonets, tear gas and truncheons. They should know that it is not a sign of bravery to take warlike postures when they are not armed and psychologically prepared for war”. This statement attracted lots of criticism from activist on social media and one of this paper’s associate editor who argued that the real “warmonger” is Yahya Jammeh and his oppressive government.
According to reports Mr. Sallah spoke passionately about the political situation in the Gambia. A transcript of his full speech will be provided to our readers. A second panelist who also spoke alongside Mr. Sallah is Gainako’s own Yusef Taylor (Flex Dan) who was invited to the conference as a youth activist. Flex spoke passionately about the April 14th and 16th events in the Gambia. He argued that the situation is worst now than ever. He said “whatever the Opposition do they will be carrying the burden of Solo and all the sacrifice made to demand for genuine and meaningful Electoral Reforms in the Gambia” . Flex also discussed how Gambian youths are being marginalized through electoral reforms implemented by the IEC which was completely different from the 12 point electoral reform demands the Gambian opposition put forward. Other panelists on day one were; Dr. Sedat Jobe, Aja Fatoumata Tambajang and many others. Several other panelists were also scheduled to speak on day two of the conference.
Full report of all the speeches will be brought to the readers through subsequent serial publications…
Stay tuned…