NPP-APRC “Alliance is in the best Interest of National Security” says President Barrow

By Edrissa Jallow and Yusef Taylor

Current President Adama Barrow’s National People’s Party (NPP) has gone into a Coalition with former President Jammeh’s party the Association for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) placing significant doubt on the implementation of the Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC).

President Barrow took over from former President Jammeh in January 2017 after regional forces were invited to secure his peaceful transition from a reluctant Yahya Jammeh whose term had expired after losing elections in December 2016. Since then, former President Jammeh has been in exile in Equatorial Guinea following high-level diplomatic negotiations between ECOWAS, UN and Gambian Leaders.

When the new Government came into power, they quickly established the TRRC which was mandated by the National Assembly to investigate the human rights violations of the former regime. In a complete turnaround, President Barrow has gone into an Alliance with former President Jammeh’s APRC which has been described as a “Treacherous Betrayal” by the Victim Center and critics of President Barrow.

Soon after President Barrow announced his Alliance with the APRC the Victim Center published a press release stating that “the Alliance is perceived as a threat that may affect the implementation of TRRC Recommendations by the government as well as the healing process of victims of the former ruling government”.

The announcement of the NPP-APRC Alliance was followed up with current President Barrow visiting former President Jammeh’s compound in his home town of Kanilai. This was seen as insensitive towards the victims who alleged that President Barrow only visited the Victim Center once. Soon after the visit, the Victim Center staged a protest in October 2021 to express solidarity with the Victims, reaffirming their commitment to the Transitional Justice process and calling for the implementation of the TRRC recommendations.

Soon after President Barrow submitted his Nomination Form to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) on Thursday 4^th November 2021, journalists questioned the Gambian Leader’s commitment to implement the TRRC which is expected to indict former President Jammeh for human rights violations orchestrated under his leadership.

In response to journalists President Barrow believes that “very soon I will receive the report but as far as I am concerned, I haven’t received the report yet. If we receive the report my government will sit over it. It will not be my personal decision it will be the decision of my government.”

A similar question was asked by another journalist on his commitment to the Transitional Justice process and this time the President said “APRC is a party, we are in Alliance with the APRC based on principles. The principle is they are a registered party, they are legally operating in this country and we (NPP) are also a party that’s why we are in alliance with the APRC. And it’s [in] the best interest of this country. It’s in the best interest of National Reconciliation”.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the NPP and the APRC has still not been made public and this has also raised eyebrows from the Victim Center who lament that “the parties failed to disclose their obnoxious MoU publicly because it represents the worst betrayal of public trust”.