At least two political parties have said police have refused them permits to hold meetings in the Greater Banjul Area until the end of President Adama Barrow’s Meet The Peoples Tour.
Lamin Conateh, senior administrative officer of the National Democratic Party whose party was the first to claim that it has not been allowed to tour their regional offices for inauguration today Thursday, confirmed to The Standard that he was personally told by the police that no NDP convoy would be allowed to enter Banjul to cross to Barra where the tour was due to start because the president was due to leave Banjul at 5PM.
I argued that we are scheduled to leave at 12 noon and we would have all crossed over to Barra before the president leaves but they said that is not possible because there could be issues. I also told them to allow all our vehicles to cross on Wednesday (yesterday) so that only our leader Kebba Madi Bojang could cross on Thursday, today, but that was also refused. So as I speak to you we have sent our lawyer Lamin Camara to continue negotiating with them for our tour to go ahead,” Conateh said. He accused the police of acting on the orders of people above which could only be politically motivated. ”Throughout their (Police) interactions with me over our permit application, they kept consulting with people from above until they finally they me to the IGP,” Conateh said.
Similarly, UMC Campaign Manager MC Cham Jr told The Standard last night that police have banned all political meetings in the Kanifing Municipality and West Coast Region until the end of the president’s tour
“I was there to apply for a permit for our meetings in Brufut and Old Yundum. They refused despite assuring them that we could have our meetings without colliding with the Meet The People Tour,” Cham said.
Meanwhile writing on his official Facebook page, UMC leader Talib Bensouda, said: “Police have informed Unite that no political parties shall hold rallies or related activities in KM, Banjul and WCR during President Barrow’s “Meet the People” Tour. This raises serious constitutional concerns because while the tour is provided for under Section 222(15) of the Constitution, it does not automatically justify restricting the rights to peaceful assembly and political expression protected by Section 25.
“Any restriction must have a lawful basis, be necessary and proportionate, and be applied fairly. No public event should undermine equal political freedoms or fair democratic competition. The authorities must clarify the legal basis for this decision and ensure that constitutional rights are respected.”
Meanwhile the UDP’s Lamin Manneh told The Standard that though he couldn’t confirm whether the UDP is affected, the act in itself is incomprehensible.
“It is unfortunate that a government could attempt to stop political activities two months before an election,” Manneh adduced.
The police have not yet issued an official public statement justifying the ban, but insiders say permits are being denied on grounds of “security” and “to avoid collision” with the MTTP.
Reacting to the announcement, a political analyst who prefers to remain anonymous, said that excuse is untenable.
“Brufut and Old Yundum are far from the president’s itinerary on specific days, and time-sharing has been used in previous years to allow all parties to operate.”
The Standard called the Police Public Relations Officer Momodou Musa Sisawo but he did not pick our calls or replied to our request for clarifications.
