US-based Gambian activist Pa Samba Jow has urged President Adama Barrow to implement the report findings of the TRRC to ensure victims of Jammeh-era rights violations get justice. 

Mr Jow’s call comes days after the government-backed truth commission made its findings public which found dozens of both serving and former officials including exiled former President Yahya Jammeh criminally liable for human rights violations including murder, torture and rape.

Pa Samba Jow said: “The TRRC report is absolutely important and the president must implement every recommendation made by the TRRC because its implementation doesn’t mean you are sending anybody to jail. 

“What it means is [that] you are doing what people [have] asked you to do and [ensure that] people [named in the report] will be prosecuted.”

He also urged President Barrow to avoid “cherry-picking” and implement the entire report to ensure the long-awaited justice is finally achieved.  

“For President Barrow to understand that the people have given him a mandate not just for its sake but to ensure that there is development in this country, to ensure that there is fundamental and constitutional rights in this country and he must not rest on his laurels and just believe that people loved him because Gambia don’t have time,” he added.

Meanwhile, he also advised Barrow to appoint a cabinet which is competent in delivering the needs of Gambians and avoid appointing people for repayment.

“This is a country that has been underdeveloped for 56 years and it is now time for seriousness and I hope the president will also do what the constitution says when he appoints cabinet and he would appoint people who are competent and capable to carry out the jobs effectively and not those who are just sycophants who should be repaid. People must be appointed to do the job for the Gambian people so that we can move on,” he said.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba