Imam Chebbo Cham has blasted activist Madi Jobarteh for his “bully” comment as row over Ahmadiyya sect heats up. 

Last weekend a group of Sunni imams including Imam Chebbo Cham held a meeting to denounce the Ahmadiyya faith.

The meeting was condemned by leading human rights activist Madi Jorbateh. 

“Right now, the Ahmaddiya are being bullied by Abdoulie Fatty and Chebbo Cham. As good citizens and if we have conscience, we should not sit still to watch weaker ones being bullied. That’s not humanism! No Gambian citizen should be made little and scared just because of his or her belief and conscience,” Jorbateh said.

“Once again, I call on The Gambia Government and the IGP in particular to hold Chebbo Cham and Abdoulie Fatty accountable for violating the rights and threatening the lives of the Ahmaddiya contrary to the Constitution and the Criminal Code and other local and international laws under which the Government has an obligation to protect rights,” he added. 

However, Imam Chebbo Cham fought back calling Madi “disrespectful”. 

“He almost set the country on fire, he keeps talking always, he has no respect for mankind and he has no respect for anyone. He disrespects the government and the president,” Imam Cham said. 

“And the police [Inspector General] he calls to arrest the imams, he doesn’t respect that man and those are the elders. If he was not arrested and he lives freely in the country, why would the imams be arrested? 

“I want to tell him by the grace of God, he will never see the imams being arrested in this country, and if those people are arrested God forbid then we may go closer to chaos,” he added.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba