The Special Adviser to President Adama Barrow, Mai Ahmad Fatty, has called for a thorough investigation into all allegations of rape and sexual assault against individuals and public officials.

Mr Fatty made this call in the wake of rape allegations being widely circulated on social media against Melvill Robertson Roberts, a senior government official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He wrote on his Facebook page on Monday that:

“These very serious allegations and others must be aggressively pursued, without prejudice to presumption of innocence and due process.

“We assure that there will be prosecution upon evidence, and there will be no hiding place in The Gambia for rape or attempted rape.

“Rapists belong in prison. We must protect the vulnerable and defend the integrity of their persons. Rape inflicts a victim with a life time of trauma and scars, particularly girls and young women.”

He recounted in a follow up post about the sexual harassment of someone close to him experience in the hands of Melville Roberts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr Fatty wrote:

“Following my post yesterday on rape and sexual abuse, someone very close to me narrated nasty experience with Melville Roberts during her visit to former Director of Protocol at the Foreign Ministry for official purpose, a visit whose purpose I was in the picture & knew very well in advance; how Melville almost violently dragged her towards himself and her repulsive reaction against him to get away from him, which was witnessed by the former Protocol Director….the relentless efforts he allegedly made to lure her into an affair without success (the messages sent to her, etc).

“It appears we are seeing only the tip of the iceberg. Yet, Gambian law is settled on the presumption of innocence, till proven guilty by a competent court of law. Therefore, in all fairness, thus far, we are dealing with allegations.”

The Justice ministry has opened an investigation into the sexual allegations against Melville Robertson Roberts and urged the alleged victims to cooperate with the police.

Mr Roberts has denied the claims and said they were made by women he had rejected or who wanted to extort him for money.

Last week a former beauty queen, Fatou Toufah Jallow came forward publicly for the first time to accuse former president Yahya Jammeh of rape and sexual assault.

Ms. Jallow, who received asylum in Canada soon after the alleged incident, has triggered a #MeToo moment in Gambia, with widespread responses on social media in the country and beyond as women began airing their own experiences of sexual assault.