APRC Top Brass At Loggerhead

By Staff Reporter James Jammeh, Banjul

Reports reaching this paper indicate that the APRC Kombo Central branch is wrecking apart in crisis as regional party bigwigs engaged one another in a seemingly unending in fighting. Western Region Governor Lamin Sanneh, teaming up with the head chief of the area, Bakary Dembo Santang Bojang, remains at loggerhead with Dembo Jarju, former constituency chairman of the country's ruling party. And this has been causing cracks within the grassroots, with many warning of catastrophic consequences if the party fails to put it house in order.

According to sources, the problem all emanated when Mr. Jarju went to a nearby village called Marakisa to settle a dispute among some members of the ruling party branch there. The Governor, in connivance with the head chief of the area, however accused Jarju of being the mastermind of the crisis. On receiving this news, senior party officials wasted no time in forwarding the matter to the country's widely feared National Intelligence Agency (NIA), who arrested and subsequently charged Jarju for 'misinformation' within the party.

A clearly disgruntled senior party official who spoke to this paper on condition of anonymity maintained that the accused person only went to settle the dispute, and not to make any trouble, contrary to the authorities' assertion. He alleged that those behind Jarju's unwarranted arrest are only bent on tarnishing his ''good image'', saying that ''with all the sacrifice and good work he has done for the party, they decided to disgrace him and his family, friends and loyalists. If the authorities really wanted to know the true side of the story, they should have conducted their investigations properly and effectively. But this was not the case as they only listened to those who are only interested in securing their positions.''

The official warned that it is high time the matter was solved if they [APRC] want to regain the support of the people, because ''at the moment, the APRC is not popular in the area as the people are not happy with the way things are being coordinated.'' He argued that the move of taking Dembo Jarju to court on ''false'' information charges was counterproductive as ''we all know the strength he has when it comes to mobilizing people for the activities of the party.''

"Mr. Jarju was not behind any crisis in the area and any one accusing him should know that the truth would soon be revealed," the official warned.

APRC supporters in the village of Marakisa told our reporter that they were never mislead by Jarju, and the former constituency chairman was only acting as a neutral mediator who preached peace, unity and oneness among party members.

It could be recalled that Dembo Jarju was arrested by the NIA and charged for given false information, a charge he denies. He maintains that he has no interest in dividing the party, but that as a senior member, all he wanted to do was to bring unity and tolerance within. The false information case involving him has been going on for some four months now, facing adjournments upon adjournments, a scenario many people now believe suggests the authorities are now beginning to receive the true picture of the story.

However, some APRC militants in the area have already raised concern over the issue, citing fear of the party dying if Jarju is not reinstated. And they also are concerned about the possibility of the infighting within the party continuing, which they said could most certainly accelerate the down fall of the party. Others described as a pity the fact that it is only APRC members who are taken to court for alleged false information charges, while members of other political parties never get to see the inside of the court on such embarrassing matters.

 ENDS: 12/24/09