This is Saihou Mballow, a Presidential Advisor openly promoting tribalism, incitement to violence and hate speech in total violation of the Constitution and his oath of office.
This is the transcript of his comments.
“What I can tell you today is, this government that is here today, if the Fula are not better than others then no one is better than the Fula.
That is the truth, because if you look at it from the ministers, the President and Vice President are all Fula and that’s the truth. If you look at the Secretary General of the Civil Service, he is also a Fula. If you look at the Secretary to Cabinet, he is also a Fula. Director of SIS in the Gambia is a Fula. Countless number of people working in law and decision making bodies are Fula. If, I, the adviser to the President is a Fula, then what are you afraid of?
Yesterday, people made you cry in this country but today nobody can do that to you with this current Government. We won’t accept that, that’s the truth. Even in the police force we have several high-ranking officers who are Fula. I am not a tribalist, I am just stating the facts. If a person does not stand for his relatives/people, who will he stand for? We are not saying that you should break the law.” https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16EQtP2LqH/
This is nothing other than incitement to violence, hate and promoting instability in the Gambia. Section 220 The 1997 Constitution provides a set of duties that a citizen must uphold and among these include, “to foster national unity and live harmoniously with others.”
Furthermore, Section 222 of the Constitution provides a ‘Code of Conduct’ for public officials.
Under subsection 1, it states that a public official is obliged to “conduct himself or herself at all times in a manner which promotes confidence in the integrity of public office.”
Subsection 4 states that, “In the exercise of his or her duties, a public officer shall avoid nepotism and favouritism.”
Subsection 13 provides that a public officer “shall not allow his or her political inclinations to interfere with the discharge of his or her official duties.”
Yet, here is Saihou Mballow, a public official, engaging in not only tribal politics but also fueling sentiments of hate and violence in members of an ethnic group. This is in direct contravention of Section 58 on incitement to violence and hate speech in the Criminal Offences Act.
Not only should the IGP arrest and prosecute Saihou Mballow for incitement to violence and hate speech, but the President should immediately dismiss Saihou Mballow for promoting the disunity and instability of the Gambia, while putting public office into disrepute.
These tribalist comments and hate speech by Saihou Mballow were uttered in a gathering held in Bakoteh on August 17 for Guineans with officials from the Department of Immigration allegedly for a sensitization exercise on Aliens ID Card. The organizer of the event, one Mariama Jallow stated that there would be five immigration officers serving as resource persons. She described the objective of the event as thus.
“This is a special opportunity for all Guineans in The Gambia to come together and learn directly from the experts about the Alien Card what it is, why it is important, and how to obtain it. Many of our brothers and sisters have faced challenges due to lack of information, and this program aims to change that… Please, we encourage all Guineans to attend and take advantage of this opportunity to ask questions, get guidance, and avoid future problems” https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17QXQ4afkh/
In light of the above, it begs the question as to how and why Saihou Mballow appeared at this event to the extent of seeking to incite the audience. Saihou Mballow is not an immigration officer or a subject matter specialist. Hence what was his role in this event in the first place? The Fula, like any other Gambian ethic group have never been threatened in this country hence why would Saihou Mballow generate and inject imaginary fears into any Gambian community. After all, his audience are not even Gambians but Guineans. So, what are Saihou Mballow’s true intentions?
I hope the IGP will act. We cannot allow politicians and public officials to be running their mouths in dividing our people and inviting violence with impunity.
For The Gambia, Our Homeland
By Madi Jobarteh.
