The Gambia has
accused Britain and the United States of America, USA, of mounting a “shameless
campaign of lying” against the Government and people of The Gambia”.
On Friday, it
accuses the “enemies
of The Gambia” of sponsoring Gambians and non-Gambians to set up
organizations with media facilities outside of the country to mount what it called a “shameless campaign” of
lying against it.
The statement
came four days after the West African country decided to pull out of the‘neo-colonial’ Commonwealth of Nations. A statement broadcast on State TV,
GRTS, in midweek stated the withdrawal was with immediate effect.
"(The)
Government has withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth and decided
that The Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will
never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of
colonialism,” the statement read.
On October 5, an
English version of the latest statement was aired on State TV and translated
into local languages – in which The Gambia said the “smear campaign (is)
orchestrated by some western powers (UK and US) using selfish and unpatriotic
individuals, Gambians and non-Gambians”.
“These people
and institutions specialize in lying and providing false attestations for
would-be asylum seekers using the main opposition party (UDP) as a platform for
such nefarious activities thereby casting a very bad and negative image of both
the Government and noble people of The Gambia,” Momodou Sabally, Secretary
General and Head of the Civil Services, said.
Sabally, who is
also the Presidential Affairs Minister, said Britain and the US are backing
"so-called Gambians” to set up organisations and media facilities to
spread nothing but lies against The Gambia by making false, outrageous and
unfounded statements about the state of human rights.
The tiny West African nation of 1.7 million has over the years grabbed international headlines over the state of human rights in the country; however, the President Yahya Jammeh-led government said (The) Gambia's human rights record since 1994 is “better than that of the United Kingdom and the United States put together”.
It further
criticised the UK Government which it said has been “masterminding this (smear)
campaign against The Gambia and despite the fact that we are independent they
still continue to treat us as their colonial subjects”.
"Certainly
the British Empire was founded by extraordinary brutality and the massive
looting and shedding of the blood of Africans, Asians and others,” Saturday’s
statement read. “Its’ only legacy is exploitation," it added.
“America cannot morally claim to be the bastion of human rights, freedom and democracy as her bloody track record shows from their independence to date,” it stressed.
Meanwhile,
the UK has said it “very much regret Gambia’s decision to leave the
Commonwealth”. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it has not been
officially contacted by The Gambia about the decision to leave.
In his Sept., 27 address, he criticised Western powers and identified “excessive greed”, “obsession with world domination”, and “homosexuality” as the three biggest threats to human existence.
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