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After nearly two weeks of waiting for the board’s response to his letter, Mr Jawo confirmed over the weekend that he would resign from the agency. “Yes, I have tendered my resignation as President of the Victims Centre effective June 12, 2024, for purely personal reasons and not related to dissatisfaction with anyone or anything in particular.”
He said he couldn’t “fit in” with the existing conditions at the victims’ centre.
“I had my own ideas about how I should carry out my duties. However, over time, I came to realise that the reality was not what I had expected and that no matter how hard I tried, I could not adapt to the existing situation. Therefore, I thought it was fair that I resigned to give others the opportunity to take over and potentially steer the centre in a safer direction,” he said in the letter, a copy of which has been shared with The Associated Press. Key Points statement.
However, insiders at the Victims Centre claim that Mr Jawo’s efforts to preside over the affairs of the Centre with greater efficiency, transparency and responsiveness have been thwarted by some members of his team, both at the board and secretariat levels.
Asked to elaborate on the allegations, Mr. Jawo said: “To be honest, I just couldn’t adapt. I tried to adapt to the management style there, but it didn’t work. So, I thought it was futile to continue there, like a lame duck who couldn’t perform his duties.”
“Most of the Jawo board members are running their own victim-led organisations and scrambling to get funding from the same donors that backed the VC,” said the insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The VC, which has over 1,400 to 1,500 registered members, was formed to advocate and represent the agenda of the victims of Jammeh’s dictatorship.
“We knew that to achieve these goals we had to form a well-organized, united and strong front,” explains Dr. Amadou Scattered Janner, one of the founders of the Victims’ Centre. “I used my house in Kotu as the headquarters of the Centre for a year and played a leading role in its establishment.”
However, the mission is now mired in a series of complaints about its focus, direction and the way it operates, from being a pressure group (for example, demanding the swift establishment of a special tribunal for Jammeh and other perpetrators), to paying full reparations to victims, ensuring the state fully implements the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to being an ally of the state in transitional justice processes.
“Our aim is to form a pressure group to ensure a full reckoning for 22 years of repressive rule and fight for justice in all cases of serious violations,” Jenner said.
Insiders there expressed dissatisfaction with the operations of the victims’ center, accusing the Ministry of Justice of manipulating public opinion by encouraging another “rival” organization, the Alliance of Victims-Led Associations (AVLO). One official whose name stood out in this action was Kimbe Ta, director of the Ministry of Justice’s Civil Litigation Division.
“The ministry received a request for support from a group of victim-led organizations to form a coalition. In line with the ministry’s mandate, we provided logistical and technical assistance to these organizations, just as the ministry has and continues to provide assistance to many organizations and initiatives,” Taher said in a response to our request yesterday.
As for what “people” believe, Mr. Tower of the Alliance of Victims-Led Organisations (AVLO) declined to comment, instead referring us to the alliance’s leaders.
“AVLO is in a better position to speak about the purpose for which it was founded. Yet logic dictates that anyone interested in controlling the narrative will seek to divide rather than unite,” he argued.
“So the creation of a victim-led CSO coalition really conflicts with the work of the VC. They are trying to replicate the work of the VC, only this time they have the support of the Ministry of Justice rather than the support of the VC.”
Mr Lamin Sey, secretary of the Victims Centre’s board of directors, and Muhammed Sandeng, vice chairman, were not immediately available for comment.
We also contacted AVLO chairperson Sirra Ndow, who was unavailable for comment as of press time yesterday.
Adama Jallow, national coordinator of the Victims Centre, said the charter required the chairperson to write to the board secretary on such matters.
“It was during the Eid al-Fitr holiday so we were waiting to hold an emergency meeting before informing the victims’ community,” Jallow said, but he attributed Demba Jawo’s resignation to personal reasons.
The International Alliance of Sites of Conscience, the National Endowment for Democracy, the European Union, the German government and the ATJLF are traditional partners of the VC. However, donor confidence has been declining over the years as insiders accuse victims-led civil society organizations of competing with the center for funds. Now, all donors have left and few have ended their funding activities…
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