By Omar Bah
The leader of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP),Ousainu Darboe has declared that next year’s presidential election is a “do or die” moment for his party and The Gambia.
The Gambia will hold elections in December 2026 to elect a president, but even with more than a year to go, the atmosphere is already charged.
Addressing supporters from Wellingara Tabanding on Tuesday, Darboe revealed that the next presidential election is the biggest of all Gambian elections and will be a do or die affair.
“The kind of destruction happening in this country must end and that is what the UDP is out to do,” Darboe said.
He accused the Barrow administration of playing lip service to fighting corruption.
“Imagine a government putting up laws to fight corruption and doesn’t want anything that happened before January 2024 to be investigated. Is that right? And that same government voted against the 2020 draft constitution only to come up with a 2024 draft that protect the president and his ministers from scrutiny but wants National Assembly Members to be investigated when they leave office,” Darboe said.
At this juncture, the UDP leader criticised the National Council for Civic Education (NCCE) for failing to inform Gambians about some of the issues in the 2024 draft and their implications.
“Yes, we need a new Constitution but whatever constitution we are going to get should be a good one,” he said.
The UDP leader observed that any president who protects people handling contracts and managing our resources from accountability should be rejected outright.
“But that decision is in the hands of the Gambian people. For me, I am not looking for a position because if I was only interested in the trappings and enjoyment of government, I would have still been in office. And even before now, I had opportunity to be in government during Yahya Jammeh’s time. The former NIA Director Abdoulie Kujabi is a living witness to the attempts Jammeh made to get me into his government but I refused. I told him my mission in politics is to liberate my people and not to look for a position,” Darboe said.
Darboe added that he could also have equally stayed on his job as a private lawyer if he had wanted money only.
“But I care for the welfare of the people in general. This is why we should all ensure that we have a government that would serve the interest of the country and move away from our comfort zones to elect a government that would serve us properly. This is not about tribe or religion. We are all suffering from the ineptitude of this government,”Darboe told his audience.
The UDP leader asserted that his party is the solution to all the problems the country is facing.
Mr Darboe acknowledged that the respect and love he gets from his supporters is rare and unrivaled. “’The love and respect I continue to receive as the UDP leader dwarfs even the privileges accorded to founding president Sir Dawda Jawara,” Darboe said, with gratitude.
