By Omar Bah
Former leader of the All People’s Party (APP) who officially announced joining the PDOIS on Saturday said nepotism and corruption are retarding the country’s development.
Dr Ebrahim Jagne was elected APP leader in 2020 replacing Gumbo Ali Touray who voluntarily stepped down. Dr Jagne then led the party into an alliance with the PDOIS in last year’s presidential election.
However, in a press conference on Saturday, he announced that he has decided to resign from the APP and join the PDOIS as an ordinary member after realising that it has the keys to unlock The Gambia’s potential.
Addressing journalists, Dr Jagne said Gambians should thank the PDOIS for its style of progressive political orientation.
“The APP joined the PDOIS in the 2021 presidential election because we believe the party had the right policy and leadership to change the status quo,” he said.
He said PDOIS is the party that has the country at heart and he decided to join the socialist party to push its agenda to salvage the country.
“The PDOIS is an institution with brilliant brains who have the potential to transform this country. I joined the party with no aspiration to lead the party but if the party feels I can lead it, I will do so without hesitation,” he said.
Dr Jagne said The Gambia has a governance illness and PDOIS has diagnosed the malady and has the solutions to cure it.
“This is why all [the country’s] development projections have failed and The Gambia remains the poorest country in Africa as reported by the UN. There is no doubt in my mind that half of the monies that are given to this country as loans and grants, are invested into corrupt ways,” Dr Jagne said.
“This is a nation of beggars. When Jammeh left in 2016, we only owed D58 billion, now it is D88 billion. This small country! Where is the money?” he said.
