Prominent lawyer turned politician Lamin J Darbo has cleared speculations surrounding his dual citizenship which would have prevented him from contesting the December elections stating unequivocally that he is no longer a citizen of the United Kingdom.
The Constitution of The Gambia forbids Gambians with dual or multiple nationalities from serving as president, minister or Member of the National Assembly. In 2017, Darbo said he declined a ministerial appointment under the Barrow regime citing constitutional restrictions at the time.
But submitting his nomination papers at the Independent Electoral Commission IEC offices yesterday, Darbo, 64, said he has successfully renounced his British citizenship and is now solely a citizen of The Gambia. During his nomination, Darbo was specifically asked by IEC Chairman Joseph Colley to clarify if he holds any other nationality apart from Gambia, but Darbo replied that he holds none.
Asked to provide evidence, he presented a document from the British government confirming that his citizenship had been revoked on 15th October 2026 following a submission he made seeking for revocation several months ago. The IEC raised no objections on his submission.
Resignation
Darbo also announced his resignation as leader of the National Unity Party (NUP), a party he led since October 2026. He declared that he is now fully committed to Team Gambia. His announcement ends the perceived internal divisions within the NUP which signed an MoU with the Unite party of Talib Bensouda who is leading Coalition 2026. NUP spokesperson Saidina Abubacarr Jarjou said in a statement on Tuesday that NUP does not endorse Team Gambia and the arrangement with them was a decision made by Darbo and a few other party executives, in their personal capacities without the NUP executive committee approval.
Darbo’s resignation from NUP is also inline with Team Gambia’s coalition agreement which obliges the flag-bearer of the coalition to resign from his or her party and contest as an independent candidate. Darbo told the electoral commission that he has already submitted his resignation letter for their confirmation.
Campaign on good governance
Speaking to journalists following his filing of papers, Darbo pointed out good governance as his top priority if elected president. He described governance as a perennial issue confronting The Gambia’s development since 1965. Asked to state what his three immediate priorities would be if elected, Darbo said: “Governance, governance and governance. Good governance, I mean. That would be the priority because at the end of the day, no matter what you do for this country, if you are not able to govern in accordance with the law, if you are not able to govern transparently, the country will continue to be stagnant as it has for the past 61 years.”
“We have to work on the governance and once that gets sorted, the rest of the issues will be addressed,” he added.
Mr Darbo pledged to fight corruption in the public sector, as well as promote and respect the dignity of all Gambians. “This would be a government that would promote and respect the dignity of the people. It will be a government that would anchor its key principles in the arena of governance under law,” the ace Darbo averred.
