The NPP-led Alliance has launched a sharp rebuttal to the Gambia For All (GFA) party, declaring that President Adama Barrow’s candidacy is lawful, constitutional and the very definition of democracy at work.
In a strongly worded statement shared with The Standard yesterday and signed by its National Coordinator Mai Ahmad Fatty, the Alliance said GFA’s claim that Barrow’s run endangers democratic aspirations is built on labels, not evidence.
“A nation is not made safer by a label, but by what its leaders build and what its people are free to say,” the Alliance said.
It added that the 1997 Constitution sets no limit on terms, “so a candidacy under it is lawful”.
“A lawful candidacy placed before the voters is democracy working as designed, and it cannot also be a danger to democracy.”
The Alliance accused GFA of misleading the public on the failed new constitution. It recalled that on 7 July 2025, the National Assembly voted 35 in favour and 21 against the 2024 draft constitution short of the required three-quarters majority. The draft had proposed presidential term limits, and the Ministry of Justice publicly expressed profound disappointment at its failure.
“A government does not mourn the defeat of a bill it brought before the National Assembly itself,” the statement said.
It also pointed out that GFA is itself a member of the UDP-led alliance that will contest the December 5 election under the very same 1997 Constitution it now calls discredited.
Taking on GFA’s comparison of the current administration to the Jammeh era, the Alliance cited international rankings to dismantle the argument.
“In the year Jammeh fell, Freedom House scored The Gambia 20 out of 100, ‘Not Free.’ Its 2026 score is 51, ‘Partly Free.’ RSF ranked us 145th for press freedom then; in 2026, we stand at 46th,” it stated.
“GFA’s own statement recalls opposition leaders jailed at Mile 2. Today that statement, laden with criticism that would once have imperilled its entire leadership, is printed and read freely, and nobody is arrested. The freedom GFA wields against President Barrow is the freedom his administration restored.”
The Alliance then listed what it called life-changing achievements to justify continuity.
It said government built 2,597 classrooms and 3,116 toilet cubicles, with female students now leading enrolment at every level, transformed GTTI into the University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology, and expanded UTG to over 7,700 students with a permanent campus opened in 2024 that graduated a record 1,600 students in May 2026.
On health, it cited 16 new health centres, 10 more planned, D3.1 billion allocated in 2026, solarisation of 11 centres, and rollout of the National Health Insurance Scheme.
On agriculture and infrastructure, the Alliance stated that cereal output rose to 131,798 tonnes, rice up 9 percent to 57,225 tonnes, 189 tractors procured, and about 1,800 km of all-weather roads built since 2017, with another 375 km due by end 2026 and electricity access at 90 percent.
For women and youth, it highlighted the Women Enterprise Fund growing to D80 million plus D100 million for 2,340 women, and the Tekki Fii and Youth Empowerment Project creating over 9,500 jobs and training 7,500 youth.
Responding to GFA’s leadership, the Alliance said while it honours GFA leader’s long service as Vice President and Finance Minister, the record comparison favours the present.
“On education, The Gambia had no university then… Today there is an education explosion. On the economy, living standards fell by about 10 percent between 1975 and 1985. In 2025, growth is 5.9 percent, or 3.6 percent per head, so incomes are rising faster than population,” it said.
On why Barrow will win, the Alliance said gains are real but incomplete and need consolidation.
“The numbers confirm it. In the latest national poll, the President leads every contender, and the presidential vote is first-past-the-post… The opposition is divided, and the NPP is united,” it stated.
It added: “President Adama Barrow will win on 5 December, with a very clear, indisputable margin. Compare the country of 2016 with the country of 2026, and then decide who should finish the work.”
