“If the people of Janjanbureh do not give me 90 per cent, I will not call that victory,” aspiring lawmaker, Kebba Yorro Manneh, told The Standard.
Mr Manneh, a former teacher and sports administrator, contested the 2012 National Assembly election as an independent candidate, but lost to APRC’s Foday Jibani Manka, whose demise in December last year has prompted the March by-election.
Next Thursday’s poll pits him against a first timer, Ebrima M Sarjo, a manager at Gampost.
“When I stood as an independent candidate the last time, I pulled 48.7 per cent,” Mr Manneh said. “Now that I am being backed by the National Reconciliation Party, I am going to win. I am the only person who can unite the people there and they know that too.”
The Minority Leader and National Assembly Member for Niamina Dankunku, Samba Jallow, also expressed optimism that Manneh would win the Janjanbureh constituency.
He said: “The support base for Kebba in Janjanbureh, even before he received our party’s endorsement, was quite huge. I have been speaking with some of the people in Janjanbureh and according to the feedback, he stands a 100 per cent chance of winning the race.
“The APRC supporters can say what they want on the TV, but we know that the difference between Kebba Yorro Manneh and the APRC candidate in the last election was 64 votes and he was an independent candidate at the time. Imagine how much he will pull now that he is an NRP candidate. So I am 100 per cent sure that he can win because he has the support of his people.”
Janjanbureh, the administrative capital for Central River Region, is the smallest constituency in the country with under two thousand registered voters.
The provincial town has been a stronghold for the ruling party that has won the previous four National Assembly elections.
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