By Omar Bah
The spokesperson of the United Democratic Party, Almami Fanding Taal, has branded the opposition APRC as a one-man regional party describing former President Jammeh as a proven thief.
“APRC is a one-man led band and even at their own congress they made a fugitive from justice their life president or great leader. APRC is a very small regional party now and the only place that they made any kind of noise is in the West Coast Region. There is no comparison between them and the UDP,” he told West Coast Radio recently.
The APRC, Taal added: “Is the reason why we have the Janneh Commission and the TRRC. It is not a question of whether they have not done much for this country; the results speak for themselves. We have for the first time seen people disappeared or assassinated. Anything that happened in this country is either happening because we have paid taxes or monies have been given by development partners in our name. No politician can have the money to develop a country. It is the people who develop their country,” he added.
Speaking further, Mr. Taal said the Janneh commission has proven that former President Jammeh was a thief and that his ministers and armed generals were helping him, adding “the record is there.”
Taal said he cannot understand why people are now comparing the UDP and APRC because all the elections that followed the 2016 presidential election have proved clearly that the UDP have the majority.
“There is no doubt that the UDP is on the right track to take up the leadership of this country. Since I became the party’s spokesperson everyday people are asking me how they become members of the UDP executive and management. All this, I think is not only good signs but they are representative of who the Gambians want to lead,” he added.
Reacting to claims that Darboe cannot be called Gambia’s Mandela because he flouted the laws that led to his arrest, Taal said: “Maybe those who are saying that don’t understand history because Nelson Mandela was also convicted by a court, but it is not the court or the law at the time it is whether the content of that law is just. Apartheid was in South Africa and Nelson Mandela violated the apartheid rules he was taken to court tried and sent to Robin Island; he was almost going to be executed. So the question is not whether you have laws or not, it is whether those laws serve the interest of the Gambian people and I am saying that it is time to reform those laws because people should publicly assemble without arms, without needing any permission,” he stressed.
Barrow Youth Movement
Asked on whether the Barrow Youth Movement is taking UDP supporters, Taal replied: “That kind of talk is misinformed, untrue and is entirely speculative. Which supporters are they taking? I don’t know anybody who is from the UDP who is a member of the Barrow Youth Movement.”
