By Omar Bah
The deputy party leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress, Yusupha Jaiteh and seven members of the party have announced their resignation saying they are going to form a new party.
Speaking to The Standard, Mr Jaiteh said the new party would be led by what he called “a leader and not a boss”. Others who quit with Mr Jaiteh are Adama Manjang, National Campaign Manager; Lamin Demba, assistant logistics manager and chairman Kombo South; Seedy Gassama, regional chairman Kanifing Municipality; Borry Manneh, logistics committee member; Buba Jarju, youth mobiliser, Kombo South; Anthony Tabal, member for environmental matters and Amie Njie Colley, former parliamentary candidate for Talinding constituency.
All eight members have signed a letter to the GDC leadership thanking them for their support.
Asked which party he is going to next, Jaiteh responded: “I am not going to any existing political party. We are forming a new party that would not be owned by any individual and would not be led by a boss but a leader.”
Although he refused to give any further details, Jaiteh said he is forming the party together with Borry Manneh and Adama Manjang amongst others he would not want to mention.
Asked whether he is referring to Mamma Kandeh as a boss and not a leader, Jaiteh said he would not want to be drawn into any debate with regard to that because GDC is history as far as he is concerned and he would not want to dwell on their affairs anymore.
Reasons for resignation
On their reasons for resignation, Jaiteh said they left the party because of so many reasons and one amongst them is lack of unity in the party’s executive.
He alleged that in the GDC every now and then, somebody is created to man a position in rivalry with the actual holder, example to rival either him as the deputy party leader or someone else.
“And also since inception we have not settled down to organise ourselves and the only excuse they give is that we will only settle when we go to congress.
“And as a new party you will expect that to happen only after four years before we go for congress,” he said.
He said there are also few people within the party leadership who also feel insecure with the coming of intellectuals joining the party. “Most of the time when I speak I am not understood because the only thing they understand is praise-singing and I do not have time for that,” he added.
Meanwhile, when contacted for reaction, the GDC national youth mobiliser, Modou MC Cham confirmed the resignations with words of appreciation for the contributions of the eight in the party.
“We wish them all success in their next endeavors and the support we have received from them,” he said, referring to the eight.
Asked whether the resignation would affect the party, MC Cham said the departure of the eight will have little or no impact on the party, saying this is not the first time people are resigning from the opposition.
“It happened to UDP with the resignation of Rambo Jatta and Waa Juwara and that did not stop the party from growing and believe me, the same will apply in our case,” he said.
