By Kebba Ansu Manneh
Ousainou Darboe, the Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, has disclosed that he is not desperate to become the next president of the country. Mr. Darboe, who is the incumbent Secretary General of the ruling United Democratic Party (UDP), made his remarks on 7 December 2018, at the National Congress of his party. The party, on Saturday, postponed the election of its new executive from 8 December 2018 to Sunday 9 December 2018.
In delivery his major speech to delegates and members of the party, he said, “I’m NOT desperate to be the President of The Gambia but any person, whatever your designation, who wants to divide the UDP, I’m ready and prepared to lock horns with you because I am elected to lead and protect the UDP.”
According to him, the United Democratic Party, which was founded on the principles of good governance and democracy, is bigger than anyone member of the party. His statement is seen by many observers in the country as a warning to President Barrow who has been in a power struggle with the Vice President over who should lead the party. Mr. Darboe was the founding leader and Secretary General of the party until when he was replaced in April 2016 by Aja Yam Secka as the Interim leader following his arrest and imprisonment for protesting without a permit under the regime of Yahya Jammeh. The current President, Adama Barrow, then the Acting Treasurer of the party, was nominated to lead the party in the ensuing election in December 2016 following Darboe’s imprisonment. The fragmented opposition political parties formed a coalition which selected Mr. Barrow to lead them in the election in which he defeated the incumbent president, Mr. Jammeh.
After Barrow ascended the presidency following the disputed election that led to a military intervention by the ECOWAS countries, he offered Mr. Darboe—the man he calls his political father—prerogative of mercy by commuting his prison sentence. President Barrow appointment Mr. Darboe as his Minister of Foreign Affairs in February of 2017 and later promoted him to the Vice Presidency in June 2018. Since Barrow took office, there has been a power struggle as to who among the two men should lead their party in the next presidential election.
Commenting on the apparent leadership wrangling between himself and President Adama Barrow, the UDP incumbent Secretary General said, “there is no one who will dispute the fact that Adama Barrow is the President of The Gambia. And there is no one as well who will dispute the fact that I, Ousainou Darboe, is the Leader of the United Democratic Party.” The UDP Party that existed in 1996, still stands, there is no other UDP in 2016, Mr. Darboe emphasized.
Mr. Darboe made his statement at a time when the UDP is witnessing internal political wrangling ahead of choosing a party leader on Sunday, 9 December 2018. More than one thousand party delegates are currently attending the three days National Congress, among which more than two hundred delegates are vying for various executive and leadership positions in the party. Is not yet clear whether the party will still maintain Ousainou Darboe as its leader amidst fierce criticism by his detractors who criticized him to step aside because of his age. Many observers and party members believed that if Mr. Darboe wants the position again, it is certainly guaranteed that he’d be elected as the Secretary General to lead the party to next congress or election.