The leader of the United Democratic Party said the former military strongman has stolen the country’s first election from them.
The leader of the United Democratic Party, Ousainou Darboe, told the Truth Commission on Monday that former junta members, Yankuba Touray and Edward Singhatey, have led the allege torture of his supporters in 1996 at the Denton Bridge.
On September 26, the supporters of the UDP clashed with soldiers believed to be loyal to former President Yahya Jammeh.
During the attack, several UDP supporters were reportedly brutalized, leading to the death of some people following the incident. Among those Darboe said may have died as a result of the violence was Kebuteh Jafuneh, a traditional Gambian drummer.
“And I was told that Yankunba Touray was among the people who were torturing and brutalizing these people and I was told he was wearing a uniform. I heard this information from several people,” said Darboe.
The UDP leader said he believed Touray and Singhatey were acting on the orders of the former President Jammeh.
“I called for an inquiry to be made into the incident and the Government gave it a deaf ear. They knew that it was something that they have arranged, meant to disrupt our campaign,” said Darboe.
“You didn’t expect Yankuba Touray to say anything other than a self-serving statement…,” Darboe added in reaction to the suggestion that Touray was not part of it.
The UDP was the main opposition political party in Gambia during the days of Jammeh. Darboe who has led the party since 1996 said they have even won the first election against the former leader Jammeh.
“The results that were released, we were leading and all of a sudden, for about 4 hours there were no further release of any results. In fact, we subsequently learned that collation of results were taken to State House,” said Darboe.