By Buba Gagigo
Ahmad Gitteh, a supporter of President Adama Barrow’s National People’s Party (NPP), has urged the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) to reconsider its leadership ahead of the 2026 presidential election, claiming that half of the party’s issues stem from leadership challenges.
“Fix your party, it is time to change your leadership. That is 50 percent of your problems. I am not saying Ousinou Darboe is a bad person, but the perception of Gambians about him when it comes to leadership is bad. When I say Gambians, I am not saying the 200, 000 people that are voting for him. You need another 100, 000 or 200,000 in the next election to win an election. So the perception of Gambians from Yahya Jammeh time is built in people and that is not going to go. So fifty percent of your problems as a party is Darboe in leadership, not Darboe as a bad person. That’s not what I said. If you remove him, you will see a lot of changes.
“Going for Barrow is not the solution, change your messaging too. Before insulting Gitteh, convince me to join you. Maybe if I join you, that will balance the equation between Sabally and Gitteh for UDP,” Gitteh stated.
Once a strong UDP stalwart, Gitteh shifted allegiance to the NPP but was sidelined in favor of Seedy Ceesay during what he called a disputed primary election. He contested as an independent, garnering 6,718 votes against Ceesay’s 52,429 votes and Yankuba Darboe’s 77,946 votes.
Gitteh also urged the UDP to support the 2024 draft constitution, describing it as a crucial step for the nation’s progress.
“I am appealing for the betterment of everyone, let’s pass the constitution so that Barrow will contest 2026 as his last term. It is not only Barrow (who will want to continue), just Sir Dawda Jawara and Trudeau. Nobody gives up leadership, it is about the person in, but there are a lot of factors. The people surrounding you will not want you to leave because it doesn’t favor them. When Sir Dawda left, some people around him turned to beggars, the same with Macky in Senegal.
“The same with Yahya Jammeh and Adama Barrow’s will be the same, whether he likes it or not as far as he (Adama Barrow) is there they will live a good life, but they don’t know their future when he leaves. Human beings are selfish in nature. I swear, even if he wins in 2026, there will be people that will convince him to contest again in 2031. Do you think they like him? No, but they are protecting their sustenance. The best is to put a barrier and pass the constitution so that he will not contest for 2031,” Gitteh explained.
He also warned against any attempts to unseat Barrow through force, urging the UDP to focus on convincing Gambians to vote against him instead.
“Is true that UDP has a crowd to bring chaos in the country and nobody can underestimate that. A leader that has more than 200,000 followers can bring chaos to a country. But is that what we want? Because people have started saying Barrow will not contest by force. I agree that anything can happen, but if you force Barrow out, do you know what happens? Just take Libya as an example, they fought, but what happened at the end of the day? Gaddafi was killed, and all the people that led the revolution could not lead the country, all of them died.
“The same thing happened in Iraq. In Syria, a lot suffered. Egypt and Tunisia are other examples. So you can bring chaos against Barrow to unseat him maybe, maybe the soldiers might come and take over. Do you think they tell Darboe to come and take over? They will say five years transition and continue because no one leaves this place,” he cautioned.