Talib Ahmed Bensouda, Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council
By Fatou Sillah
The Mayor of the Kanifing municipal council, Talib Ahmed Bensouda, during his speech at the UDP youth wing press conference, in response to the president’s comments about holding on to power until the demise of opposition party leader, Ousainou Darboe, declared that President Barrow poses the greatest risk to Gambia’s national security.
“The biggest threat to National Security is the President himself, Adama Barrow. This is not the first, not the second, not the third, and I am sure this will not be the last time he will make such comments that will cause disharmony and disunity between our very own people.
“When the National dialogue was formed, I advised the party not to attend. I have not participated in any of the exercises. The reason being I have come to know the person of Adama Barrow. He is a leader who swore to protect Gambians, to unite Gambians, to preserve peace and stability, but since he became president, we have seen him doing the opposite over and over again,” he said.
The Mayor went on to point out instances where the president made similar comments regarding their party and their party leader.
“During the presidential election of 2021, he used tribal politics to divide our people, not thinking for once what will happen when those people go back to their neighbourhoods. Our country is a mixed country. People live in intermarriages. Tribes live side by side in harmony for many generations, So to divide the people among heritage is one of the most irresponsible things a president can do.
“This is the president who stood during the mayoral elections and told his supporters “You have the power; go and fight “. They beat many of our supporters. M L Sey was handcuffed at Majum Estate and electrocuted over and over again. Tear gas was thrown into one of our campaign cars and many of our supporters were beaten and arrested” he said.
He added, “The same president came again in a rally at Kerewan and spoke about the Nars and said the UDP is a Nar party. He spoke to the person of the party leader and said he has lost his network. Terrible comments you can say to somebody who was a vice president and foreign affairs minister. Just down the street here in Kololi, every week they seize tons of cocaine. Every week we have murders. Every 5 o’clock in the morning when you are going for Fajr prayers you pass here, you see lots of unemployed girls doing prostitution.
“Our youth are tired, they have lost hope, they are even running away risking all their lives to get to Europe. Many die along the way. Many are captured and enslaved in Arab countries. Just last week, 150 youths lost their lives at sea and I did not hear a single comment from President Barrow. Now we have a drug that is destroying our community, a drug that is taken from the human bone. Today, one in five youths in the Gambia are smoking this drug,” he said.