Ousainu ANM Darboe, Secretary General and Party Leader of The United Democratic Party.
By Fatou Sillah
The Leader and Secretary General of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Lawyer Ousainu Darboe, has called on party members and supporters to maintain unity and refrain from engaging in conflicts or criticism of opposition parties.
Speaking at the party’s Non-Elective Congress in Banjul, Darboe emphasized the importance of peaceful political engagement and urged members to resist provocations from opponents.
“I am appealing to every member and supporter of this great party to jealously guide our unity and avoid at all cost anything that has the potential to break our unity,” Darboe said. “Our opponents who come in many ways will try to sow seeds of discord among our ranks at every opportunity, do not play into their hands no matter how they try it. Also, don’t pay attention to anyone purporting to be in opposition who believe that the UDP is their punching bag,”
Darboe reiterated the party’s commitment to winning the trust of Gambians by focusing on its objectives and values and urged party supporters to keep their eye on the prize. “All they want is your attention or at the minimum to distract you, make them feel irrelevant by just ignoring them. Do not criticize any member of opposition political parties, they are not the focus of our efforts. We consider them as colleagues trying to offer an alternative to Adama Barrow. Our operating mantra is unity among our ranks, focus on our objective and commitment to our values. With that in mind, I am confident we can persuade the majority of our citizens to give us an opportunity to serve them,” he stated.
Darboe also characterized the upcoming 2026 election as a referendum on President Adama Barrow’s administration, highlighting what he described as Barrow’s “poor track record of failure and neglect.” He encouraged party members to remain committed to the UDP’s principles.
“It is a referendum on Adama Barrow and his awful record of failure and neglect. I want to thank all our members and supporters for their commitment to the values of the party,” Darboe said.
He expressed gratitude for the loyalty and resilience of UDP supporters.“UDP is fortunate to be blessed with the most committed and dynamic support base any political party can wish to have. In good and bad times, UDP members, supporters have never waivered, never been cowardly, and never deviated from the principle that the Gambia, and its diverse people are worth the efforts and sacrifices to live in a free, democratic, forward-looking nation,” he concluded.