Claims made by President Barrow that he supported the election of UDP mayors and National Assembly members in 2017 and 2018 are untrue, according to the deputy leader of the party.
Speaking at a gathering in Farafenni over the weekend, Aji Yam Secka stated that all of the coalition’s candidates, not just the UDP’s, were sponsored using the remaining funds from Coalition 2016. She said that at the time, Barrow lacked the funds to support UDP candidates. According to her, the UDP received a larger portion of that cash because it fielded more candidates for the National Assembly and municipal elections than the other coalition parties combined.
So, to say that he personally sponsored UDP candidates is false,” the UDP deputy leader said.
According to Yam Secka, President Barrow should at least give credit to the UDP and asked who sponsored his candidature and campaign in Jimara when he contested for parliament. “Again, was it not the coalition that paid for your nomination deposit as presidential candidate in 2016?” she asked.
“Adama, you must always remember and never forget that it was UDP that prepared you and you must be grateful and thank the party”, she stressed.
Hamat Bah
The deputy UDP leader said Tourism Minister and leader of the NRP Hamat Bah was absent for the most part of the 2016 and did not even contribute a single butut to the campaign and only surfaced at Sukuta.
According to Yam Secka, President Barrow was angered by her statement at Banjulinding that it is time the people pay back Ousainu Darboe by electing him after Adama Barrow’s three years.
“From that moment, Adama Barrow got angry with me,” she said.
Demolition exercise
She said the current demolition of shops and other structures around highways could have been avoided if the government through Physical Planning enforces the law banning such constructions.
“I am asking the National Road Authority and Physical Planning to explain where were they when businessmen and women were building their shops on the highway,” she said.
Madam Secka said the UDP is the solution for the Gambia and is the only party that can rescue the country from the destruction caused by Adama Barrow
