|
Momodou
Denmark
11734 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Aug 2006 : 21:07:34
|
DARBOE REBUTS MAJAKO SAMUSA
By Fabakary B Ceesay
Lawyer Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has reacted to claims made by Majanko Samusa at a recent APRC meeting held in Wellingara. Below we produce Majanko’s claims and Darboe’s reaction.
Mr Majanko Samusa, the NCP bigwig has said that the majority of UDP supporters were drawn from the NCP.
Mr. Samusa made this remark at a political rally held in Wellingara on Saturday, 29th July, 2006. He said, the role the NCP played in forming the majority of UDP supporters could never be questioned. “Kemeseng Jammeh, Badara Sidibeh and Dembo Bojang all know that it is because of the NCP that UDP became what it is today,” he told the rally. He pointed out that during the 1996 and 2001 pools, the vast majority of NCP supporters cast their votes for Ousainou Darboe and the UDP Party. He challenged the UDP leader for saying on the papers that the people who defected to the APRC in Bundung were infact NCP supporters and not U.D.P members. He said this is an unfortunate statement from Mr. Darboe. Mr Samusa advised Darboe to withdraw that statement. He also called on all NCP supporters in UDP to join the APRC, since their party is now in an alliance with APRC. “It was the NCP supporters who made Ousainou Darboe what he is today in Gambian politics. “Nobody knows Darboe before 1996 but the NCP made him what he is today,” he lamented. He cautioned Darboe not to humiliate himself by contesting the elections, because the NCP supporters are no more behind him and his party. The recently nominated member, Majanko Samusa, was a National Assembly member for the NCP party during the first Republic and has joined the UDP when his former party was banned from participating in the 1996 polls.
In an exclusive interview with this reporter in his office, Ousainou Darboe refuted the claims made by Majanko Samusa, that NCP supporters constitute the majority of supporters in his party, the United Democratic Party.
According to Darboe, Majanko is on a campaign to make statements that will please the APRC leadership. He said if the majority of the people in the UDP are NCP supporters, then the last elections would have shown quite clearly that the UDP would have had a reduced number of votes, when NCP supporters including Majanko himself decided to go back to their party. “So I think Majanko’s statement is a false statement and a very misleading one.” He said Mr. Samusa should be dealing with issues that are affecting the livelihood of the Gambian People, but not what made Ousainou Darboe to be popular in Politics. “My popularity was due to my professional activities, but not my Political Career. My popularity is not the concern of Gambians, but the quality of education they want for their Children and the quality of Medical Care that they received. The issue is not about my popularity or unpopularity, ”Mr. Darboe pointed out that the people who claimed to defect from UDP to APRC in Bundung were probably UDP supporters in 1996 but they were surely NCP supporters. “In 2001 when Sheriff Dibba decided to go on his own, those people went back to NCP including Majanko himself and I stand by my words,” Darboe said. Darboe narrated that he did not know of any alliance between NCP and APRC. He quoted the Majority Leader, Churchill Baldeh as saying that APRC will not go into an alliance with any party for the coming Presidential Elections. “May be Samusa is creating an alliance for NCP and APRC. Samusa should know that he has been convinced to abandon NCP for APRC. He has been shifting from one Party to another. He was in NCP then UDP, went back to NCP and now to APRC. I don’t know what he is advocating for NCP now,” says Darboe.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issue
Issue No. 61/2006, 4-6 August, 2006
|
|
Topic Locked
