By: Momodou Justice Darboe
The Campaign Manager of the NPP, Lamin Cham, has dismissed as untrue media reports that the ruling party lost its Busumbala constituency chairman to the UDP.
Last weekend, the UDP rolled out a welcome mat for political operatives from rival political parties, whoreportedly shifted allegiance to the Gambia’s main opposition party, in a meeting held at the UDP’s main political bureau in Manjai.
According to the reports, Buah Fofana on Sunday relinquished his position as the NPP constituencychairman for Busumbala and declared allegiance to the UDP.
However, the NPP’s chief strategist Lamin Cham has dismissed these reports as unfounded as, according to him, Buah lost his position as the NPP’s Busumbalaconstituency chairman in 2022.
“The newspaper reports about the defection of our chairman to the UDP is completely at variance with what is happening on the ground. The report is totally false. OurBusumbala constituency chairman is Alasana Saidy. Buahwas an NPP constituency chairman for Busumbala but he was replaced by Alasana during the last congress in 2022,” he explained.
CM Cham added that Buah was an ordinary member and supporter of the NPP before his reported defection to the UDP.
“The NPP strenuously denied the reports. Buah held no position in the NPP at the time of his defection. He was a party member and supporter but held no portfolio at the constituency or national levels,” he stated.
Asked whether the NPP was not concerned about the defection of its supporters to the UDP, CM Cham replied: “I would like to re-emphasize here that the NPP is here to stay. The party’s sustainability and durability are guaranteed beyond 2026,” he stressed. He continued: “I heard about the defections of only Ebrima Sori Bah and Buah Fofana but how many supporters of the UDP hadswitched allegiance to the NPP? The NPP is not affected by the defections of Bah and Fofana because the number of UDP supporters joining us is incomparable to the number of NPP defectors. As I told you in our earlier interview, the defections from the opposition will continue till 2026. The opposition will be seriously weakened before 2026. I can assure you that the NPP government will be formed after 2026.”