By: Malanding Darboe
High-level NPP official Mr. Lamin Cham has warned UDP’s Talib Bensouda of what, he described, as underhand tactics and scheming by Lawyer Ousainou Darboe in an attempt by the veteran politician to ruin the young mayor’s political prospects.
To Mr. Cham, who is the campaign manager of the ruling NPP, Darboe is currently bent on setting a storm that would be perfect enough to wipe out Bensouda’s political relevance and popularity in The Gambia.
The NPP leader and secretary-general Adama Barrow hinted a little over one month ago that he would present himself as the NPP flagbearer for the 2026 general election. His main political rival and long-time opposition leader Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, some believe, could be replaced by the younger Talib Bensouda as the UDP flagbearer for the general election but NPP’s Cham said Bensouda would be gullible if he believes that Darboe and the UDP would allow him to carry the party’s torch come the general election.
Cham suggested that Darboe is currently bent on politically damaging Bensouda beyond redemption.
“The political father of President Adama Barrow and my very own uncle was addressing a press conference and deliberately attributed the President’s “Narr” Boutique comment to Talib,” Cham recently told NPP militants in Busumbala. He continued: “We are well aware that our father and uncle [Darboe] is a real Mandinka and has an amazing command of the language. When uttering his “Narr” comment, President Barrow neither talked about ethnicity nor Bensouda. The only thing he said was that some of the bureaus would ultimately become “Narr” corner shops. Talib stood here and told President Barrow not to seek a third term in office but I would like to tell Talib that all that you are doing in the UDP, you just don’t know what you are doing. You just don’t know the party to which you belong. They are downgrading you by attributing this “Narr” corner shop thing to you. They are destroying you, politically. They are plotting your political ruin and if they succeed in destroying you, no one in this country can make you.”