Darboe Tells Foni Voters: ‘If We Could Secure $1.7 Billion as Ministers, We Will Do More as President’

By Seedy Jobe

United Democratic Party leader Ousainu Darboe told supporters in Foni that his record in government demonstrated what his party could accomplish if elected to the presidency, pointing to the $1.7 billion in international pledges secured for The Gambia’s National Development Plan in 2018.

Speaking at a UDP-led alliance rally in Sibanor, West Coast Region, as part of his nationwide community outreach, Darboe said his travels across the country had revealed a common concern among Gambians: economic hardship.

He said the concerns he had heard were similar from Foni to Sandu, Niani and Kantora, arguing that economic difficulties cut across ethnic, religious, and gender lines.

Darboe blamed the situation on what he described as poor governance under President Adama Barrow, saying the country was not being managed as effectively as it should be.

He told supporters that Gambians had already demonstrated their desire for change by turning out in large numbers to obtain voter cards. Those cards, he said, should not simply be kept at home but used to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

Darboe said voters would use their cards to choose councilors, area council chairpersons, National Assembly members, and, ultimately, the president.

He also accused those campaigning for Barrow of seeking to preserve a system that, in his view, had failed to improve the living conditions of ordinary Gambians.

Reflecting on his time in the government formed after the 2016 political transition, Darboe said he spent much of his tenure traveling internationally to rebuild The Gambia’s relationships with development partners and restore confidence in the country after more than two decades under former President Yahya Jammeh.

Darboe served as foreign minister from February 2017 before becoming vice president in June 2018. During that period, The Gambia and the European Union convened an international donor conference in Brussels to mobilize financing for the government’s 2018-2021 National Development Plan. International partners pledged €1.45 billion—about $1.7 billion at the time—in support of the plan.

Darboe cited the donor pledges as evidence of what he and other officials were able to accomplish while serving as ministers, including then-Finance Minister Amadou Sanneh.

“If we could achieve that as ministers, we would achieve much more as president,” Darboe told supporters.

He urged voters to use their ballots to support his presidential bid, saying a UDP-led government would focus on national development and addressing the economic hardships facing Gambians.