Darboe Says He Is ‘Not Afraid, Not Alone’ as UDP GASH Chapter Raises €70,000

By Seedy Jobe

The leader of the main opposition United Democratic Party, A.N.M. Ousainu Darboe, said he remains undeterred by efforts to lure him away from the party, declaring that his political strength rests with the people who continue to stand behind him.

“I am not afraid. I am not alone,” Mr. Darboe told supporters in Switzerland over the weekend, where the UDP’s GASH Chapter raised €70,000 to support the party’s 2026 presidential campaign.

Addressing Gambians in the diaspora, Mr. Darboe said his tour last year was intended to reaffirm his mandate as the UDP’s choice for the presidential election. While party supporters selected him as their candidate, he said, ultimately, it is their votes that will determine whether he wins the presidency.

Mr. Darboe stressed, however, that he is no longer running solely as the UDP’s candidate. He said he now represents the broader Gambia First Coalition, a UDP-led alliance formed with the stated goal of bringing political change to the country.

He argued that The Gambia had reached a critical point at which no single political party could address the country’s challenges alone.

“If everyone thinks only of themselves, the country cannot be rescued. The country will sink. And when the country sinks, it is us who will regret it,” he said.

Mr. Darboe said other political parties had recognized what he described as a shared responsibility to work with the UDP toward that goal.

Turning to political defections, the longtime opposition leader said the UDP was not a party that someone could simply lead and later abandon for another political home.

He recalled that former President Yahya Jammeh attempted to bring him into his political fold following the 2001 presidential election, an effort Mr. Darboe said he rejected.

“My son,” he said, referring to President Adama Barrow, “also tried it, and it did not work.”

Mr. Darboe said those efforts failed because he was neither alone nor afraid, pointing to the continued backing of his supporters.

On campaign financing, Mr. Darboe said contributions from Gambians in the diaspora were intended to give the opposition an independent campaign that would not be beholden to special interests. He pledged that the funds would be managed transparently and used for their intended purpose.

He also tied the fundraising effort to his pledge to serve only one five-year term if elected president, saying his goal would be to establish a durable foundation for democratic governance before leaving office.

Mr. Darboe reiterated that he would step down after five years and said he wanted to build institutions strong enough that a future president could not easily dismantle them.

Central to that effort, he said, would be the adoption of a new constitution.

Mr. Darboe said the UDP had advocated since 1996 for a constitutional system in which the president is accountable to the people rather than elevated above them.

“That is what we want to give to the Gambian people,” he said.