By Buba Gagigo
Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, Secretary General and Party Leader of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has disclosed that both Chairman Yankuba Darboe and Banjul Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe have regretted some recent public statements they made.
Speaking on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez, Darboe said the two officials now wish they had never made such remarks.
“My relationship with Rohey Malick Lowe is very good. I know the statement she has made; she has regretted it. She wished she had never made such a statement. I am not here to tell you that when Peter complained to me, this is what I do or this is what I have done. I do not think that is the right thing. If nothing is done, it would be seen in how the person complains about it and comports himself or herself since then. For me to come here and say this is what I have with this particular issue or this is what I have done with that particular issue, is not relevant. I know that what Yankuba also did, he has probably regretted, and he wishes he had never said those things,” Darboe said.
Darboe further noted that he has quietly resolved many sensitive issues involving UDP supporters, including matters not directly related to the party.
“A lot of things have happened that I have dealt with, very sensitive issues. My party members make certain utterances not necessarily about UDP but about other institutions and about other people, and I have dealt with them in ways that I think are more effective. In the first place, what I told all of them is that you are aspiring leaders; you are not only aspiring to be leaders of the United Democratic Party but also leaders of the Gambian people, President of the Gambian people. So your actions, your words, your statements must be ones that unify people. You are saying anything demeaning about Christians; you are saying anything demeaning about Muslims, and you are not saying anything demeaning about any tribe. After all, if you become the leader of the United Democratic Party, you are going to lead all those people. You must be kind of a father figure,” he said.
When asked whether he favors or engages more with Talib Bensouda, the Mayor of Kanifing, over Yankuba Darboe, Darboe dismissed the notion. “I give each and every one of them your due; none of them invite me to an occasion that I have turned down. I have always been at their occasions,” he stated.
On whether he invites Talib more often to his home, Darboe clarified, “I don’t invite anybody to my home, you come on your own. Talib hasn’t come to my home more than Yankuba has done; I have engaged with Talib more than with Yankuba in his capacity as the organizing secretary chairman. I have no choice. Anyone who occupies that office, I have to work with you. Nobody can force anything on me. Talib is elected by Congress, and I cannot get rid of him. Yankuba is elected by Congress as the Deputy Chair of the Media and Communication unit. So when it comes to media matters, they are ones I deal with. Rohey is the 2nd Deputy Vice President, when it comes to matters about the presidency of the party, I deal with them.”
Darboe emphasized that his working relationship with all party officials is guided strictly by their roles and responsibilities as elected members of the UDP’s executive body.
“So I work with each and every member of the executive in the role in which you are being elected by Congress, and I cannot get rid of anyone. If that has to happen, there has to be a meeting of the central committee to decide that not even the executive can do that.