By Buba Gagigo
Maimuna Ceesay Darboe, the National People’s Party (NPP) Diaspora Secretary, has alleged that the NPP’s first Deputy National President, Demba Sabally, is positioning himself to succeed President Adama Barrow as the party’s flag bearer.
“President Barrow’s announcement that he would be stepping down soon caused a stir within the party. Some people are already working to succeed him, and Demba Sabally is one of them. His joining our party did not help us.” she said.
Maimuna disputed the claim that Agriculture Minister Omar Sabally had brought numerous people from his former party, the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), into the National People’s Party (NPP). She stated that all the people Sabally was parading in front of the president were people who had already joined the NPP.
“Demba has not brought any GDC supporters to the NPP. He is simply trying to outsmart people politically. The GDC supporters joined the NPP before he did. They were the same people he was mobilizing and taking to President Barrow. These people joined the party before he did.
Before Demba joined, the NPP was already standing on its own two feet. There was nothing bad that he didn’t call President Barrow during the Niamina bye-election. The NPP is only going downhill after he joined because the party militants are distancing themselves from him.” she said.
On the Diaspora Congress that was conducted recently by Demba Sabally, Maimuna Ceesay Darboe said that Mr. Sabally went to the Diaspora to just satisfy 11 people without the consent of the president and the party;
“Demba Sabally went to appease the egos of 11 people with his own motives. But he really went for a christening and to establish his structures. He was wrongly presented as our Deputy Party leader, which we don’t have. He should have rectified that mistake. He cannot be preparing himself to replace President Barrow while he is still in charge. Demba is only in the party to scheme his way to the presidency. I stand by what I said and am ready to confront anyone who doubts me.
“We cannot lose an election, and he goes to the Diaspora for a Congress. He knows all the people who are working for NPP in the Diaspora, like Nyima Kinteh, Isa Sillah, Lamin S. Demba, Lamin Fadera, Ebrima Sillah, Bahore, and others. Why didn’t he consult them as a leader? I’m sure he didn’t tell the president that he was going to Congress. He told him that he was going to a fundraiser. What party leader would say no to a fundraiser for your party? I heard him (on the Brunch program) say that even a chicken would know that he can’t go without permission. But did he go straight to Sweden? No! Demba was in Spain first, then to Sweden. He has a habit of deceiving the president, but this will be his last time.” she said.
She argued that the president should have been the last resort in this case, as their party has established structures. She claimed that even the NPP National President Dembo By Force was unaware of the Congress.
“Even the party executive is not aware. Why did he say he was sent by the party and the president to conduct the Congress?” she asked.
The NPP Diaspora Secretary challenged Demba Sabally and Seedy Njie, who claimed that she was invited, to prove her wrong by producing an official invitation letter.
“It is not true that I was invited as an official Diaspora Secretary. Bora Mboge sent me a letter on WhatsApp, but he is not part of the National Executive or the NPP Diaspora chapter. He is just a sympathizer. In the letter, Bora acknowledged that the situation was not normal, but he asked me to play a “mother role” to make it look good from the outside.
“However, these individuals have been adamant in their refusal to deal with me or invite me to any meeting. They even ignored Mambanyick Njie’s advice, as they were not prepared to do so. I do not know whether this was the reason why his position as Administrative Secretary was taken from him and given to Seedy Ceesay. Demba is conspiring with others to destroy the party. It has been three weeks since this happened, and the president has not said anything about it. I gave this interview in the hope that the president would speak out, as a compound head should speak out when their abode is being destroyed.” she said.
Maimuna Ceesay Darboe, the National People’s Party (NPP) Diaspora Secretary and nominated member of the National Assembly, was speaking in a special interview with Kerr Fatou on Tuesday.