MC Cham Jr. Says Defections to Barrow May Not Bring Supporters With Them

By Seedy Jobe

MC Cham Jr., the national campaign manager of the UNITE Party, has played down a recent wave of defections to President Adama Barrow’s National People’s Party, arguing that political leaders who switch allegiance do not necessarily take their supporters with them.

“You can go while your supporters will not go with you,” Cham said in an interview with Star TV.

Cham said the opposition, particularly Talib Ahmed Bensouda’s UNITE Party and Coalition 2026, was gaining grassroots supporters even as the NPP attracted prominent opposition figures and party leaders.

He cited the Gambia Democratic Congress as an example, saying that while the party’s leadership had aligned itself with the NPP, a significant number of its supporters had instead moved toward UNITE.

Cham argued that political experience elsewhere in West Africa showed that assembling a large coalition of political parties and prominent figures did not necessarily translate into electoral victory.

He pointed to Guinea-Bissau, where he said former President Umaro Sissoco Embaló secured backing from more than 25 political parties, including the country’s largest opposition party, whose leader was appointed prime minister. Despite that broad political alliance, Cham said, Embaló ultimately lost the election.

Cham also cited Senegal, saying Amadou Ba attracted the support of more political parties and prominent political figures than PASTEF but nevertheless failed to win the presidency.

According to Cham, a similar dynamic is emerging in The Gambia ahead of the presidential election.

He said that although prominent opposition figures, including GDC leader Mama Kandeh and APP-Sobeyaa leader Essa Mbye Faal, have aligned themselves with President Barrow, their political bases have not necessarily followed them.

Cham maintained that the defections had, in effect, benefited Bensouda by pushing some supporters of those political figures toward UNITE and Coalition 2026.

“What they have delivered to Talib Bensouda in terms of grassroots support far outweighs what they have given to President Barrow,” Cham said.