UDP’s Lamin Manneh Alleges NPP’s 2021 Victory Was Aided by Electoral Irregularities

By Makutu Manneh

Lamin Manneh, the United Democratic Party’s deputy administrative secretary for external affairs, has alleged that the ruling National People’s Party entered the 2021 presidential election confident of victory because of what he described as planned electoral manipulation.

Speaking Thursday on Kerr Fatou, Manneh claimed that the circumstances he believes benefited the NPP in 2021 would not be repeated in the upcoming presidential election. He did not provide evidence during the interview to substantiate the allegations.

“We are ready for this upcoming presidential election,” Manneh said. “For five years, we have been working towards this. We are ready.”

Manneh said the UDP intends to closely monitor results from polling stations and independently tabulate figures provided by Independent Electoral Commission officials after counting.

He argued that because results are counted at polling stations and shared with party representatives, the UDP would be able to aggregate the figures it receives from across the country. He maintained that, in his view, the NPP could not win without electoral irregularities.

Manneh also pointed to changes in voter turnout in previous elections to support his argument. He cited the 2011 and 2016 presidential elections under former President Yahya Jammeh, as well as the 2021 election won by President Adama Barrow, and questioned fluctuations in turnout between those elections.

He further noted that turnout declined in subsequent parliamentary and local government elections, arguing that those figures cast doubt on whether similarly high participation could be recorded in the upcoming presidential election.

Manneh also referred to the number of registered voters ahead of the election and predicted that turnout would not exceed 65 percent.

His remarks amounted to allegations by a senior opposition official. The Independent Electoral Commission and the NPP were not quoted in the interview responding to his claims of electoral manipulation.