The alliance between former President Yahya Jammeh’s No Alliance Movement and Gambia Alliance for National Unity is dead in the water.
Former President Jammeh earlier this month asked his supporters to rally behind Sheikh Tijan Hydara and his GANU party following his dismissal of the APRC’s marriage with NPP. Mr Hydara was enjoying the moment and had even declared that he would win the election.
This week however, the alliance between No Alliance Movement and GANU suffered a huge blow after Jammeh’s supporters decided to sign a deal with GDC and chose its leader Mamma Kandeh as their standard-bearer for the December election. Mr Hydara had clearly been double-crossed and it’s now all over for him for this election.
Yahya Tamba, leader of the group told Jammeh’s supporters in an audio message obtained by The Fatu Network: “Strategically, we the selected executive members have made our thorough survey including the big man (Jammeh) on the potentials of GANU with regards to the upcoming elections. GANU party was registered in 2017 barely after the elections. From what we have seen and it’s on evidence, GANU hasn’t even established political outlets across the country which is a prerogative by the electoral laws. That indicates the inclusion of all regions in the political party.
“Even the forms for nomination for GANU, all the forms are given to us the APRC to do the filling for GANU party. GANU party honestly speaking, hasn’t provided in evidence, a structure of executive that we can say this is the full executive of GANU that is to work with APRC to go headway to State House. In many of our executive meetings with GANU, we have it in Sheikh Tijan’s compound where 90% or 97% of attendance is APRC executive.
“I had to caution him, ‘sir, any meeting with we have with you, I collect all my members, all my members are present and only two of your members surface in any of our meeting’. He said they are inexperienced, he asked them to stay away and he alone with his lieutenants will do the meeting. I suspected that GANU has established as a party and wants to rely on APRC to take GANU to State House.
“Realising the potentials and quantity of persons GANU has, definitely we cannot measure our strengths and power with GANU and rely comfortably that GANU will lead us to the State House and enable the big man (Jammeh) come back to The Gambia. It is just going to be a laughing jackass [sic] honestly speaking. That if we rely on GANU alone, there will be no way. We will be shouting and it is going to be disastrous when it comes to election, that we cannot even poll 3 to 4 % or 5% of the elections results.”
