By: Dawda Baldeh
Ebrima Nyang, administrative secretary (1) of the opposition Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) said incumbent KMC mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda, who is seeking re-election under the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) ticket, is better than the mayoral candidate of ruling National People’s Party (NPP) Bakary Y. Badjie.
Mr. Nyang said “the NPP has no agenda.”
Nyang, who was in attendance at Talib’s nomination on Monday 1st May, said “All genuine voters in Kanifing Municipality (KM) should vote for Talib Ahmed Bensouda if they are interested in development.”
He told journalists that his party [GDC] and every other individual within KM has seen the improvement Talib made within the past five years.
“Talib Ahmed Bensouda is better than NPP Bakary Y. Badjie because those people have no agenda. That is why they continue accusing him [Bensouda] everyday without producing any evidence.
GDC will vote for him because he is committed to developing KM which is in line with our party agenda,” Nyang explained.
Asked about what others referred to as a setback for GDC endorsing the UDP mayoral candidate, Nyang responded, “We are all oppositions, and we have a common goal which is to rescue the country from Present Barrow’s continuous failure in delivering the country’s needs.”
He added that opposition parties are not enemies and that they can endorse each other when necessary.
“No one is happy with how Barrow is ruling the country not even some of his close friends. We want to remove Barrow and put the country in the right direction. Talib is a good person who has proven himself to be given a chance for re-election and we will re-elect him,” Nyang added.
When questioned about the difference between the two large crowds each nominee pulled during their nominations, Nyang wasted no time in asserting that NPP borrowed people from all regions to attend nomination in KM.
“I can tell you they borrow people from all parts of the country just to make sure they have the crowd. But as you can see, the people behind Bensouda are from KMC and if you go to Banjul or West Coast you will see different people not like what NPP did to bring everyone at KM,” he asserted.
The young politician said the people of KM have already decided to vote for Bensouda and that Barrow and his people will lose the election ‘woefully’.
He further commented on the relationship between UDP and GDC, saying UDP is the first party to openly support GDC when their Niamina West lawmaker died.
“Because our candidate died while serving, UDP refused to put up anyone to contest for the by-election and they supported us [GDC]. So, we have a very good relationship as opposition parties,” he explained.
