By Hadram Hydara
Ousainu Darboe, leader of the opposition United Democratic Party, has accused President Adama Barrow of being a “dictator” and said he fears he may end up worse than former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, whom he beat at the polls in 2016.
Darboe, speaking on Kerr Fatou over the weekend, said: “He stood here and vowed to re-arrest certain people even if they are bailed by the courts. These are serious dictatorial tendencies. He has to reorganize himself and remove the dirt around him, if not he will end up worse than Jammeh.
“Dictators do not only kill and jail people but also put them in a state of fear. My sister was a teacher in the civil service, does the president expect her to go against me? So, they removed her. Jammeh tried [to remove her] when Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta was the education minister, but I firmly stood against it, and they did not remove her. People lost their jobs because they perceived them to be opposition”.
Darboe further accused President Barrow of targeting and dismissing civil servants who were perceived to be opposition.
“The civil service must be isolated from partisan politics, but President Barrow has no moral grounds to preach that.
“His political adviser, deputy political adviser, cyber security adviser, and even his campaign manager Lamin Cham, are all paid by the government, and they are daily politicking for the president and the NPP.
“Yahya Jammeh with all his downsides never did such. Yes, he to some extent, involved permanent secretaries in politics but they operated secretly and that is why I said Barrow is a dictator.”
Part of this story is reproduced from The Standard.
