By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
Yankuba Darboe, the United Democratic Party (UDP) stalwart who announced his bid to contest for Brikama Area Council chairmanship, has said that he will beat National People’s party’s (NPP) Ahamad Gitteh to the seat next year.
The optimistic UDP’s Deputy Administrative Secretary for Media and Communications said Ahmad Gitteh should be the last person to return to the West Coast Region electorates to seek their votes after convincing them to give their votes to President Adama Barrow in December 2021.
“Ahmad Gitteh should be the last person to return to the voters of West Coast to seek their votes. Where are the promises of a better Gambia that he sold to them 10 months ago?” he asked.
The UK-trained lawyer explained that Ahmad Gitteh sold the National People’s Party to West Coast during the December presidential election. He said the repercussions of such got the country into high inflation of basic commodities, and corruption at the highest office.
According to Darboe, Ahmad Gitteh will not wish for him to be an opponent because he’ll beat him in the election for chairmanship if they go head-to-head.
“… he would not pray to have me as an opponent! I will be his threat and not the contrary. I will beat him in West Coast, he knows that,” Yanks confidently told TFN
Yankuba’s Plans for West Coast Region
West Coast Region is the most populated region and the biggest in the Gambia. Brikama Area Council (BAC), compared to other councils, has the largest territory in the country.
According to Yankuba Darboe, his utmost priority when elected will be to put an end to corruption in the council, digitize revenue collection and create more market spaces in the region.
“West Coast faces many daunting challenges, and the worst of those challenges is corruption, which is the cancer incapacitating that council (BAC). Thus, my priority will be to defeat corruption, maximize revenue, and invest in providing local amenities for the people,” he outlined.
He further told this medium that when elected as the chairman of the Brikama Area Council, he will work to digitize revenue collection to help curb the leakage of finance. According to him, that will ameliorate corruption and bring about accountability in the Council.
On the market issues, Yanks said he will create more market spaces and also invest in projects to create job prospects at the local level.
“I will create more market spaces for the market vendors and build cold stores at the markets for our vendors to be able to save their perishable goods. I will also invest in projects that create job opportunities at the local levels for the youths to help them to have something to hang on to,” he told TFN.
The UDP potential BAC chairmanship election candidate added that he will want to champion the campaign against dangerous sand and gravel mining in the region which, he said, is posing a great danger to the environment.
