By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
The party leader and Secretary General of the United Democratic Party (UDP), Lawyer Ousainou Darboe, has said the Gambia cannot continue to operate under archaic laws, highlighting that the Gambia “cannot be crawling when the rest of the world is flying” with laws that are responsive to the need of its citizens.
Lawyer Darboe was speaking at the party’s 27th anniversary, which was commemorated yesterday, August 23 at the party headquarters in Manjai.
Darboe, a former Gambian vice president, emphasized the party’s commitment to bringing ‘sanity’ to the country since its inception in August 1996 during the commemoration.
He emphasized that the Gambia needs modern laws, not archaic ones, noting that his party wants laws that address the needs of Gambians.
“We want to make sure that we have laws in this country, laws that are responsive to the modern needs of the Gambian people. We cannot be crawling when the rest of the world is flying.
“We have to make efforts even if not flying but to run at a speed that is admirable, and that is what the United Democratic Party wants to have,” Darboe said.
He emphasized that the current constitution in Gambia contains archaic and discriminatory laws that should be removed to make way for just laws.
“Laws that are discriminatory in nature should really not operate in this country. We have archaic laws, laws that really affect our daily lives and land holding systems, archaic laws that affect our contractual obligations,” he explained.
The United Democratic Party, one of the oldest and the biggest opposition parties was established on the 23rd of August 1996 to contest in the 1997 presidential election in the Gambia.
Yesterday marked the party’s 27th year of existence as a political party. They formed part of the government when the coalition government defeated the then-president Yahya Jammeh before the collapse of the coalition government in late 2018.
