“I am confident that there will be a UDP government in 2026. I just want to reiterate what Hon. Alhagie S. Darboe has also stated; that today I am the UDP leader. Therefore, from here until congress 2026, I don’t intend to resign as the leader of the UDP party. I intend to be the leader of the UDP until 2026,” he assured.
Darboe, who was speaking yesterday at the UDP political Bureau at Manjai while welcoming the defection of Buwa Fofana, the NPP constituency chairman in Busumbala, Ma Nyima Darboe, Tida Suwareh and others, said: “I know I have too many soldiers. However, I know they will not do anything in the party that will bring disunity. In fact, there is no one at the moment who wants to take my position,” he opined.
Therefore, as UDP supporters, you all need to be relaxed. I know you will hear a lot of talks sometimes from our people. But I want to tell you all that I am the leader of the UDP until 2026 and I have no intention of resigning as long as I have good health and sound mind.”
In welcoming the defectors to the UDP, Darboe said: “You have come back to your party. This is the party where you all belonged to, more especially Buwa Fofana. You were all supporting Barrow with the hope that things would go on the right way. Unfortunately, we are heading in the wrong direction. Therefore, the step you have taken today is in the right direction,” he assured.
Darboe acknowledged the fact that Buwa Fofana and Ma Nyima Darboe were the obstacles of the UDP in the West Coast Region especially during the last presidential election, saying: “Now that you have all decamped the NPP party and joined UDP, we are expecting to see a strong base of the party in the area,” he said, while urging UDP supporters to accommodate each other and stop castigating people that are joining the party.
“You have all come at the right time. We have to do the work now before the 2026 presidential election. If you see we got in the WCR during the last presidential election is because of Buwa. I am quite sure if Buwa was with us in the last presidential election it was going to be different. Therefore, we are happy to have you back.”
The UDP leader claims that 2026 will be UDP government.
Alhagie S. Darboe, the minority leader of the National Assembly, welcomed the defectors to the UDP party, claiming that their coming to the UDP party would add value to the party in the WCR and also in their quest towards the 2026 presidential election.
“I want to inform you all that the UDP cannot be hijacked by anybody. For certain, I can tell you that there is hope in 2026. In fact, the game is over. Again, I want to tell everyone that UDP has no time to follow people even if we win the 2026 presidential election. What we have is the interest of the country,” he said.
The UDP party, he added, is the “most organised political party in the country. “We have no agenda of selecting the party leader in 2024 as it is not part of our calendar. We are not selecting a party leader until after the 2026 presidential election,” he claimed.
Buwa Fofana, Musa Kanteh and Ma Nyima who all spoke at the convergence, assured of their full support to the UDP party. They vowed to bring more supporters from NPP and other political parties to join the UDP.
