Over the weekend, Minister Hamat Bah made headlines when he described the newly formed Unite Movement for Change as the NPP’s “biggest threat.” But his Cabinet colleague, Information Minister Dr. Ismaila Ceesay strongly disagrees.
“I disagree with Hamat, and for the first time,” Dr. Ceesay said. “How can a movement that is not even registered, that could not even fill Semaga Janneh Hall be a threat to the ruling party?”
Ceesay mocked the UMC’s public turnout, comparing it unfavourably to the massive crowds that attended the NPP rally in Sukuta the same day. “They couldn’t even fill the hall,” he said. “I saw the pictures, I saw the videos. That’s not a threat. That’s a joke.”
The Information Minister went further, launching a blistering critique of UMC’s leadership and record especially its leader’s performance as Mayor of Kanifing. “Tell me one significant development that has transformed KM in eight years,” he challenged. “The waste management; it’s even worse today. The garbage truck project has failed miserably. No value for money, overpriced, and ineffective.”
Dr. Ceesay didn’t hold back when discussing the personalities surrounding the UMC leadership, calling the group “a collection of untested and unserious individuals.” He accused them of being driven by business interests rather than national development.
“Giving our country to such people is dangerous,” he warned. “Their politics is supported by capitalist businesses whose only interest is to milk this country. They have no solutions for our people.”
Ceesay also questioned the UMC leader’s ability to connect with ordinary Gambians. “He doesn’t know the struggles of the common man,” he said. “Before 2017, he hadn’t even gone as far as Brikama. How can such a person claim to understand the people?”
The Information minister urged Gambians to see beyond the noise and judge political actors by their records, not rhetoric. “The NPP is not threatened,” he said. “We are focused on delivering development, not social media hype.”
