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His blood was not shed in vain, Darboe remembers Solo Sandeng

Apr 29, 2025, 11:45 AM

ANM Ousainu Darboe, the leader of UDP has said that Ebrima Sola Sandeng, who was killed in 2016 while seeking for electoral reforms, did not die in vain.

“His blood was not shed in vain unless we allow it to be. So let us rise- with reverence, with resolve, with relentless focus- to finish what he began,” he said at the 4th Annual Ebrima Solo Sandeng Momorial Lectures on Sunday 27th April 2025 at Bakadaji Hotel, Kololi, KMC.

“Let us recommit- not with mere words, but with actions. Let us pledge-not to a man, nor to a party, but to the enduring idea of a Gambia, a country where no one lives in fear, where truth is not a crime, and where justice is the right of all, not the privilege of a few. May Allah (SWT) grant Ebrima Solo Sandeng the highest rank in Jannatul Firdaus.”

“For the generations unborn who must inherit not our failures but our courage. And to those who believe that sacrifice is too costly, remember this: Ebrima Solo Sandeng paid the ultimate price, so we would not have to.”

According to him, Ebrima Solo Sandeng stepped forward on that fateful April morning, he carried more than a placard. “He carried a people's broken hope in his bare hands. He lifted and vocalized the aspirations of a nation silenced by a brutal dictator who invoked unjust laws to achieve his objectives. He stood not only against the weight of dictatorship but also against the gravitational pull of despair. And he did so without weapon or armor- only armed with the truth, and a defiant belief that The Gambia could, and must, be better.”

“And in the dungeons where he was tortured, in the brutality he endured, and in the silence that followed, the voice, image and personality of a NEW GAMBIA was conceived. A New Gambia that could no longer sleep through injustice. A New Gambia that could no longer whisper its dreams in the shadows of fear. A New Gambia that rose with the voice of a martyred patriot proclaiming "Enough is enough".

“He endured, and in the silence that followed, the voice, image and personality of a NEW GAMBIA was conceived. A New Gambia that could no longer sleep through injustice. A New Gambia that could no longer whisper its dreams in the shadows of fear. A New Gambia that rose with the voice of a martyred patriot proclaiming "Enough is enough".