He was popularly known as D.K. His supporters loved him so much that his first parliamentary candidate for Bakau Constituency, Fansu Demba, went unopposed.
Abdoulie Njie was the second PPP parliamentary candidate for Bakau Constituency, who was returned unopposed until 1977 when he lost the seat to Bakary Camara (Bunding) who contested under the NCP ticket.
This was two years after Mustapha Sheriff Dibba formed the National Convention Party (NCP) in 1975. He held a rally in Bakau immediately after he formed his party, parting company with Sir Dawda’s government. Thousands of Sir Dawda’s supporters switched allegiance to Sheriff Mustapha Dibba, after he told them the reason to leave Sir Dawda’s government. But the remnants of those who were supporting Sir Dawda did not give up. Prominent among Sir Dawda’s supporters was Aja Fatounding Jatta, Rambo Jatta’s aunt. They vowed to take back the Bakau seat from the NCP.
Bakary Camara, NCP Member of Parliament for Bakau, died in a car accident in 1978. As a result, there was going to be a bye-election. NCP supporters decided to see Dembo Bojang, who was then working at the Department of Agriculture, to be nominated for the bye-election. They promised to vote for him if he resigned from his post.
Dembo Bojang gave it a second thought and agreed. He then resigned from his post. The PPP nominated Famara Bojang for the bye-election. His father, Sutay Bojang, was a prominent elder in Bakau. DemboBojang was then nominated by NCP and was flanked by NCP big wigs on nomination day.
The PPP campaign was characterized by dishing out money to the electorate. Both parties campaigned vigorously to win the support of the electorate. At the end of the day, Dembo Bojang was declared the winner of the bye-election.
In 1981, Kukoi Samba Sanyang attempted to overthrow Sir Dawda’s government. Many NCP supporters were accused of involving in the attempted coup. Their leader, Sheriff Mustapha Dibba, was arrested with some of his supporters. He was charged with treason. They were tried at the High Court in Banjul. The PPP lined up 54 witnesses to testify against Sheriff Mustapha Dibba, who was represented by Honourable Lawyer Ousainu Darboe.The presiding judge concluded that most of the witnesses did not speak the truth, especially after they were discredited by Honourable Lawyer Darboe under cross-examination. The judge went on to say that there was no corroboration in the evidence of the witnesses. He further adduced in his judgement that since one of the witnesses told the court that he was hiding under his bed when he heard some gunshots, when did he have courage to see what was happening outside. He pronounced that the prosecution had failed to prove their case and accordingly acquitted and discharged Sheriff Mustapha Dibba.
In 1982, PPP again nominated Famara Bojang as their candidate for the parliamentary election but he again lost to Dembo Bojang. Then Dembo Bojang’s supporters gave him the title ‘By Force’, meaning anybody who was going to contest against Dembo would be defeated, whether the PPP liked it or not.
DemboBy Force again won the Bakau seat under NCP ticket in 1987.And again, in 1992, Sam Sillah, who contested under the ticket of PPP, lost the parliamentary election to Dembo By Force, after dishing out a lot of money to the electorate. But Sam Sillah was not happy about the results. He filed a petition at the Banjul Magistrates’ Court challenging the outcome of the election, stating that it was not fair. He also lost the legal battle when the presiding magistrate declaredthe election free and fair after the testimonies of the witnesses. As a result, Dembo By Force was awarded D5000 as cost to be paid by Sam Sillah.
When Yahya Jammeh came to power in a military coup in 1994, the NCP was banned along with the PPP. After the UDP was formed, many NCP and PPP supporters joined the party. Dembo Bojang again won the Bakau seat in 1997 under the UDP ticket in the National Assembly elections against Saihou Sanyang, who contested under APRC ticket. This was Dembo Bojang’s biggest victory in the political history of Bakau. He had never lost the Bakau seat, and this was his last election. His supporters used to accompany him to the Katchikally sacred crocodile pond where they prayed for him. From there they proceeded to the Mamakoto tree and Ndeban big tree around the beach and did the same prayers. Ndeban Clinic was named after this Ndeban big tree.
APRC in 2002 won the Bakau seat when they nominated Kalifa Jammeh, who was returned unopposed because the UDP boycotted the National Assembly elections. The APRC again nominated Kalifa Jammeh in 2007 for the National Assembly elections and he won against Famara Bojang, who was nominated by the UDP. This was the first time the opposition lost the Bakau seat. But it was Rambo Jatta who was behind the APRC’s victory when he parted company with the UDP and joined the APRC. Most of his supporters also joined the APRC.
In the 2012 National Assembly elections, the UDP did not sponsor any candidate in Bakau. As a result, Dudu Kassa Jatta, who stood as an independent candidate, lost the election against APRC’s Kalifa Jammeh, who polled 4306 votes while Dudu Kassa Jatta got 2974 votes. The political wind of change had started blowing across Bakau Constituency.
The electorate in Bakau turned their backs on Sheriff Mustapha Dibba in the 2001 presidential elections as he polled less than 1000 votes. He really lost grip of Bakau, his former stronghold.
In the 1996 presidential elections, Lawyer Ousainu Darboe polled more votes than Yahya Jammeh in Bakau Constituency. But Yahya Jammeh also polled more votes in the presidential elections in 2001 than Lawyer Darboe.
In the 2006 presidential elections in Bakau, Lawyer Darboe polled 3788 votes while Yahya Jammeh received 4686 votes. Again, Bakau Constituency gave Lawyer Ousainu Darboe 4292 votes in the presidential election in 2011 while Yahya Jammeh polled 8260 votes. Politicians attributed Yahya’s victory in Bakau to Rambo’s joining the APRC. Rambo once said: “If you cannot beat the system, you join it.”
The marriage between Bakau Constituency and former President Jammeh came to an end when Bakau gave President Barrow, who contested under the ticket of the 2016 coalition, 6550 votes while Jammeh polled 3547 votes.
Ousainu Darboe’s UDP made a political comeback when Assan Touray won the National Assembly elections in 2017 in Bakau Constituency, and in 2018, the party won the local government elections. Ousainu Darboe himself got more votes than President Barrow in the 2021 presidential elections in Bakau. UDP still enjoys the support of Bakau.
But Dembo Bojang also enjoys riding the NPP horse after he parted company with UDP.
