Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – President Adama Barrow has launched a broad attack on opposition parties seeking to form alliances ahead of The Gambia’s December 5, 2026 presidential election, dismissing several of the emerging groups as politically insignificant while predicting a decisive victory for his National People’s Party (NPP).
Speaking at an NPP rally in Lamin on Saturday, attended by what organizers described as thousands of supporters from Lamin and the wider Busumbala District, President Barrow also took aim at United Democratic Party (UDP) politician Dr. Lamin Manneh over reported comments that he could announce election results before the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Barrow challenges Manneh’s results claim.
President Barrow told supporters not to be distracted by UDP Dr Manneh’s reported intention to announce election results, saying the official results from polling agents would leave the UDP politician with little opportunity to make such an announcement.
He predicted that by sunset on election day, Dr. Manneh would be retreating from UDP leader Ousainou Darboe’s residence after receiving what he described as deeply disappointing results from across the country.
“He will leave his shoes there that day,” President Barrow said, adding that the results would be so overwhelming that Dr. Manneh would have to retreat before he could announce anything.
The president also questioned Dr. Manneh’s history with the UDP, saying he had been largely absent during some of the party’s most difficult periods.
“I have been an executive member in the UDP for 10 years. Within those 10 years, I never heard about Dr. Lamin Manneh until I became the treasurer,” President Barrow said.
He referred specifically to the period when Mr Darboe and other UDP militants were jailed in 2016, saying he had not seen Dr Manneh supporting the party during that period.
President Barrow also made personal remarks about Dr. Manneh’s current circumstances, claiming that the retired politician was struggling financially and looking for employment.
The opposition coalition comes under fire.
Much of the president’s speech was devoted to the growing efforts by opposition parties and movements to unite ahead of the election.
President Barrow questioned the political strength of some of the groups involved in recent coalition discussions, saying several were barely known to the Gambian public.
He said some organizations taking part in coalition activities were so obscure that he had never heard of them, while joking that his “Yai Compins” commanded greater public support than some of the political movements involved.
The president also accused the UDP of creating some of the smaller movements with the intention of eventually bringing them together under an opposition coalition.
He described the growing number of alliances and coalition arrangements as evidence of political desperation and urged NPP supporters not to be distracted by the opposition’s activities.
Barrow takes aim at Darboe.
President Barrow also used the rally to highlight his government’s development record, particularly investments in roads, schools, and other public infrastructure.
He pointed to the construction of nine classrooms in Dobo, the hometown of opposition leader Ousainou Darboe, arguing that his government was delivering projects in communities where opposition politicians had failed to do so.
“If you can’t do anything for your people, who will you do it for?” President Barrow asked.
He also questioned President Darboe’s ability to fulfill his political promises at this stage of his career.
“What you have not been able to achieve from childhood, how can you achieve that in old age?” he said.
The president said voters should judge politicians by what they had already accomplished rather than by promises made during an election campaign.
Scorching Opposition Mayors in Brikama and Kanifing
In an apparent reference to opposition mayors in Kanifing and Brikama, President Barrow also questioned the ability of local leaders seeking the presidency to manage national affairs.
He criticized the performance of opposition-led councils over waste collection, markets, and roads, asking whether leaders who could not adequately manage municipal services could be trusted to run the country.
“A chairman or mayor who could not collect garbage from a single region – how can that person build a school or a market?” President Barrow asked. “Can that person build a road or provide you with electricity?”
He said some of those currently seeking the presidency had already been entrusted with public positions in the Greater Banjul Area but had failed to demonstrate sufficient results.
“Some of them have been given positions here in Kombo. What have they done with those positions?” he asked.
Barrow rejects the youth argument.
The president also cautioned voters against choosing a presidential candidate primarily because of age.
Without naming a particular country, Mr Barrow referred to a situation where an older president was replaced by a younger leader, only for citizens to later demand the return of the former president.
“Sweet talk does not govern a country,” he said, arguing that the younger administration had disappointed citizens after five years in office.
The remarks appeared directed at some of his younger political rivals who have held public office and are now positioning themselves for the presidency.
The president dismisses West Coast polls.
President Barrow further rejected recent polls suggesting that opposition candidates could defeat him in the West Coast Region.
He said he would leave Gambian politics if politicians he described as still “learning to walk” managed to defeat him in the region.
The president expressed confidence that the NPP would win the December 5 election and urged voters to carefully consider their choices before casting their ballots.
He warned against what he described as mistakes made in other countries where voters elected leaders who later failed to meet expectations.
With the presidential election less than four months away, Saturday’s rally in Lamin provided President Barrow with another opportunity to frame the contest as a choice between his government’s record of infrastructure development and an opposition coalition he portrayed as fragmented, inexperienced, and driven by political desperation.
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