Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – The United Democratic Party (UDP) has been forced into damage control after a wave of personal insults by its militants against Kerr Fatou CEO Fatou Touray, who they accused of siding with Kanifing Mayor Talib Bensouda’s new political movement.
The insults, some of which went as far as branding Touray a “barren woman,” have sparked widespread condemnation and opened the door for rival parties to seize on the controversy.
Touray, speaking in a live interview, denounced what she described as “bullying tactics” by UDP supporters.
She revealed she had already lost contracts worth 15 million dalasi under the Barrow administration because of perceptions that her media platform was “Kerr UDP.” Now, she argued, UDP militants themselves are targeting her for coverage they disliked.
“Despite losing everything for being branded UDP, they are now insulting me and questioning my ethics for covering Talib Bensouda’s movement,” Touray said. “If President Barrow could not buy my loyalty, why would Talib Bensouda? I’m a media personality, not a politician for sale.”
Some UDP militants, however, insisted their criticism was about her professional standards rather than her personal life. Wandifa Sanneh, a staunch UDP supporter, dismissed Touray as a “Bana-Bana style journalist” while insisting their concerns stem from her alleged bias toward Bensouda.
But other journalists and media figures defended Touray. Hatab Fadera, a Gambian journalist and former press attaché at the US Embassy in Banjul, said UDP must “rein in its overzealous militants” who are “hell-bent on attacking decent Gambians.”
Pa Modou Bojang of Home Digital FM described the insults as “moral decay,” recalling that Touray had already lost everything for being perceived as UDP-friendly.
The controversy took a surreal turn when Brikama Area Council Chairman Yankuba Darboe, himself a high-profile UDP figure, intervened by appealing for calm and declaring the fracas a “family business.”
In a Facebook post, he told outsiders, including the ruling NPP, to stay out: “Fatou Touray is our sister, and Wandifa Sanneh is our brother, so this is family business. Jummah Mubarak to everyone, we come in peace!”
Yet rival parties quickly weighed in. APRC’s Bass Sonko resurfaced old claims that Touray had openly supported Bensouda during the local government commission hearings, while President Adama Barrow’s political adviser Saihou Mballow accused UDP of maintaining a pattern of “bullying and intimidation” against critical journalists since 2019. He contrasted that with Barrow’s record of media freedom and urged solidarity with Touray.
Faced with mounting criticism, UDP leadership issued a press release distancing itself from the insults and clarifying that Touray is not a member of the party, nor is Kerr Fatou a UDP-affiliated platform.
The statement condemned “the vilification of journalists” and called on supporters to engage in debate rather than personal attacks.
“Kerr Fatou has provided us with a platform when even the national broadcaster denied us airtime. They are within their rights to provide the same space to other parties,” the UDP statement read. “Personal attacks have no space in a decent democratic space, and we urge restraint from all who value our ideals.”
What began as a partisan dispute over media coverage has now snowballed into a test of UDP’s internal discipline and public image, while rivals from NPP and APRC see an opportunity to exploit the breach.
