By: Fatou Krubally
The United Democratic Party (UDP) has squarely blamed President Adama Barrow and his NPP Government for what it describes as rising political tensions and worsening democratic standards in The Gambia.
In a statement issued recently, the party condemned the arrest of protesters from the Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA) movement, who were denied permission to march in protest over the management of former President Yahya Jammeh’s seized assets. The UDP says the police’s refusal to grant a protest permit under the Public Order Act represents a dangerous abuse of power.
“Had the Inspector General of Police granted GALA’s permit, this crisis could have been avoided,” the statement noted, while calling for the immediate repeal of Section 5 of the Act, which requires police approval for public demonstrations.
The UDP also voiced full support for GALA’s demands, which included full disclosure of all buyers of Jammeh’s properties and public access to transaction details. The party says these are legitimate concerns in a democratic society and should not be met with repression.
Although the government has since released some detained protesters and published parts of the asset list, the UDP says this response came “too late and only after unnecessary repression.”
The statement further called for the dropping of all charges against GALA members, a full independent audit of Jammeh’s asset sales, and a national dialogue on police reforms to prevent future abuses.
“The Barrow administration cannot continue blaming past regimes while repeating the same patterns of corruption and suppression,” the party warned, urging Gambians to remain vigilant and continue demanding transparency and accountability.
The UDP’s statement comes as civic frustration grows over how the government has handled the sale of Jammeh’s properties and public access to information.