By Haddy Touray
United Democratic Party (UDP) leader and Secretary General Ousainou Darboe on Sunday paid tribute to party supporters who endured imprisonment, violence and, in some cases, death during the party’s three-decade political struggle.
Addressing thousands of supporters at the UDP’s 30th anniversary rally at Brikama SSP, Darboe said the anniversary was as much about remembering the sacrifices of party members as it was about celebrating the UDP’s political journey.
“We are not mourning them; we are celebrating them,” Darboe said, referring to party members who died during the years of political struggle and those who survived.
The gathering brought together thousands of UDP supporters, members of allied groups, political party leaders and representatives, as well as members of the media.
Much of Darboe’s address focused on some of the most difficult periods in the UDP’s history, particularly during the 22-year rule of former President Yahya Jammeh.
He recalled Sept. 22, 1996, as one of the darkest days in the party’s history, saying UDP supporters were ambushed at Denton Bridge, where several young party members, including Fa Badjo Darboe and Kebuteh Jafuneh, were allegedly tortured.
He said others did not survive the political violence of that period.
According to Darboe, more than 70 injured people were brought to his home the following day.
He also recalled the arrest and beating of Amadou Sanneh by agents of the National Intelligence Agency in the same month, alleging that Sanneh was targeted because of his opposition to the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) government.
Darboe said the UDP’s decision to recount these experiences was intended not merely to revisit the past but to remind younger Gambians of the sacrifices made by those who challenged authoritarian rule.
He recalled a confrontation at Fass Njaga Choi, where, he said, police had refused to grant the UDP a permit to hold a political meeting.
Party officials subsequently decided to proceed without a public-address system, he said.
When police ordered them to return to Banjul, Darboe recalled telling the officers that they would leave only if they were arrested and taken away.
He described the confrontation as an important moment in challenging what he characterized as a climate of fear under the Jammeh administration.
Darboe also referred to events at Chamoi Bridge, accusing the authorities at the time of attempting to implicate UDP supporters in incidents that could have been used to weaken or dismantle the party.
He acknowledged the contributions of Binta Sabally, Sarjo Kunjang Sanneh and Fatou Darboe during that period.
However, one of the most significant parts of his speech focused on Solo Sandeng, the UDP activist whose death in state custody in April 2016 became a defining moment in the opposition’s campaign against the Jammeh government.
Sandeng and other activists were arrested after demonstrating for electoral reforms. His subsequent death prompted Darboe and other senior UDP officials to take to the streets demanding answers, resulting in their arrest and imprisonment.
Darboe described Sandeng as a man who sacrificed his life in the struggle for political change.
He also paid tribute to Lang Marong, Modou Ngum, Kafu Bayo, Nyanging Bojang, Babucarr Camara and Falang Sonko, whom he said paid a heavy price during the political struggle.
Nearly a decade after the events of 2016, Darboe said, some of the reforms sought by the activists had yet to be fully realized.
He particularly criticized the continued existence of the Public Order Act, arguing that restrictions under the law remain an obstacle to political rights and free electoral competition.
Darboe also referred to the killing of student demonstrators in April 2000 and the arrests of UDP members at Fass Njaga Choi, presenting the incidents as part of a broader history of resistance that, he said, contributed to the political transition of 2016.
The anniversary rally, however, was not solely focused on the party’s history.
With The Gambia preparing for the December 5th presidential election, Darboe used the occasion to link the UDP’s past struggles to its current political ambitions.
He said the party was pursuing the aspirations of its fallen members alongside its alliance partners and stressed that unity would be essential to the opposition’s prospects in the forthcoming election.
Darboe urged Gambians to reject ethnic divisions and other differences when deciding the country’s political future.
He described the December election as a consequential moment and called on voters to remove President Adama Barrow through the ballot box.
The UDP leader also outlined some of the priorities he said would guide a UDP administration.
He pledged greater representation for persons with disabilities, including their appointment to senior government positions, while promising increased support for farmers and greater emphasis on agriculture.
But the dominant theme of his address remained the party’s history and the sacrifices of those who, he said, made it possible for the UDP to reach its 30th anniversary.
For Darboe, remembering those who suffered and died during the political struggle was not an act of mourning but a reaffirmation of the cause for which they fought.
Three decades after the UDP’s founding, he told supporters, the unfinished work of those who sacrificed for political change now rested with those who remain.