By Buba Gagigo
Henry Gomez, Secretary General and Party Leader of The Gambia for Democracy and Progress (GPDP), has cautioned his celebration’s government members towards criticizing President Adama Barrow. This warning got here in a leaked audio despatched to the celebration’s government WhatsApp group.
“I want all of you to know that The Gambia Party for Democracy and Progress has already joined President Adama Barrow and the 2021 alliance. We joined and formed the government in 2016; it was not by force. We fought against 3yrs Jotna and helped Barrow win in 2021. His five years will finish in 2026. I am saying this because no one should come and criticize President Adama Barrow or his government. As far as I am concerned, we cannot give him the head and remove the tongue. We are part of the alliance until I say the alliance with President Barrow is over,” Gomez said within the leaked audio.
Gomez additionally emphasised that their alliance with President Barrow’s National People’s Party (NPP) will proceed till 2026. He warned celebration supporters to not use the celebration’s title or his title to criticize the president or his authorities.
“If that time comes, I will tell the president myself, and it will not make us enemies. I will then inform my executive and the Gambian people. But as long as the alliance exists, no one should put words in my mouth or speak on behalf of the GPDP to criticize the president. If any of you have an interview or anything to say against President Adama Barrow or his government, say you are a concerned Gambian citizen. Don’t use my name or the name of The Gambia for Democracy and Progress, or your position. I don’t dispute it’s a democracy; anyone can say what they want, but say it on your behalf. Don’t use my name as Secretary General, and don’t use the party’s name. That’s unfair. If anyone doesn’t heed my warning, don’t blame me for the consequences in the future because I have already warned,” Gomez mentioned.
The GPDP was a part of the coalition that unseated former president Yahya Jammeh. The celebration later fashioned a coalition with President Adama Barrow’s NPP in the course of the 2021 presidential election, which they received.
