The National Unity Party’s flag-bearer and secretary general, Dr. Lamin J. Darboe, urged Gambians on Tuesday to select “a competent leader” in the 2026 presidential election, cautioning that the electorate will ultimately pay the repercussions of choosing an unprepared president.
Dr. Darboe called the nation “broken” and urgently in need of leadership capable of reestablishing national institutions during a press conference. “For the 2026 election, the country has to elect someone who can repair the country,” he said. “Elect people who can build the system. Let everyone take this and keep it in mind.”
Dr. Darboe further maintained that The Gambia should aim to compete with the developed democracies of the world. “It is possible for The Gambia to compete with America and England,” he said, adding that national progress required safeguarding state assets and confronting corruption, including what he described as “paper-based criminality.”
He also issued a warning against foreign actors who, he claimed, use complicit Gambians to exploit the nation’s natural and economic resources. He pointed out that these people frequently take bribes without realizing the long-term damage to their nation.
