The chief propagandist of the Gambia’s main opposition party has contended that President Adama Barrow’s target of 75% victory in next year’s general election is unrealistic.
The UDP campaign manager Karafa Sonko maintained that President Barrow’s set target has reminded him of former President Yahya Jammeh, who said he wanted his APRC to scoop 95% of the vote cast in the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Sonko described Mr Barrow’s goal for the NPP to score 75% of the votes in the 2026 poll as unattainable.
“He [President Barrow] cannot even win this election, much more to say he is aiming for 75% of the votes to be cast. It’s just impossible,” Sonko dismissed, adding that Mr Barrow’s ambition is a chimera and a stark reminder of Jammeh’s wild dreams of capturing 95% of the vote in 2016.
“It [President Barrow’s target] reminds me of Yahya Jammeh in 2016 when he was saying he wanted to have 95% of the vote. Yankuba Colley and others were saying 75% but he said no, that was small. Modou Soma Jobe [one time regional governor] also said they would have around 65%, but Jammeh said that one was small, too. He ultimately said he would win 95% of the votes,” Mr Sonko stated in an interview with JollofNews.
“And Yahya Jammeh’s elections were always tense between the UDP and APRC. And that time also, we never had counting on the spot. The very year that counting on the spot was introduced, Yahya Jammeh lost. So this time around, if Adama Barrow is also telling us that he wishes to have 75%, that reminds me of Yahya Jammeh’s words.”
