Former President Yahya Jammeh has reasserted his monopoly of authority over the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), declaring that no other faction of the party is legally recognised.
The APRC ruled The Gambia from 1996 to 2016, but the party has had to deal with internal wrangling since the ouster of its founder and leader. The APRC splintered into two groups ahead of the 2021 general election with one faction aligning itself with the ruling NPP while the other faction, which calls itself No-to-Alliance, stayed true to its name.
But in an audio recording widely circulated, former President Jammeh did not mince his words when he categorically made it clear to APRC members that he would no longer tolerate internal squabbles, indiscipline, or what, he described, as attempts to sow discord in the party.
“The APRC is my party. No other APRC party exists legally,” Jammeh said. “We will not allow problems in the party again. For five years, we’ve tolerated people who come only to insult, accuse, or create division. That ends now.”
Jammeh, who founded the APRC in 1996, said the party’s recent struggles stemmed from a lack of enforcement of internal discipline, which he blamed on party elders and executives who, according to him, failed to act decisively despite being given the authority to do so.
“Every executive meeting ended in acrimony,” he said. “I have now taken back full control of the party. Discipline must return to the APRC.”
Mr. Jammeh stressed that under his renewed leadership, the party will not allow factionalism or unauthorized groups claiming to represent the APRC. He singled out “the so-called APRC-No-To Alliance” faction, making it clear that the alliance has no legal standing.
“I did not register ‘APRC-No-to-Alliance.’ I registered APRC. Anyone who wants a different party should go and register their own. But APRC is out of the question—it is already taken,” Jammeh asserted.
The former Gambian strongman also addressed concerns about nepotism and favoritism, stating that no one, including his own relatives or close allies, would be treated differently under his leadership.
“In the service of the country and in the party, there will be no favoritism or nepotism. The same law applies to everyone. No one will be above the rules, just as it was when I was President.”
Jammeh’s comments come amid ongoing internal squabbles that the APRC is dealing with. The internal wrangling in the APRC became more pronounced shortly after the controversial political marriage between the alliance and President Adama Barrow’s National People’s Party (NPP), a move that split the party’s base and leadership.
With this latest declaration, Jammeh appears to be reasserting his grip on the party he founded and led during his 22-year rule, signalling a return to the centralized control that marked his time in power.
The statement has already sparked mixed reactions among party supporters and political observers, with some welcoming the call for order, while others view it as a renewed attempt to dominate the party from exile.
Jammeh currently resides in Equatorial Guinea, where he has lived since leaving office in 2017 following a political impasse after losing elections to Adama Barrow.
