“From Condemnation to Complicity: The UDP’s Contradictions on Incendiary Speech”

By Alagi Yorro Jallow 

The paradoxes and contradictions of compromised media, self-proclaimed activists, human rights defenders, and the UDP.

The contradiction becomes even clearer when we recall that the United Democratic Party itself once condemned inflammatory rhetoric with admirable force. On June 25, 2025, as reported by The Alkamba Times, the UDP issued a blistering statement against Agriculture Minister Demba Sabally after he suggested that “shedding blood” might be necessary to secure President Barrow’s reelection. The party described Sabally’s remarks as reckless, irresponsible, and a direct assault on the nation’s democratic principles. They warned that such language risked inciting violence, undermining the integrity of the electoral process, and betraying the ministerial oath to serve all Gambians. Yet today, when similar if not more explicit rhetoric comes from their own senior official, Chairman Yankuba Darboe, the same moral urgency is nowhere to be found. This silence is not merely inconsistent; it exposes a troubling double standard in how political actors choose when to defend peace and when to look away.

Fatoumatta:The Gambia deserves a politics grounded in maturity, starting with the courage to say enough to bloodshed, insults, and tribal smears. Our democracy cannot survive if hypocrisy is normalized; it will only endure if every leader — whether NPP, UDP, minister, or lawyer — is held to the same standard of peace, dignity, and responsibility. So why the silence from the Gambia Bar Association, the National Human Rights Commission, and Baba Jalinding?