Africa-Press – Gambia. Lamin Manneh, a prominent member of The United Democratic Party (UDP), has strongly criticized former President Yahya Jammeh for what he describes as fabricated accusations against UDP leader Ousainou Darboe. In a recent interview with journalist Peter Gomez, Manneh condemned Jammeh’s claims that Darboe was involved in selling Gambia’s oil to Senegal.
“Jammeh, when he said Ousainou Darboe and Co were involved in selling our oil to Senegal I say when will this guy stop? For the 22 years, he was at the head of this country, he could not besmirch Ousainou and cast as much mud as they could on him hoping that slinging of mud would stick,” Manneh said.
He recalled a long history of political persecution during Jammeh’s two-decade rule, including character assassination and physical abuse directed at Darboe.
“He said everything about Ousainou from calling him a tribalist, calling him all sorts of names throughout the 22 years and trying to destroy him politically and even physically, had him arrested, beaten up, broke his collarbone and all of these things. And bundle like that to mile 2 with a broken collarbone. He went through hell with Jammeh,” he said.
Despite these ordeals, Manneh said Darboe remained steadfast and principled, refusing to be intimidated or co-opted.
In response to Jammeh’s latest claims regarding the alleged oil dealings, Manneh argued that the former president is attempting to deflect blame for his own failures.
“He is blaming Ousainou for his fall from grace. These are potential resources that we should askBarrow what happened to them and him, Yahya Jammeh, what happened while he was there,” He Said
Manneh, who previously worked at the African Development Bank (AfDB), also shared insights into Jammeh’s mismanagement of the oil sector.
“When I was at the African Development Bank we saw some of the things that were happening in the oil industry here with Jammeh. All the contracts he was giving, the poorly designed which were giving us pillars for our oil reserves.
“We sent the people from the African Legal support facility which is hosted at the ADB to come here to negotiate, to change those contracts and redo them, he refused to talk to them in the end and they stopped coming,” he said
He criticized Jammeh’s recent comments on oil negotiations, calling them hypocritical.
“Today he sits there and tells us that he refused to sign the contracts. He did this, he did that. You have got to have some dignity in you,” he said.
When asked whether Darboe should publicly respond to the accusations, Manneh dismissed the idea.
He further claimed that during Jammeh’s presidency, efforts were made to recruit Darboe into the regime, but Darboe declined. Similarly, Manneh noted that Darboe could have aligned with President Barrow after Jammeh’s ouster but chose not to, due to differing principles.
“That is why he eventually fell out with Barrow,” he said.
Addressing criticisms that the UDP dominated the 2016 coalition, Manneh refuted the claims, pointing out that the UDP only held three ministerial positions and was, in fact, the minority in the government.
“Barrow was the one taking all the decisions. Seedy Njie and Fabakary Tombong Jatta came and told him we can help you stay and make money but you have to get rid of UDP. He said initially he was shocked but then he listened to them and he thought they were right so he got rid of UDP,” Manneh said.
He also criticized Barrow for reappointing individuals who previously served under Jammeh.
“He brought in all the people who were working with Jammeh, who he brought in to recycle them, to do for him exactly what they were doing for Jammeh,” Manneh concluded.
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