{"id":86220,"date":"2025-09-18T17:44:33","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T17:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference"},"modified":"2025-09-18T18:23:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T18:23:31","slug":"udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference","title":{"rendered":"UDP Copg Condemn Barrow&#8217;S Alleged Interference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>The United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Coalition of Progressive Gambians (COPG) have issued strong condemnations over what they describe as President Adama Barrow\u2019s unconstitutional attempt to interfere with the mandate of the Auditor General of The Gambia.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>According to reports, President Barrow allegedly sought to remove Auditor General Modou Ceesay from his constitutionally protected position by attempting to appoint him as Minister of Trade, an offer Mr. Ceesay is said to have declined in order to continue serving in his current role at the National Audit Office (NAO).<\/p>\n<p>Both the UDP and COPG argue that the move amounts to a \u2018backdoor attempt\u2019 to remove the Auditor General, calling it a blatant violation of the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe UDP reminds the public that the independence and security of tenure of the Auditor General are enshrined in the Constitution of The Gambia. Section 158(4) provides that the Auditor General shall remain in office until the age of compulsory retirement. Section 158(5) gives the President only limited grounds for removal, specifically in cases of infirmity, misbehavior, or incompetence. None of these apply to the current Auditor General,\u201d the party stated.<\/p>\n<p>The UDP further alleged that President Barrow\u2019s actions represent a dangerous overreach, warning that such interference undermines constitutional governance, erodes public trust, and threatens the independence of one of the country\u2019s most critical oversight institutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe attempt to forcefully reassign the Auditor General as a \u2018puppet minister\u2019 is both authoritarian and dangerous. It weakens accountability mechanisms and opens the door to corruption and mismanagement of public funds,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>Both groups are calling on civil society organizations and international partners to join in condemning what they describe as an assault on democratic governance and constitutional order in The Gambia.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the Coalition of Progressive Gambians (COPG) urged the National Assembly to rise to its oversight responsibility and protect the constitutional safeguards that ensure the independence of the Auditor General.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Coalition stands firmly with Mr. Modou Ceesay and the staff of the National Audit Office. The independence of the Auditor General is not negotiable, it is a right, a safeguard, and a duty owed to the Gambian people,\u201d COPG emphasized.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Gambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. The United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Coalition of Progressive Gambians (COPG) have issued strong condemnations over what they describe as President Adama Barrow\u2019s unconstitutional attempt to interfere with the mandate of the Auditor General of The Gambia. According to reports, President Barrow allegedly sought to remove Auditor General Modou Ceesay from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":86219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-86220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-parties","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UDP Copg Condemn Barrow&#039;S Alleged Interference - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Coalition of Progressive Gambians (COPG) have issued strong condemnations o ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UDP Copg Condemn Barrow&#039;S Alleged Interference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Coalition of Progressive Gambians (COPG) have issued strong condemnations o ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-18T17:44:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-18T18:23:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/09\/sm_1758207179.316267.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"UDP Copg Condemn Barrow&#8217;S Alleged Interference\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-18T17:44:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-18T18:23:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference\"},\"wordCount\":378,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/09\/sm_1758207179.316267.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/udp-copg-condemn-barrows-alleged-interference\",\"name\":\"UDP Copg Condemn Barrow'S Alleged Interference - 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