{"id":89637,"date":"2025-11-08T08:24:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T08:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise"},"modified":"2025-11-08T08:32:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T08:32:59","slug":"darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise","title":{"rendered":"Darboe Says Mayor Bensouda\u2019S Move Took him by Surprise"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong><\/span><b>Ousainu Darboe, the leader and flag-bearer of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has expressed surprise at recent actions by Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda, stating that he did not expect the Kanifing mayor\u2019s political turn.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Speaking in an interview, Darboe revealed that he had previously trusted Bensouda\u2019s assurances that he had no intention of contesting the 2026 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI defended Talib because I believed him,\u201d Darboe said. \u201cHe told me on several occasions that he was not seeking the presidency. He said he only wanted to create a gap between himself and potential rivals for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Darboe, these assurances were made during meetings he personally convened to address rumors that some individuals were advancing Bensouda\u2019s personal agenda over the UDP\u2019s collective interest. Among those present at one such meeting, he said, were Banjul Mayor Rohey Malick Lowe, Chairman Yankuba Darbo, and Chairman Landing B. Sanneh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI called those meetings because there were claims that some people were promoting Talib instead of the UDP,\u201d Darboe explained. \u201cI believed him because I loved him, but it turns out he was promoting himself, not the party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The UDP leader also dismissed suggestions that Mayor Bensouda was unaware of his (Darboe\u2019s) application for the party\u2019s flag-bearer position. \u201cAnyone saying they didn\u2019t know I applied is just fooling the people,\u201d he said, recalling that he publicly confirmed his intention to seek the nomination during an interview on Coffee Time with Peter Gomez.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf Talib didn\u2019t know, why didn\u2019t he ask me?\u201d Darboe questioned. \u201cThey knew very well I had applied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Darboe said he was disappointed by Bensouda\u2019s resignation as the UDP\u2019s National Organizing Secretary, noting that he never expressed a lack of confidence in the mayor\u2019s ability to run the campaign effectively.<\/p>\n<p>He also questioned the motives of others who resigned alongside Bensouda. \u201cIs it that when there\u2019s an issue with Talib, the whole party suddenly has a problem?\u201d he asked. \u201cSome of them haven\u2019t been in the UDP that long to now say the party has changed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Darboe alleged that Bensouda\u2019s departure and the formation of a new political movement were premeditated. \u201cYou cannot leave an established party and form a movement within a month unless it was planned,\u201d he said, referencing Kemo Bojang\u2019s earlier statement predicting a rift after the flag-bearer selection.<\/p>\n<p>Darboe further clarified that he never promised Bensouda the UDP flag-bearer position, stressing that such a decision is not his alone to make. \u201cThe flag-bearer is chosen by the selection committee, and party leadership positions are decided at congress,\u201d he said.<\/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. Ousainu Darboe, the leader and flag-bearer of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has expressed surprise at recent actions by Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda, stating that he did not expect the Kanifing mayor\u2019s political turn. Speaking in an interview, Darboe revealed that he had previously trusted Bensouda\u2019s assurances that he had no intention [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,10],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-89637","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>Darboe Says Mayor Bensouda\u2019S Move Took him by Surprise - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ousainu Darboe, the leader and flag-bearer of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has expressed surprise at recent act ...\" \/>\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\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Darboe Says Mayor Bensouda\u2019S Move Took him by Surprise\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ousainu Darboe, the leader and flag-bearer of the United Democratic Party (UDP), has expressed surprise at recent act ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise\" \/>\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=\"2025-11-08T08:24:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-08T08:32:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762578155.481739.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=\"3 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\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Darboe Says Mayor Bensouda\u2019S Move Took him by Surprise\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-08T08:24:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-08T08:32:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise\"},\"wordCount\":460,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2025\/11\/sm_1762578155.481739.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"parties\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/darboe-says-mayor-bensoudas-move-took-him-by-surprise\",\"name\":\"Darboe Says Mayor Bensouda\u2019S Move Took him by Surprise - 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