{"id":93163,"date":"2026-01-24T17:20:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal"},"modified":"2026-01-24T18:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T18:18:14","slug":"apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal","title":{"rendered":"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly formed APEX coalition could repeat the political failures that followed the opposition\u2019s 2016 election victory.<\/b><\/p>\n

In a statement this week, Lt. Col. Sarr questioned the credibility of the coalition, saying it overlooks the trust deficit left by unfulfilled promises made to Gambians nearly a decade ago. He recalled that the 2016 coalition succeeded on assurances of a three-year transitional presidency, constitutional reforms, and institutional rebuilding\u2014commitments he said were not honoured.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aftermath of that election has left voters wary of coalition politics, particularly arrangements that lack binding guarantees and accountability mechanisms,\u201d Sarr said. He noted that APEX has not explained how it intends to prevent a repeat of what many Gambians view as political betrayal.<\/p>\n

The retired army commander also raised concerns over the coalition\u2019s leadership composition and visibility. He pointed out that some public figures are former government officials, while others are not widely known, giving the impression that APEX is driven by political elites rather than grassroots participation.<\/p>\n

Sarr identified the United Democratic Party (UDP) as a key challenge to the coalition\u2019s viability. \u201cNo opposition alliance can realistically succeed without the UDP,\u201d he said, while noting that the party is unlikely to endorse a candidate outside its established leadership. He argued that ignoring this political reality weakens APEX\u2019s strategic foundation.<\/p>\n

He added that several opposition parties, including PDOIS and GDC, have reportedly declined to join the initiative, while others remain electorally marginal or untested, leaving the coalition without a solid nationwide base. Drawing lessons from Senegal\u2019s recent elections, Sarr said political change requires not only unity among elites but also clear messaging that resonates with voters, particularly young people.<\/p>\n

He concluded that unless APEX demonstrates how it will rebuild trust and differentiate itself from past coalition efforts, Gambians are unlikely to rally behind another opposition alliance ahead of the 2026 presidential election.<\/p>\n

PPP Flagbearer Vows to Restore Party\u2019s Golden Era<\/b><\/p>\n

By Kemo Kanyi<\/p>\n

Saikou Sawo, the newly appointed flagbearer of the People\u2019s Progressive Party (PPP), has pledged to work with Gambians to restore the party\u2019s \u201cgolden era\u201d established under its founding leaders.<\/p>\n

Mr. Sawo and members of his Golden Era Party (GEP) recently joined the PPP, one of the country\u2019s oldest political parties. He was officially endorsed as PPP\u2019s flagbearer during a ceremony at the residence of Ousman Madikay Faal, the party\u2019s secretary-general and leader.<\/p>\n

In response to questions from The Voice newspaper on how his leadership intends to regain voters\u2019 confidence, Mr. Sawo said the revival of the party would require collective effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cGolden Era Party is now part of PPP, and we are going to work together to revive the party. We aim to usher in the golden era. It will take a collective effort, but we believe in the party. This is a party of integrity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He further highlighted the legacy of Sir Dawda Jawara, noting the former leader\u2019s responsiveness to the people. \u201cAs our party slogan says, \u2018the voice of the people is the voice of God.\u2019 We are committed to working with Gambians to revive the party,\u201d Mr. Sawo added.<\/p>\n

He emphasized that the partnership between PPP and Gambians is critical for the country, suggesting that meaningful change is achievable under this renewed alliance.<\/p>\n

Recalling the 1992 national elections, the PPP flagbearer noted that Sir Dawda Jawara won by a landslide amid a period of notable economic growth, infrastructure development, political stability, and peace. However, he said the military takeover disrupted the democratic mandate of Gambian voters.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly formed APEX coalition could repeat the political failures that followed the opposition\u2019s 2016 election victory. In a statement this week, Lt. Col. Sarr questioned the credibility of the coalition, saying it overlooks the trust deficit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":93162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-93163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nAPEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly fo ...\" \/>\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\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly fo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal\" \/>\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=\"2026-01-24T17:20:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-24T18:18:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.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\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-24T17:20:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-24T18:18:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal\"},\"wordCount\":619,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal\",\"name\":\"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-24T17:20:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-24T18:18:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly fo ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal - Gambia","description":"Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly fo ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal","og_description":"Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly fo ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-01-24T17:20:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-24T18:18:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal","datePublished":"2026-01-24T17:20:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-24T18:18:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal"},"wordCount":619,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg","keywords":["Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal","name":"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-24T17:20:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-24T18:18:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, former Commander of The Gambia National Army, has warned that the newly fo ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/01\/sm_1769265914.492018.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/apex-risks-repeating-2016-coalition-betrayal#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"APEX Risks Repeating 2016 Coalition Betrayal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}