UDP welcomes AfDB Director as potential standard-bearer

EYEAFRICA TV: Banjul, The Gambia: In a tactical move to reinforce its political muscles, the United Democratic Party (UDP) has welcomed Gambia Human Resource Director at African Development Bank (AfDB) to its administrative structure.
Oley Dibba-Wadda was inducted into one of Gambia’s biggest political parties during a management convergence on Thursday.
Her resignation as Director of Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development at the African Development Bank came after “consultations [among] leadership of the party for the past weeks.”
It is not clear what position she holds in the party but it is speculated that she might be the party’s next standard bearer for the presidency.
The introduction of the AfDB staff stimulates debate over the eligibility of the party’s current Secretary General and leader, Ousainou Darboe for the country’s highest office.

Ms Dibba-Wadda, who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Gam Africa Institute for Leadership (GAIL), said she looks forward to transforming the UDP for the 2021 presidential elections.
Ousainou Darboe considers her arrival as a strong fortification in the party’s fight for a better Gambia.  “I think with people like you, your contribution would hardly be seen by anyone as just mere opposition talk,” he said.
In November, the party called on President Adama Barrow “to be faithful to the terms and conditions of the 2016 coalition agreement … and step down” but dissociated itself from any pressure group with intend to take to the street to effect change.
However, the party has been named as the power behind the December mass protest led by ‘Operation Three Years Jotna’ against President Barrow’s commitment to complete a five-year transitional term.
President Adama Barrow who came into power through a coalition arrangement in 2016, has changed his decision to serve a three-year transitional term. He marked the end of 2019, registered a political party through which he plans to seek another mandate.