And amid cash inducement and voter buying galore, what did the UDP leader do? Stay home in the Kombos, leaving the Kiang Kaiaf UDP folks at the mercy of the NPP jackals.

What do you expect? The NPP through hook or crook wreaked havoc in opposition strongholds of Kaiaf and Bantangjang. Leadership really thrives on wisdom, the lack of which ushers in cult patronage.

Darboe’s age and health can’t cater to active participation in the dust and thicket. Just like the 2021 presidential election when his leg failed forcing him to stay home in the midst of a critical moment, he stayed home again while kaiaf fell before Saturday.

Darboe shouldn’t have undertaken the recent nation-wide tour simply because Barrow did one. Barrow uses state resources. We should be conservative with the little we have for ventures like the by-election and up-coming presidential election.

The divide in the UDP is more than a spell to break. Talib would split the KMC and Lamin J. Darboe ditto for the costal suburbia of West Coast. This means the UDP is in serious trouble in both KMC and West Coast.

UDP never won Foni. If it loses Foni again in December while Lamin J. Darboe and Talib remain apparent spoil-sports in their respective regions, that’s the end of UDP’s hopes.

Those thinking that since Darboe is on his last run, Yankuba Darboe is the heir-apparent after him. If Darboe failed to unify his house that is now too indignantly divided, what makes you think Yankuba can amid this grand canyon?

And if Yankuba can’t unify the much divided UDP, what makes you think he can unify the rest of The Gambia under a Yankuba Darboe-UDP version? The same applies to Talib!

Let’s say Yankuba is the UDP leader today, will he win KMC? Will he win Lamin J. Darboe’s strongholds? Will he win the whole of Foni? You now see why we said for months that the problem lies in Ousainou Darboe’s poor leadership?

The UDP is heading for a self-destruction and it’s almost too late to resuscitate the party. Those with common sense already understand this. Yankuba will struggle to win KMC, Gunjur area, and Foni.

This is why we’ve been encouraging the UDP and all opposition groups to sit at the table and select a neutral, outsider and non-partisan candidate just like the people of Madinah did in selecting the Prophet (pbuh) as head of state.

The people of Madinah had lucrative trade routes and strong economy which they could never fully enjoy thanks to internal bickering and self-destructive inter-tribal hate.

When they heard of the rise of a young, honest man in Makkah by the name Muhammad Bin Abdallaah, they met him by the rocks of Aqabah in 621 CE (12 years into his prophethood) for his intervention in their quarrels and differences.

They also selected him as head of state when other key aspirants like Abdullaah Bin Ubayyi Bin Salool and Abu Amir Ar’raahib or Abu Amir Al’Faasiq had been fighting for this position for years.

A neutral, charismatic, and honest leader like the Prophet was able to unify not just Madinah, but the entire Arabia under one banner. This is how they faced the greatest empires of the time like Persia and Rome.

In a matter of years, they conquered the Persians at the battle of al-Qadisiyyah (636 CE). They conquered the Romans at the battle of Yarmuk earlier the same year. Persia was like Russia of today and Rome was like the United States of today.

These poor Bedouins despised by great empires were able to conquer most parts of the known world in just a span of two decades. In the year 1076, only six hundred and twenty-five years after Muhammad (pbuh), Muslims entered black Africa in what you see today as Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Nigeria, etc.

They conquered the great Ghana empire (the whole of modern-day West Africa and beyond) with Almoravid forces, sacked its capital city of Kumbi Saleh much before Europeans ever dreamt of coming to Africa. Europe was too uncivilized this time in the Dark Ages.

We don’t wish to come here to give any lectures. But no country, region, or civilization prospers without knowledge. Dogma and cult aren’t going to help the UDP or Gambia. Unity is strength! Please bring in those Gambians with brilliant ideas to help chart a way forward—otherwise, risk the imminent burst!