Gambian legal scholar Dr Lamin J. Darbo has dramatically resigned from the United Democratic Party (UDP), accusing the country’s biggest opposition party of betraying its founding values and silencing internal dissent.

In a hard-hitting resignation letter dated 25 September and addressed to senior party official Hon. Alhagie S. Darboe, the outspoken advocate declared he could no longer “lend my name, my energy, my conscience to a structure that resists reform and punishes dissent.”

Darbo, a key figure in the UDP’s long fight against the Jammeh dictatorship, said he joined politics to “construct a republic founded on verifiable fairness, accountability, and good governance,” but now finds himself isolated in a leadership culture “that values loyalty over competence, silence over scrutiny, and expediency over principle.”

Highlighting years of frustration, he revealed that even after helping defend UDP activists during the 2016 Solo Sandeng protests, he was repeatedly denied meaningful engagement with party leader Ousainu Darboe, including after a personal invitation in 2019.

He also blasted the 2021 flag-bearer selection process, where he was denied even an interview, as evidence of “a disregard for fairness and inclusion.”

The fiery lawyer said The Gambia needs a political culture where “ideas prevail over allegiance and leadership is earned through merit, not bestowed by privilege.”

He outlined a bold civic vision of a transparent, accountable republic where youth are empowered and the diaspora actively shapes national policy.

Mr Darbo warned that a party unable to govern itself transparently “cannot credibly promise national transformation.”

His bombshell exit piles fresh pressure on the UDP as it gears up for future elections.

By Adama Makasuba