The party of deceased former president, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, has been ‘hijacked’ in the course of internecine strife for its soul.
This unvarnished assessment was made by Papa Fall who is a nephew of the country’s first leader in a Standard newspaper exclusive. His words:
“PPP has been hijacked since the party ban was lifted in 2009, I think. The party never had a congress until 2018 when we had to fight to get to congress. They didn’t want to go to congress. Alhaji Yaya Ceesay and others were here but would have people believe they weren’t here. Alhaji Yaya would call a meeting… this was hijacked because it was something that they were comfortable doing. I think that the PPP’s case is very sad. The people who formed the PPP, formed it with their sweat. It shouldn’t die like that. That was the reason why I was fighting. When Sir Dawda died, the infighting came back again.
I would have wished that the elders of the PPP continue to fight for the soul of PPP, not to abandon it. If the owners abandon it, what do I have to do with it? The PPP was the reason why they got to where they are. Even though the matter was in the courts, I thought that perhaps it would have been better not to form a party and fight until the courts are finished and we know the verdict. I fought to have BB there because I thought he was the man to get PPP going with his experience and legacy. But that didn’t happen because of infighting”.