The recent release of two prominent UDP supporters, Ousman Rambo Jatta, the Councilor for Bakau Cape Point ward, and Tamba Fofana, headmaster of Kudang Lower Basic School, from months of detention, Mr. Ousainou Darboe, the UDP leader, has challenged the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to emulate what he called the good example set by the Inspector-General of Police by releasing all detainees in his custody, emphasising his belief that another UDP supporter, Kanyiba Kanyi, is in the custody of NIA.

In an interview with journalists on Sunday at the residence of the just released Rambo Jatta in Bakau, Mr. Darboe said: “I can tell you that Kanyiba Kanyi is in the custody of the NIA. What the Inspector-General of Police has done is what the Director-General of NIA should do. What I can tell him is to swallow his pride and release anybody that is in his custody. And he cannot go on denying he does not hold (sic).”

Mr. Darboe used the occasion to call for the rule of law, saying: “The government should be law-abiding. The government has promulgated a constitution and campaigned for the adoption of that constitution and so it should be honoured.”

According to Mr. Darboe, the government has been flouting court orders and the constitution, noting that the practice means that they are disobeying the laws of the country.

Mr. Darboe also used the occasion to urge Gambians, especially his supporters, to be always law-abiding and steadfast in their duties. The UDP leader maintained that his job is to ensure that there is good democratic dispensation in the country and that the civil action for the release of Rambo and others was just part of the job.

For his part, Mr. Ousman Rambo Jatta remarked that his arrest was the result of a conspiracy by some elements in Bakau. “They are trying to bring my political career down. I think I am guided by God. So it is only God who can bring me down. They can only do their efforts but with the help of God no one can bring me down?” he remarked quizzically.

Addressing his supporters, Mr. Jatta said: “I just want to assure them that I am not turning back. I have started a journey of no turning back. So wherever Darboe is, I am there.”

Rambo Jatta intimated that though some people consider politics to be a waste of time he does not think so, adding that whatever he fights for is definitely the truth.

“They used to say that a soap cannot wash itself, but I am a very truthful and honest somebody. So in whatever I am dealing, it has to be truthful and honest and transparent,” he said.

It could be recalled that Mr. Ousman Rambo Jatta, Kanyiba Kanyi, and Master Tamba Fofana disappeared since September last year and the state had repeatedly denied custody of the two.

Matters degenerated to such a level that Lawyer Ousainou Darboe had to embark on civil action seeking injunction against the continued detention of the three by the state. The release of the two is unconditional.