Claim: Saikou Mballow, Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs to the President, claimed that “Yankuba Darboe, the Chairperson of a region, who will come out and say our party, he labelled this thing, and we know where he was going to Talib that he cannot lead because it’s a Mandinka party.”
Verdict: False & Misleading
Full Text:
On Tuesday, 28th April 2026, while appearing on Kerr Fatou’s “Politic Kaacha” hosted by Ebrima Jarra, the presidential adviser on political affairs to the president, Saikou Mballow, claimed that the Chairman of Brikama Area Council (BAC), Yankuba Darboe, had made a statement and labelled it to the KMC Mayor, Talib Ahmed Bensouda, arguing that “if Maimuna is a threat to our election, what of Yankuba Darboe, who is a Chairperson of a region, who will come out and say our party, he labelled this thing and we know where it was going to, to Talib that he cannot lead because it’s a Mandinka party. That was a threat to our democracy. We should be tolerant in our political party; everybody can lead a political party,” Maballow remarked.
The Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs to the President made these remarks in response to a query from the host of the program, Ebrima Jarra, who told him that having Maimuna in their party, NPP, now is seemingly a threat to the electoral integrity.
Watch from the timestamp 25:30 – 27:20 minutes.
The host interjected, stating that he doesn’t think the Chairman made those statements, pointing out that what was said is, “if Talib should lead, then he will leave. He never said he cannot lead because of his race,” he affirmed.
Mballow maintained his stand that that was the statement made by Yankuba Darboe. “Of course, because Talib is not a Mandinka, I am telling you. Did people come and condemn him? Did UDP condemn him? He said it, go to the media, go and search,” said Mballow.
What did Chairman Yankuba Darboe of the Brikama Area Council Say:
During his appearance at Mengbe Kering TV on the program called (The Conversation with Chairman Yankuba Darboe). While responding to Pa Modou Bojang on the ongoing disagreements in their party and its implications.
Yankuba Darboe said: “The party, the way I see it, is that the party is not under Talib, and it’s not Talib’s party. The party leader is Lawyer ANM Ousainou Darboe; he is the one I am following, and I support his agenda and follow that part. Any day they tell me that has changed, and it is now Talib, I find my way to somewhere else.”
When asked by Pa Modou what if they go to primaries and Talib happens to lead, what will happen?
Yankuba responded that: “If Talib happens to win in the primaries, I will make a decision at that point, but at the moment, the way they are behaving, I have every reason to fear if these people come to power, they will be worse than Barrow. That is what I should fear. Everything we challenge Barrow on, that’s exactly what they are doing.”
Watch from the timestamp 1:21:24 – 1:22:23 minutes.
Verification:
To verify the authenticity of Saikou Mballow’s claims during his appearance at the Politic Kaacha in Kerr Fatou, which has 198 likes, 482 comments, and 21k views at the time of this publication. Info-checked conducted research to establish the facts surrounding the claim.
Our findings on the said claim revealed that the statement made by the Presidential Adviser on the issue of the Brikama Area Councils Chairman’s statements is False and Misleading. Our findings on the claim did not at any point corroborate with the statements made by Yankuba Darboe during his interview at Mengbe Kering TV.
Conclusion:
Based on the evidence gathered by Info-Checked, the claim made by the Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs to the President, Saikou Mballow, that Yankuba Darboe made a statement and labelled it to Talib that he cannot lead because it’s a Mandinka party, was False and Misleading.
By: Momodou Janneh