The opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) have distanced itself from comments made by its member and national campaign manager Momodou Sabally on the Christian faith.
In a statement issued late Thursday evening, the Party cleared the air while distancing itself on the alleged derogatory comments made by their prominent member about the Christian community.
“To be clear, UDP upholds the Gambia’s priceless heritage of peaceful coexistence with our Christian brothers and sisters. Consequently, the United Democratic Party unreservedly disassociates itself from the comments made by Sabally,” the Party said.
The Christian Council earlier made an early release calling on UDP to disassociate itself from Sabally’s comments that they described as “derogatory.”
In response to Standard Newspaper’s publication on Thursday morning, Sabally said his statement was his opinion on the controversy of students using veils in schools, saying the girls using veils should be allowed to use them in the schools.
“My argument is from the democratic constitutional rights perspective that every Gambian should be free to exercise his or her religion and to manifest their religion as they see fit without mistreating the laws of the land,” Sabally told Standard.
Meanwhile, UDP said these comments from its national campaign manager are his personal statements that the Gambia Christian Council found unacceptable and derogatory to their faith.
They added, “Mr. Sabally ought to know better than to make statements that may be interpreted as offensive or inappropriate to communities, individuals, or organizations or attributable to UDP.”
The Party apologizes for any offence caused to the Christian community by the matter.
