The former national youth president of the main opposition-United Democratic Party, Ousman Jatta alias Rambo hasn’t after all defected to the ruling APRC party, by his free will, reports have it.
“If you cannot beat the system, then join the system,” as terse a statement as this was all what he said last week Saturday in Banjul, in what was seen as announcing a swap of his political leaning.
Detained for 365 days
Born and bred in the coastal town of Bakau, very little was known about Ousman Rambo Jatta before his arrest and detention in 2006. According to reports Mr Jatta protested against a suspected misconduct in the presidential election in 2006.
He was arrested September 23, 2006 and released over a year later – October 13, 2007. During his one year in detention he wore the same (tattered) clothes for over five months and his shoes burst up. His release came after rigorous media campaigns and a subsequent legal battle mounted by his party leader Lawyer Ousainou Darboe.
Elected national youth president
Currently, Mr Jatta is considered a strong political figure in Bakau. His victory in 2008 local government elections makes him the only opposition councilor in The Gambia’s second most populated local administrative region, KMC, and the only elected opposition politician in the whole of the Greater Banjul Area.
Last year, he was unanimously endorsed as the party’s national youth president at the party’s national congress held in the provincial capital of Jarra Soma, Lower River region.
Flared debate
Rambo’s defection has hit the headlines. It flared jubilation in the ruling party. “We are very much happy and we welcome Ousman Jatta to APRC. His defection is an indication that we have already swept the polls, due this year because he is a very influential person in the UDP,” said Yankuba Kolley, the ruling party national mobiliser.  According to pro-government Daily Observer newspaper, Rambo really has immense political clout in Bakau, and has a large following. Many of his supporters are likely to join him in the APRC.”
However, according to UDP party leader in the Point of last week Monday, Ousainou Darboe, it is absolutely incorrect to state that his defection will shake UDP. “Rambo is being described as a strongman, but the question is who made him strong? It was the electorate and the UDP party that gave him the political clout that he has,” Darboe said.
 This was buttressed by Rambo’s elder brother Dudu Kasa Jaata who is the head of the Jaata Kunda family of Bakau. “We remain loyal to UDP,” Kasa said. And the slogan some of the youths are using in Bakau in reaction to Rambo’s defection is “stagnant,” meaning they remain UDP.
Rambo denies threats
Amid the debate, Rambo himself is yet to explain the reason for his sudden move. He has neither met with his former party executives nor has he tendered his resignation, The Daily News can confirm. 
Reports have it that Rambo was threatened to switch allegiance to the ruling party, but it is unclear what sort of threat.
“That is not a fact,” again another terse remark Rambo gave to The Daily News Saturday. He would not comment further but promises to call a press briefing. His wife, too, would not comment. None of the family members want to share with the public what Rambo told them. However an old woman, whose name we could not confirm hinted: “These people (certainly APRC) have been hounding him.” She refused to comment further after realizing that he was talking to a journalist.