Over seven hundred and thirty five die hard supporters of the ruling APRC supporters in Sami constituency in Central River Region have defected to the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) as Sami Medina women groups adopted the party propaganda secretary, Syngle Nyassi as their father.
UDP’s courtesy call to the villagers of Sami Medina in appreciation of their trust for the UDP strong man as father was punctuated with a rare massive defection of supporters of APRC from different parts of Sami.  92 of the defectors are from Sami Medina, 300 from Sami Pachonki, 250 from the APRC stronghold, Njala Toro, 93 from Sami Madiyana switched allegiance to the UDP.
There were also scores of APRC staunch supporters from Njala Toro whose defections were announced by their village chairman, Ali Gamo.
Addressing the gathering, the adopted father, Syngle Nyassi said: “I have accepted your call for choosing me as your father and all I want to advise you is that if you are a member of the UDP I want you to respect the rule of law, be united and forget about all the differences among you.  I advise you also to have an adviser and respect the law, but let your rights not be seized from you.”
He went on, “Gambians are sick and tired of the APRC’s way of politics and the hardship the citizens are enduring since the regime came into power.  I can assure you that this year is for change and the UDP will win this coming election as we are determined and only interested to safe the Gambia and its citizens.
The administrative secretary general for external affairs, Femi peters urged the people of Sami to vote for change.
He charged, “I am grateful to the party and the support they accorded me for the time I spent in jail. Yahya Jammeh has to go sooner or later. We have to support and protect our rights. We as members of the opposition have the right to participate in the development of this country.  We are a genuine opposition and we can effect changes sooner or later.  I am grateful to the party for nominating me as administrative secretary while I was in jail. The women’s federation the APRC is talking   about is not an APRC issue but a national one. I am proud of the party, the leadership and the Gambian people in particular.”
Other speakers included the party campaign manager,  Lamin  Dibba  , Kemeseng  Jammeh , Dembo Bojang alias Dembo By Force , Aja  Yamu Secka , the party women secretary general  and Lamin Ceesay  MP  for Sami constituency who advised the people of Sami to vote for the UDP for change  in order to oust president Yahya Jammeh’s regime from power.
“We have been supporting the ruling party for almost sixteen years since they came into power.  I have never supported the UDP, but the reasons for our defection are simply. We have seen signs of progress and development in UDP. The party has a visionary leader who is ready to vindicate Gambians. Come 2011 presidential election, the party will sweep polls in Njalla Toro by the will of God and there is no need for them to campaign,” said the chairman of Njalla Toro village Ali Gamo in an exclusive interview with this reporter shortly before the meeting.
The high powered delegation, before departing for Banjul on Sunday paid visits to the APRC supporters who defected to UDP.
Meanwhile Shyngle Nyassi donated D 5000 and sets of football jerseys to the village football club. Cash was also donated to the football club by lawyer Ousainou Darboe for their sincere appreciation to the people of Sami.