By Seedy Jobe
The Minister of Information, Media, and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has dismissed assertions that the 2026 presidential election will pose a significant challenge for President Adama Barrow, arguing that large political rallies are not a reliable indicator of electoral strength.
Dr. Ceesay made these remarks during an interview on Star TV’s The Gambia Kaacha programme on Monday, where he responded to questions regarding the Unite Movement for Change’s (UMC) recent rally and President Barrow’s engagements in the Upper River Region (URR).
He drew a distinction between what he described as “organic” and “artificial” political support, emphasizing that the two should not be conflated.
According to Dr. Ceesay, public turnout at President Barrow’s official engagements reflects genuine appreciation from citizens. He noted that communities voluntarily gather during events such as project inaugurations, attributing this to visible development outcomes, particularly in infrastructure.
“There’s a difference between organic, natural, and artificial. When President Barrow goes out to lay foundation stones, they don’t bring anyone with a van or gele and say, pay your fare and come. People came there by themselves because of the joy they have seen. The villagers and communities came out to welcome the president and say thank you. “In 100 years we didn’t have these roads, and you have brought them,” he said.
In contrast, Dr. Ceesay alleged that opposition rallies often rely on organized transportation and incentives to attract participants. He claimed that individuals are frequently mobilized from different parts of the country and provided with financial and material support to attend such events.
“That’s different from you, the politician, calling a rally in the Buffer Zone, and transporting people from every part of the country. You give them fare, money, and T-shirts and tell them to come and sleep at a hotel, give them benechin and canned drinks, and come, they will come.”
When challenged by the programme host on claims that opposition supporters attend rallies voluntarily, Dr. Ceesay maintained that he had seen evidence suggesting otherwise, including videos showing organized transportation of participants from various regions.
“My phone is here; I can show you a video from the night they were taking people to the President’s International Award Scheme. I saw vehicles I had never seen before. Some came from Basse, CRR, and some from URR, all over The Gambia”.
He further challenged the UMC to organize a rally without providing logistical support to attendees, suggesting that such a test would better demonstrate genuine political backing.
“If they don’t believe what I’m saying, let them do one thing for me, then i will believe if that is not done, President Barrow will win in 2026 and it will not be tough. I will tell the UMC to do one thing: announce that they have a rally at the Buffer Zone next Saturday, but will not bring anybody. If they fill it up like they did previously, we will tell them there’s no need to get to an election.”
Addressing broader concerns about measuring political influence, Dr. Ceesay argued that rally attendance is an unreliable indicator of party strength. Instead, he identified electoral performance as the most credible measure, stating that the number of votes secured in elections provides verifiable evidence of public support.
“Then a rally is not the best way to measure the strength of a party. There are only two ways to know a party’s strength,” he stated. “One, contest an election and see how many people vote for you. Two, hold a rally without mobilizing anyone. But you sit, (referring to Talib) without contesting in an election and said your party is bigger than all the parties. What is the yardstick? Rally is not the yardstick. All the people you brought with a van and put them in Gele Gele, are they going to vote for you?” he added.
He referenced previous election results to illustrate his point, noting that the United Democratic Party (UDP) remains the largest opposition force based on its electoral share, while other political figures have demonstrated comparatively smaller levels of support at the polls.
“Today we all know the biggest opposition is the UDP. They have 28%, that’s empirical evidence. We know Essa Faal’s strength is 1%, no doubt about that. Mama Kandeh’s strength is 12%, we all know that because there is evidence,” he said.
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