By Seedy Jobe
Kemo Ceesay has been elected president of the Gambia Football Federation (GFF), securing 41 of the 77 votes cast and promising to unite the country’s football community and work toward establishing a professional league.
The election, held at Paradise Suites Hotel, brought together delegates, club officials, football stakeholders, and members of the media.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Ceesay described his election as a historic moment for Gambian football but said there was little time for celebration. Instead, he said, the result had placed an additional responsibility on him and his new executive.
“This is not a position that I need to celebrate, but I can see it’s an extra responsibility that’s been given to me today,” Mr. Ceesay said. “And I promise I want to fulfill the manifesto that I presented here.”
Mr. Ceesay said unifying the country’s often-divided football community would be a central priority of his administration. He pledged to implement the manifesto he unveiled on June 28 and called on stakeholders to put the divisions of the election behind them.
He also paid tribute to previous leaders of the federation, reflecting on a history marked by impeachments, leadership disputes and normalization committees. He singled out the outgoing president, Lamin Kabba Bajo, whose 12-year tenure he credited with bringing greater stability to Gambian football.
Mr. Ceesay noted that, since the tenure of Obi Konateh, Mr. Bajo was the only GFF president to oversee a democratic transfer of leadership. He also thanked the government and the Ministry of Youth and Sports for their role in supporting the stability achieved during Mr. Bajo’s administration.
Turning to the campaign, Mr. Ceesay thanked his team and praised his challenger, Ousman Chaw Drammeh, for his commitment to Gambian football. He said the election had demonstrated the depth of talent within the football community and acknowledged the competence of candidates on rival slates, including Team Falcons.
With the campaign over, Mr. Ceesay said the new executive must now focus on governing.
The delegates who entrusted his team with leadership, he said, would expect results over the next four years.
Among his administration’s most ambitious goals is the establishment of a professional football league in the Gambia. Mr. Ceesay said the previous executive had already developed a strong business plan for the project but acknowledged that significant financial and structural challenges remained.
He appealed for continued assistance from FIFA, the Confederation of African Football, and the West African Football Union, noting the GFF’s heavy reliance on international football bodies for financing. According to Mr. Ceesay, about 80 percent of the federation’s funding comes from FIFA.
For the new president, the election victory marks the beginning rather than the culmination of the task ahead.
His immediate challenge will be turning a campaign built around unity and professionalization into tangible changes for Gambian football.
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