By Fatou Sillah
Bakary Y. Badjie, The Gambia’s minister of youth and sports, says he remains interested in running for mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council, but that any decision will come after the 2026 presidential election and depend on the plans of his party and President Adama Barrow.
In an interview with Teledal TV, Mr. Badjie, a former nominated councillor at KMC, said his interest in local government stems from a desire to work more closely with communities and deliver services that have a direct impact on residents.
“My interest remains intact in terms of the mayoral thing, and if the party doesn’t have any other plans, I will definitely give it a shot,” Mr. Badjie said. “I have my intentions. The president might have other plans for me, and it depends on when we get there.”
Mr. Badjie, a member of President Barrow’s National People’s Party, said his immediate priority was the presidential election. Discussions over candidates for the 2027 local government elections, he said, would come afterward.
“For now our focus is on the presidential election, and when we get past that, then we would come back to make declarations,” he said. “But my interest remains intact.”
Mr. Badjie also took aim at the record of Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the current KMC mayor, arguing that the municipality would have taken a different direction had he been elected mayor.
He questioned the council’s progress on several issues that featured prominently in Mr. Bensouda’s 2018 campaign, including road construction, waste management, revenue generation and plans to relocate the municipality’s dumpsite.
Mr. Badjie also accused Mr. Bensouda’s administration of placing greater emphasis on promoting its record than on delivering major infrastructure projects.
“His team is good at marketing; they are good at presenting something in the way that they want it, and they communicate it the way they want it, because they have a whole team of people working behind the scenes,” he said. “So whatever you want is what comes out. That’s not delivery.”
Mr. Bensouda has emerged as a prominent opposition figure during his tenure as mayor, with his administration frequently highlighting municipal development initiatives and public-service projects. Mr. Badjie’s remarks signal that the contest over KMC’s leadership could again become a significant political battleground after the presidential election.
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