Bensouda Pledges to Criminalise Tribalism, Fight Corruption and Poverty if Elected

By Fatou Sillah

Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the flag bearer of Coalition 2026, has pledged to make tribalism a prosecutable criminal offence if elected president, as he outlined a broader agenda focused on corruption, poverty, food security and long-term national development.

Speaking at Coalition 2026’s memorandum of understanding signing ceremony, Bensouda said his administration would take a firm stance against tribalism, which has increasingly featured in the country’s political discourse.

“We will make tribalism a prosecutable criminal offence,” Bensouda said.

He also pledged a tougher approach to corruption, saying a Coalition 2026 government would not tolerate corrupt practices and would work to address crime within communities and public institutions.

Bensouda identified poverty as one of the fundamental challenges facing The Gambia and said reducing it would be central to the coalition’s governing programme.

“The foundation of The Gambia’s problems is poverty,” he said. “Every serious country, if you are making laws and plans, what you think about first is the poor, and make programmes to end poverty in your country.”

He also pledged to pursue greater food self-sufficiency, saying his administration would work with agricultural experts to increase domestic production and reduce the country’s dependence on imported food.

Bensouda used the occasion to criticise President Adama Barrow’s government, accusing it of prioritising short-term measures aimed at securing electoral support rather than pursuing lasting solutions to the country’s challenges.

He cited electricity as an example, arguing that the government became increasingly reliant on power imports from Senegal after taking office in 2017 instead of developing sufficient domestic generation capacity. He noted that disruptions in regional electricity supplies have exposed the risks of that dependence.

Bensouda said a Coalition 2026 government would instead pursue long-term programmes designed to address the underlying causes of the country’s economic and development challenges if voters give it a mandate in the 2026 presidential election.