During a panel discussion broadcast by QTV last week, Mr Kemeseng said the following in response to questions asked by the moderator.
Q: What policies did they (PDOIS leadership) change to show that they are actually listening to you? Do you have any examples like that?
You have also been with your leader who contested so many elections since 1986? We all say that we want term limit in government, why don’t we practice this in the opposition as a government in waiting? There is nobody to take over, just the same old people running things.
A: Absolutely right, we have made so many decisions that changed the policies of the party, such as agriculture….
Q: But not the leadership?
A: Even the leadership. PDOIS only contested only two (presidential) elections, one under Sidia Jatta and the other under Halifa Sallah. But we have always been trying to bring the young people together……. So far, in the history of PDOIS we have not been contesting elections.
At the time the young people were not ready but now the situation has changed and that is why Halifa Sallah has made it clear that he is not contesting in any election and young people are ready to apply once applications are open. I might be one of those who want to be a flagbearer of PDOIS. That shows you that young people are now nurtured to take over leadership positions and I’m sure you will not see Halifa in our ballot box again.
Q: Are you sure? When are you going to select a flagbearer?
A: We are thinking of October/November.
Q: So, you are saying that Halifa Sallah won’t contest.
A: No, Halifa will never contest.
Q: PDOIS, where do you stand on quotas?
A: First of all, we need to break barriers. We need to speak truth to each other. First, our leaders must believe in young people. That is the starting point that is lacking in all our political parties and whatever they are doing, we can do it more than them. And unless they have that belief in young people being capable of doing more than them, we will always have this barrier. These young people are nurtured and ready to take over leadership. Tradition may dismiss this but once at the political level you need to fight tooth and nail for their voices to be heard. This has been the challenge for all the political parties because at the end of the day you will only see five of six people who speak on behalf of a political party. And if you look at those people, they did not have it in a silver platter. They forced themselves to be part of the decision-making process.
So, there must be that avenue for young people to have a say so that they will be accepted in our community. They must believe in us that we can and once they have that belief and give us responsibilities that they are handling, then the whole will know that we are ready to take over.
Q: Does the Party have any views on quotas or not?
A: Yes, they do.
Q: Do you believe in them?
A: Sometimes, when we go to fora we just romanticize, but at the end of the day we just let them be bench warmers and people who climb on top of ‘gele geles’. But when it comes to decision making you will see that it does not reflect the realities of young people.
These views of Kemeseng Sanneh were put forward to Halifa Sallah for his response.
These views are expressed at this time when Gambia is at stage are appearing to be diverting the PDOIS youth from the mission for system change. Any PDOIS youth with clarity will tell the interviewer that our mission is not about age or gender, but all of us, to save The Gambia. The mission is to have a government that exists for the people, a government that is sensitive and responsive to the urgencies and demands of all our people, without anybody being left behind. That government must be administered and managed by people with knowledge, experience, convictions and crowned by self-abnegation.
Our duty as sovereign Gambians, irrespective of our age or gender is to be the persons with knowledge, experience and conviction that our country needs to be saved and offer ourselves to the people for their consideration, either as independent candidates or candidate of a political party. Hence no sovereign Gambian with knowledge, experience and conviction can be barred from serving country and people. There is no need to cry foul or to give the impression of a generational war. Nobody on earth can stop a person with knowledge, experience and conviction from being visible and no elder needs to anoint such a person to serve and save country and people. Such a person simply seizes the ground and claims the limelight and become unstoppable. The debate should be centered on the type of leadership The Gambia needs at this trying time to eradicate the poverty of our people, protect their fundamental rights and ensure their dignified existence on this earth.
We must not lose sight of this focus and any PDOIS member, youth or elder, who loses sight of this focus and does not call for the unity of all irrespective of age, gender, ethnolinguistic, religious and other considerations would in fact, be undermining the very course for system change. This is the time for unity and not division. There are those who want to be united to share The Gambia like a cake. A genuine PDOIS member however has always called, is now calling and will always call for unity of all Gambians who love country and people to save The Gambia and the Gambian people,
There is no member of the PDOIS leadership who is true for what PDOIS stands for, who is ever been interested in position. Otherwise in 2016, they would have scrambled for the positions of vice president, minister and speaker of the national assembly. If holding officer in a political party only has value if it could be converted to the office of vice president, minister, then the PDOIS leadership would have cashed in in 2016.
The PDOIS leadership had the aim to inspire the whole Gambian nation to have the knowledge, experience and conviction to save The Gambia. As far as I am concerned there is no generational gap or conflict in PDOIS. There has never been a generational struggle in PDOIS and there shall never be a generational struggle. PDOIS came to empower. It will therefore never weaken those who should be empowered to save The Gambia. Empowerment is about imbuing knowledge, experience, values and conviction in people. This is what PDOIS is doing with its youth.
A PDOIS member should tell the world that there is no selection committee that makes a PDOIS member a candidate for council, national assembly or presidential seat. It is all the PDOIS members in a ward, region that select their candidate for councillor or chairperson. It is all the PDOIS members of a constituency that select their candidates for the constituency. It is all the PDOIS members in the country who select their candidate for a presidential election. None is excluded in PDOIS.
The only clarion call for all PDOIS members is to make informed choice when they do their selection. Needless to say, any person deciding in selecting a candidate will be making an informed choice, if he or she chooses the most knowledgeable, experienced, consistent with the best values and most committed to serve with self-abnegation.
This is what PDOIS members should tell the world. They should not give the impression that there is power struggle for positions. My advice to all PDOIS youth is not to pretend to have knowledge, experience and conviction to lead a nation. They must put themselves in the service of the nation and build study groups to read, read and read; learn, learn and learn; and take their knowledge to the people to raise their awareness and convince them that the knowledge they have can address their needs and aspirations.
Africa needs leadership. The world needs leadership. It is the leadership of our respective countries that are combined to constitute the leadership of our regions, continents and the world. Let us therefore not lower the bar of the quality of leadership that our country needs to shape its destiny and that of the continent and the world.
Specifically, I must sympathise with the PDOIS youth who became inspired by PDOIS from the 1994 coup d’etat period up to 2016. They have not been subjected to the rigorous training that the PDOIS had between 1986 and 1994 when Foroyaa was a school for raising the awareness of PDOIS members and the population at large, producing not only a newspaper but pamphlets and books on all aspects of policy and national life, whose coup period became a coalition building period and we focused more on mobilization for regime change than education for system change.
However, there is consolation that as of 2023, the PDOIS that arose in 1986 is being cemented. Resolutions have been made to establish a quota system such as the following:
RESOLUTION NO. 4
GENDER, YOUTH AND DISABILITY POLICY AND QUOTA IN THE ORGANS OF THE PARTY
Having regard to Article 27 “the Central Committee shall progressively work to sensitise capable women and men so as to facilitate gender and ethno-linguistic balance in it;
Whereas political exclusion and marginalisation may be arrested and reversed through affirmative action to promote gender parity and participation of youth and people with disabilities in representation and decision making;
The Congress resolves the following:
- that in National Assembly and Council elections, no less than half the candidates should be under thirty-five (35) years of age;
- that in the composition of the Central Committee, no less than half the members should be under fifty (50) years;
- that every Party organ be constituted on the basis of gender parity and should have at least one male and one female person with disabilities.
Now affirmative action can be taken by women, youth and persons with disabilities to ensure that this resolution does not gather dust.
PDOIS members should explain this resolution to the world to show the efforts being made to ensure inclusion and fight exclusion.
Holding a congress is based on constitutional provision. The date of the next congress hinges on the work being done to operationalize all the PDOIS bureaus. The youth bureau under the constitution has the following functions:
There shall be a Youth Bureau which shall be responsible for developing youth programmes to involve the youth in the administrative life of society. The Youth Bureau shall also prepare youths for leadership and organize and mobilize youth groups or associations. It shall operate under the direction and control of the Central Committee.
The Party has constituted a youth group from all the branches at the diaspora to work out how to implement these functions. The bureau on women and child affairs and all the other bureaus are doing the same. These technical committees are carving the path for the PDOIS that is fit to be a party that all its members will embrace and that will be able to offer leadership to a country that is fit for purpose. Hence consultation is going on to know when these committees will finish their work before a date can be properly fixed and even if there is an agenda it can be rejected. Hence things will come to light when there is a proposed agenda.
On the issue of presidential candidate of PDOIS the Constitution stipulates the holding of primaries for the selection of candidates involving equal participation of all members.
Lastly, the question of my candidature was raised. I do understand that many people who followed my practice will always say that I am a man of my word. However, I have emphasised that I have made my contract with country and people, with all my mind, might, heart and will power from the age of 16 when I made the commitment up to my grave. I have said that despite what I said people are still calling for me to offer myself for leadership. I am convinced that call is in the interest of PDOIS and country. We must have in the party not one but many who a sector of the Gambian people would like to lead the country. This is what you call leadership. Hence, I have advised all members to dismiss any discussion about my candidature because the party has said nothing about my candidature.
So, it is not a party issue but a personal and I will not be happy with anybody speaking on my behalf on what I intend to do in 2026. Now is not the time to diverge the interest of the people in any member of the PDOIS leadership or the PDOIS leadership as a whole, and what PDOIS finally does should ultimately maintain the interest those people have in supporting a PDOIS candidate.
One thing that I can assure the Gambian people is that I am personally ready to build a team of thinkers, innovators and builders of a nation, experience in all works of life to seize the ground to convince the people that they can provide answers to all questions of national development so that whoever emerges to be a presidential candidate in 2026 must have the knowledge, experience and conviction to save The Gambia and the Gambian people. Team Gambia 2026 will be a team to save Gambia and the Gambian people. I will be selling this to the Congress and after the Congress my load will be lighter, and I will be able to devote more time to Team Gambia 2026. Hence to those who are still speculating on what I intend to do, this is a gist that shows that I will be among the people at the forefront of the battle of wits and will to save The Gambia. 2026 is not about the presidency. It is about providing fitting leadership to save country and people. This is verdict of conscience and common sense, and it is incontrovertible.
