Talib Bensouda pledges 66 priority measures by 2031
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Gambiana
Coalition 2026 candidate Talib Bensouda has pledged to implement 66 priority measures over five years if elected president of The Gambia. Unveiled in Banjul, the programme runs to 2031 and includes appointing Islamic studies specialists to some diplomatic missions, Gambiana reports.
Talib Bensouda, a Gambian presidential candidate and leader of Coalition 2026, has promised to implement 66 priority actions in five years if elected. He said the commitments would transform The Gambia by 2031, speaking at the launch of the coalition’s manifesto at the Atlantic Hotel in Banjul, reports Gambiana.
The coalition initially selected 65 measures before adding one on appointing people trained in Islamic studies to Gambian diplomatic missions in Muslim countries. The number 66 also refers to the 66th anniversary of The Gambia’s independence, which will be celebrated in 2031, at the end of the proposed five-year programme.
Talib Bensouda said Coalition 2026 had summarised its programme to make it more accessible to citizens, rather than publishing a long and difficult-to-read manifesto. He thanked the parties and groups that had joined the alliance, while praising organisations at the launch that are not part of the coalition but, he said, share its goal of political change.
The manifesto launch marks a new stage in preparations for the 2026 presidential election. It follows the decision on 18 October by a faction of the APP-Sobeya led by Gumbo Ali-Ture to join Bensouda’s coalition, and his subsequent defence of peaceful demonstrations without permits, published on 23 October in The Gambia.
