By: Dawda Baldeh
As he seeks re-election, incumbent of the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) Talib Ahmed Bensouda has launched a five-point manifesto ahead of the much-anticipated 20th May 2023 mayoral/chairmanship elections. He said, if re-elected, he will prioritize road construction.
The main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) mayoral candidate for KMC told journalists that his first term [2018-2023] was focused on waste management.
“When we were coming into the office, waste management was on our top list because of the illegal dumpsites that existed in communities, riverine areas, gutters, abundant homes, and markets,” he explained.
Bensouda said promises are “dangerous”, saying if they [promises] fail, they become lies.
“In UDP, our leader has always told us not to promise people but to always talk about our plans,” he noted.
According to him, the waste management issue has now been fixed. “We want to move to other areas and the top of our list this coming five years is road infrastructure,” Bensouda revealed.
He added that based on the surveys they conducted and feedback they got from their councillors, road network is the biggest problem within the Kanifing Municipality.
“Before we ended the first mandate, we passed a project called ‘The Kanifing Municipal Road Network Project (The KMRNP)’. This project will cost more than three hundred million dalasis (D300,000,000). We will construct twenty-three kilometers (23km) of roads in our municipality and six kilometers (6km) of drain network,” he narrated.
Confident of victory, Bensouda said the council over the past years has witnessed significant improvement that has improved the quality of living among residents of KM.
“We will ensure road safety will be observed in places like schools, mosques, and places of convergence to ensure that traffic is controlled,” he promised.
He commended the people of Kanifing Municipality for allowing him run the affairs of the council over the years while urging them to give him a second mandate to continue what he described as ‘forward development’.
The unveiling ceremony was held at Sea View Garden in Senegambia and was attended by Ousainou Darboe Esq, the leader of the United Democratic Party and other prominent opposition leaders including Musa Ousainou Yali Bachilly, leader of the Gambia Action Party, and representatives of Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) and National Unity Party (NUP). These parties have endorsed the re-election of Mr. Bensouda.
