By: Muhammed Lamin Drammeh
27-year-old Mustapha Conteh, an advanced student in environmental science at Brandon University in Canada, has announced his bid to challenge United Democratic Party’s (UDP) incumbent Talib Ahmed Bensouda for the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC) mayoral seat, noting that they [youths] have been frustrated by a system that offers them nothing.
Mustapha told The Fatu Network that the youths are tired and believe that the young people in Kanifing Municipality will throw their weight behind him in his desire to defeat Talib Ahmed Bensouda and others for the mayoral seat in May as an independent candidate.
“I think I will have the backing from youths because we are tired, and we are frustrated by the system that is offering us nothing. And that will make me victorious, the 27-year-old Mustapha said.
Mustapha will go head-to-head with incumbent Talib Ahmed Bensouda of the United Democratic Party and potentially Bakary Badjie of the National People’s Party (NPP) for the seat if he runs.
Motivated by the distraction leaders are faced with as party candidates, the young public health officer said he is running as an independent candidate so that he can be held accountable without compromising party agendas if elected as the Mayor of the KMC.
He outlined that the Talib-led Council has fallen short on many different issues, which include waterways, temporary market flooding and what he called a lack of preparedness in the face of hazards. He vowed that he will work on these issues if elected.
“The current council has also fallen short on various issues such as water runaways. What we often observe is their lack of preparedness in the face of hazards. They have fallen short of the temporary market flooding in Latrikunda and the conditions of Ebou Town and Tallinding.
“These issues are small in the face of the common Gambian, but if you look at it from a wide perspective, you would realize these are factors affecting our sanitation and hygiene,” he pointed out.
Eager and enthusiastic for the challenge, Mustapha has given the current council a 5 over 10 rating.
The Kanifing Municipal Council mayoral seat is expected to be the most heavily contested seat in this year’s mayoral election. The incumbent Talib Bensouda has the backing of his party, the United Democratic Party, while the youth and sports minister, Bakary Badjie, who lost against Talib in 2018, is highly tipped to be the candidate for the ruling National People’s Party.
With Mustapha coming into the frame and having the hope that the youth folk will back him, the dwellers of the municipality await an interesting election.
