Africa-Press – Gambia. Dr. Papa Faal, the secretary-general and leader of the Gambia Peoples Advancement Party, used a recent appearance on West Coast Radio’s Coffee Time With Peter Gomez to issue a pointed critique of the country’s political culture, arguing that a deficit of integrity remains one of its deepest flaws.
“Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking,” Dr. Faal said in the interview. “How many people will do the right thing when no one is looking? It’s not a lot in our politics. Because most people will go into politics to enrich themselves.”
Dr. Faal, a former military officer who has positioned himself as a reform-minded outsider, said he entered politics not out of necessity but out of responsibility. He noted that he is financially secure and supported by his family, insisting that personal comfort does not absolve leaders from addressing the hardship around them. “I’m comfortable with what I receive to sustain myself,” he said. “I do not need to go into politics. My family and I are okay. But if I’m okay and my neighbor is not okay, am I okay?”
The GPAP leader said his motivation stems from witnessing the daily struggles of ordinary Gambians. “I live in a society where every other person is hungry, every other person is poor. Every other person is struggling to survive,” he said. “If I am okay and those people are not, what do I do if God gives me the means to be able to use my knowledge to help them?”
Drawing on his background in the U.S. military, Dr. Faal suggested that the ethos of service required of soldiers is one that political leaders should embrace. “Like I said before, being a soldier, you put your life at risk for your nation,” he said. “The best leaders were soldiers.”
With his party, he added, he hopes to revive a sense of duty and public service in Gambian politics—and to inspire younger Gambians to lead with the integrity he argues the system urgently lacks.
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