{"id":94300,"date":"2026-02-17T17:42:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T17:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity"},"modified":"2026-02-17T18:38:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T18:38:39","slug":"mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span><b>Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council and a leading figure in the Unite Movement for Change, on Monday urged opposition parties to pursue unity grounded in shared values and principles, warning against alliances formed solely to unseat an incumbent.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Speaking on Coffee Time With Peter Gomez, Mr. Bensouda said political collaboration ahead of the Dec. 5 presidential election should be driven by a common vision for governance, not by what he described as a narrow focus on regime change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat makes absolutely no sense because removing a leader, I do not think, should be the goal. I think the goal should be how to govern the country correctly, how to transform this country, and how to bring better leadership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Bensouda argued that any credible opposition coalition must be built on alignment around values, principles, and long-term priorities. He recalled backing Adama Barrow in 2016, saying the circumstances at the time demanded collective action. But he added that many Gambians now feel that key reforms promised during Mr. Barrow\u2019s first campaign\u2014including constitutional changes and civil and security sector restructuring\u2014have stalled.<\/p>\n<p>He also pointed to persistent economic challenges, particularly youth unemployment, as evidence of unmet expectations. \u201cProductivity is a major issue,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are so many factors where performance has fallen short.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Bensouda emphasized that opposition unity, if it comes, should be rooted in positive values rather than shared grievances. He cited recent findings from the Center for Research and Policy Studies, which show that roughly two-thirds of respondents said they would not vote for Mr. Barrow, while about one-third indicated support. \u201cMeaning 66% would not. So there is a huge opportunity for the opposition.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As political maneuvering intensified ahead of December\u2019s vote, Mr. Bensouda framed his message as both a caution and a call to action: unity, he said, must be purposeful\u2014aimed not merely at changing leaders, but at reshaping the country\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Gambia<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the mayor of the Kanifing Municipal Council and a leading figure in the Unite Movement for Change, on Monday urged opposition parties to pursue unity grounded in shared values and principles, warning against alliances formed solely to unseat an incumbent. Speaking on Coffee Time With Peter Gomez, Mr. Bensouda [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":94299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-94300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the may ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the may ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T17:42:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T18:38:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-17T17:42:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T18:38:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity\"},\"wordCount\":345,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity\",\"name\":\"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-17T17:42:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T18:38:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the may ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity - Gambia","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the may ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the may ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-02-17T17:42:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-17T18:38:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity","datePublished":"2026-02-17T17:42:02+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-17T18:38:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity"},"wordCount":345,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg","keywords":["Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity","name":"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-17T17:42:02+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-17T18:38:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the may ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/02\/sm_1771353278.123102.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/mayor-bensouda-urges-values-based-opposition-unity#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mayor Bensouda Urges Values-Based Opposition Unity"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}