The one-horse Foni constituency of Bondali never produced a Cabinet Minister in the history of Gambia’s self-rule until a few years ago when President Adama Barrow decided to appoint Demba Sabally in a ministerial capacity.
Sabally hails from Bondali Jola in the Foni Bondali district.
The other Fonis such as Kansala, Bintang, Karanai and Jarrol have produced sons and daughters such as the late Alkali James Gaye, the late Landing Kuti Sanyang, Abba Sanyang, Abdou Colley, Amie Fabureh among others, who later went on to become Cabinet ministers in the PPP, APRC or NPP administrations.
However, it took Foni Bondali more than 50 years before it could produce a Cabinet minister, and some of the NPP’s influential local politicians such as Kaddy Camara, Galo Gagigo and Binta Jarju have been leveraging Sabally’s appointment to drum up support for President Barrow.
It would appear Foni Bondali is going through a seismic political change if the rapturous welcome accorded President Barrow and his delegation last week at the Burumang Bridge by the constituents of Bondali is any barometer to gauge the seeming political shift in the area. The President and delegation were in Bondali as part of the annual presidential countrywide tour and the constituents painted the town red to welcome them.
During the ensuing meeting in the constituency, which brought together constituents from the villages and hamlets of Bondali, local representatives hinted at a shift away from the APRC and a gravitation towards the governing NPP. Former ward councillor Kaddy Camara pointed out that Bondali has been egregiously marginalised from independence to the APRC dispensation.
Another influential local politician said, despite her unalloyed support for both the PPP and the APRC, she and her people were left to wallow in the comfort of broken promises.
“But the NPP helped rejuvenate and revitalise our once abandoned rice fields and constructed gardens and sunk boreholes for us through the ROOTS project and PRSP,” she stated.
Former President Jammeh and his faction of the APRC, many social media users, said would not be amused by the seeming political transformation right under their noses.
