By Musa Bassadi Jawara
Coalition 2026 was unveiled with fanfare in Brikama on 6th September, 2026. What the public saw was unity.
What a trained political observer saw was a marriage without chemistry — a marriage already headed for divorce.
Let us examine the facts.
The Brikama podium test failed
At the Brikama inauguration on 6th September, Lamin J Darboe took the podium. His role was clear and non-negotiable: he was to be surrogate-in-chief, to ferociously, fervently, and religiously promote the candidacy of Talib Bensouda for the 5th December poll.
Throughout his speech, there was no mention of that. If he did, it was perhaps in a passing comment.
In American politics, from which coalition theory borrows heavily, the first duty of a running mate is to sell, market, and promote the top of the ticket. Darboe did not.
Two weeks of silence
Two weeks have elapsed since the inauguration of the coalition in Brikama. There has been no activity, no statement, nothing heard from Lamin J Darboe, leader of the National Unity Party (NUP).
This at a time of maximum danger for his coalition partner.
All the talk in Banjul is about the government whitepaper on the Local Government Commission. It is widely expected there will be ploys to bar Talib Bensouda from running for the presidency.
Bensouda has been forced to file a preemptive legal suit against any adverse findings of the Local Government Commission Report.
I published a detailed legal diagnosis on this matter “The Gambia Local Government Commission White Paper: A Preemptive Diagnosis of Barrow’s State House Witch-Hunt” arguing that a whitepaper is not a court judgment, that Section 24(3)(a) presumes innocence, and that under Section 62(1) of the 1997 Constitution, only a court conviction can disqualify a candidate.
Where was the coalition partner? Not a single statement of solidarity, no legal brief, no press conference from Lamin J Darboe as his flag-bearer went to court to defend his constitutional right to run.
The Salikenni snub
Currently, Bensouda is on a courtesy-call campaign tour in the North Bank Region, which started with a mega rally on Wednesday, 16th September, in Salikenni, Baddibu.
There was no sighting, no involvement, no delegation from a key Coalition 2026 member, Lamin J Darboe and the NUP.
A flag-bearer in the hinterland, canvassing for votes in sweltering heat and difficult terrain, abandoned by his chief ally, tells you everything about internal unity.
The leadership incompatibility
Talib Bensouda’s campaign has faltered and is in serious internal unity and leadership-acceptance crisis.
For any savvy and seasoned political observer, this was predictable. Lawyer Lamin J Darboe left the United Democratic Party (UDP) on a leadership challenge principle.
Why would a man of his stature, legal seniority, Kombo kabilo culture, ancestry, and professional norms leave the UDP to fulfill a surrogate role to a far more junior and inexperienced political leader in Talib Bensouda?
Darboe’s idiosyncrasy, pantomime, body language, lifetime work in the legal profession, and cultural training will never settle for that. From my human and cultural training in this part of the world, his lack of interest in the Unite and Coalition 2026 campaign is explained in concrete and grandiloquent terms.
The warning sign they are ignoring
For Bensouda, Unite, and Coalition 2026, if they do not take warning from Lamin J Darboe reportedly taking part in signing an agreement with Team Gambia of Coalition 2026 while the mayor is in the hinterland canvassing for votes, then they must be naïve and hiding from a reality that will hit at the worst possible time — as voting gets very close.
Conclusion: divorce is imminent
This was a union devoid of the right chemistry from day one. It was a marriage of convenience without conviction, without a common ideological anchor, and without a clear hierarchy.
Talib Bensouda’s political divorce with Lamin J Darboe is imminent. It is unavoidable. And for the sake of clarity before the Gambian voter, it must happen NOW, rather than collapsing on the eve of 5th December.
Coalitions are not built on podiums. They are built in the trenches, with loyalty tested under fire. Coalition 2026 has failed that test in its first two weeks.
Let it be said clearly: Lamin J Darboe is an outstanding trial attorney who has had a stellar and virtuoso performance in the courtroom with superior successes. He has defended the poor, the underprivileged, the marginalised, the indigent, the voiceless, those unjustly accused, victims of state overreach and abuse of power, and the politically persecuted — all on pro bono, without fee, without fanfare.
That record is noble and unassailable.
But politics is a different entity, a different ballgame entirely, and the rules are rudimentary, acerbic, and cruel.
The learned lawyer must be careful and choose wisely as he continues in the muddy waters of politics. As the President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana famously warned, “Politics is a dirty game.”
I will argue that is precisely why the most qualified and decent people often shun politics — because of its cruelties and concomitant barbarity.
Musa Bassadi Jawara is an economist, author and political commentator based in Bintou’s Point, Lamin.