By Omar Bah
The Commissioner General of the Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) Yankuba Darboe used his motivational speech at Saturday’s maiden National Career Fest 2026 to deliver a road map for young Gambians who want to move from aspiration to impact.
His message to the students and young people was clear: education matters, but character, skills, discipline and patience matter just as much.
The GRA boss was speaking at the inaugural National Career Fest hosted by the Tertiary and Higher Education Trust Fund (THET Fund), under the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST). The event was graced by students, tertiary institutions, TVET providers, employers, entrepreneurs, development partners and policymakers to promote informed career choices and strengthen the link between education and employment.
Commissioner General Darboe did more than represent the Gambia Revenue Authority. He turned the platform into a powerful sermon on youth discipline, national responsibility and the link between personal preparation and national development.
His message was simple but forceful: young people must not wait for the future to happen to them. They must prepare for it, shape it and position themselves to benefit from it.
His central argument was that education should be seen as the starting point of a journey, not the final destination. That message was delivered in the setting of a career fair designed to connect education with employability, innovation and entrepreneurship.
He insisted that qualifications alone are no longer enough in a world being transformed by artificial intelligence, automation and digital commerce. Employers, he argued, now want problem-solvers, communicators, team players, critical thinkers and digitally literate young people.
That is a necessary warning for a generation facing a fast-changing labour market. It is also a challenge to universities, training institutions and students themselves to move beyond certificates and focus on relevance.
Darboe also used the speech to explain why tax administration matters to young people. He reminded the audience that taxes finance classrooms, hospitals, roads, scholarships, security and the wider machinery of the state.
In his framing, taxation is not a punishment but a collective investment in the country’s future. That argument is important because it recasts revenue mobilisation as a patriotic duty rather than a technical task reserved for accountants and tax officials.
He linked this directly to youth empowerment, arguing that a skilled young person, who finds employment, starts a business or innovates in agriculture and technology does not only improve personal prospects, but also strengthens the country’s revenue base and economic resilience.
What made the speech especially persuasive was the man behind it. Darboe has led GRA since 2014, after beginning his career in Customs and Excise and rising through senior operational and leadership roles within the institution.
That long service gives him the authority to speak about patience, preparation and steady advancement. He told the audience about his own early postings in remote stations such as Nyamanarr and Sare Ngai, where difficult conditions taught him humility, resilience and empathy.
He also disclosed that he twice declined the Commissioner General job before finally accepting it when he felt properly prepared. That revelation transformed the speech from a ceremonial address into a personal leadership testimony.
Under Darboe, GRA has been associated with digital reform, compliance enforcement and broader efforts to expand the tax base without increasing tax rates. Recent reporting says the Authority collected D25.3 billion in 2025, up 21 percent from the previous year, and was set a D27.5 billion target for 2026.
Public reports also credit GRA under his leadership with reforms such as e-invoicing, ITAS, digital tax stamps, e-tracking for transit cargo, a single window for customs clearance, a fuel integrity solution and a digital weighbridge at the port. These are the kinds of reforms that make revenue systems harder to leak and easier to manage.
That record matters because it shows Darboe as more than a speaker. He is a revenue administrator who has tied his institutional leadership to modernisation, data-driven compliance and public sector reform.
Darboe’s address also carried a strong message of personal responsibility. He urged young people to keep learning, build their skills, strengthen their character and not wait passively for opportunities.
He encouraged those seeking jobs to volunteer, intern, learn a trade, start small businesses and acquire digital skills. That advice was practical, direct and realistic, especially in a country where formal employment opportunities remain limited for many graduates.
His strongest point was perhaps the simplest: the future will reward those who prepare now. In other words, youth empowerment is not a slogan; it is a discipline.
The final surprise in the speech was his announcement that, from 2027, GRA will offer employment opportunities to top-performing graduates in Economics, Accounting, Computer Science and IT from recognised tertiary institutions in The Gambia, subject to recruitment requirements and procedures. That announcement gives the speech immediate practical value. It also sends a clear signal that merit, technical competence and academic excellence still matter in public institutions that want to remain competitive and modern. For young Gambians, the speech lands at the intersection of education, employability and national development. It insists that taxes fund public goods, that youth empowerment strengthens domestic revenue, and that the future belongs to those who keep learning and adapting.
For Darboe and GRA, the address also reinforced a larger leadership identity: an institution focused not just on collection, but on reform, digitalisation and national development. That combination of state discipline and youth advocacy is what made the speech stand out.
