By Omar Bah
The founder of Youth for Change and Development (YCD) and resident of Jambanjelly has announced his intention to register a political party.
Buba Bojang told The Standard yesterday he has already collected the registration form from the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and his team will soon finish reviewing it.
“We are also working on our manifesto which will include a holistic detail of our plans on how we intend to transform this country and its politics in general to ensure that Gambia gets the change it deserves,” Bojang said.
He revealed that his decision to form a party followed many engagements between his team and government officials as well as other groups including political parties to share their ideas with them but the reception they got was not satisfactory because most political parties in the country are formed for the sake of securing government appointments.”
“And that is something we want to discourage because it does not make sense to form a political party to right the wrongs of the government and end up joining that government overnight. This we believe is part of the problems our country is facing and until we address it, we will not get anywhere,” he said.
Bojang disclosed that the Youth for Change and Development founded by the members of his team, will be the organisation to be transform into a political party but with a different name to be decided later.
“We found the need for a political party because none of the existing ones are living up to expectations. Our approach is to change the concept of politics and governance in this country so as to leave a legacy that would be remembered for all the good reasons,” he said.
He added that he and his team will focus on addressing the country’s economy and judicial systems to tackle the issues of corruption and insecurity in the country. “We feel it is time for God fearing Gambians to take up leadership positions because we cannot leave our politics with people who have no interest in the wellbeing of this country,” he said.
Bojang said his manifesto will also address the issues of salaries. “We will even consider paying government employees every weekend instead of every month as well as formulate serious reforms to revamp the entire system, such as changing the system of appointing ministers, permanent secretaries and other high profile government positions. Our appointments will be based on applications that would be processed by a competent panel that will recommend competent people for appointment,” he said.
Bojang said if the country fails to address its governance lapses there would be serious consequences in the future given the rate at which the population is growing.
