Earlier this year, I was told Dr Mamadou Tangara would contest for the Secretary General of the Commonwealth. Now it is clear he will definitely contest and if he wins, he will be only the second African to hold the coveted position since Nigeria’s Emeka Anyaoku more than two decades ago. As the historic election nears, I find it fitting to share my thoughts on Tangara, having worked with him for a year at the foreign ministry.
In 2018, I walked into Dr Mamadou Tangara’s office in Banjul. I was recommended to him as he tried to put together a team which would properly handle the communications unit of the foreign ministry. He had just newly been appointed, replacing Ousainu Darboe who became vice president.
I listened to him talk about his vision for the communications unit. Good vision. His background as a journalist is enough for him to value communication and if that is not enough, he has seen the value of communication in other foreign ministries across the world. It was always strange that we had a whole foreign ministry that didn’t have a communications unit. One mistake Gambians often make is calling an office a unit. Here is how it was: the indefatigable Saikou Ceesay was the communications officer, so everyone called his office ‘communications unit’. But enter that office and you would meet only Saikou and his broad smile. No one else. Sadly, that is how it is across ministries in the country. We don’t really have communications units, only offices.
After a brief chat, I agreed to join the ministry to actualise that vision of Tangara. Ya Awa Touray, fresh from her studies in Turkïye, also joined us. For the next eleven months, she and I would form a formidable team at the ministry while Saikou devoured yakitori in Japan. During my research for the ministry’s newsletter, I checked every former foreign minister of The Gambia from the first cabinet under Jawara to 2018 under Barrow. The only thing that stood out for me—apart from the fact that there was no female foreign minister throughout the first republic—was that Tangara is the only Gambian to have served as foreign minister three different times. I found that very impressive.
We attended every meeting the minister had with diplomats and guests. In each meeting, I sat there listening and observing how he maneuvered through complex diplomatic issues in English, Spanish or French. Every ambassador. Every foreign minister. Every resident representative. Every special envoy comes with an interest to protect. Sometimes, most of the times, these interests collide and the foreign minister must at least appear to satisfy everyone. To a very large extent, he has tried to satisfy everyone. He gave relevance to every guest and engaged each in deeper conversations about the realities in the world, displaying his knowledge of countries and being up to date with current affairs. Each week day, Ya Awa and I were on hand to document these meetings and then publicise them as widely as possible. Tangara made us comfortable; helped us whenever necessary and was sensitive to our feelings. He knew we were young but he ensured we grow and learn.
We held the fort until Saikou returned. Suddenly, it was three of us. It was now a proper unit. We divided labour and gave the ministry the best publicity it ever had. However, half a decade later, Saikou is an Alhaji in America. Ya Awa is eating lasagna in Italy. I am wearing nyamba in Brikama rains. That is a story for another day.
In 2023, while I was on a four-month study tour in China, I met Dr Tangara at the beautiful Grand Halls, cutely situated at the intersection of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, Shanghai. Ramadan had just ended and it was on Koriteh day, eid-ul-fitr. Dr Tangara was billed among high-profile speakers at the first ever Lanting Forum held outside Beijing. In our group alone, we were more than 60 journalists, 25 of which came from Africa. “Wow, your foreign minister is here” a few of my colleagues said, having seen his name in the programme booklet. It was a big forum with hundreds of delegates. When his name was called to take the podium, I smiled. If I didn’t know Tangara better, I would be nervous. I was nervous actually, for him. In that moment, nothing mattered except The Gambia and nothing should have mattered. No rivalries. No political differences. No grudges. Just The Gambia. Any Gambian in my position, despite their reservation about him, would be proud because no one else in that forum cared about anything else except the fact that he is The Gambia’s foreign minister and if he flopped, it is on the entire country, not just him. He took the stage, adjusted his reading glasses and spoke. His voice reverberated in the Grand Halls and I felt calm, knowing that is the exact voice I heard a million times during diplomatic meetings at the foreign ministry. But, right in the middle of his speech, he paused for a few seconds. My heart dropped in my mouth. He realised he was reading the wrong speech. Well, not the wrong speech but the corrections he made to the original speech did not reflect on the one he was reading. So, he improvised. He went full-blown PLO Lumumba, quoting French philosophers with an almost static eye-contact with the audience. It was incredible. He signed off and left the stage to a loud applause. I didn’t clap. I just took a long sigh of relief, knowing most people, even the experienced ones, would struggle to maintain such composure in that circumstance.
After his speech, my colleague Momodou Lamin Choi and I were ushered into another room for a bilateral between The Gambia and China on the margins of the forum. The Gambia’s ambassador to China, Masanneh Kinteh and OIC Gambia CEO Yankuba Dibba accompanied the minister to the forum. Stepping out of the bilateral hall, and seeing me for the first time, he called me out “Hydara!”. Yes, in front of senior officials and clicking camera sounds. I went to him and shook hands. It was the first time we met since I left the ministry in 2019. It was a wholesome reunion. Again, despite the brevity of our meeting, he did not fail to ask about work and family, with care and authenticity telegraphed on his face. In all the time I worked under him, he hardly missed the chance to ask about my family and I appreciated it every single time. Choi and I jointly interviewed him afterwards before we parted ways. As always, he was humble and visibly delighted to see us. He instructed the ambassador to give me the correct speech for my article.
Myself, Saikou Ceesay and Ya Awa Touray were young people working under Tangara. He guided and made us fall in love with the intricacies of diplomacy. He ensured we were as close as possible to high-profile visitors in order to efficiently do our work, whether it was Moussa Faki Mahamat of AU, Behgjet Pacolli of Kosovo or Wang Yi of China. I haven’t been the same since I left with my professional career ever tilting towards diplomacy.
That is why, knowing 60% of the Commonwealth population are under the age of 30, there is no better candidate to spearhead the welfare of this huge demographic than Dr Tangara.
Yes, it is Africa’s turn but let’s make it The Gambia’s turn. This is about us as a country and Tangara’s candidature should be constantly on our lips. Unfortunately, it is not getting the needed internal mobilisation as expected. Since The Gambia’s re-entry into the Commonwealth six years ago, there has not been much to write home about in terms of impact on Gambians but that could all change in October. The choice is clear for every Gambian because, like the OIC Summit held here in May, this is about the country we all love.
I have heard rumours of behind-the-scene lobbying to make him step aside for another candidate. Tangara is one of the longest-serving African foreign ministers with a wealth of experience in the diplomatic arena, including serving twice as The Gambia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. These are no small feats, and I am sure if the other candidates attained such excellence, they would be shouting about it across the globe. So, why would the experienced candidate step aside for the inexperienced candidate? That is not how democracy works and I would be absolutely livid if he passes on this epic chance to indelibly write The Gambia in history books. The Gambia has taken leadership of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The Gambia has taken leadership of the Ecowas Commission. Now, it is time for The Gambia to take leadership of the Commonwealth so to speak. We have been in the shadows of so-called big countries in the region for decades. This is our chance and we must not give it up for any country.
To conclude, leading a huge organisation like the Commonwealth with over two billion people requires experience, dynamism, compassion and grit. I have seen all that in Tangara and I am certain he will not disappoint. I know Gambians usually respond differently to endorsing candidates (we only do it when we are forming coalitions with them) but I endorse Dr Mamadou Tangara for the Commonwealth Secretary General, for the whole Gambia, and Africa at large. I don’t have a vote, yes, but does it matter? Good luck, Honourable!
