Newly elected president of the University of the Gambia Students Union, Ismaila Fadera faces mounting calls to resolve internal tensions before they fracture the 24th Executive Council.
The warning follows the May 16 inauguration, where 10 of 21 council members boycotted the oath-taking after Fadera’s Alliance bloc rejected the Coalition’s nominee for Deputy Sports Minister. Critics say the decision prioritised political allegiance over precedent and merit.
In a letter shared with The Standard, Yusuf Tunkara, former deputy speaker of UTGSU legislative body and alumni of UTG urged Fadera to publicly acknowledge the misstep, reaffirm that ministerial appointments serve all students, and restore a cross-camp standard for nominations.
Without that, he warns, the council will operate as a faction, undermining trust and service delivery.
“The students elected a union, not a party caucus,” he said.
“If Fadera doesn’t act now, the division will harden and the council will fail before it starts.”
Tunkara argued that the next decision, not the next statement, will determine whether the 24th Council unites or splinters.
“The 24th Executive Council can still recover. Institutions have survived rocky beginnings before. But recovery requires more than time. It requires candour. Fadera must acknowledge that the rejection of Arturo was a mistake, not in vague terms, but plainly and without qualification.
“He must make clear to his Alliance-camp colleagues that the Council is not a prize to be distributed among loyalists, but a table at which all elected and nominated ministers, regardless of their political colours, have an equal right to stand.”
He said the students of the University elected a Council to serve them.
“They did not elect a faction to govern them. That distinction must be lived, not merely spoken.”
He stressed that Fadera is a young leader with a profile that extends well beyond the university, and there is genuine potential in that.
“How he responds to this crisis, not in his next press statement, but in his next actual decision, will tell us whether the promise of his campaign was real or merely rhetoric. The verdict on his presidency is not yet final. But the opening chapter of the 24th Executive Council has been written, and it does not make for comfortable reading.”
When contacted for comments, UTGSU president Ismaila Fadera said his team has already started discussions on how to address the issue amicable. He assured the students of his commitment to lead all of them without fear or favour.
“We are even thinking of organising a unity football match to bring the two camps together. We believe it is only when we are united that we will be able to achieve our objectives,” Fadera noted.
He acknowledged that the tension at the congress was out of hand and unbecoming.
