Press release
Monday 5th October 2026 marks exactly one year since UNITE Movement for Change was launched.
One year ago, we gathered at Ebunjan Theatre with an idea that many people considered too ambitious: that Gambians from different backgrounds, regions, generations and political experiences could come together around something bigger than personalities and political divisions.
We called it UNITE. We said we wanted to build a movement founded on integrity, transformation, inclusion and national unity.
One year later, we can look back with gratitude at just how far that idea has travelled.
In October 2025, we launched a movement. In the weeks that followed, we built our foundational structures and adopted our Charter. On 1st December 2025, we submitted our application to the Independent Electoral Commission and began the difficult journey towards becoming a recognised political party.
We then took UNITE beyond Greater Banjul, building structures and networks across the regions and bringing ordinary Gambians into the process of shaping our political vision. We brought together grassroots representatives through our Regional Congress, reinforcing our belief that politics must be built from the bottom up and not imposed from the top. On 16th May 2026, we held our inaugural National Congress, democratically established our national leadership and formally transformed UNITE into a political party. That same day, thousands of Gambians gathered for our first major national rally.
On 1st July 2026, the Independent Electoral Commission officially registered UNITE as a political party. A movement that had existed for only nine months had now earned the legal right to contest for the leadership of our country and become a political party.
We spent the year developing a political programme that speaks to jobs, education, healthcare, the cost of living, housing, constitutional reform, accountable government, economic opportunity and the future of our young people.
When the question of opposition unity came before us, we did not abandon the principle upon which this movement was founded. We chose UNITY. On 8th August, Talib Ahmed Bensouda was elected the flagbearer of Coalition 2026. We subsequently joined forces with other political parties and movements to build a broader coalition around a common national purpose.
From a movement launched at Ebunjan Theatre to a registered national political party. One year. One Party. One People.
But perhaps the greatest achievement of the last year is not the registration certificate, the congresses, the rallies, the structures or even the coalition. It is the people. The thousands who believed when there was no guarantee. The volunteers who gave their time. The women and young people who refused to remain spectators. The supporters who stood with us through uncertainty and criticism. The people who opened their homes, their communities and their hearts to UNITE. This movement belongs to you. Today, after everything we have built together, we say it with even greater conviction:
Happy first anniversary to every member, volunteer, supporter, organiser, leader and friend of the UNITE Movement. May Allah continue to guide our country, guide our movement and give us the wisdom, humility and courage to serve our people.
Source: UNITE Communications Unit
