Kaba Bajo former APRC cabinet minister and diplomat has narrowly won the GFF Presidential elections which was held on Saturday September 20th at the Paradise Hotel in the Gambia. The election which was marked by controversy for disqualifying former GFF officials went ahead with Mr. Bajo winning 28 votes to Buba Bojang’s 23 votes. Omar Danso the third candidate withdrew last minute and threw his backings behind Mr. Bojang. Despite this last minute surprise the APRC backed candidate was able to pull the votes to win the Presidency.
On Friday the debate that was scheduled to be held on National television between the candidates was abruptly cancelled by the Normalization committee. The debate was said to be historic but due to the precedence and impact it could have had on national elections, it was cancelled last minute without any reasons. Along with Mr. Bajo other sports enthusiasts such as Star Jallow, Ebou Faye and Martin Gomez were elected as First and second vice Presidents respectively.
As Mr. Bajo takes over the leadership of the GFF, football fans have mix feelings and reaction to the election of Mr. Bajo. One seasoned Gambian sports journalist who predicted Bajo’s victory affirmed that Bajo may surprise many people as he is a sports enthusiast and has more influence than others. Another source indicated that Bajo’s elections is the end of football as we know it in Gambia. He claimed that mixing politics with football will only lead to further isolation of the game in Gambia.
Others speculated that the jury is still out on what direction Bajo will take the organization. Some believe that he could have more influence on Government to support needed funding for the game. If Mr. Bajo succeeds in influencing government to pour more money into the game, then that could be a positive thing to take the game to the next level. Whatever happens in the future, one thing is absolutely clear the new leadership needs to clean house and reign in on the culture of corruption in recruiting players especially on the sensitive issue of enlisting over age players. Gambia has a new opportunity to convince the World body FIFA that the country can take this international sports to the next level.
If Mr. Bajo and his team allows government to have too much influence in the sports as demonstrated in other national institutions such as the student Unions, Labor Unions and Islamic Council then history will judge them harshly. For now Gambians should rally around the new leadership, put their differences aside and support the national sports that has the potentials to bring the country together.