Reports coming from Banjul indicate that former controversial major of Banjul Samba Faal who promised to attend a mayoral debate – the first in Gambia, before he went AWOL has been handily defeated by Abdoulie Bah an independent candidate in a local government elections held Thursday April 4th, 2013. Mayor Faal received 3,811 votes while Abdoulie Bah received 4,980 votes. Basirou Ndow and Abdoulie Jah both independent candidates received 552, and 390 respectively.
Mr. Faal despite splitting the votes with three opposition candidates in the local government elections went down reportedly due to his ineffectiveness in delivering needed services in the city of Banjul. He also failed to take advantage of the debate which many people saw as an opportunity to make history and face off with his opponents. As a result of his failure to attend the debate which was highly anticipated by the local media, Mr. Faal may have lost needed support.