H. E. Amb Mamma Kandeh

It is notable that, in his days, he was the first child in his community to enroll for Primary education. He later attended Crab Island Secondary Technical School. On completion of his secondary school education, he worked for while with Gambia Ports Authority, Senegambia Insurance, Sunwing Hotel and Friendship Hostel respectively.

Following his quest for higher education, he proceeded to the Gambia Technical Training Institute, after which he left the shores of The Gambia for further studies at the Fach Hoch Schula in Köln, Germany. After his graduation, he returned to The Gambia and started his political career. However, along the line, being increasingly drawn towards the acquisition of more knowledge and skills, he decided to pursue additional studies at the Rome Business School in Rome, Italy, in the course of which he was specially tutored and mentored by Prof. Alessio Postiglione of the Rome Business School, a distinguished and renowned Italian scholar and Political Communications specialist. At the Rome Business School, Mamma Kandeh graduated summa cum laude in Political Marketing and Communications.

Mamma Kandeh has in the course of his political career, defined himself as a detribalized Gambian, a true nationalist and patriot. He immersed himself in political work and meritoriously handled an array of political offices over the years.

In 2002, Mamma Kandeh contested for the National Assembly seat for Jimara Constituency and won, a position he held for almost a decade. In 2007, he was nominated unopposed by his Party for the seat. He contested with and defeated the current President Adama Barroow, who stood under the United Democratic Party – UDP for the seat. In the course of his political career, he held numerous political posts, thereby amassing a mountain of practical leadership experience on both local and international issues. He was a member of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) where he served in the committee on trade, Customs and Immigration Matters; Vice President of the West African caucus of PAP and head of delegation of 27 members of PAP to Libya; Election observer to Zimbabwe Presidential election on 27th June, 2008 and Election observer to Ghana Presidential election on 28th December 2008 under the auspices of the African Union; A member, Meeting of the Ad-Hoc committee of PAP for relation with African Union 9th - 10th June, in Addis Ababa; Election observer to Malawi Presidential election on the 19th May, 2009; Leader of the Gambian delegation to the UK to attend the electoral commission conference in London 15th – 16th December, 2009; President of the committee on trade, customs, and immigration matters of (PAP); Leader of a three-member team of PAP to the Tokyo International Conference on African development (TICAD) the second ministerial follow up meeting in Arusha, Tanzania; member of the Team for European Parliament – Pan African Parliamentary Pre- Summit in Tripoli; Member, Election observer mission to Egypt presidential election – PAP, 28th November, 2010; Head of team from PAP to Libya for the Union of African Migrants’ conference; Vice-President of the bureau of the union of African migrant; Head of delegation of PAP to the conference on the role of the African union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in support of the Djibouti peace process; in Accra, Ghana from 28th February – 2nd March, 2011; Head of team of PAP to Botswana. Seminar on SADC policies on trade and integration 10th – 13 April, 2011; Member of the Regional Parliamentary Dialogue and Enhancing Competitiveness through Increase in Agricultural Values Chain in Africa (Abuja, Nigeria) 5th – 7th October, 2011; Head of delegation of PAP to the 4th high level forum on aid effectiveness in Busan (south Korea) 29th Nov. - 1st Dec. 2011; and, Member of the Delegation to the European parliament for relation with PAP in Brussels 5th – 9th December, 2011.

At the national level, Mamma Kandeh served as Chairman of the Information and Communication Technology; Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Vice-Chairman of the Trade and Employment Committee; Member of the ombudsman Committee, as well as Member of the Women and Children’s Rights Committee.

As Secretary-General and leader of the Gambia Democratic Congress, Mamma Kandeh has caused the creation of a mass base for a new movement in the nation marked with a campaign of “positive action” for pragmatic and active inclusion of women and youths in the nation’s social and political fabrics, which has made his party, the GDC, a mass-based party that is committed to a program of immediate women and youth empowerment.

A tireless critic of leadership’s ineptitude, Mamma Kandeh has posed an opposition front since 2016. He severely attacked the regime of President Adama Barrow as both inept and corrupt and, through his press releases, protested the growing crime rate and uncontrolled narcotics and the allied illicit drugs in-flow into the country. He once described The Gambia as, ‘’a nation crystallizing into a narcotics hub alongside a frightening human cost of the surge in crime rate’’. He also condemned the continued presence of the West African Regional Force, ECOMIG, in The Gambia and noted that it has outlived its usefulness, as well as carrying with it the counterproductive output of making the Gambian Armed Forces look unpatriotic, unimportant, unreliable, useless, dormant, and demoralized. He also starkly condemned what he termed the insensitivity of the government to the sufferings of the poor Gambian masses during the peak period of the scourge of COVID-19. Mamma Kandeh has also remained vocal in calling for the socio-political and economic empowerment of the nation’s youth which is deeply entrenched in his flagship political Manifesto.

Many social and political commentators have plausibly portrayed Mamma Kandeh as Gambia’s great son, a nationalist, and a patriotic citizen and in an open truth; one of the nation’s strongest opposition leader with a remarkable leadership aptitude.