The wild rumor in the grapevine that the state-owned Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) has got new leadership in the person of Alhaji Abubakar Darbo gathers some momentum.
Mr. Darbo’s appointment to GRTS’s Director General position has been authoritatively confirmed by this medium today. However, the Gambia Government has yet to announce it publicly officially.
Alhaji Abubakar Darbo was a former reporter at GRTS who now assumes the institution’s top job after his predecessor Malick Jeng, who reigned from 1st March 2021 to 1st March 2023.
To authenticate this unconfirmed development, TAT contacted Alhagie Abubakar Darbo for confirmation.
Mr. Darbo said: “I am just being grateful to the Almighty and the government through the Ministry of Information for the trust. I’ll do my best to deliver on the mandate of GRTS as required.”
Mr. Darbo as a career journalist, served the state broadcaster for years as a reporter and rose through the ranks from newsroom to becoming the Director of Administration and Human Resources at GRTS. Job he later aborted and picked up a new job at NAWEC, where he currently serves as the Head of Manpower Planning, Training, and Development.
As someone who adores scholarship and dissemination of knowledge, Mr. Darbo also serves as an adjunct lecturer in Management Studies at the University of the Gambia, a service he has been rendering for years.
On the academic front, the new GRTS boss earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of the Gambia and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from Coventry University in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Darbo is pursuing his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) at Lincoln University in the UK. He attended numerous pieces of training in Good Governance and Excellence in the Management of Public Enterprises from various reputable institutions of higher learning across the world, including India, China, and Europe.
Equally important, Mr. Darbo serves as the current Chairman of the HR Committee of the Board of Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation.
Among the institutions and organizations Mr. Darbo worked with include Digital Gambia Limited and the Young Journalists Association of the Gambia (YJAG), where he served as a Board Member.
