In a dramatic homecoming that has electrified Gambian politics, Amadou Jaiteh, the country’s highly regarded Legal Adviser at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (2016–2025), has resigned his diplomatic position to launch a new reformist platform: the People’s Reformist Organization for Growth, Renewal, Equity, Security, and Social-Justice – PROGRESS.
The young international lawyer, celebrated for spearheading Gambia’s voice on climate justice, human rights, and peacebuilding at the UN, unveiled a hard-hitting manifesto on Wednesday that amounts to a full-frontal challenge to the political establishment ahead of the 2026 elections.
“It has always been a call to duty, regardless of prestige or the rough political terrain,” Jaiteh told The Alkamba Times. “Politics should be about the progress of the country and people, not animosity and division. Project PROGRESS is here to change that narrative. We are reformists – reform is our core motivation. Party politics must be removed from governance.”
In a blistering assessment of the Barrow administration, Jaiteh said trust collapsed when “the government departed from the 2016–2019 transition agenda – the very mandate that brought it to power.” He accused the leadership of making appointments for “political gain over the people’s desired change,” adding: “Saving a country is a collective decision, just as it was in 2016. PROGRESS will add value through selfless, thought-provoking, and radical reform.”
He laid out his seven-point agenda, which he said remains uncompromising. Among them Declaring corruption a “national emergency” on day one and creating a truly independent Anti-Corruption Commission with arrest and prosecution powers answerable only to the National Assembly, Cutting ministries from 20 to 8, slashing perks and foreign travel, and redirecting every saved dalasi to frontline services, Immediate 100-day intervention on cost of living – including direct government involvement in food importation and price controls – followed by long-term food sovereignty through irrigation along the River Gambia, smart farming,, and diversification beyond rice, “One Village, One Doctor,” autonomous hospital management, zero duties on sanitary products, and declaring maternal mortality a national emergency, Total curriculum overhaul emphasising entrepreneurship, civic education, and national pride, with teachers’ pay and prestige transformed, Dismantling the “politicised and feud-ridden” local government system in favour of inclusive, elected Village Development Committees feeding upward to district and national levels, Same-day presidential and parliamentary elections, centralised revenue collection, and automatic, transparent regional allocations.
Perhaps most strikingly, Jaiteh explicitly rejected traditional party politics. “Candidates will be chosen on ideas, competence, and service – not party label,” he insisted, promising a new era where community priorities trump patronage.
Though he stopped short of a formal presidential declaration, sources said, he confirms the movement is already on the verge of registering as a political party and building structures nationwide.
One veteran Political analyst observer summed it up: “For the first time in years, Gambians are talking about policy, not personalities. Whether PROGRESS can convert that excitement into votes will define the next chapter of our democracy.”
