Claim: “…no movement has won an election on the African continent. It’s never happened before.”
Source: Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services of The Gambia
Verdict: FALSE and MISLEADING
Claims
Appearing on West Coast Radio’s ‘Coffee Time’ with Peter Gomez on the 18th of November 2025, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services of The Gambia, claimed that “no movement has won an election on the African continent. It’s never happened before.”
Dr. Ceesay made these remarks while responding to a question in relation to “Unite Movement for Change”, a political movement established by Talib Ahmed Bensouda, the Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC).
Mayor Bensouda, the former National Organising Secretary of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), together with other former UDP Executive Members formed a movement to contest in the 2026 presidential election following their resignations from the main opposition party in October.
“You convinced Talib to leave the UDP because you believe Talib is better off UDP, he can make it without the UDP, and you misled the boy. When he came out and formed a movement, no movement had won an election on the African continent. It’s never happened before,” Dr. Ceesay claimed.
Listen from 17:40 to 18: 45 minutes of the video.
Fact-Check
After making these remarks on West Coast Radio’s Coffee Time, one of the most listened to morning radio programmes in the country, with a YouTube channel that livestreams to 22, 500. At the time of writing this fact-check, the video has 2,900 views, with 33 likes.
To confirm the Information Minister’s claim, Fact-Check Gambia dug into the elections history in Africa to ascertain the authenticity of the claim.
UGANDA
Our research shows that in Uganda, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) which is led by the country’s long-time ruler,Yoweri Museveni, had won several national elections before its formal registration as a political party in October 2003. In the 1996 general elections, Museveni and NRM-leaning candidates won Uganda’s first direct presidential and parliamentary elections under the universal adult suffrage as a “Movement” system. In the 2001 general elections, Museveni and the NRM again won the presidential and legislative elections still under the non-party system. The NRM only formally registered as a political party with the Electoral Commission on October 30, 2003, in anticipation of the return to a full multi-party political system, which was decided by a referendum in 2005.
SOUTH SUDAN
In South Sudan, research has shown that the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) is a movement that has won every major election it has contested, first as an autonomous government and then as the ruling party of the independent nation. The SPLM was founded in 1983 as the political wing of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group fighting for the independence of Southern Sudan. In the 2010, Southern Sudanese general election, as a result of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), an autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was established.
BOTSWANA
In Botswana, research has shown that the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) achieved a historic victory in the October 2024 general election, ending the Botswana Democratic Party’s nearly six decades in power. Research further showed that UDC is a registered entity with the Registrar of Societies in Botswana and operates with its own constitution and a common symbol for elections. Research also revealed that there were past legal challenges and debates regarding whether the UDC could be registered as a single “party” under the law, but it functions legally as a political movement/alliance for electoral purposes. The UDC fields a single candidate under its banner in each constituency during general elections, and these candidates come from one of the constituent parties. While UDC functions much like a political party during elections and recently won the October 2024 general election to become the new ruling party, its formal legal and structural basis is a coalition or “umbrella” body of independent parties.
SENEGAL
In Senegal, PASTEF, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity, known in French as “Patriotes Africains du Sénégal pour le Travail, l’Éthique et la Fraternité”, was a registered political party, but it was officially dissolved by the Senegalese government in July 2023. Despite the dissolution of the formal party structure, its members and leaders have continued to operate as a potent political force, effectively functioning as a powerful movement that has since won both a presidential election and a legislative election. PASTEF was founded as a political party in 2014 and registered with the government. The party was dissolved by a government decree on July 31, 2023, for “frequently calling on its supporters to insurrectionary movements”. Following the dissolution, PASTEF was technically banned from participating in elections under its name. However, its members and leadership regrouped under an opposition coalition banner and, in a significant political development, PASTEF won the March 2024 presidential election with their substitute candidate, Bassirou Diomaye Faye. PASTEF also secured an overwhelming majority in the November 2024 legislative elections, running a unified campaign and effectively functioning as the ruling party, even as its original registration was dissolved.
Dr. Ismaila Ceesay’s Response
When contacted for comment, Dr. Ceesay, agreed that NRM won numerous elections before registering as a political party but asserted elections were held under Uganda’s Movement system, which limited or banned political party competition. “So, Uganda is a special case as parties were not allowed to register then and a movement system characterised their mode of competition,” he said.
As for UDC, Dr. Ceesay said it is a registered political entity, not just an informal movement but a political coalition/alliance of several parties. When quizzed that the UDC is a movement despite being registered, Dr. Ceesay said it is not an informal movement like UMC (Unite Movement for Change).
“So when you say no movement won an election in Africa, you meant to say “Informal Movements” not the ones that are registered?” Fact-Check Gambia asked. “Yes, because I was talking about UMC and movements like that,” Dr. Ceesay responded.
However, Dr. Ceesay did not make any specification when appearing on Coffee Time With Peter Gomez on West Coast Radio.
Verdict
Based on our findings and the available data, Information Minister Dr. Ismaila Ceesay’s claim that “no movement has won an election on the African continent. It’s never happened before”, is False and misleading.
