Bakary Badjie, Minister of Youth and Sports
By Buba Gagigo
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Bakary Badjie, has challenged local councils led by the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) to invest in youth and sports projects, arguing that development efforts should not wait for a change in national leadership.
Speaking in an interview on West Coast Radio, Mr. Badjie criticized UDP-run councils for failing to fund local sports infrastructure, despite holding control in key regions.
“I was saying that he (Tombong Saidy) doesn’t need to wait for a UDP central government,” Mr. Badjie said. “Because the government is both central and local. So if their councils or their party is the one running the councils, and not just KM, they are in Banjul; they are in the West Coast Region. They are in the Lower River Region, and they used to be in URR, in the North Bank. They have not invested even in a single youth or sports project.”
Mr. Badjie argued that tangible action at the municipal level would provide evidence of the party’s commitment to sports development, rather than relying on promises for the future.
“So you want to tell us that when you become the central government, you will do something? No, I am saying do it; let the young people or the sports fraternity see it now at the local councils, so that we will believe that maybe when you become central government, you will do it. That is what any honest person would say,” hon. Bakary Badjie said.
The minister emphasized that while national governments typically oversee large-scale infrastructure, municipal councils worldwide are responsible for local sports facilities such as stadiums and parks.
“Just across, our neighbor here, you see those things,” he said, referring to neighboring countries. “So that is what we want their councils to do, so that we can be able to share the responsibility of supporting the sports sector and not to just put it on the ministry and because, oh, the stadium is not good. You’re talking about doing sports infrastructure; let them initiate it now; that is our challenge to them.”
Mr. Badjie, a resident of both Kanifing and the West Coast Region, added that he had yet to see a single football field or mini-stadium constructed by UDP-led councils.
“And for me, as a resident of KM and partially, West Coast, and even as Minister of Sports, we have not seen a single mini stadium or a single football field that was constructed by their council. So that is our challenge to them in order to give hope that yes, when they become the central government, they will do something,” the Sports Minister said.