The United Movement for Change (UMC) has been officially registered as a political party under the name UNITE by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). This approval allows the party to participate in the presidential election in The Gambia in December 2026.
The commission’s headquarters held a ceremony Wednesday, July 1, to close the registration process that began in late 2025. The announcement was made during the ceremony.
The approval enables UNITE, which is managed by Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda of the Kanifing Municipal Council, to nominate candidates for the presidential, parliamentary, and local government elections.
Delays in registering have dogged the process for months because of problems verifying voter signatures and inconsistencies in the party’s paperwork.
The application first ran into trouble in February 2026 when the commission ruled that only about 5,000 to 7,000 of the roughly 30,000 signature forms submitted by the movement met the required standard, the IEC said. The remaining forms were returned to the party for correction.
The commission also requested that the movement resolve inconsistencies in the use of its name, noting that documents variously referred to the organisation as “UMC,” “UNITE,” and “Movement.”
UMC submitted the required documentation with those corrections. The IEC later cited operational constraints arising from the nationwide voter registration exercise as one of the factors contributing to the delay in processing the application.
During the registration process, the commission also advised the movement against holding a national congress before its registration had been finalised. UMC rejected that position, arguing that it was inconsistent with the constitutional right to freedom of association, and proceeded with its national congress on 16 May 2026.
Throughout the process, the movement maintained that party registration was a procedural requirement rather than a prerequisite for political participation, while some of its supporters alleged that political considerations were responsible for the prolonged delays. The IEC did not publicly respond to those allegations.
With the approval now granted, UNITE becomes the newest political party officially recognised by the IEC and one of the first new parties registered ahead of the December general elections.
The party is widely expected to nominate Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda as its presidential candidate.
UNITE has also announced that it has established party structures in all seven administrative regions and intends to contest parliamentary and local government elections following the presidential poll.
