Jali Burama Jobarteh and Talib Bensouda. Sources: Malagen and Talib’s Facebook page.
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Claim: A video showing a supporter of the National People’s Party (NPP) questioning the nationality of Talib Bensouda, a Gambian 2026 election candidate.
Verdict: Misleading! The video shared by Block TV Gambia is from the 2023 Mayoral and Chairpersonship election periods in The Gambia. It is not a recent occurrence.
Full Text
On May 13, 2026, Block TV Gambia, an online media outlet, published a video claiming that “tension has risen” in Gambia following a remark questioning Talib Bensouda’s nationality, the Mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC).
The one-minute, 42-second footage (archived here) shows Jali Burama Jobarteh, a National People’s Party (NPP) supporter, speaking in the Mandinka language at a political gathering.
He said, “In Gambia here, we have Fulas, Mandinkas, Jolas, Serahules, and Wollofs who were born here and are citizens. But in the history of this country, no Lebanese person has ever been born in the Gambia, and Bensouda is Lebanese. The reason Ousainou Darboe selected Bensouda is that his (Bensouda’s) mother bribed him, and this is why other aspirants such as Mustapha Touray, Papa Njie were denied the chance to lead the UDP (United Democratic Party).”
The remark, allegedly made by Jali against the Mayor, who is also a candidate of the United Movement for Change (UMC) in the upcoming Gambian election, has stirred controversy around the Mayor’s identity and his family background.
As of May 29, 2026, the video had accumulated 81 likes, 96 comments, and four shares. The video has also sparked conversations among other Facebook users who believed the video.
For instance, Pape Baye questioned why politics has now become an avenue for tribalism.
She said, “Chei Gambians. I don’t know where we’re headed, Politics of personal insults. Where’s our morality?”
Another user, Abdourahman Barry, said no amount of personal attack can stop the candidate from leading the country.
“They can’t stop Bensouda from leading this country, and the personal attack on tribes and opposition leaders is not helping them either. It’s time for Gambians to be aware and vote wisely for change that could help Gambia and her people from such,” he wrote.
Due to the current political climate in Gambia and the upcoming election, DUBAWA decided to set the record straight with this fact-check.
Verification
We broke the video into keyframes and conducted a reverse image search. The result led to the earliest version posted on YouTube on May 12, 2023, by Gam-TV. This was during the 2023 Mayoral and Chairmanship election periods in The Gambia.
The caption attached by Gam-TV reads, “NPP tribalist Jali Burama Jobarteh attacks Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensuda.”
DUBAWA also found the footage on the Facebook page of a prominent Gambian journalist, Modou Bojang. He shared it on the same date as Gam-TV.
“I love my country, but I am ashamed of the tribalists in my country. Why this statement, uttered by you, Jali Burama Jobarteh? Your ancestors never behaved this way, Jali,” Modou wrote as a caption.
In addition, Malagen, a Gambian media outlet, reported the incident after it was flagged as “hate speech” in 2023.
Talib, in an interview published on Nov. 18, 2025, by Kerrfatou media, noted he is Gambian, born in Fajara, Bakau. His father, Ahmed Bensouda, was born in Kuntaur, in the Central River Region (CRR), in the Gambia. His paternal grandfather, Seedy Bensouda, hailed from Fes, Morocco.
Conclusion
The claim that Jali questioned Mayor Talib’s identity is misleading. While the incident truly occurred, the video is not recent.
This report was produced under the 2026 Kwame Karikari Fact-checking and OSINT Fellowship, co-hosted by DUBAWA and the Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence, and Information Disorder Analysis Centre (DAIDAC), with support from the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
