By Yankuba Jallow
The People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) has commemorated 40 years since its founding, with one of its founders and former Secretary General, Halifa Sallah, delivering a lengthy lecture tracing the party’s origins, its philosophy and the sacrifices made by its members over four decades.
The lecture was delivered on Friday, 31 July 2026, during a special programme hosted by Eye Africa TV as part of activities marking the party’s 40th anniversary.
Addressing party supporters and viewers, Sallah said PDOIS was founded not merely to seek political office but to educate citizens and empower them to take ownership of their country.
“We thank you for assembling here, as we did 40 years ago, irrespective of religion, linguistic origin or gender, to deliberate on the ways and means of addressing the challenges of our time,” Sallah said.
He said he, together with other founding members including Sidia Jatta, Sam Sarr and Aunty Amie Sillah, had remained committed to the ideals that led to the formation of the party.
“The journey has been long, but we did not take it lightly. That is why we prepared for it. Prior to the emergence of PDOIS, we had to nurture the type of person who can serve and save a country.”
Sallah said the founders believed political change required personal sacrifice and preparation before seeking public office.
“We had to build our conscience, build our minds and build our hearts to beat in unison with the heartbeat of the suffering people of this country; people who continued to be born in poverty, live in poverty, grow old in poverty and die in poverty.”
He told the audience that the founders believed their lives would have little meaning if they ignored the hardships faced by ordinary Gambians.
“We believed that our lives were meaningless if we continued to call ourselves citizens of a country where people remained poor despite the country’s wealth.”
Sallah said the founders first tested themselves through community service rather than electoral politics.
“We saw that simply getting up, forming a political party and seeking the mandate of the people was not the way forward. We should start with service, to test ourselves, to find out whether we were truly ready and capable of serving a country.”
He recalled that before the party was officially established, members organised adult education classes, nursery schools and farming activities in villages across the country.
“From the very beginning, we started establishing night schools to help elders who never had the opportunity to go to school to begin to learn.”
He said some members taught sixth-form students, including Sam Sarr renowned as Uncle Sam while others travelled to villages every weekend to work alongside farmers.
“If you go towards Brikama, you will discover villages where members would spend weekends farming with farmers. They became friends. Some even named their children after us. That is how we built communion with the people.”
Sallah also recalled establishing nursery schools to demonstrate what community-based education could achieve.
“We lived in neighbourhoods where children were left with grandparents because their parents had no nursery schools. We saw the need to establish nursery schools to serve as an example of what could be done for little children.”
He said the initiative later attracted families from different backgrounds.
“People who were prominent in public life at the time even sent their children to those nursery schools. That was the beginning of our rapprochement with the Gambian people.”
Sallah said many founding members made personal sacrifices, giving up careers and comfort to pursue what they believed was national service.
He recalled the aftermath of the failed 1981 coup attempt and the arrests that followed.
“Because of the coup d’état that happened in 1981, many Gambians and many Senegalese soldiers lost their lives. We observed the situation, and eventually we were arrested.”
He said some members spent six months in detention in 1983, including himself and Sam Sarr.
“We were kept in prison for six months.”
Sallah singled out one female foundingmember, whom he identified as Auntie Amie Sillah, saying she was imprisoned while her baby was only eight months old.
“Auntie Amie Sillah, whose child was only eight months old, spent six months in prison without seeing her lactating child.”
He added that despite those sacrifices, many Gambians continued to face poverty.
“That child is now in a good position. But the children of the people who inspired her to sacrifice are still being born in poverty, growing up in poverty and dying in poverty until we accept our contract to serve the country and save the people.”
Sallah said the movement also devoted time to supporting children with disabilities. He recalled activities at Gambia High School and the School for the Blind, where members sought to integrate visually impaired children into wider school activities.
“We took girls who could sing and play musical instruments and integrated them into the school system. A spirit began to grow; that if little things could be done by a few people, then a nation could free itself from poverty.”
According to Sallah, those experiences strengthened the founders’ belief that conviction was essential for lasting commitment.
“We were convinced that without conviction there can be no commitment.”
He said love for the country alone was insufficient.
“We loved our country. We loved our people. But that was not sufficient. We built our hearts, our minds and our willpower, but we still did not know who we were.”
He said members then began studying constitutional law, political history and governance to better understand the country’s institutions.
“We started to read not only the books of Nkrumah, Fanon and others that inspired us, but books that would help us understand The Gambia and how to solve its problems.”
Sallah said the turning point came when members examined provisions of the 1970 Constitution.
“We looked at the Constitution and saw that no one should be qualified to become a National Assembly member if they owed allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power.”
He said those provisions transformed their understanding of citizenship.
“That message drove home that we were missing something. Who are we? That is why the knowledge base for building the party had to begin.”
He continued: “We had to establish for ourselves that we must read, read and read.”
Sallah said the study eventually convinced members that sovereignty belonged to the people.
“We discovered who we were. We were sovereign citizens; the owners of power.”
“And those who govern are not more powerful than us. In fact, we are more powerful than them because sovereignty resides in the people.”
He said citizens merely delegated authority to governments.
“We exercise our power to entrust power to others to govern our country.”
Sallah said that understanding shifted the group’s approach from protest to civic education.
“That was the point that changed our lives; moving from protest to educating, advocating and participating.”
He said the founders decided their duty was to help Gambians understand that they collectively owned the country.
“Our duty was to become messengers to the people so they could understand one simple message; that they are the owners of The Gambia.”
Sallah said the movement also began studying the country’s natural resources.
“What is the wealth of The Gambia?” he asked.
“You look at our ocean. We have territorial waters. We have a contiguous zone. We have an exclusive economic zone. Those belong to us.”
He said members also examined decades of petroleum exploration.
“Petroleum exploration has been taking place in The Gambia since the 1950s. We studied those records because we wanted to understand what belongs to us.”
Sallah said the group also examined reports on mineral deposits.
“We have heard of millions of metric tonnes of minerals. We have heard about ilmenite, zircon and rutile. We asked ourselves: have we really taken the time to understand what we own?”
He said the party concluded that the country’s natural resources constituted its sovereign national wealth.
“We discovered that we own the country’s natural resources. They constitute our sovereign national wealth.”
“It became our duty to harness that wealth to remove our people from poverty.”
Sallah said the founders also studied Gambian political history from the colonial period.
“We followed the work of Edward Francis Small and the early movements that struggled for representation and greater control over the country’s affairs.”
He recalled that early campaigners challenged taxation without representation and demanded greater participation in governance.
“They saw that people were being taxed without benefiting from the revenue. They demanded representation.”
Sallah said the founders also studied constitutional developments leading to independence.
“We read the 1965 Constitution.”
He argued that those studies led the founders to question the nature of independence at the time.
“We educated our people because we believed there was still a journey towards full sovereignty.”
Sallah said those discussions eventually led to the formation of PDOIS.
“We transferred that knowledge by bringing together thinkers, innovators and builders of the nation so that we could discuss how to shape the destiny of this country.”
He recalled that the party fielded candidates in the 1987 parliamentary elections despite having limited resources.
“We contested because we believed people with knowledge and commitment should offer themselves for public service.”
Sallah said the party’s candidates included professionals who had chosen public service over personal advancement.
“These were people who could have pursued their own individual interests, but they chose instead to stand for election because they believed in serving the country.”
Although the party did not win those elections, Sallah said members remained committed to their long-term objective.
“Some wondered whether continuity was possible after the election results.”
“But our commitment did not depend on winning elections. It depended on continuing the work of educating and empowering the people.”
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