Aji Sukaina Kah was one of the most devoted, courageous, and enduring women in the history of The Gambia’s opposition United Democratic Party (UDP). A founding-era member, longtime National President of the UDP Women’s Wing, grassroots mobilizer, mentor, and fearless advocate for democracy, she devoted three decades of her life to the party and to the struggle for a better Gambia.
Aji Sukaina was part of the UDP from its earliest days in 1996 and remained steadfastly committed to the party until her passing. For nearly three decades, she witnessed and participated in the UDP’s most important chapters, from its formative years and the difficult years of authoritarian rule to the democratic transition of 2017 and the party’s continued struggle for democratic governance. The UDP described her as a devoted patriot, steadfast party loyalist, and courageous woman of conviction who remained unwavering through periods of repression and political persecution.
Her greatest contribution was perhaps her work in organizing and empowering Gambian women. As National President of the UDP Women’s Wing, Aji Sukaina helped build a formidable nationwide network of women who became an essential part of the party’s political organization and grassroots campaigns.
She understood that women could not simply be spectators in the political process. They had to be organizers, decision-makers, leaders, and participants in shaping the future of the country. Under her leadership, the Women’s Wing became an important pillar of the UDP’s political mobilization. Her leadership of the Women’s Wing was formally documented as early as 2011, and she continued to hold the position through successive party executives.
Aji Sukaina was also a woman of remarkable political resilience. During the years of the Yahya Jammeh regime, opposition politics came with enormous risks. UDP members and leaders faced surveillance, intimidation, arrests, detention, and persecution. Yet Sukaina remained with the party and continued to organize.
She was among the UDP figures present during some of the most difficult moments of the party’s struggle. Her name appears in accounts surrounding the events of April 2016, when the UDP leadership and activists were arrested following peaceful demonstrations demanding justice for Solo Sandeng and greater respect for democratic rights.
But what distinguished Aji Sukaina was not simply her political position. It was her loyalty.
Through changing political circumstances, electoral setbacks, repression, transitions, and internal challenges, she remained committed to the party she had helped build. She became a source of encouragement and guidance to generations of UDP women and activists.
For many within the party, she was more than a political leader. She was a mother, mentor, elder, and confidante, a woman whose presence represented continuity between the UDP’s founding generation and those who came after.
In 2020, she was again elected National President of the Women’s Wing, demonstrating the continued confidence placed in her leadership.
Aji Sukaina Kah passed away in Senegal on May 16, 2026, leaving behind a legacy that spans the entire 30-year history of the United Democratic Party. The UDP mourned her as a “pillar of the struggle”, praising her sacrifices, loyalty, wisdom, and contributions to the party and the nation.
Her passing came just months before the UDP’s 30th anniversary, a milestone she had devoted much of her life to reaching.
Aji Sukaina Kah, thank you for your tremendous service to our country and to the United Democratic Party. Thank you for your courage, loyalty, resilience, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to democracy and justice.
You stood with the UDP from its earliest days.
You organized and empowered Gambian women.
You stood firm through years of repression.
You mentored generations of party activists.
You remained loyal when the struggle was difficult.
And until your final days, you remained a servant of the UDP and the Gambian people.
As we celebrate 30 years of the United Democratic Party, we celebrate your life, your service, and your sacrifice.
You were a pioneer.
You were a leader.
You were a mother.
You were a mentor.
You were a mobilizer.
You were a fearless woman of conviction.
You were a pillar of the struggle.
Today, the UDP remembers Aji Sukaina Kah, one of the women whose courage, loyalty, and dedication helped build and sustain this movement for three decades.
Happy 30th Anniversary, Aji Sukaina Kah.
May Almighty Allah forgive your shortcomings, widen and illuminate your grave, grant you Jannatul Firdaus, and give your family, loved ones, and the entire UDP family strength and patience.
Your name will forever remain part of the history and legacy of the United Democratic Party.
UDP Media & Communications Team