The Civic Scribe: Articles & Poems

In a dimly lit garage at Gambia’s State House, rows of dust-covered Bentleys and Rolls-Royces stand as decaying monuments to a tyrant’s avarice. These vehicles – once tools of ostentation for Yahya Jammeh, who ruled this tiny West African nation with terror for 22 years – now symbolize a far more insidious reality: the unfinished revolution haunting The Gambia’s fragile democracy.

President Adama Barrow rode to power in 2017 on a tidal wave of hope. His victory over Jammeh – secured through a historic opposition coalition – promised rupture: accountability for stolen billions, justice for victims of torture and murder, and a new constitutional order. Eight years later, that promise lies in tatters. Instead of dismantling Jammeh’s kleptocracy, Barrow’s administration has recycled its architects, its methods, and its contempt for the people. The implications are corrosive – and demand urgent reckoning.

The Anatomy of a Betrayed Transition

Jammeh’s regime was a study in predation. Between 1994 and 2017, he and his cronies looted an estimated $362 million to $975 billion from state coffers while deploying death squads like the “Junglers” to silence dissent. His ouster in 2017, forced by ECOWAS military intervention after he refused electoral defeat, sparked euphoria. Barrow’s government swiftly established a Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) and a commission to recover Jammeh’s assets.

Yet today, the same faces dominate power. Barrow, initially backed by a reformist coalition, abandoned his allies to form the National People’s Party (NPP), which now governs in alliance with remnants of Jammeh’s party, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC). Worse, Jammeh-era ministers and enablers retain key posts. As journalist Mustapha Darboe lamented, “The same elites are in government, with only the president having changed”.

The Corruption Continuum

Nothing exposes this continuity more starkly than the scandal around Jammeh’s forfeited assets. A 2025 investigation by The Republic revealed jaw-dropping irregularities:

• Luxury cars sold for as little as D10,000 (∼$150);
• Prime real estate, like a Brufut property worth D41.75 million, sold to insiders;
• A systematic pattern of closed-bid sales, unpublished valuations, and buyers obscured from public view.

The state recovered just $23.7 million from assets worth $362 million – a fraction of their value. When citizens protested, police arrested demonstrators from the group Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA) for “unlawful assembly”. Barrow’s televised promise of “full transparency” rings hollow while investigations remain in the hands of a parliament dominated by his loyalists.

Justice Deferred, Democracy Denied

The TRRC’s 2021 report offered a blueprint for accountability: prosecute Jammeh and his accomplices, reform institutions, and compensate victims. Implementation has been glacial.

• No high-level prosecutions: Jammeh luxuriates in Equatorial Guinea; his accomplices walk free;
• Constitutional reform gutted: Barrow’s government rejected a 2020 draft constitution that imposed term limits and strengthened checks on power. A 2024 rewrite omits anti-corruption safeguards;
• Security sector unreformed: The army and police – weapons of Jammeh’s repression – remain structurally unchanged, with ECOWAS forces still propping up the state; Senegalese security personnel still guarding the president ‘of a sovereign state’.

Victims of Jammeh’s torture and families of the “disappeared” now face a bitter irony: their tormentors enjoy impunity while they fight for reparations. “Many [victims] are suffering in pain,” reports Sirrah Ndow of victim-led groups.

Why Recycling Tyranny Matters

The implications transcend Gambia’s 2.4 million people:

1. Democratic Backsliding: Barrow’s alliance with Jammeh’s party and suppression of protests mirror the autocratic playbook;
2. Economic Sabotage: The looting of recovered assets deprives a debt-ridden nation of funds for healthcare, schools, and roads;
3. Regional Instability: A failed Gambian transition risks exporting crisis – via migration or extremism – to West Africa.

Breaking the Cycle: A Path Forward

Gambia’s crossroads demands bold action:

• Establish a Special Tribunal: The ECOWAS-approved court for Jammeh-era crimes must be funded and launched immediately – bypassing compromised domestic courts;
• Restart the Constitutional Process: Adopt the 2020 draft with term limits, independent anti-corruption bodies, and asset declaration laws;
• Audit and Recover Stolen Assets: Freeze all pending sales of Jammeh’s assets; appoint independent receivers; publish buyer identities and prices;
• Empower Civil Society: Groups like GALA and ANEKED need legal protection and resourcing to monitor power.

International partners – the U.S., EU, and ECOWAS – must condition aid on tangible reforms. “Development” loans that enrich elites while victims starve are complicity.

The Bentleys in Banjul’s garage are more than relics. They are proof that tyranny, when unpunished, mutates – it does not vanish. Barrow’s Gambia has chosen accommodation over accountability, trading the hopes of 2017 for a hollowed-out democracy. As one protester’s placard read: “We removed a dictator, not a system.” Until that system falls, The Gambia’s future remains hostage to its past.