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In The Gambia, elections still carry a distinctive sound: the clink of a marble dropped into a metal drum. To many outsiders, it is a charming political artifact — proof that democracy can wear local clothing and still work. To many Gambians, it is something else: a reminder that the country’s most important civic ritual
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As The Gambia approaches its 2026 presidential election, the country finds itself at a critical juncture in its post-authoritarian political trajectory. Nearly a decade after the peaceful removal of long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh, the election is less about the novelty of democratic change and more about whether democratic norms have become sufficiently institutionalized to endure
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By any measure, The Gambia’s transition in 2017 was a moment of relief. After two decades of authoritarian rule, the peaceful exit of Yahya Jammeh and the inauguration of Adama Barrow signaled hope for democracy, reform, and the restoration of sovereignty. Nearly a decade later, however, a different concern has taken root – one less
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Stories that challenge, illuminate, and inspire — one book at a time. Edrissa Ken-Joof has emerged as one of the most intriguing contemporary Gambian authors, crafting works that cross borders, genres, and lived experiences. His writing blends political insight, emotional depth, and imaginative storytelling, inviting readers into worlds that feel both familiar and refreshingly new.
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When Gambians swept Adama Barrow into office in 2016, ending Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year authoritarian rule, the country became an unexpected symbol of democratic possibility in West Africa. The world applauded the peaceful transition, the courage of voters, and the insistence – by regional bodies and Gambian civil society alike – that the will of the
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They call him destiny’s footnote,a chapter blown open by the winds of chance –a man who stumbled into the palacewhile history blinked.His Accidency. he rose on the broken backs of promises,swaddled in the people’s tired hope,carrying the prayer of a nationlike a calabash brimming with cracks –and every dawn, another fracture spread. our land waits
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The muted international response to this week’s coup in Guinea-Bissau – just another blip in a region now inured to political chaos – belies its terrifying message for neighboring nations like The Gambia. While calm has returned in Bissau, the echoes of gunfire in the capital should be heard as an air-raid siren particularly in
The Civic Scribe: Articles & Poems 