elections
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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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The sudden withdrawal of Talib Bensouda from the United Democratic Party’s (UDP) flagbearer race—and his resignation as the party’s National Organizing Secretary—has sent shockwaves through Gambian politics. This isn’t just another internal party dispute; it is a symptom of deeper structural challenges within the UDP and, by extension, The Gambia’s fragile democracy. As the country
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BANJUL, The Gambia—Last March, Gambians witnessed a quiet assault on their democracy. As parliament debated a critical elections bill, it erased a Supreme Court-backed guarantee of diaspora voting rights. Now, tens of thousands of citizens abroad—whose remittances fuel 20% of the economy—face an impossible choice: financial ruin or democratic exile. They must now spend exorbitant
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BANJUL, The Gambia —Threat to The Gambia’s democratic progress isn’t a coup or foreign meddling, but failure of the nation’s brightest minds abandoning or being uninterested in elected office. This behavior is paralyzing institutions, hollowing governance, and endangering Africa’s smallest mainland nation. The National Assembly – the engine of legislative reform – badly underrepresents The
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In 2016, Gambians achieved the remarkable: they ousted a dictator, Yahya Jammeh, through the power of the vote after 22 years of repression. His departure, fueled by promises to rule for “a billion years” and bizarre claims like an AIDS cure, shone as a beacon for African democracy. Yet a decade later, The Gambia’s democratic
The Civic Scribe: Articles & Poems 