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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—In a small nation celebrated for its 2016 democratic revolution, a crisis is unfolding within the United Democratic Party (UDP), The Gambia’s largest opposition force. As the 2026 presidential election approaches, the UDP—once a symbol of resistance against dictatorship—is tearing itself apart over an agonizing question: Should 76-year-old leader Ousainou Darboe, a five-time presidential
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Baba Hydara’s eyes hold a grief that time hasn’t softened. His father, the outspoken journalist Deyda Hydara, was gunned down in cold blood nearly two decades ago, a brazen assassination widely attributed to the regime of then-dictator Yahya Jammeh. Baba testified before Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Repatriations Commission (TRRC), baring his family’s wound to the
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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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The Gambia stands at a precipice. Once celebrated for ending Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year dictatorship through the ballot box in 2016, the nation now risks backsliding into the very autocracy it overthrew. President Adama Barrow’s pledge to deliver a “legacy” of constitutional reform—including presidential term limits and an absolute majority voting system—rings hollow amid a cynical
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BANJUL, The Gambia — A farmer stares at cracked earth where millet should stand. Drought has scorched his fields, but it is not nature alone he battles. His children eat one meal daily. School fees are a dream; medicine, unthinkable. His government, shackled by debt and austerity demands from Washington, has stripped away the supports
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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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Banjul’s skyline tells a story of hope and hardship. Gleaming buildings funded by money sent home from abroad stand alongside neighborhoods reliant on that same lifeline. The Gambia’s transformation since the 2016 ousting of dictator Yahya Jammeh is undeniable, and its vibrant diaspora deserves immense credit. Yet, this powerful force for change carries within it
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BANJUL, The Gambia — Eight years ago, this small West African nation celebrated a democratic miracle. After 22 years of Yahya Jammeh’s brutal dictatorship, citizens voted him out of office. The euphoric aftermath promised not just new leadership but a rebirth: a new constitution to dismantle the architecture of tyranny and build institutions resilient against
The Civic Scribe: Articles & Poems 