Politics

Before The State - Part Five: Who Holds the Seat? By Dave Manneh, Securing Futures: Land Rights Action Collaborative (SFLRAC) 26 October 2026 Clan heads in the Western Region have been selling lineage land without telling their families. The World Bank's 2013 land governance assessment called it "a major concern". Some clans split their land among families to stop the sales. The sales went on. Part Four turned the colonial seat of 1894 to face the kabilo, as the Community

By Dave Manneh, Securing Futures: Land Rights Action Collaborative (SFLRAC) 15 October 2026 In June 2025 I wrote twice about the draft National Land Policy (NLP) 2026 to 2035. I wrote that 'The Ministry listened!', and I counted 'pathways for restitution' among the gains. I measured those gains against the May 2025 Validation Copy, the text that went to national validation at Bijilo on 10 June 2025, where SFLRAC had a representative in the room. This postscript sets that copy

Public debt and fiscal management emerge as the leading issues in online political discourse, while persistent electricity challenges and calls for faster transitional justice add to pressure on the incumbent government. Public debt, persistent electricity supply challenges and demands for faster transitional justice have emerged as major themes in The Gambia’s online political discourse, according to a new analysis by Narrative Control covering the seven days ending October

By Dave Manneh, Securing Futures: Land Rights Action Collaborative (SFLRAC) The Ministry of Lands has written a new rulebook for the day the state comes for your land: the Draft National Resettlement Policy 2027 to 2036, the country's first. Resettlement is the polite word for the state moving you off your land to make way for a road, a scheme, or an investor. The draft says it ‘gives effect to the National Land Policy’, so the land policy sets the principle and this draft su

𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒅. By Ian Urbina In September 2024, Cheikhou Omar sat on a beach in S

The Gambia’s Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Suntu Touray, has been recognised by the country’s High Commissioner to the UK, Her Excellency Dr Fatou Bensouda, for his contribution to advancing The Gambia’s diplomatic objectives. The recognition took place during a staff reception hosted by Dr Bensouda at her residence in London on Thursday evening. In a statement following the occasion, Mr Touray expressed profound gratitude to the High Commissioner for her re

President Adama Barrow expected to inaugurate vital link to Gunjur’s coastal hub The long-awaited Gunjur Beach Road is set to be officially inaugurated on Saturday, 19 September 2026, with President Adama Barrow expected to preside over the opening ceremony. The road, which provides a vital link between Gunjur’s main community and its increasingly vibrant coastal and beach area, is regarded as an important infrastructure development for the sprawling coastal settlement. The p

There comes a point when a government’s failures can no longer be dismissed as temporary challenges, technical difficulties or inherited problems. For many Gambians, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝. Across the country, prolonged electricity blackouts are disrupting businesses, households, education and healthcare. Families are losing food and electrical goods, businesses are losing income, and students are struggling to study. Yet while citizens struggle wi