On August 13th, 2023, a day after appearing as a regular panelist on the ‘Baadinya Kachaa’ show on Kerr Fatou, popular comedian, and social commentator Alagie Bora Sisawo was invited to a local police station and detained without cause. Nearly 72 hours later, he was released on bail without charge. This is The Gambia Police Force under Abdoulie Sanyang, the Inspector General of Police who chooses to take orders from politicians rather than be guided by law.
On this weekly show, Baadinya Kachaa, the panelists and guests discusses contemporary issues while offering opinions on various topics interspersed with jovial moments to keep the program lively.
As the entire subregion of West Africa sits on a knife’s edge pending the final decision of the regional body that threatened military action against one of its member states, every citizen of the subregion has a take on what the right course of action should be. Alhagie Bora Sisawo is no different and merely re-echoed a sentiment that has been widely expressed even by authority figures in the subregion.
The issue at hand deals with the military coup in the country of Niger that ousted the president of the country. The Regional grouping, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), gave an ultimatum to the military leaders to reinstate the ousted president or face the combined military forces of the ECOWAS member states. Already, other member states of ECOWAS have had successful military takeovers and the military leaders of such countries as Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso vowed to side with the military of Niger against any invading force. This has the potential to plunge the entire subregion into a bloody conflict with unimaginable human toll, hence the widespread condemnation of the ECOWAS ultimatum.
Within that discourse is the common ground that ECOWAS needs to do more to avert situations that lead to the creation of a conducive environment for military takeovers of government, chief among these is corruption and most importantly, self-perpetuating rule by elected leaders. African leaders have an insatiable desire to manipulate laws or change constitutions with the singular goal of clinging onto power endlessly while manipulating elections and corrupting courts and law enforcement agencies. Until ECOWAS addresses these legal coups rampant amongst their colleagues, West Africa will suffer from perpetual coups. Alhagie Bora Sisawo only expressed these sentiments, cited examples of such instances of legal manipulation as was recently the case in Senegal and expressed his disappointment in Gambia’s president Adama Barrow and the Inspector General of Police under whose watch Senegalese citizens resident in The Gambia were arrested for protesting the undemocratic culture being groomed in their home country by current president Macky Sall.
Apparently expressing disappointment in the president or the IGP is a high crime in The Gambia under Adama Barrow.
According to reports, throughout his detention, Alhagie Bora Sisawo was only questioned about his statement expressing disappointment in Gambian authorities. He was kept for nearly 72 hours (the constitutional maximum) and released on bail without charge with directives to report back.
Why require a bond be posted for someone not charged with any crime? It has long been evident that Barrow has taken a liking to ousted tyrant Yaya Jammeh’s style of authoritarian rule and has been replicating it in gradual increments. ‘Inviting’ people for questioning only to keep them in custody up to the very last minute of what is constitutionally allowed, and then releasing them without charge is an intimidation tactic perfected under Jammeh’s police state and is still employed. Inspector General Abdoulie Sanyang is a remnant of that era of unaccountable policing. He does not care about what the law says (if indeed he has any idea) and takes directives from political operatives in State House targeting real and perceived political opponents to abuse on behalf of the president. His job depends on it, he knows it and acts only to preserve his own skin.
If a citizen breaks the law, charge and prosecute them. But it is a sad case that those charged with protecting citizens by enforcing the law are the abusers of citizens persistently.
Why then are civil society organizations not doing anything to curb this increasingly untenable environment? Each time state actors abuse their powers, they inadvertently break laws, a body such as the Bar Association can act by seeking legal remedies from the courts. If the law, in its current form, is prone to abuse, the Bar Association can lobby the National Assembly or sponsor a private member’s bill to have laws amended to better suit democratic norms and protect citizens.
Other Civil Society Organizations such as the Human Rights Commission can work with citizens who have had their rights violated file lawsuits against the state and stand by them through the process until the courts decide.
What we see consistently is failures across the board. Organizing press conferences or writing letters to condemn a certain action or another has not deterred state actors from abusing their powers and abusing citizens.
What will it take for Gambians to rise to the challenges of the day and demand fairness and the rule of law? The longer we wait, the weaker we get and the harder the challenge will become.
Mankajang 