Fueling tribalism

In modern politics, every political entity is certain to have elements within its support base that may espouse extreme ideological viewpoints. In western democracies they are grouped into far left liberals and far right conservatives. In Africa and the global south where there still exists social institutions defined by tribe or ethnicity, undertones of tribal sentiment are never too far beneath the surface of political discourse.

In such case, as obtains in The Gambia, it is wielded by the state as political currency fueling tribal sentiments the culmination of which is written in the Rwandan genocide. Because he lacks any form sophistication in all intellectual endeavors, The Gambian president, Adama Barrow, thinks voters are single issue voters and so makes his own infantile conclusions on why voters of a certain region vote in a specific way. In a recent meeting with community members of the Lower River Region (LRR) of The Gambia, he claimed to have lost in all Mandinka dominated polling stations, falsely insinuating that even though both he and his main rival, Ousainou Darboe are from the Mandinka ethnic group, the voters preferred Mr. Darboe over him because Darboe’s party, the United Democratic Party (UDP) advocates for tribal loyalty.

Every Gambian, who is a grade above Adama Barrow’s unrefined intellectual capacity knows this is a lie. But like in all other societies, there are bigoted individuals to whom such sentiments are appealing and you will find among them those who will justify such claims because it resonates with their preconceived bigoted biases.

The Mandinka, like other ethnic groups in The Gambia are neither single issue voters nor are they a homogenous group in anyway; politically, economically or in their religious views. But what if Mandinkolu (plural for Mandinka) were a homogeneous voting bloc…

The claim that they always oppose the sitting government is both disingenuous and hypocritical. On the face of it, this would imply that every ruling party is sans Mandinka support when in fact most of their key figures were/are Mandinka. So it is not only disingenuous, it is insulting and a sign of ingratitude to those Mandinka who supported Jammeh and now Barrow. Or should such people be labeled as self-hating Mandinka?

When the British limited the franchise and gave the vote only to “yard owners” in the colony area during British colonial rule, the rest of the country was unrepresented and voiceless. Edward Francis Small became their advocate with his campaign for ‘no taxation without representation.’

That awakening rendered voice to an evident injustice and the growing sentiment would culminate in the formation of the Protectorate People’s Party (PPP) that propelled Gambia’s first president Dawda Jawara to the national stage and won The Gambia its independence from British rule on February 18, 1965.

The colony (Bathurst and Cape St. Mary) were largely a homogeneous society, in terms of ethnic composition, of mostly Aku and Wolof. Despite the fact that the political class of that era never advocated for the expansion of the franchise to the rest of the country, never in his campaigns did Jawara invoke tribe or ethnicity or demanded loyalty for leading the campaign of inclusion for all. He recognized that in his camp were people like Micheal Baldeh, Assan Musa Camara et al; all protectorate people, but of different ethnic backgrounds to Jawara, but what they shared in common was that they all felt the voicelessness and lack of representation of their kinfolk and decided to act.

The Protectorate being predominantly Mandinka obviously means the Mandinka would become the more dominant group in that political movement.

After winning independence with the PPP and Jawara in 1965, a lot of the same protectorate people felt betrayed when they observed that the new government was getting dominated by the same elite establishment from the colonial era who sidelined them and their needs. As the nation marched on, they saw corruption also take shape among the elite, the support base of the PPP grew increasingly disillusioned. Barely ten years after independence,  Jawara’s Vice President then, Sheriff Mustapha Dibba fell out with Jawara and formed his own political party, the National Convention Party (NCP) that tapped into that sentiment of alienation prevalent in the protectorate and the growing corruption to woo voters.

Despite both gentlemen being of the same ethnic background,  Sheriff quickly gained footholds in the deeply rural areas and remained so throughout the political tug of war between the two rivals.

In 1981 when Kukoi launched his bloody rebellion, it was a reaction to what they perceived as the wrong direction of the country citing corruption and nepotism. Besides the leader of that rebellion himself Kukoi (a Jola), the most prominent name associated with that bloody episode was Danso (a Mandinka). So, not only were some within the Mandinka ethnic group willing to embrace a political movement opposed to “one of their own”, some were willing to take up arms for the same course.

When Jammeh and Co launched their successful military coup in July 1994, most of the key players were Mandinka. The leadership discussion settled on Jammeh (a Jola) because of military seniority (first commissioned).

Notice the pattern here? Tribal affinity was never central to the political events of the time. When Assan Musa Camara (second Vice President to Jawara) also fell out with him and formed his Gambia People’s Party (GPP), no one claimed it was because the Fulani hated the Mandinka. Because that would be totally false. The likes of Michael Baldeh, Matthew Yaya Baldeh, Hassan Jallow etc. were still prominent players in the PPP. Rather, people saw it as evidence that the same corruption they have been decrying is in fact taking place hence the “disintegration ” of the PPP. Political pundits may have expressed tribal sentiments, but never in any impactful way, and certainly never heard at political rallies or over the airwaves.

That changed when Jammeh was challenged after he reneged on his “back to the barracks” promise. With no political capital and the blood of fellow soldiers on his hands as well as the betrayal of his coup buddies (Sanna and Sadibou), he had to have a mechanism for staying in power. The most natural and easiest of all is to divide and conquer.

So at the end of the transition from military rule, Jammeh passed a decree that banned PPP, GPP, and NCP just to better position himself. The direct consequence of his decision to ban these parties and individuals within was the formation of the UDP, which Jammeh did not see UDP coming. He essentially forced former rivals to join forces and fight against him. With most of Jawara’s strongholds and all of Dibba’s strongholds now in the camp of UDP, Jammeh pulled out the tribal card.

First, he tried to woo supporters in Badibou along tribal lines by claiming he was related to renowned chief Mama Tamba Jammeh, that his origins lay in Badibou. He had Baba Jobe by his side to boost his chances LRR where Baba Jobe was native to. He failed utterly as those places remained true to their views that Jammeh lied to them, broke his promise, and tried to disenfranchise them by banning those they viewed as natural successors to the military. This was in 1996, the first election after a two year military rule.

In his mind, he assumed that if he lifted the ban on PPP, NCP and GPP, the marriage of convenience that birthed the UDP would crumble and that will end the UDP or diminish its chances greatly by splitting the opposition vote total across multiple candidates. In The Gambia’s simple majority system of voting, this offered him an advantage. He lifted the political ban, and the next elections in 2001 were no different, UDP stayed largely in tact and formidable.

So, he pulled out the nuclear option. He claimed the Mandinka were fighting him simply because he is a Jola. Lawyer Darboe is Mandinka, wins in Mandinka dominated areas, so it must be a Mandinka thing, that they are out to get him. Never mind the fact that UDP has strong support in areas that were strongly NCP or PPP and his actions following the end of the military transition forced those areas to oppose him. He BANNED THEIR PARTIES and leaders who had been fighting the same corruption he claimed to have launched his coup to end.

He had no capacity to self-assess, so he found a scapegoat in tribe. It figures that Adama Barrow follows the same pattern. That is why starting 2006 to 2016, Jammeh’s target was 100% on stoking that fire of tribal sentiment. His strategies, his utterances all changed. “I lose in these Mandinka areas because they think thy own this country and so cannot stand seeing a Jola in power” he would claim. Unfortunately the sentiment stuck with segments of the numerically smaller ethnic groups.

But when his atrocities got out of hand, in 2016 he was overwhelmingly rejected by the voters. Barrow rode on that wave of rejection to ascend to power thanks to a coalition that saw the need to kick Jammeh out if the bonds that held our social fabric together was to hold. How unfortunate that Jammeh’s immediate successor refuses to learn from that and uses the same despicable tactics directly through statements he utters as well as most of his prominent minions like Dembo Bojang and Hamat Bah who especially seems to enjoy a certain level of satisfaction for uttering insulting remarks against the Mandinka.

As his popularity wanes thanks to his lies, ineptitude, inefficiency, manifest corruption and constant embarrassment that he subjects Gambians to on the global stage, Barrow sees currency in that age old tactic and is cashing in.

He did the same leading up the 2021 elections and was rewarded with power, and as 2026 draws nearer, he and his camp are brewing the same poisonous concoction yet again. The question now is, will Gambians yield to bigotry or stand up unified against it and celebrate our diversity in cultural values, or will we give it a pass and open the floodgates to irreversible animosity whose ultimate end will be catastrophic for all.

Let us pray our better angels prevail.