The Gambia

Through a series of workshops and consultations, an expert group led by the MFWA and the Gambia Press Union (GPU) will come up with a comprehensive strategic framework that will guide the entire media sector reform process in The Gambia.

In what many people consider a breakthrough for justice in Gambia, a court issues two arrest warrants over the assassination of journalist Deyda Hydara, who was killed during the brutal rule of President Yahya Jammeh.

The Media Foundation for West Africa met with Gambian President Adama Barrow to discuss press freedom and impunity for crimes against journalists under the Jammeh regime.

The unexpected defeat of Yahya Jammeh in the 2016 elections and the subsequent assumption of power of President Adama Barrow opens a window of opportunity for press freedom, freedom of expression and media development.

Mindful of the repressive freedom of expression conditions in The Gambia under the rule of Yahya Jammeh, the MFWA calls on President Barrow to undertake reforms that will promote and defend the rights of the Gambian people to freely express themselves.

The state of emergency declared by outgoing President Jammeh raises fears of further repression against opposition ahead of the January 19 inauguration of a new president.

The state of emergency declared by outgoing President Jammeh raises fears of further repression against opposition ahead of the January 19 inauguration of a new president.

The government of President Yahya Jammeh, defeated in Gambia’s December presidential election, has arbitrarily arrested opposition sympathizers and closed three independent radio stations in the past week.

After Deyda Hydara’s murder in 2004, the state opened an investigation which was closed in less than a month. No arrests were made and no one was held responsible for the murder.

Internet shutdowns and communication blockages contravene international laws and infringe on the rights of citizens to freely express themselves and access critical information.

A High Court in The Gambia has sentenced exiled journalist and manager of Taranga FM, Alhagie Abdoulie Ceesay, to a total of four years imprisonment.

The Media Foundation for West Africa and other 35 civil society organisations have petitioned ECOWAS over The Gambia’s continued refusal to comply with judgments on rights violations against three journalists.

A nation that often deprives citizens of basic civil liberties has just removed a major mechanism of protection.

The smallest and most densely populated country on the African continent, the Gambia is a popular tourist destination. Yet, until recently, beneath the idyllic surface there was a dark undercurrent where paramilitaries preyed on those who spoke out against former President Yahya Jammeh, killing, torturing and disappearing journalists and opposition activists. The election of a new government, one that has pledged to end violations and to bring justice to victims, brings hope for the hard fought for establishment of democracy.

On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the MFWA remembers a disappeared Gambian journalist.

What’s it really like to live 22 years under the shadow of a president responsible for a growing list of human rights violations?