Authoritarian Abuse of the Public Order Act to Silence Gambian Youth is a National Disgrace
By Ndey Jobarteh
The Government of The Gambia has once aga weaponized the discredited and colonial-era Public Order Act to crush the constitutional right to peaceful protest. This blatant misuse of power is not just undemocratic, it is cowardly, oppressive, and dangerous.
Yet the Constitution of The Gambia is clear. Section 25(1)(d) states: “Every person shall have the right to freedom to assemble and demonstrate peaceably and without arms.” This guarantees freedom of peaceful assembly as a fundamental right, a right that should not be subject to police approval or government discretion.
However, the Public Order Act conditions that right on police permission, turning a constitutional guarantee into a State-controlled privilege. This contradiction is not only unjust, it is unlawful. It sends a chilling message, corruption will be protected, and those who challenge it will be punished.
The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
Section 4 affirms: “If any other law is inconsistent with this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail…” Therefore, any law like the Public Order Act that undermines a Constitutional right is invalid to the extent of its inconsistency. The Public Order Act is not law, it is lawlessness dressed in legal disguise.
First abused by Yahya Jammeh’s regime to harass, intimidate, and imprison dissenters, it remains a tool of repression today in President Barrow’s Government. The arrests of peaceful youth protesters are a continuation of that shameful authoritarian legacy.
The young activists detained today are not criminals, they are patriots. They did not loot this country, they are demanding the return of what was looted. They are the moral conscience of a nation still haunted by decades of corruption and brutality. That they are met with arrests instead of answers is an insult to every Gambian who believes in justice.
A Government that fears its own people has already lost its legitimacy. The future of The Gambia cannot and will not be built on the silencing of truth or the jailing of justice.
The youth are not the enemy, they are the heartbeat of this nation. Repressing them will not erase the truth. It will only strengthen their resolve.
Release the youths!! Let the Constitution Stand!!
