The environmental destruction of our inheritance must stop

18 September 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh I cannot put this more clearly than this: an environmental disaster is unfolding in my village, and unless urgent action is taken, the consequences could become increasingly difficult, and eventually impossible for us to reverse. It is my view that we cannot and

United to transform: When politics fails, reinvent government

7 September 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh The reader must bear with me for placing these first as they form the basis of the arguments contained in this write-up. Unlike the turncoat-in-chief/memory-deficient and corrupt incumbent, the Gambia’s opposition parties and movements appear to be

The Gambia’s opposition is at a crossroads: Principle, pragmatism and the price of disunity

24 August 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh It is an understatement to say that The Gambia needs a better political culture and political leadership that is clean, competent, pragmatic, accountable, and committed to integrity and zero tolerance for corruption, underpinned by capable civil service and strong institutions. From my perspective,

The president protected, The Gambia exposed: Cost of complacency and ineffective leadership

24 July 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh A state has a fundamental responsibility of safeguarding sovereignty, maintaining peace and stability, and protecting its citizens. By these measures, I believe I have good grounds to judge the Barrow administration's record a failure. On 16 July 2026, Senegalese security forces,

Guarding the guardian: Electoral integrity cannot be left to the IEC alone

22 July 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh An inaccurate voters' register undermines the foundation of a credible election, which brews up trouble, creating fertile ground for disputes, and instability. However, safeguarding the integrity of the voters’ register is not the responsibility of the IEC alone, yet it must act

A credible election begins with a credible voter register; the IEC must demonstrably renew its commitment to fulfilling its statutory duty

22 July 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh There is considerable truth in the saying that elections are won or lost long before polling day. This observation reflects the importance of maintaining the integrity of every stage of the electoral process, particularly voter registration. An accurate voter register is at the

Safeguarding The Gambia’s electoral integrity requires more than addressing the irregularities in the voter register

15 July 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh Public confidence in the electoral system depends on transparency, accountability and the consistent application of electoral laws free from political influence or overreach. Safeguarding and maintaining the integrity of the voters' register is a statutory responsibility of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC)

Barrow’s pen approves almost everything, except the constitutional limits on his own power

13 July 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh Adama Barrow appears to have mastered a rare political art: the ability to commission everything, approve everything, and inaugurate everything while, ironically, avoiding personal responsibility for anything. Barrow seems to have an insatiable desire to approve everything- that advances his political interests, yet

An expensive lesson in constitutional law: Constitutional violation costs the Gambian taxpayer millions of dalasis

10 July 2026 By Dr. Omar Janneh The Barrow Administration’s removal of the Auditor General, Mr. Modou Ceesay was a deliberate attack on the constitutional independence of an office created to hold government accountable. The judgment sends a clear message that constitutional protections are not optional and cannot be

The Gambia’s failure to protect its daughters

18 August 2025 By Dr. Omar Janneh The recent death of a one-month-old baby girl following female genital mutilation (FGM) in The Gambia has reignited outrage. However, just as in the past tragedies, this one may soon be forgotten amid inaction/silence and or sadly, be replaced by

A case of harm and death for culture: Betrayal of a nation that seems unfit to protect its daughters

18 August 2025 By Dr. Omar Janneh  The death of a one-month-old baby girl in The Gambia because of female genital mutilation (FGM) has reignited public outrage. However, a bitter experience suggests that this grief will soon fade into another unaddressed tragedy. Despite the country’s 2015 ban

Judiciary reform alone cannot fix land disputes

12 August 2025 By Dr. Omar Janneh The origins of land ownership may be debated, but in The Gambia today, the consequences of lack of appropriate safeguards are clear: our land is in crisis. Our land is crying beneath our feet. Therefore, if we are to build a just and

The ground we live on needs fixing, but the Barrow government is not up to that task

12 August 2025 By Dr. Omar Janneh It is time for our land to stop being a source of conflict and become a source of peace, prosperity, and unity. It should be recognised that land belongs not just to those who own it but to those who need it- e.

Deliberate abuse of office and reckless indifference to it

September 2019 By Dr. Omar Janneh Mr. Abubacarr M. Tambadou, Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Improperly Applied for and Obtained Five Diplomatic Passports for Family Members. The application to obtain diplomatic passports by Mr. Abubacarr M. Tambadou, the Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice for

Various: Looking Back and Sharing Some Thoughts

2 January 2022 By Dr. Omar Janneh In 2021, we saw in the Gambia that democracy often yields outcomes that bona fide opposition parties would not have wanted, but given our electoral laws we have to respect it as the will of the voters. I wish the Barrow government well,

President Adama Barrow’s administration is very corrupt and condones corruption

24 August 2021 By Dr. Omar Janneh In its 2021 Investment Climate Statements, the US Department of State reported that President Barrow’s administration has turned a blind eye to corruption. The report makes for grim reading for any investor, yet it seems that President Barrow’s administration has not

Guidelines for infection control following death from Covid-19

30 March 2020 In general, all indications are that we are not yet near the worst of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and deaths caused by the virus may continue to increase in some parts of the world. In many parts of the world, the bodies of Covid-19

A Case of deliberate abuse of office: Mr. Abubacarr M. Tambadou, Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice improperly applied for and obtained five diplomatic passports for family members

13 September 2019 By Dr. Omar Janneh The application to obtain diplomatic passports by Mr. Abubacarr M. Tambadou, the Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice for 5 members of his family (mother, step-mother, 2 sisters and wife) is an excessive and deliberate abuse of ministerial privileges. It

The coalition 2016 agreement of three years: Yahya Jammeh could have banned the coalition from contesting the 2016 presidential elections on constitutional grounds

18 July 2019 By Dr. Omar Janneh In November 2016, seven opposition parties finally did the admirable thing which they could not do for some years. They came together and formed a coalition that ended some 22 years of Jammeh’s brutal regime. Clearly there were a variety of very

The Gambia’s TRRC: Reckless failures of intelligent leadership led to the deliberate destruction of evidence at the notorious NIA, now SIS

26 February 2019 By Dr.Omar Janneh Most adult Gambians know that atrocious human rights abuses occurred at the NIA and elsewhere in the 22 years of Jammeh’s brutal regime which need to be preserved for later generations. President Barrow’s government thought that these human rights abuses were

The Gambia’s TRRC, should we expect better from the subsequent sessions?

9 February 2019 By Dr. Omar Janneh Call it im/material, but I think it is quite something that some witnesses at The Gambia’s TRRC are believed to have given some unreliable testimonies under oath, necessitating them to be described as “dirtying the pages of history”. I wonder if

Only a clueless and irresponsible government can come out of a dictatorial regime and issue firearms and ammunition importation licence to a company with an unmanageably large and diverse business portfolio

18 January 2019 By Dr. Omar Janneh When you hope for a bit of positive publicity for the Barrow government, it refuses to come. On January 10, 2019 – 3 days after the start of the TRRC proceedings (http://www.trrc.gm/), The Gambia’s police and customs officers accidentally or

Watch out, President Barrow is becoming a Constitutional Vandal

15 January 2019 By Dr. Omar Janneh In order to deal with the above subject, we must visit section 85 (Control of prosecutions) of the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia which reads: (1)     The Director of Public Prosecutions shall have power in any case in which he or she considers

The unusual, unethical, potentially luring and corruption-inducing gifting of a plot of land to a witness by the TRRC’s Lead Counsel, Mr. Essa M. Faal

7 January 2019 By Dr. Omar Janneh What kind of witness must one be at The Gambia’s TRRC to deserve being gifted a plot of land by the Lead Counsel, Mr. Essa M. Faal? Will Mr. Sanna B. Sabally (- the apparently brave and honest son whose testimonies (please click