By: Fatou Krubally
Prominent human rights activist, Madi Jobarteh, has accused The Gambia’s legal system of protecting the powerful while punishing the poor.
He called for an urgent overhaul of what he described as “unreasonable and colonial-era laws” that continue to undermine justice and good governance.
In a statement shared yesterday, Jobarteh, a member of the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice, said many of the country’s laws “contradict the Constitution, offend common sense, and are selectively enforced to shield the elite while crushing the weak.”
He argued that instead of advancing justice, these laws have created inequality, corruption, and fear, locking the nation “in a permanent state of underdevelopment.”
Citing examples, Jobarteh pointed to the Public Order Act, the Criminal Code, and the Elections Act, describing them as “tools of control rather than instruments of justice.” He noted that while poor citizens are often arrested or imprisoned for minor offenses such as cannabis possession, influential figures “enjoy impunity for similar or worse conduct.”
“Our drug laws destroy the lives of poor farmers and youths,” he said, “yet the powerful freely smoke cannabis in offices and drive luxury vehicles without fear of arrest.”
The activist also criticized sections of the Criminal Code that make it an offense to insult public officials, saying such laws “shield those in power from scrutiny” and violate the principles of free expression.
He further questioned why prisoners and Gambians abroad remain disenfranchised, despite their constitutional right to vote, arguing that democracy loses legitimacy when it excludes citizens who sustain the nation through remittances.
Jobarteh warned that the failure to reform outdated and inconsistent laws has kept The Gambia trapped in the same colonial governance structures it inherited at independence. “We cannot build a just and peaceful nation on laws designed to control, not to serve,” he said.
He called on authorities to align national laws with human rights standards, ensure accountability for public officials, and end the selective enforcement of justice.
“The soul of a nation is found in its laws,” Jobarteh concluded. “Today, our laws reveal not our civility, but our injustice.”
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By: Fatou Krubally Prominent human rights activist, Madi Jobarteh, has accused The Gambia’s legal system of protecting the powerful while…
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