The Gambian President Adama Barrow has made some strong comments, inciting his supporters to fight fire with fire. On Thursday, the last day of the campaign, the Gambian leader called on his supporters to stay awake all-night, suggesting that they should fight off any opposition supporter he claims goes to polls to influence voters.  The comment has been flagged by Malagen media monitoring unit as dangerous and inciteful.

Barrow was speaking in Ebo Town in the Kanifing Municipality as he made the last attempts to convince the electorate to vote for the candidate of his National Peoples Party, Mr Bakary Badjie in Saturday’s Mayoral/Chairpersonship election.

Context

The election for mayors and chairpersons is slated for Saturday, May 20. Mayor Bensouda is seeking re-election on the ticket of the main opposition, United Democratic Party. His main rival is Bakary Badjie, who is sponsored by the ruling NPP. The election campaign ahead of the polls is characterised by mass political rallies by parties and their candidates.

The Gambia will wrap up the 2021-2023 election cycle with the election of mayors in Banjul and Kanifing Municipality, and election of chairpersons in the rest of the regions – West Coast, Lower River, Central River, North Bank, and Upper River Regions.

Ebo Town is considered a stronghold for the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction Party that is currently in an alliance with the ruling NPP.

What President Barrow said

Speaking in Mandinka language, Barrow made the following statement as translated into English language. “Starting from today (Thursday  night), you do not have to sleep. You need to provide “attayaa” to the boys and distribute them to places. They should shield and protect the town beginning today up to tomorrow. We assure Bakary [Badjie] that we have already mobilised our boys and they will be attached to every polling station to make sure what used to prevail does not happen this time. It shall never happen again. The Interior Minister is here and the Inspector General of Police. I will order for arrest of any individual who is going to the polling stations to influence anyone’s voting choice. I will ask the IEC to be very strong and anyone who has voted must leave that area and go home. And I will tell our boys that they are the ruling party and there is no reason to be scared. Why would an opposition supporter not be afraid of you and you as the supporter of the ruling party is afraid of that person? How will you be afraid? Everyone is behind you. If you look at the high table, all these people are important, holding key positions. 

What makes President Barrow’s comments dangerous speech

In flagging Barrow’s comments, Malagen considered his status as the president who is arguably the most influential person in the country. His comments have the potential to embolden wrongdoers and incite his followers into violence. Barrow’s suggestion for NPP poll watchers also raises concerns about his motive for due process. Any illegal election activities should be addressed by legitimate security services under the supervision of the electoral commission.

The election in the Gambia is governed by laws and overseen by the Independent Electoral Commission. The police, who were present at the meeting in question, are also constitutionally tasked to ensure peaceful conduct of election and arrest all those in breach of law. There is no place, legally, for vigilantism. 

Calling on NPP supporters to engage in vigilantism to protect what the president considers to be “integrity of the polls” is a dangerous statement that could lead to serious clashes, where there are opposing groups engaged in such acts. And where there are no opposing groups, such poll watchers may end up intimidating voters.

An example of this scenario happened in Banjul on the election day, according to observers of the Election Watch Committee. The observers noted an incident where an altercation occurred between supporters of the NPP and UDP resulting in a physical fight. The persons involved in the fight were both campaigning for their candidates at the polling stream.

“It was reported that these incidents disrupted the voting process, as voting was put on pause until the issue was resolved,” reported the observers. 

 Conclusions

President Adama Barrow should be measured in his remarks and conduct himself in ways that are exemplary and can unify the people of the country. He should avoid any statement that can encourage people to act illegally and or irresponsibly.  

About Malagen media monitoring 

Malagen media monitoring tracks and counters mis/disinformation, hate speech and dangerous speech. 

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This dangerous speech alert was published with the support from the UN Peacebuilding Fund through UNESCO Dakar office under the project: countering hate speech and promoting responsible digital citizenship in The Gambia. The project is being implemented by the Open Media Centre (OMC), the publisher of Malagen.