A ruling NPP supporter identified as Jali Burama Jobarteh has made comments flagged by Malagen media monitoring as hate speech. The viral video clip has been published widely on social media and online news media. His hateful comments are directed at the mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council, Talib Ahmed Bensouda. He describes Bensouda as a non-Gambian and calls on the electorate to vote against him based on his origin.

He was speaking at the NPP rally held at Farato Bojang Kunda on May 12 attended by the NPP candidate for West Coast Region Sheriff Seedy Ceesay who is contesting for the chairmanship of the Brikama Area Council. Other dignitaries, including the Minister of Works and Infrastructure Ebrima Sillah were present and the event drew a large audience. 

Context

The election for mayors and chairpersons is slated for Saturday May 20. Mayor Bensouda is seeking re-election on the ticket of main opposition UDP. His main rival in the contest for the Kanifing Municipal Council mayoral seat 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. Even though Jobarteh was speaking outside the KM region, and at the platform of Ceesay who is not contesting the same seat as Bensouda, the comments are hatefully made thus requiring to be flagged. 

What Mr Jobarteh said: 

Speaking in Mandinka language, Mr Jobarteh said: “In Gambia here, we have Fulas, Mandinkas, Jolas,  Serahules and Wolofs who were born here and are citizens. But in the history of this country, a Lebanese was never born in the Gambia, and Bensouda is a Lebanese. The reason Ousainu Darboe selected Bensouda is because he was bribed by his [Bensouda’s] mother, and this is why other aspirants such as Mustapha Touray, Papa Njie were denied the chance to lead the UDP.”

He went on to call on the electorate in Kanifing Municipality to vote against Bensouda because of his Lebanese origin. 

Why the statement is a hate speech

The United Nations  defines hate speech as “any kind of expression or communication in speech, writing or behaviour, which attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are, in other words, based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factor.”

As indicated above, an attack on an individual based on his or her identity falls within the definition of hate speech. Moreover, by calling on the electorate to vote against Bensouda based on his so-called origin, Mr Jobarteh is advocating for discrimination, which is one of the constitutive elements of hate speech. 

Conclusions

The NPP – and all other parties – should institute effective intra-party investigative and disciplinary mechanisms. Such mechanisms may be needed even for various campaign teams. For example, Candidate Sheriff Seedy Ceesay could have put in place a disciplinary mechanism as part of his campaign structures. 

Moreover, when the hateful comments were made, candidate Ceesay, Minister Ebrima Sillah and/or other influential speakers should have addressed it in a timely manner and with due prominence. Unfortunately, from our findings, Jobarteh’s remarks were not addressed by any of the speakers. Instead, he was cheered on by the audience. 

The NPP-APRC alliance should consider taking disciplinary action against Mr Jobarteh as punishment for his conduct, and for deterrent purposes. The alliance or Sheriff Seedy Ceesay’s campaign should issue a statement to condemn Jobarteh’s remarks and to dissociate from it. 

About Malagen media monitoring 

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

Report to Us:

Have you seen any mis/disinformation, hate speech or dangerous speech? Please, report to us via this email editor.malagen@gmail.com or call/WhatsApp us on +220 308 6738.

This hate 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.