Twenty-one years have passed since Deyda Hydara was assassinated on December 16, 2004. His voice was silenced, but his vision continues to thunder across the conscience of our nation. Deyda’s absence is a wound that refuses to heal, a reminder that truth was murdered but never buried.
Deyda epitomized journalism’s sacred values: accuracy, courage, independence, and integrity. He believed journalism must remain a profession of principle, not a pastime of opportunism. He insisted that ethics, history, and functional English were not luxuries but the lifeblood of a free press.
When he and his colleagues moved the Gambia Press Union (GPU) from the Banjul City Council conference chambers to its first offices in Fajara, Deyda had one condition: the Union must remain professional, and journalism must remain rooted in training, ethics, and language. His vision shaped the GPU’s mandatory training in Ethics, Principles, and History of Journalism, stressing what we now call the “Deyda Values of Journalism”: objectivity, fairness, truth, and loyalty to citizens.
The GPU has accomplished much rapidly. Yet the question “What is next?” still demands an answer. The GPU Journalism Training Center must rise to the occasion. The best is yet to come, but only if we remain faithful to Deyda’s vision.
Journalism today is battered by ratings, clicks, and political storms. Gambian journalism is not at its best. Yet Deyda’s legacy challenges us: to be creative, to sound professional, to wield language with artistry, and to serve the public good with courage. Journalism is not entertainment; it is the scaffolding of democracy.
Justice After Two Decades
For years, impunity mocked justice. But history has begun to shift.
In May 2023, former Jungler Bai Lowe was convicted in Germany for his role in extrajudicial killings under Yahya Jammeh’s regime, including the assassination of Deyda Hydara. His conviction was a landmark moment: the first time a Jungler was held accountable in a court of law abroad.
In November 2025, another alleged killer, Sanna Manjang, was arrested in Casamance after years on the run. He now faces charges of murder in The Gambia, including Hydara’s killing. His arrest, 21 years later, is a powerful signal: the seeds of truth that Deyda planted are sprouting into justice.
These developments prove that the arc of justice, though long, bends toward accountability. They remind us that truth may be delayed, but it cannot be denied.
As we mark 21 years, let us keep alive the vision of Dixon Colley, Swaebou Conateh, and Deyda Hydara. Let us teach, train, and inspire journalists to ask themselves, in every season of doubt and danger: And let us remember: twenty-one years later, truth is chasing its killers. Justice is finally catching up with impunity. The best tribute we can pay to Deyda is not only remembrance, but recommitment to the values he lived and died for, and to the future of journalism in The Gambia.
