In moments of public reckoning, intellectuals are often called to account for their proximity to power, and it is common for critics to be dismissed as envious.
This accusation of “intellectual jealousy” serves as a convenient distraction, designed to personalize dissent and obscure the essence of the critique. However, let us be clear: principled criticism is not born of envy; it is born of conscience.
My recent reflections on Dr. Manneh’s influence in shaping public discourse have elicited responses that attempt to reduce my position to mere bitterness. I do not envy accolades, titles, or proximity to influence. Instead, I question how those accolades are utilized. I examine whether intellectual prestige is wielded to challenge injustice or to protect it.
The Gambian public sphere has long suffered from a culture of silence, where celebrated minds are expected to remain neutral, even when that neutrality becomes complicity. In this context, critique is not only necessary; it is urgent. When intellectuals lend their voices to power without scrutiny, they risk becoming mere ornaments of authority rather than instruments of accountability.
My critique is not directed at Dr. Manneh as an individual but at a broader pattern: the myth that eloquence excuses silence, that scholarship absolves one from civic responsibility. I speak out because I remember. I remember the journalists who were jailed for exposing corruption. I remember the whistleblowers who were punished for telling the truth. I remember the students who were silenced for demanding justice.
To speak out is not to betray; it is to honor the legacy of those who refused to remain silent. It is to insist that intellectuals must not only interpret the world but also help change it.
Let us reject the notion that critique equates to jealousy. Let us affirm that it is, and must remain, an act of civic courage. In a democracy worthy of its name, truth-telling should not be punished; it should be protected.
I have frequently celebrated, honored, and paid tribute to Gambia’s brightest men and women, such as Ambassador Abdoulie Touray, Dr. Malanding Jaiteh, Dr. Lamin J. Darboe, Dr. Sheriff Cessay, Alhagie Mamadi Kurang, Hawa Sisay Sabally, and others. I do not speak from envy; I speak from memory. I speak from duty. And I will continue to speak because silence is no longer an option.
