The reports that The Gambia’s ranking in this year’s World Press Freedom Index has slumped from 5th to 11th position in Africa, is definitely not a big surprise to many people, considering certain negative comments and actions taken by the government against the media.
We can recall that in September 2024, President Adama Barrow sued The Voice newspaper, which was followed by the arrest and detention by the police of both the paper’s editor-in-chief and reporter over allegations that he (Barrow) was grooming Muhammed Jah, CEO of the QGroup to succeed him as the flag bearer of the National People’s Party (NPP) in the 2026 presidential elections.
To quote from a piece that I published on 30th September 2024, I warned against the possibility of such action negatively affecting The Gambia’s press freedom ranking as follows:
“This decision by President Barrow to go to court over the publication of such a mere rumour has rekindled questions about whether his advisers are really worth their salt. Obviously, any seasoned adviser would have pointed out to him that going to court over such a trivial matter was neither in his personal interest nor that of his regime.
In fact, by taking such an action over this trivial matter, he is not only raising the profile of The Voice newspaper but he is also causing great damage to the reputation of his government. This is no doubt going to be negatively reflected in the next World Press Freedom Index in which the Gambia had not been doing badly. Sometimes it takes a little ill-advised action to cause damage to a leader’s reputation, and President Barrow should be wary of such a possibility in this instance.”
While we applaud the assurance given by the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay in his address during the commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day that the government would continue to uphold media freedom, but the subsequent threats by the Minister of Regional Governments Hamat Bah to sue The Republican over allegations of his involvement in the purchase of some of former President Yahya Jammeh’s assets, has the potential of further negatively affecting the regime’s media profile.
Also, some of the negative comments often attributed to President Barrow and some of his supporters, targeting the private media, are not going to help enhance the government/media relationship.
