By Alieu Ceesay
The National Assembly erupted into a fiery three-minute-per-speaker debate on wednesday after former President Yahya Jammeh, in exile in Equatorial Guinea since January 2017, reiterated his intention to return home this November.
The motion, tabled by Hon. Sainey Jawara (Lower Saloum), described Jammeh’s prospective return as a “potential threat to national security” that could undermine the country’s fragile peace and democratic gains.
“It is deeply troubling that the former president continues to make public pronouncements about his alleged intention to return, particularly when the nation is consolidating peace, stability, and democratic governance,” Jawara told the Assembly. “Such statements are insensitive to victims and their families and create unnecessary tension.”
Jawara, whose constituency suffered heavily under Jammeh’s 22-year rule, insisted: “My message to Gambians is clear: Yahya Jammeh can never again be President of this country. The people will defend their democracy, justice, peace, and accountability.”
The motion triggered sharply divided reactions that largely followed political and regional lines.
Hon. Pa Dembo Sanneh (Foni Bondali) argued Jammeh “deserves a second chance,” while Hon. Almameh Gibba (Foni Kansala), one of Jammeh’s most vocal supporters in the House, mocked the government’s anxiety: “If the President is afraid, his supporters are afraid President Jammeh is coming.”
Hon. Lamin Ceesay (Kiang West) accused the Barrow administration of hypocrisy: “The current government is comfortable forming alliances with Jammeh’s supporters and benefiting from assets he left behind, but they are not comfortable with Jammeh himself returning.”
Several lawmakers urged the exiled former leader to use diplomatic channels rather than make social media announcements. Hon. Samba Jallow (Niamina Dankunku) reminded Jammeh that he is “a former president who no longer has the powers he once enjoyed.”
Others turned the debate into an indictment of the government’s pace on transitional justice. Hon. Musa Badgie (Tallinding Kunjang) blasted the “slow or non-existent implementation” of Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) recommendations and the failure to prosecute Jammeh for alleged gross human rights violations.
Nominated member Fatoumatta Jawara dismissed security fears outright: “That small population cannot destabilise this country. We fought with heart and sweat to dislodge the tyrant. The democracy Gambians enjoy today—you cannot spoil it.”
No vote was taken on the motion, and lawmakers left the chamber without unified guidance for the executive on how to handle Jammeh’s threatened return next month.
As the debate showed, eight years after his defeat and flight, Yahya Jammeh still casts a long and divisive shadow over Gambian politics.
