Coalition 2026, led by Talib Ahmed Bensouda, has accused officials and allies of the National People’s Party of using ethnic and ancestral identity to divide Gambians as President Adama Barrow weighs a third-term reelection.
In a statement issued under the coalition’s name, the group condemned what it called hate speech, tribal division, and the deliberate use of identity politics by state ministers, a National Assembly deputy, and cabinet officials. It said some of the remarks were made in the president’s presence and attacked citizens over their ancestral origins and their right to belong in the country. The coalition described the president’s silence as complicity and asked how far Barrow is prepared to go to secure another term.
“Seeking reelection should not be a reason to divide a nation,” the statement said. It argued that suggestions some Gambians are more Gambian than others have become a pattern in the Barrow government and called that pattern a red flag that can no longer be ignored.
The coalition singled out two communities it said are now being targeted: Gambians of Lebanese descent and Mandinkas, the country’s largest ethnic group. It asked when people of Lebanese ancestry began to be treated as less Gambian, and when Mandinkas became a problem in their own homeland. No Gambian, it said, should have to prove they are “Gambian enough” because of their great-grandparents’ origins, and no community should be valued only for the money it puts into the economy.
The group warned that the same logic could later be turned on others. It listed Fula of Guinean ancestry, Jola of Casamance ancestry, Wolof, Sarahule, Serer, and Aku as communities that could become targets if the rhetoric continues. Every group that has lived in peace in the country, it said, is exposed if the pattern continues.
Coalition 2026 urged civil society organizations, human rights bodies, religious institutions, and the international community to condemn what it called a dangerous trajectory under the Barrow government. It also cautioned the president directly, saying Mandinkas have a long history of defending their dignity and their place in the nation. The statement said scapegoating and alienating communities for electoral gain should not be tested. Mandinkas, or any other ethnic group, “will never be reduced to second-class citizens in their own country.”
