By Alf Soninke
I strongly believe that the solution to our predicament is for the organizers of the 22 August peaceful protest at PURA to sue the IGP for violating the constitutional right to peaceful assembly.
In the past, the continuing existence of the Act was questioned in a matter brought before the Supreme Court of the Gambia.
Unfortunately, and bizarrely, it held that the Public Order Act is not necessarily inconsistent with the constitution. And so the Act remains to this day in our statute books. Yet, the intent of the constitutional provision is very clear!
The problem is that the IGP is giving the Act its own narrow interpretation – contrary to available international best practice – by insisting that persons must write a letter and submit it to the police for permission (for a written permit!), before they can assemble and express their grievances peacefully.
The colonial-era Act only requires the person (an individual or organisation) to do so when they come together (assemble) to march in a procession and/or use a loudspeaker.
Those who gathered at PURA last Friday were aware of this distinction in the laws of the Gambia, and simply gathered at the gate of PURA to deliver a petition.
Meaning they did not assemble somewhere else before they marched in a procession to PURA, nor did they use a loudspeaker at any time when they were assembled.
Thus, it is important and urgent to get a pronouncement from the high court to put an end to these unending police violations of civil rights and the laws of the Gambia.
I recall that there were problems over the interpretation of the Act, when PDOIS and UDP (in Serrekunda?) tested the waters / challenged the state by insisting that they could hold political rallies without a police permit.
Their position or interpretation of the law then was that they could do so, since they did not use a loudspeaker/public address system at the event.
There was a court case involving the late Femi Peters, who was charged with convening the rally, and he was prosecuted (and convicted?) I believe.
Indeed, the police’s interpretation of the Act by insisting on obtaining a permit to gather in a public place and speak out has resulted in a lot of suffering, pain, and death, including many murders by the security forces in this country.
We recall the murders committed on April 10 and 11 by the police (as re-visited by the TRRC), as well as the murder of Solo Sandeng, and the brutalization and detention of many others by the security forces.
They were assaulted for assembling peacefully and asking for electoral reform in April 2014.
Then there followed, days later in the same year, the arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of the top leadership of the UDP, for assembling and marching peacefully to demand justice for what happened to Sandeng and others arrested with him on that fateful day.
Subsequently and consequently, the politicians/political parties negotiated and were able to come to an understanding among themselves (under the auspices of the IEC and Inter-party Committee?).
They agreed that they can hold outdoor political rallies and embark on campaign tours without a police permit, just to notify the police so that they can maintain law and order.
Now, note well that this was an instance of the politicians coming together and solving a matter which directly affected their common interests!
One would have expected remedial action, as the police and other members of the security forces obviously acted to please their political masters.
They were using the cover of the Act to serve themselves. They got themselves negatively implicated in all these dark chapters mentioned in Gambia’s history – not for the first time and certainly not the last, as we continue to witness right now in 2025.
The coalition government under Adama Barrow, in its election manifesto, reportedly promised to repeal the Act. Moreover, Adama Barrow became President because of the April 2014 incidents. His NPP government and coalition partners also promised to deliver good governance in the country.
After the April 2014 incidents, among others, they were widely expected to repeal the Act.
Yet, history has recorded that Barrow and his coalition partners, before and now, have failed to do so up to this very day.
Meanwhile, Gambians never mind that the clear-cut constitutional provisions continue to be at the mercy of the police’s insistence on their own interpretation of the Act!
It is, therefore, evident that, following the 22 August PURA peaceful assembly, we must return to the Gambia’s High Court to seek an interpretation on this burning matter, which has caused and continues to create so many crises in this country.
We want a judicial pronouncement on an issue that continues to be a threat to national security and stability.
Since the politicians, at the level of the executive and legislature, have to date failed us, it is time for the courts to now step in to ensure sustainable peace and national harmony.
