As the streets echo with chants led by GALA (Gambian Active Leaders’ Assembly), a generation long dismissed and disillusioned is now rising with clarity, purpose, and rage. Their protest is not rooted in mere rebellion; it is rooted in a deep longing for justice, accountability, and dignity. Their voices, ringing through the symbolic Westfield Youth Monument, serve as a thunderous indictment of a system that has persistently failed them.
What is unfolding is not just a protest. It is a reckoning. A reckoning with decades of corruption dressed in eloquent speeches. A reckoning with leadership that too often treats governance as privilege, not responsibility. These young people, bearing the burdens of unemployment, exclusion, and political neglect, are not asking for luxury — they are demanding that those entrusted with power act with integrity.
And yet, even as their footsteps beat in rhythm with the heartbeat of the nation, a dangerous silence lingers from the corridors of power. Will the government listen? More importantly, will it act? This moment cannot be met with the usual tactics — hollow promises, deflections, or temporary appeasement. To do so would not only be tone-deaf but deeply irresponsible.
What sets this protest apart is the raw sincerity and fierce resolve of the youth. They are not whispering behind closed doors. They are shouting in the streets, reclaiming their space, their voice, their future. They are saying ENOUGH — enough deception, enough corruption, enough betrayal.
The government now stands at a decisive crossroads. To ignore this movement is to confirm complicity. To respond with action — genuine, transparent, and swift — is to begin restoring trust. These protests are not threats; they are national diagnostics. A healthy democracy listens to its youth, empowers them, and builds with them.
The question remains: will the nation listen to its own heartbeat — or let it flatline?
