Dear Mustapha,
I hope that this letter finds you well. I am writing to demand a public apology from you for writing and publishing false and defamatory information about me in the Republic online news outlet of April 2025.
One year ago, on 30th April 2025, The Republic published an article containing several false and defamatory allegations regarding my role in matters related to the Jammeh assets. The article, titled “The Assets of Gambia’s former dictator go for a song” and funded by Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) claimed, among other things, that I manipulated a court decision; acted alone or without lawful authority in unfreezing the Tourism Development Area (TDA) lands; unlawfully terminated a court-appointed receiver; unilaterally appointed Alpha Barry as receiver; involved a friend or future spouse as a sales agent in the asset disposal process; and personally decided to offer the “Sompo Ceesay” family the opportunity to repurchase their property. Each of these assertions was false. They misrepresented collective government decisions as personal actions and falsely attributed improper motives to me. The decisions were taken in accordance with established legal frameworks and involved the Cabinet, the Ministerial Taskforce, and other relevant authorities. While the decisions were in themselves well founded, legitimate and lawful, The Republic article conveyed the impression that I acted dishonestly, alone, and without lawful authority which you knew to be false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth.
These false allegations were published despite clear evidence to the contrary I provided to you, as well as corroboration from multiple government officials and public records demonstrating their falsity. As a result, the article has caused significant reputational harm, public hostility, and professional consequences for me. Considering the above, I demand that you issue a public apology, remove or correct the false statements, and ensure that the defamatory content is withdrawn from all platforms where it has been disseminated.
· Unfreezing TDA Lands: The decision was a Cabinet approved government policy, not a personal initiative. This was publicly confirmed by former Cabinet ministers Ousainu Darboe (The Standard newspaper 9th May 2025) and Hamat Bah (National Assembly Special Select Committee 25 November 2025). The presiding judge also issued a public statement rejecting the claim that he was “blindfolded” and affirming that his ruling was based on the facts.
· Court Appointed Receiver: The Court-appointed receiver’s mandate was not terminated. It expired in accordance with Section 51(8) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2012. The Janneh Commission expressly recommended the appointment of a new receiver to replace the court-appointed receiver, and the government accepted this recommendation through its White Paper.
· Alpha Barry Appointment: His appointment was approved collectively by the Ministerial Taskforce established by the President. This was confirmed by Taskforce member Hamat Bah (National Assembly Special Select Committee 25 November 2025). The government’s continued renewal of his appointment every six months for the past six years after my departure further disproves any claim of personal influence.
· Sales Agent Role: There was no role for a sales agent in the public bidding process. You were informed that the individual in question only facilitated a private family land transaction unrelated to the Jammeh assets. You declined to verify the documentation including the contacts of the purchaser, a power of attorney, a sale agreement and a deed of assignment, and instead relied on unsubstantiated claims from unnamed sources.
· Sompo Ceesay Property: The offer to repurchase was a decision of the Ministerial Taskforce and was extended to multiple parties, not a unilateral action (See testimony of taskforce member Hamat Bah National Assembly Special Select Committee 25 November 2025 and Report of Ministerial taskforce April 2020).
It is evident that you either did not read the relevant parts of the Janneh Commission report or the government White Paper or that you deliberately chose to mislead the public in your article. To publish or cause the publication of an “investigative report” about corruption without adequate or proper research or understanding of the facts is the height of irresponsible journalism. While I am a passionate supporter of free media, I also will not condone defamation disguised as investigation. Your actions in this case went against the basic rules, tenets and standards of professional journalism, are antithetical to the values of press freedom and a disservice to the struggles and memory of people like Deyda Hydara who gave their lives for a free press in our country. Your actions amounted to an abuse of press freedom using your privileged position as a journalist to attack a professional reputation solidly built over many decades on truth, fairness, integrity and honesty.
With extraordinary prescience, I had forewarned about the dangers of abuse of press freedom in my last public appearance as Attorney General in June 2020 when I said the following:
“The biggest threat to our peace and fledgling democracy is misinformation. I implore the media to be mindful of your critical role in a fragile democracy such as ours. Do not turn your supporters in Government against you by your actions. Do not, under the guise of freedom of expression, ruin the lives and reputations of others simply because you can. In small communities like ours in this country, the consequences of publishing false information can be devastating. The people you write about have families too, their kids go to school with other kids, their spouses interact with others at work and other public places. By all means expose corruption and corrupt practices in Government, but I encourage you do so with facts. It will only enhance your credibility. Do not allow those with a partisan political or narrow personal agenda to use you to smear others because when you do, you will also discourage honest and hardworking Gambians from accepting to serve in public office and consequently deprive this country of the best human resource talent that we need to develop our country.”
As with many young Gambian journalists who emerged after the change in 2016, you too had shown promise and potential. You set yourself apart as an anti-corruption crusader covering highly specialised subject matters like banking, finance, taxation, and law which require expertise. And this has dire consequences for the subjects of your stories.
The fact that you only gave me one week to respond to your allegations even though you were working on your story for two years suggests that you had an ulterior motive for your article about me. This hidden agenda was confirmed to me when you published your article on the same date that you gave me as a deadline to submit my responses to your allegations. It was clear from these facts that you had already made up your mind about your so-called investigations. Therefore, reaching out to me was a mere formality meant to appear as if you had given me a fair opportunity to respond to you, whereas in reality, you had neither the time to sufficiently consider my detailed responses nor the intention to do so from the start. This act, alone, exposed your ulterior motive and betrayed your malicious intentions. By publishing your article without fact-checking my responses to your allegations, you acted with reckless disregard for the truth and without consideration for the implications of your false publication. This is therefore not about defending myself but holding you accountable for your actions.
By publishing an article about alleged corruption surrounding the sale of the Jammeh assets and making me a central figure in that article, to the exclusion of all other relevant facts such as the role of the Ministerial Taskforce and Cabinet, you intended, unjustifiably and maliciously, to create the public perception that I was engaged in acts of dishonesty. You thereby sought to damage my unblemished character and professional reputation built over a 25-year legal career. Your actions have had serious repercussions for me including instigating and whipping up local public sentiment, hostility, vile, virulent, abusive and offensive comments against me and my family. I instantly became the subject of public ridicule and the victim of online harassment and abuse on social media. The local backlash to The Republic article, stemming from the perception that you successfully created, was so profoundly strong that it gave rise to public protests. Your actions also sought to demean my international standing in my field of work and put my character, professional reputation, and integrity in serious jeopardy. It gave rise to petitions against my candidature for ICJ judge and even led to a withdrawal by one local entity of an earlier endorsement of my ICJ candidature. Your objective was to portray me as a dishonest person and cause me reputational harm. You succeeded in both. For someone who has given so much to country, the pain was unbearable. The psychological trauma was immense and still lingers on. The words spoken remain hurtful to this day. And you caused it all.
When I advocated, sought funding for, and pushed through media law reforms such as the deletion of criminal defamation or sedition from our Criminal Code with much resistance, I did so in the sincere hope that media practitioners in the country will adopt a robust and responsible attitude to journalism. I firmly believed that having been suppressed for many years by the Jammeh dictatorship, Gambian journalists will emerge from their shells with renewed vigour and a higher sense of duty and responsibility. Therefore, you failed me as a passionate supporter of press freedom in government. I am sure that some of my former Cabinet colleagues have looked back at our animated discussions at the time, smiled with a feeling of self-vindication, and said to themselves quietly, “we told you so”. Your actions therefore embarrassed me and emboldened those less enthusiastic about achieving total press freedom in our country.
Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed about not only the publication of the false statements against me but that they came from you. Throughout my tenure as Attorney General, it was common knowledge that I had an open-door policy for all members of the media in the country and you, more than anyone else, took full advantage of that. I provided you with information every time you came knocking on my door to the point that I felt we had established an amicable rapport. That is why your action hurts. My disappointment in you is best captured by the words of Julius Caesar “Et tu, Brute?” when his best friend, Brutus, joined his killers. Describing the depth of betrayal that Caesar felt, Shakespeare said, “For ingratitude stronger than the traitor’s arm quite vanquished him then burst his mighty heart”. It was the emotional blow of Brutus’ betrayal that fatally wounded Caesar rather than the physical dagger that Brutus used to stab him. It was a most unkind act.
How soon have we forgotten about the struggles and personal sacrifices that people have made to change this country? I have always served our country’s interests with a clear conscience, exemplary sincerity, and patriotism. Throughout my career, I devoted myself to the oppressed and less fortunate in our society. In the dark days of the Jammeh dictatorship when many shied away, I stood up against oppression on many occasions at great personal risk to defend the poor and the weak in society pro bono. When the hour was upon us, I invested my personal resources, time and energy in more ways than you could imagine to bring about the peaceful democratic change in December 2016. When I was called upon to serve as Attorney-General, I enthusiastically accepted and gave up a well-paid international position to return home at great personal cost and with a clean professional record. I came with no personal motives. I initiated and managed one of the most successful transitional justice processes ever established anywhere in the world and which has now become our nation’s pride. Above all, I raised our national flag to one of its highest levels and gave our country unprecedented prominence and respectability in the international human rights community. Instead of recognising and celebrating these efforts, you chose to focus on and demean my public persona to bring me down. I certainly did not deserve this treatment from anyone and not least from you. Hence it is not a coincidence that many of our country’s best brains have opted to use their skills in the service of others outside our shores.
But I have no regrets about the reforms that I initiated and pushed through against many odds. I have no regrets about all the times that I stood up in defence of human rights and press freedom, especially in the days of the Jammeh dictatorship when a few dared to speak out. In the end, our country will outlive all of us and we will ultimately be judged by the legacy that our generation of Gambians bequeathed to future generations of Gambians. We will be judged by what each of us contributed to that legacy. For my part, I would forever be proud of my contributions: proud about everything that I did to help bring about change to our country in December 2016; proud that I helped to liberate our people from the clutches of tyranny and oppression; proud that I contributed to fostering an atmosphere in which someone like you is able to make a living off the right to freedom of expression; and proud that I helped to create a nation where people freely express themselves without the fear of consequences. I did it for myself, for my children and for my great grandchildren, and I want them to remember me for that. That is the legacy I will forever cherish in my lifetime, and no amount of smear campaign can take that away from me.
Having agonised over The Republic article since its publication one year ago, and the damage it caused to my character and reputation in the public sphere, resulting in hate and vitriol that was directed at me and my family particularly on social media, I am compelled to demand a public apology from you for causing reputational harm and great emotional distress for me and my family. In the circumstances, that is the least you owe me. While I have hesitated to go down this path with you as a passionate supporter of press freedom, I am however compelled to do so in the hope that decency will prevail. I do not want my children to grow up in a society with the stigma of a dishonest or corrupt father. I want my children to grow up with their heads raised high with pride and dignity knowing that their father was a patriot who lived a life of honesty, integrity and hard work. That is how my father raised me to see him and that is how I also wish to raise them and for their sake I will do whatever it takes to set the records straight. That consideration is above everything else, and it is non-negotiable.
Notwithstanding, I am still willing to give you the benefit of doubt. If you acted in good faith and in the sincere belief that your story about me was true, even if you could have done more to verify your facts, this is the opportunity to redeem yourself, make amends and correct your story now that the facts have been largely established. Otherwise, I will only assume that your actions were deliberate, intentional, malicious, and calculated to tarnish my image and reputation which will not go unanswered. I hope that you will have the courage, decency and humility to accept responsibility for your actions, and for the reputational harm and emotional distress that you have caused me and my family through the said Republic article.
Consequently, I demand the following:
1. That you issue a public apology to me for publishing the said false and defamatory statements against me in The Republic news outlet of April 2025 to be published through the same medium and platforms that you have used to disseminate the article, and on all local radio stations and GRTS and QTV networks.
2. That you remove the said false and defamatory statements from the said medium and platforms and to cause the removal of the said article from all other media and platforms which referenced the Republic news outlet: or
3. That you edit the Republic article to remove the parts that are false and defamatory against me.
I hope that you will fulfil these reasonable demands within fourteen (14) days of receiving this communication to obviate the need for further action and so that this matter may be finally closed in our mutual interest.
Abubacarr M Tambadou
CC:
Attorney General & Minister of Justice
Minister of Information
National Human Rights Commission
Gambia Bar Association
Gambia Press Union
National Media Council
Counsel
