“It is a kingly thing, O Cyrus, to do well and to be evil spoken of.” Antisthenes.
The Gambia’s breathtaking transformations in civil liberties expansion, health care delivery, press freedom, education, road communication, peace-building, and social stability are undeniable. Since January 2017, our Principal, His Excellency President Adama Barrow while delivering on the Rousseauvian social contract with Gambians has exuded remarkable political will towards genuine criticisms and public scrutiny, thereby enabling citizens to actively partake in our national discursivity without fear.
While many citizens appreciate the new liberal atmosphere and would advance constructive criticisms of the President and his Government of the day with decency and decorum, we are increasingly witnessing horrendous aberrations by demented social media anarchists feasting on the hollow cybernetic attention economy.
Regrettably, the crass glorification of online vulgarity and the constant howling for ephemeral validation is incentivizing social media jesters to wallow into hallucinatory misinformation, indoctrinating disinformation theatrics, garrulous waywardness, and fleeting luminosity. Umberto Eco, the celebrated Italian author and philosopher succinctly argued that “social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak—people who once only talked at the bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community. They were quickly silenced. Now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of the idiots (2015).”
Evidently, the ubiquitous incivility in the Gambian social media space reached a decadent ebb with the recent viral incendiary purging by digital drifters against the person of His Excellency President Adama Barrow, symptomizing a nauseating social malaise, and thwarted misconceptions of freedom of expression and democratic pluralism.
Instructively, culture regulates behaviour and in our authentic Gambian culture, respect for seniors and elders is sacrosanct. Children are raised through the various stages of socialization grounded in inter-generational warmth and dignity within the stratum of what the Wolof would call “jom.” Social media is apparently normalizing a contrarian “nyaka jom” erosion of culture as the obsession with instantaneous “clickocracy” and “swipology” is diminishing our treasured value systems of reciprocal respect and utmost considerations of productive social stratifications.
Indeed, human bias is inherently sociological and in a liberal democracy every citizen can aspire to become president or “own the presidency” for his or her ilk. However, the ultimate occupation of the highest executive office of the land constitutes a Theodosian calling as Islamic jurisprudence teaches us that “O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honour whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent” (Quran, Surah Ali ‘Imran, verse 26-27).
Similarly, respect for authority is unequivocally celestial, “O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. Should you disagree on anything, then refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you ˹truly˺ believe in Allah and the Last Day. This is the best and fairest resolution.” (Quran, Surat An-Nisa, Verse 59).
Digital vagabonds who glamorise disobedience, disrespect and insults into ostensible social sports with nefarious bragging rights should remember that they could be subjecting their family names to ridicule as society will question their home-training with: “Where are the parents of the insulters?” In our culture and theological extractions, insulting President Barrow, the Chief Executive of the State, means indirectly insulting one’s parents and families. To help preserve the culture of respect for elders and parents, the Gambian Criminal Offences Act 2025, criminalises parental insult per §107 (2):
“A person who directs parental insult to the President, Vice President, a Minister, a member of the National Assembly, a civil servant or any other public officer in the exercise of his or her functions, shall be held liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than ten thousand Dalasis and not more than fifty thousand Dalasis or a term of imprisonment of not less than one month and not more than six months or to both fine and imprisonment.”
Cultural adroitness aside, the Presidency is a constitutional office of the 1997 Constitution of The Gambia. As the bedrock of Rule of Law, the constitution is the Supreme Law of our land and any other law that is inconsistent with its provisions is to the extent of the inconsistency null and void.
Defending the constitution is equally a duty of every citizen per § 6(2):
“All citizens of The Gambia have the right and the duty at all times to defend this Constitution and, in particular, to resist, to the extent reasonably justifiable in the circumstances, any person or group of persons seeking or attempting by any violent or unlawful means to suspend, overthrow or abrogate this Constitution or any part of it.”
The provisions of §61(1) in the 1997 Constitution create the position of The President:
“There shall be a President of The Gambia who shall be the Head of State and of Government and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.”
Executive Powers are vested in the President under §76 as he enjoys immunity from criminal and civil proceedings under §69 of the same constitution.
Therefore, respecting the President of the Republic means fulfilling the civic duty and obligation stipulated in §6(2) for the defence of the constitution.
Beyond the constitutional equilibrium, common sense orients us that those lampooning the President would like their relatives, friends, and associates to be shown the same respect, in the event they occupy the Gambian Presidency. In other words, if President Barrow were your biological father, brother, uncle, extended family or leader of your favourite political grouping, would you condone spiralling avalanche of insults and disrespect towards his persona in the name of democracy?
Accordingly, President Adama Barrow’s tolerance of pluralism and exercise of strategic restraint in the face of internecine criticisms should not be misconstrued as executive capitulation to digital banter. In essence, the President is neither interested in epistemological control of our public discourse nor in muzzling dissenting voices. He is more preoccupied with improving the lives and livelihoods of Gambians.
President Barrow further maintains an open, accessible and communicative government to citizens starting with the structural alignment of the Media and Communication Unit (MCU) at the Office of The President. The MCU primarily manages the image and reputation of the President of the Republic His Excellency Adama Barrow, the First Family and the staff corps of the Presidency.
Significantly, the brand assets of our Gambian Presidency are anchored on the principles of loyalty, professionalism, credibility, authenticity, approachability, and openness. We at the MCU are not in competition with social media or instantaneous news outlets. We are a tested and trusted bastion of credibility for the silent majority interested in genuine appreciation of the President’s impactful work.
The official website of the Office of The President attracted at least 2.7 million views within the first half of 2026. Our other official online information outputs from Facebook (facebook.com/PresidencyGambia, facebook.com/BarrowPresident), YouTube (youtube.com/@PresidencyGambia), Twitter/X (@Presidency_GMB, @BarrowPresident) to TikTok (tiktok.com/@PresidencyGambia) are attracting similar numbers from both young and older demographics. The bi-annual State House newsletters, calendars, “The President Diary” TV programme, presidential portraits, and other memorabilia are in constant demand. These milestones establish the public trust in the contents the Media and Communication Unit is constantly curating and disaggregating among Gambians at home and in the Diaspora.
Our strategic approach of not always responding to far-teched insinuations, and imaginary tales should not be misconceived as occupational inertia or conscious ignorance of citizens’ concerns. Through our indicated outputs and robust feedback mechanism, we provide accurate information to citizens to enrich our national dialogue. Applications for media accreditation to cover presidential engagements have increased manifolds reflecting the pluralism of Gambian media landscape and the desire of professional media entities to obtain factual information.
Genuine criticisms of the Presidency are sieved and accommodated through generic regular assessments and institutionalized platforms such as daily briefings, the annual National Dialogue with citizens and community outreach, ‘Meet The People Tour’, ‘Presidential Media Dinner’, and coordination of the State House accredited media corps. Within the last 24 months, the MCU has produced 22 episodes of the YIRIWA documentaries on the national development impacts that were screened before audiences at the “Mansa Kunda” seasons of the Ministry of Information, Media & Broadcasting Services. Citizens can appreciate these documentaries on The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) effective October 2026.
Having illustrated the work of the MCU for a better understanding of the open governance framework at the Presidency, I would like to emphasize that President Adama Barrow is constitutionally the number one citizen of The Gambia. Content creators, who might not be aware of the exalted stature of the President of the Republic as a constitutional authority, are particularly advised to internalise this edict.
Disrespecting President Adama Barrow, the Frist Family and the Office of The President is by extension disrespecting the sovereign people of The Gambia who vested joint Executive, Presidential and Command Authority on President as explained in the constitutional provisions above.
The undeniable transformations across various sectors of our socio-economic fabric cannot be insulted away. Government changes and the political will to leave an enduring and endearing legacy informs President Barrow’s authenticity and thoroughbred raison d’ etre of magnanimous tolerance.
Therefore, social media users should be reminded of the boomeranging effects of the digital footprint of their online engagements. President Barrow could ignore or forgive the vitriols on his person, but other entities would mercilessly document digital footprints for obvious reasons. Reports of entry visa denial by Western countries based on intending travellers’ online records is a common occurrence nowadays. President Barrow’s administration has no interest in censoring online discussions regardless of how brutally critical they are to its policies. The Gambia’s latest ranking among the top ten (10) counties with best political freedom in Africa by the Conference of Freedom Advocates 2026 is a testament of the prevailing progressive political will of the Government of the day.
Conclusively, I implore all online and offline stakeholders of our national debate to remain vigilant in upholding the peace and respect for the Rule of Law that The Gambia is celebrated for. History will absolve President Adama Barrow as the most peaceful, tolerant and accommodating President so far and no quandary of disdainful aspersions and virtual ululations would erase this indelible fact.
“Let Justice guide our actions towards the common good.” The Gambia National Anthem.
By Prince Bubacarr Aminata Sankanu
Prince Bubacarr Aminata Sankanu, JP, LLB, BL, MLitts.
[email protected].
