INTRODUCTION
This update covers civic space developments in The Gambia from May to September 2026, and includes the following:
- Government bans protests without permits following protests over repeated power outages; 11 arrested during protests.
- Court acquits three anti-corruption GALA activists over 2025 protest against removal of auditor general.
- Police arrest 15 GALA activists at anniversary event despite holding valid permit.
- Gambia Press Union petitions African Commission to expedite media law reforms.
PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY
Government bans protests without permits following protests over repeated power outages
Gambian authorities have banned protests held without official permits following demonstrations over prolonged electricity outages that have triggered growing public anger. Police Inspector General Seedy Mukhtar Touray warned that unauthorised gatherings would be dispersed, after some recent protests descended into violence, including damage to a police post and offices belonging to the national electricity company, NAWEC. Eleven people have been arrested in connection with the unrest. The demonstrations were sparked by repeated power cuts during a period of extreme heat. NAWEC has attributed the shortages partly to a sharp increase in electricity demand. President Adama Barrow’s government says additional generators are being brought in, while a new 24-megawatt power unit is expected to be completed by the end of October. Authorities have also announced plans for a 50-megawatt solar project. The unrest comes just months before Gambia’s December elections, with opposition figures accusing the government of failing to address persistent energy shortages and growing frustration among young people. #MMINews #Gambia #Africa #PowerCuts #Politics
— MMI News (@MimiMefoInfo) September 11, 2026
On 8th September 2026, residents in Banjul and nearby areas staged protests following prolonged and repeated power outages since June 2026, with some protests turning violent. Protesters set tyres ablaze, erected barricades and obstructed roads as they marched towards the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) headquarters. Some chanted “Barrow must go” and assembled outside Vice President Mohammed B.S. Jallow’s residence in Farato, where they damaged banners at the office of President Adama Barrow’s ruling National People’s Party (NPP).
In response, the police deployed riot units and used tear gas to disperse the crowds in Banjul’s Westfield area. During the protests, protesters reportedly damaged a police post and unlawfully freed detainees, while NAWEC shut down three branches after the protests turned violent. According to Seedy Mukhtar Touray, Gambia’s Inspector General of Police, authorities arrested 11 individuals allegedly connected to vandalism during the protest. President Adama Barrow visited the NAWEC power stations and pledged to resolve the issue by the end of October 2026.
Following the general public protests over the prolonged nationwide electricity outages, on 11th September 2026, Touray announced that no protest would be allowed without valid permits, as per the law of the country. He further stated: “From this very moment, nobody is allowed to protest without an approved permit. Nobody is allowed to converge, cause havoc, distort the peace and tranquillity of the nation, especially during the night. Any violation to this will be met with necessary force.”
Three GALA activists acquitted of charges related to auditor general protest
🇬🇲🇬🇲: The Kanifing Magistrates’ Court, presided over by Principal Magistrate Sallah Mbai, has acquitted and discharged three GALA members—Kemo Fatty, Alieu Bah, and Omar Saibou Camara—on charges of unlawful assembly and common nuisance. The ruling followed a successful no-case submission by the defence, with the court finding that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case on either count after calling four police witnesses. The charges arose from a September 15, 2025 gathering outside the National Audit Office protesting the removal of the Auditor General. Prosecution evidence described the group assembling without a permit and refusing to disperse, but cross-examination revealed no proof of violence, threats, property damage, or actual public obstruction, with police maintaining full access to the premises and much testimony based on hearsay. Magistrate Mbai applied the Galbraith test, emphasising that an unlicensed assembly does not automatically constitute an unlawful one under the Criminal Offences Act, and there was no evidence of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace or common nuisance. She stressed that criminal liability cannot rest on suspicion or conjecture and that the burden of proof rests entirely on the prosecution. The court rejected the prosecution’s post-ruling application to hold the acquitted men on bail pending appeal, affirming they were free to go with no pending charges. The decision was framed as a strict application of legal principles rather than an endorsement of the activists’ actions. (Kexx News)
— David Gatman Nyass (@Gatman180) July 11, 2026
On 9th July 2026, Principal Magistrate Sallah Mbaye of the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court acquitted and discharged three members of the anti-corruption civil society group Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA), a movement established in May 2025 to demand transparency regarding the assets of former president, Yahya Jammeh. The members include Omar Saibo Camara, Alieu Bah, and Kemo Fatty. They were acquitted after the Court concluded that the prosecution had failed to establish a prima facie case against them, as the prosecutor failed to provide evidence for the charges brought against the defendants. Magistrate Mbaye ruled that raising voices or insisting on constitutional rights alone does not prove wrongdoing. The prosecution failed to show any evidence of violence, threats, intimidation, property damage, or actions suggesting a breach of the peace was likely. The three activists were acquitted after their lawyer argued the state had not proven the key elements of the charges.
As previously reported by the CIVICUS Monitor, Camara, Bah, and Fatty had been arrested on 15th September 2025, near the National Audit Office in Kanifing while holding a press conference to protest the removal of Auditor General Momodou Ceesay by President Adama Barrow, which they argued was unconstitutional. They were later charged with “unlawful assembly” under Section 63 and “common nuisance” under Section 137(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 2025, allegations they denied by pleading not guilty.
Police arrest 15 GALA activists at anniversary event despite holding valid permit
🇬🇲🇬🇲: GALA has condemned the arrest of 15 members ahead of its planned first anniversary event at the Youth Monument in Westfield, accusing police of intimidation and suppression of anti-corruption activism. Activist Kemo Fatty said the group had permission from the Kanifing Municipal Council to use the venue, but police shut down the gathering and arrested members. He alleged poor detention conditions, including overcrowding and denial of sanitary products to female detainees. Mr. Fatty linked the arrests to GALA’s campaign for transparency and accountability, particularly over delayed audit reports, and criticized the Gambia Police Force for what he described as unlawful and selective targeting of activists. (@Kerrfatou)
— David Gatman Nyass (@Gatman180) May 9, 2026
On 8th May 2026, the Gambia Police Force (GPF) arrested 15 GALA activists for alleged unlawful assembly. The activists had gathered at the Youth Monument in Westfield to celebrate the group’s first anniversary.
Despite having secured an official permit from the Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), the custodians of the monument, police blocked access to the venue and detained 15 GALA members, claiming the group did not have a valid police permit.
On 11th May 2026, 14 of the 15 arrested GALA anti-corruption activists were brought before the Kanifing Magistrates’ Court. According to reports, the activists were charged with unlawful assembly under Section 63 of the Criminal Offences Act, 2025, and common nuisance under Section 137(1) of the same law. The Kanifing Magistrates’ Court later granted bail in the sum of 80,000 Gambian dalasi (approximately 1,064 USD) to each of the 14 accused GALA members and adjourned the case to 11th June 2026 for continuation of proceedings. As at the time of writing, no further information was available.
EXPRESSION
Gambia Press Union petitions African Commission to expedite media law reforms
On 13th May 2026, at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) 87th Ordinary Session in Banjul, the press freedom organisation Gambia Press Union (GPU), presented a petition urging the Commission to pressure the Gambian government to fulfil long-delayed critical legal reforms towards freedom of media and free expression, while also halting the adoption of new laws restricting freedom of expression. Specifically, the petition requested parliamentary consideration of GPU proposals to amend or remove restrictive provisions in the Cybercrime Bill, 2023, and the Communications Bill, 2025. The Union also renewed calls for the review or repeal of the offence of false publication and broadcasting in the Criminal Offences Act, 2025, and for full implementation of the Access to Information Act, 2021.
The petition further urged the Commission to demand concrete action to end impunity for attacks on journalists, including prompt investigations and prosecutions, and to stop the harassment and intimidation of journalists and their sources through arrests and retrogressive/unfair legal action. According to the Media Foundation for West Africa, the government of the Gambia committed to media reforms, including through the accepted recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC). In 2022, the Gambian government accepted TRRC recommendations to “review or repeal restrictive media laws and replace them with legislation that protects and promotes press freedom and freedom of expression”.