By: Kemo Kanyi
The mayor of Kanifing Municipality Talib Ahmed Bensouda has opined that the ongoing prosecution of The Voice journalists has dented the credibility of the Gambia Police Force (GPF).
“I think the Inspector General of Police [Seedy Touray]has a responsibility to be independent. I mean, to ensure that he is not used as a political tool or weapon for anyone. He is an IGP for everyone,” Bensouda told Kerr Fatou on Thursday.
The mayor of the country’s most densely-populated local government area said the police still has time to discontinue their prosecution of journalists Musa Sheriff and Momodou Justice Darboe.
Sheriff and Darboe are undergoing trial at the KanifingMagistrates’ Court after the police slammed false publication and broadcasting charges against them. The police arrested, detained and charged the duo over a story about President Barrow’s reported choice of Q-Group Chairman Muhammed Jah as his replacement on the marble boxes come the 2026 presidential election.
“I believe there’s still time for the police to withdraw the prosecution because it affects their credibility as an independent police force,” he stated.
The KMC mayor stressed that injustice should be fought by everybody “because it’s like a virus and if it affects one of your neighbours, it will eventually spread into your house”.
“Dictatorship needs to be man-marked, meaning it has to be checked at every level to keep it from going out of hand or growing into something that someday everyone lives in fear. We have lived that experience not long ago. This government represents the change we all wanted so things like this never happened again,” he stated.
Bensouda said the reason, bordering the arrests of Musa Sheriff and Momodou Justice Darboe is relatable to his daily life as he is more a subject of political speculation than anyone. He elaborated: “For the past two years, there has been a smear campaign against me from my rivals. There has been a lot of political speculationsagainst me about my intentions, most of them false and people do that to damage my reputation but I understand that’s politics and one must exercise endurance. If you can’t endure that, you must leave politics, and the President should understand that more than anybody.”
The KM mayor said despite the daily accusations that he had been subjected to, the only thing he did was to clear himself as accusations comes with the territory.
“I can’t use any method, especially one that’s undemocratic just because I feel hurt. I think the President should set that example. Political retribution, especially using the police force to have your way… I think that’s very sad and it’s something that should have never happened,” said the young mayor.
He urged all human rights actors to have their voices heard in the case of Sheriff and Darboe as continuation of such can affect anyone in the future.
