By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives
Two decades after a government crack down on student protestors left 14 young people dead, tension is once again mounting on university campuses. At the heart of the unrest is a familiar grievance, according to experts: the absence of a credible, independent mechanism for students to air their concerns.
The issue boiled over in December last year when students at the University of The Gambia (UTG) staged a protest over the controversial dismissal of two senior lecturers, only to be met with resistance reminiscent of the state-sanctioned violence of April 2000.
The protest, sparked by the firing of Dr. Alieu Gibba and Professor Matarr Njie—both of whom had publicly accused the university administration of nepotism and mismanagement—was stifled before it could gain momentum. The students were denied a permit to march. The Vice Chancellor refused to accept their petition. Paramilitary officers were dispatched to the campus. A tense standoff ensued. No one was shot, but the scene struck a chord of fearful déjà vu for many Gambians.
“Basically, there is no students’ complaint mechanism,” said Ousman Jassey, a former president of the UTG Students’ Union. According to Jassey, students are currently left to navigate a cumbersome triangle of institutional channels: the Directorate of Student Affairs, the Senate, and the university’s Governing Council. While these bodies exist in theory to address student concerns, in practice, he says, they are often constrained by conflicts of interest and bureaucratic inertia. “When matters affect the university’s image or management directly, they’re rarely given serious attention,” Jassey said. “This is why we need an independent complaints body—outside the university—protected by legislation.”
The Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission (TRRC), set up to address human rights abuses under the former dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh, agrees. Among its recommendations following its years-long inquiry was the creation of a dedicated mechanism to handle student grievances—one that would prevent future tragedies like those of April 2000, when peaceful student protests were met with deadly force. A journalist and a toddler were also among the victims.
Yet, nearly four years after the TRRC submitted its final report, the recommendation remains unimplemented.
Civil society organizations and student leaders fear that The Gambia is once again failing its youth. “The country’s response to student activism is reactionary and often heavy-handed,” said Buba Jallow, who participated in the 2024 protest at the University of the Gambia campus. “This sends a dangerous message to students: that raising your voice will either be ignored or suppressed.”
Jassey recalls how, during a 2021 standoff with university authorities over a prolonged staff strike, the student union had to escalate its complaints directly to the Office of the President after both the university and the Ministry of Higher Education failed to act. “That should never happen in a functional democracy,” he said. “In other countries, students don’t have to write to the President to solve basic problems.”
The Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology—tasked with implementing the TRRC’s recommendation—has so far remained quiet on its plans. Attempts to reach officials for comment were unsuccessful. However, Minister Pierre Gomez defended the existing system. He said there are adequate structures in place to handle student complaints, and that students should be made aware of them and use them to advance their grievances through proper channels.
The Minister also pointed to the University of The Gambia’s newly established Centre of Excellence for Transitional Justice and Sustainable Peace as a critical part of ongoing reforms. The Centre is one of four Centers of Excellence approved by the UTG Governing Council in August 2022, designed to advance knowledge and practice in key developmental areas. Specifically, the Centre for Transitional Justice and Sustainable Peace aims to contribute to human and institutional capacity development, policy formulation, and applied research in the fields of justice and peacebuilding. It aligns directly with the goals of The Gambia’s transitional justice process and seeks to reinforce the implementation of TRRC recommendations.
Led by Dr. Baba Galleh Jallow, the former Executive Secretary of the TRRC, the Centre serves as a hub for education, training, and policy dialogue. It offers academic and professional programs, conducts rigorous research to inform national and regional policy, and aims to become a regional leader in thought and practice on transitional justice. It collaborates with governments, civil society, and international partners to build institutional resilience, foster sustainable peace, and promote accountability. By attracting scholars and practitioners from across Africa and beyond, the Centre seeks to make The Gambia a continental beacon of post-conflict recovery and democratic reform.
Dr Jallow resigned and no one has been announced as the head of the center. Some UTG students interviewed said they are not aware of the existence of the Center. Sources within the rank of the university said the center only exists by name.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere at UTG remains tense. Videos circulated on social media show students chanting outside the administrative block, some holding placards demanding justice for the dismissed lecturers, others calling for reform of the university governance system. In the footage, security personnel can be seen trailing the demonstrators closely.
Observers say the danger lies not in the protests themselves, but in the state’s failure to engage. “Suppressing protest does not make it disappear,” said a lecturer at UTG who spoke on condition of anonymity because he fears reprisal. “It only builds pressure beneath the surface.”
As The Gambia continues its fragile transition from autocracy to democracy, students are once again testing the limits of the system. Whether their voices will be heard—or silenced—may determine whether the country repeats the mistakes of its past.
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives as part of the West Africa Justice Reporting Project.
