By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives For decades faith in The Gambia was weaponised — not as a source of healing, but as a tool of political control. Under Yahya Jammeh’s authoritarian rule, mosques and churches became less places of worship and more instruments of state propaganda. Jammeh compelled Gambians to follow his religious directives…
By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives Magistrate Dawda Phatey of the Bundung Magistrates’ Court delivered the conclusion of a coroner’s inquest that sought to answer troubling questions surrounding the death of General Bora Colley. Over the course of nearly a month, nine witnesses—ranging from senior military officers to family members and medical professionals—offered testimony about…
By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives In a significant shift in U.S. foreign policy towards Sub-Saharan Africa, Ambassador Troy Fitrell, Senior Bureau Official for the Bureau of African Affairs at the U.S. State Department announced a dramatic shift in US foreign policy in Africa last month, which he said was aimed at transitioning the U.S.-Africa…
By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives In the early 2000s, Ebrima was silently led through the rusted gates of Mile 2 Central Prison in handcuffs. Convicted of rape during the former regime of President Yahya Jammeh, he remembers his first night vividly — the darkness, the stench, the heat, and the fear. “There was no…
By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives Two decades after a government crackdown 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 say experts: the absence of a credible, independent mechanism for students to air their concerns. Students say…
By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives The Gambian government has ordered a coroner’s inquest into the death of Brigadier General Bora Colley, a former military officer accused of grave human rights violations under ex-president Yahya Jammeh’s regime. Colley, who had been in custody since August 2024 after voluntarily returning from exile, died on March 9, 2025,…
By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives The long-awaited arrest warrant for Sanna Manjang, accused of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other human rights violations during Jammeh’s 22-year rule, has been met with a mix of relief and frustration among victims of Yahya Jammeh’s regime. The country’s 2018 Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission accused Jammeh and dozens…
By Yankuba Jallow with New Narratives The long-awaited arrest warrant for Sanna Manjang, accused of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and other human rights violations during Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule, has been met with a mix of relief and frustration among victims. The country’s 2018 Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission accused Jammeh and dozens of his lieutenants…
Two Gambian prison officers—Lamin Sanneh and Abdou Jammeh—testified to torture, and poor food and hygiene conditions at Gambia’s central prison— Mile 2—in the crimes against humanity trial of Gambia’s former Interior Minister Ousman Sonko in the Swiss city of Bellinzona. …
Ousman Sonko, a 54-year-old former interior minister of The Gambia, goes on trial for crimes against humanity in the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in the city of Bellinzona….
“The conviction of Ousman Sonko, one of the pillars of Yahya Jammeh’s brutal regime, is a major step on the long road to justice for Jammeh’s victims,”…
Philippe Currat, a Swiss attorney defending Ousman Sonko, Gambia’s former interior minister currently on trial in Switzerland for crimes against humanity, said prosecutors have failed to prove their case. …
New Narratives is pleased to to support the reporting of leading Gambian journalist Mustapha K. Darboe of the trial of Ousman Sonko, a former lieutenant of Gambia’s dictator president Yahya Jammeh, in Bellinzona, Switzerland….
