By Fatou Sillah
Madi Jobarteh, executive director of the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice, has questioned the continued presence of military checkpoints on Gambian roads, arguing that their use requires a clear security justification under a civilian government.
Speaking in an interview with Teledal, Mr. Jobarteh said The Gambia was neither under military rule nor facing a war or an imminent threat that would ordinarily require soldiers to operate checkpoints on public roads.
“You travel in this country and see military checkpoints on the roads,” he said. “We are not under a military regime. We are not at war, and there is no threat of war. What justification is there for having the military on the roads?”
Mr. Jobarteh also said President Adama Barrow’s record should be measured against the Constitution and the laws of The Gambia, rather than assessed primarily through comparisons with former President Yahya Jammeh.
He argued that a president’s responsibilities include protecting citizens’ rights, respecting the law, and ensuring that public resources are properly managed.
“We don’t need a tolerant president; we need a law-abiding president,” Mr. Jobarteh said. “The purpose of a president is to abide by the law, not to infringe it.”
He cited previous arrests of journalists and politicians, as well as the closure of a media organization, as examples of restrictions on fundamental freedoms that should remain part of any assessment of the government’s human rights record.
Mr. Jobarteh also called for constitutional reforms and urged the authorities to ensure that oversight bodies, including the National Human Rights Commission and the Information Commission, can operate independently and effectively.
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