Commissioner King Colley’s statement in a town hall meeting regarding non citizens of the Gambia driving commercial vehicles in the country last week has been flagged as ‘Dangerous and hate speech’ in many corners. In his speech Commissioner of Police Mobile Traffic, Lamin King Colley made reference to non Gambians driving commercial vehicles in the country which he stated is in violation of the laws in the Gambia. He made particular reference to the Fula ethnic community – referring mainly to Fulani immigrants from Guinea Conakry and Senegal. The commissioner in what appears to be an angry tone said “The reason I reference Farafenni and Soma is because those are the places this problem is prevalent” He went on to state “If you hear a Mamadou Bah in Soma or Farafenni you know it is not true, they are not natives of these places” It appears that Commissioner Colley’s attempt to address what many regard as a serious problem went overboard when he turned it against the Fula communities instead of discussing the merits and national implications of the problem.
Mr. Colley’s remarks captured in a video above went viral and attracted immediate wide spread condemnation from Gambians at home and in the Diaspora. Many regarded it as “Dangerous and hate speech” because of it’s potential to ignite violence or revenged towards a particular community who are mostly engaged in business in the Gambia and many other African countries. What is dangerous speech and how is it defined? ‘Dangerous and hate speech is any utterance that has the potential to ignite violence and hate crime against a particular group of citizens‘. Readers may recalled that as recently as two years ago immigrants in South Africa were violently attacked, their businesses looted and some killed by angry South Africans who believe these foreign nationals from other African countries are out to take their jobs and deprive them of decent living. The violent attacks against these African citizens were fueled by sustained campaign from certain quarters including the media and law enforcement in South Africa.
Commissioner Colley’s statements made other references insinuating that these “foreigners” take away Gambian jobs and deprive citizens of having decent jobs. The crowd including other officers were seen nodding their heads and the crowd mostly in agreement with the commissioner’s remarks.
The condemnation of the speech was swift as many decent Gambians including this medium took it upon themselves to not only condemn the speech, but called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to investigate the commissioner and hold him to account. The outrage from many Gambians including the Opposition leader of GDC Mammah Kandeh recorded WhatsApp messages and some posted on social media widely condemning the police commissioner for making such tribal remarks that has no place in a diverse society like the Gambia! Some commentators of course supported what Commissioner Colley was saying. Some pointed out that the statement was true and that the problem of people obtaining commercial drivers’ license is almost a pandemic in the Gambia.
What was missed in that speech is the commissioner’s failure to acknowledge that driver’s license are issued by the Gambia Police Department. King Colley as he is known failed to take any responsibility in the police issuing licenses to people who may not be eligible to obtain them. Instead, King Colley shifted to blame and singled out a particular ethic group for the problem.
Realizing the magnitude and immediate backlash of his statements which potentially could threatened his job, King Colley made an immediate U-turn and recorded an audio apologizing for his remarks. He twisted his speech to be a traditional joking relationship between Fulas and Jolas. While this joking relationship is true and has been around since time immemorial, King Colley only used it to minimize the impact of his false statements on Fulas not being natives of Jarra Soma and or Farafenni. Mr. Colley needs to do more research on the founding fathers of Jarra Soma in particular!
While many people accepted commissioner Colley’s immediate apology, this medium is with the view that the statements have far deeper implications than what it appears to be on the surface. In fact, Commissioner Colley’s statement is a mindset that has long existed in many Gambians’ minds. The idea that foreigners presence in the country is what causes many crimes, job loses and take way businesses from Gambians is largely a false premise. The word ‘foreigner’ is often stereotypically used towards non-Gambians. It is puzzling that one of the smallest countries in Africa, but one that is the biggest exporter of its citizens to other countries appears to have such intolerance for foreign nationals. It’s a fact, that hundreds of thousands of Gambians are in Europe, America, Asia and other countries in Africa. These Gambian citizens in the Diaspora contributes over $776 Million Dollars in formal remittances towards Gambia’s economy (World Bank Remittances 2021). How then could Gambians be so gullible and intolerance towards foreign nationals ~ especially from other sister African countries in the sub-region. What happens to ECOWAS economic policies of free movement of goods, services and citizens within member countries?
Gainako wants to remind Gambians that commissioner Colley’s dangerous speech did not happen in isolation. Readers may recalled that the recently concluded Presidential and Parliamentary elections were equally marred by such toxic environment of tribalism and tribal remarks. In fact, this issue was used by the incumbent president and his surrogates to propagate fear and tension within the electorates. One may still argue that President Barrow won his elections by depicting the largest opposition party as a tribal party and that they would deport some nationals if they were to win the elections. The jury is still out whether in fact President Barrow assembled a coalition of the minority to win the elections.
Essentially, what we are saying is that the dangerous mindset of some Gambians especially law enforcement on ethnicity and foreigners has serious consequences and could fuel tension and violence in the country. It is therefore the responsibility of the ministry of interior to not take commissioner Colley’s remarks as an isolated incident. While his apology should be accepted in good faith on its surface, we believe that Commissioner Colley’s operations should be looked at to ensure that he has not locked up and jailed ethnic minorities because of his mindset. How many Fulas or foreign nationals have been charged in court by virtue of their ethnicity and or perceived foreign nationality? How many businessmen and women in local communities has the police targeted and pressured to pay bribes and or fines due to fear of being victims of the police. It would be prudent for the police to launch an investigation within these communities to find out the impact this mindset has on the people. There is more to this issue than the eyes can see!
Finally, as many people have already commented on, the perceived law that was passed to prevent foreign nationals from obtaining commercial driver’s license should be revisited and possibly repealed. It is impossible to prevent other nationals from obtaining drivers’ license to legitimately earn a living in the Gambia. It must be noted, that you can be a non-Gambian and still be a legal resident in the country. These people should be able to obtain driver’s license to at least be able to drive taxis in the country. If you prevent such legal way of obtaining licenses, you are essentially forcing an underground operation for people to obtain license in the black market as it is now the case in the Gambia. And by the way, it is false to say that anywhere in the world, foreign nationals cannot obtain commercial driver’s license. Many Gambians in other foreign countries are driving Uber, Lift, taxi cabs and commercial trucking!
Commissioner Colley and many officers under him should go under refresher training to become more tolerant and have a better understanding of community policing free of tribal sentiments and xenophobia.