In the wake of the border dispute between Gambia and Senegal, which led to the Senegalese military breaking down a fence outside Bullock, a village in the Foni Region, a lawmaker, Almamie Gibba, has made some pronouncements that DUBAWA wants to subject to critical scrutiny.
Claim 1: Former President Yahya Jammeh put a stop to border disputes between Gambia and Senegal, and they resumed only after President Adama Barrow came to power in 2016.
Verdict: This claim is false. The Gambia and Senegal were locked in a border dispute over the Darsilami–Tranquil border post throughout Jammeh’s presidency.
Full Text
In the past few weeks, relations between Senegal and Gambia have been tested after soldiers from the French–speaking neighbour demolished a 200–metre fence erected by the Gambian military at a small encampment just outside Bullock, a village in the Foni region, about an hour’s drive from Banjul. They claimed the fence was erected within their territory.
The incident sparked widespread anger on the Gambian side, with many calling it an assault on the sovereignty of the small country by its much larger neighbour. On July 18, the Senegalese government said in a statement that the area in question had been the subject of numerous discussions before its unilateral decision to demolish it.
On July 17, the Gambian authorities issued a statement calling the “unfortunate incident” a provocation, while denying prior knowledge of Senegal’s decision to demolish the fence.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, Almamie Gibba—a lawmaker whose election was backed by former leader Yahya Jammeh—claimed on the popular Coffee Time with Peter Gomez show on West Coast Radio, published on July 22, that border disputes between Senegal and Gambia only began after Jammeh left power in 2016.
The interviewer then asked pointedly, “So since 2009 up to his departure in early 2017, we never had any other border issues with Senegal?”
He replied, “… Border claims, counter-claims? It didn’t happen. It was only when 2016 occurred…”
On YouTube alone, this interview has been viewed nearly 7,000 times.
So were there any border disputes during the reign of Yahya Jammeh? DUBAWA decided to investigate this claim due to its potential to mislead.
Verification
The Gambia is bordered by Senegal on three sides, except for the areas along the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, there have been several incidents, including border closures and disputes.
In 2015, a dispute over a piece of land in Tranquil, in a village called Darsilami, nearly led to a military confrontation. This dispute, the subject of extensive negotiations brokered by the joint Senegalo–Gambia Permanent Secretariat, festered throughout the presidency of ex–president Jammeh and persists to date. In 2016, shortly before Jammeh left power, the Alkalo (village head) of the area renewed calls for a settlement of the dispute to allow them to use a piece of land within the disputed territory as a vehicle garage.
“Mr Tabun Bojang, the Secretary to the Alkalo of Darsilami, has told this reporter that they are desperate and eager to know whether the Gambian and Senegalese authorities have finally finished the demarcation of the Senegal-Gambia border with a view to establishing which country Tranquil belongs to,” reported Foroyaa Newspaper.
Conclusion I
The claim that former President Yahya Jammeh ended border disputes between Gambia and Senegal, and that they resumed only after President Adama Barrow came to power in 2016, is false.
The dispute over ownership of a piece of land in Tranquil, Darsilami, began between Gambia and Senegal before Barrow came to power and reached its peak in 2015, prompting officials from both countries to meet to resolve the issue.
Claim 2: Gibba claimed there was no incident of shells (cartridges of firearms) fired from Casamance landing on Gambian soil following Jammeh’s firm position on a similar incident in 2009.
Verdict: This claim is false. There were a number of incidents during Jammeh’s time when shells landed on Gambian soil, displacing people from their farms and villages.
Full Text
In the same interview with Peter Gomez, Gibba claimed there was no incident of shells (cartridges of firearms) fired from Casamance landing on Gambian soil following Jammeh’s firm position on a similar incident in 2009. “Shells landing?… It didn’t happen. It was only when 2016 occurred…” said Gibba.
“I want people who do research; let them think back in [former President] Jawara’s time. Senegal always wants to pocket Gambia, but Jawara didn’t give them that [chance]. When it came to Jammeh, it was tougher. That’s why I was saying in 2009, when a shell landed in Siwol [a village in Foni Bintang Karanie], I am telling you the proactivity and the stiffness of a leader, Jammeh came outright and called for a national television [broadcast]. He addressed the Gambian people and addressed his counterparts in Senegal. [He said] that if a bullet is repeated, he will retaliate and that his retaliation will be more costly than what happened.”
“I am telling you, since 2009, go back to history, and I live on the borderline … so when it happened, you see Jammeh took that stand, it has never repeated.”
Verification
The reports of shells (cartridges of firearms) discharged during fights between rebels and soldiers were a frequent occurrence, though Gibba claimed no such incident had happened since 2009. The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance, a rebel movement fighting for the freedom of the south of Senegal, Casamance, since 1982, has been having frequent clashes with soldiers, which have claimed thousands of lives.
Foroyaa Newspaper reported incidents of shells landing, causing panic in border communities in both October 2010 and April 2011, both times when Jammeh was in power.
The clashes between rebels and Senegalese soldiers in April 2011 left the communities of Bulubur and Allahkunda, a village only 1.2 kilometres from Kanilai, in shock. Kanilai is the home of Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s former president. The newspaper reported that the villagers could not sleep due to “noise caused by the heavy weapons that were being fired by the warring factions.”
“They said some bullets flew over their houses and landed within Gambian territory,” reported Foroyaa.
In another report, a year earlier in 2010, fighting broke out in Casamance and spilt over to the outskirts of Sutu Sinjang towards an area called Aslem. The fighting was so close to their village that some residents had to evacuate their homes for safety, Foroyaa reported.
The farmers on the Gambian side had to abandon their farms due to heavy shelling in the area. One farmer, who claimed the fight might have been between two rebel factions, said that the Friday morning fighting was within Casamance, adding that “the Saturday incident was within The Gambian territory.”
The distance between the area affected by the fighting in 2010, Sutu Sinjang, and the area affected in 2011 is estimated at 41 km, underscoring the vulnerability of the entire border.
Throughout the administration of ex–president Jammeh, clashes between rebels and soldiers in Casamance have always spilt onto Gambian territory. Foroyaa captured the atmosphere in this 2014 editorial:
“Fights between rebels had also affected Gambian villages near the border, and armed clashes had been discovered in the Gambia, which were created by defeated rebels who crossed the border in search of refuge.”
Sutu Sinjang is about three kilometres from Bulok, the village that hosts the military encampment whose 200-metre fence was brought downby Senegalese soldiers on July 16, causing tension between the two neighbours.
Conclusion 2
There were a number of incidents of tense fighting between Senegalese soldiers and rebels spilling over to the Gambian side of the border, with shells landing on the outskirts of villages as reported by Foroyaa newspaper in 2010 and 2011.