Africa-Press – Gambia. The Minister of Information Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has warned that if the media boycotts government activities as suggested in an intelligence he received, the government will in turn boycott the media.
His comments came after the media, unhappy with government’s planned media regulation policy, boycotted a validation forum for the policy on Monday.
But according to the minister, the policy was validated anyway and nothing can stop its implementation. He also claimed that what is being peddled by the media about the policy is false.
With the government press conference coming today, Wednesday, the minister told West Coast Radio that he got intelligence that the media is planning to boycott his ministry’s activities. “I’m telling them that if they boycott the Ministry of Information, effectively they are boycotting government and if you boycott government, it boycotts you too, and we’ll see who feels the pinch. Media houses survive on government. That’s a fact,” he said.
His comments came amid rising tensions between the government and the Gambia Press Union (GPU), which has rejected the proposed media regulation policy.
The minister stressed that disagreement is a natural part of governance and should be addressed through engagement rather than withdrawal.
“If there’s an issue, we should discuss it, politics is about disagreement—who should govern, how resources should be distributed, and who gets what, when and how. That is why dialogue is essential,” he said.
“So I would tell the GPU and their allies to come and dialogue and let’s solve this issue. Boycott is not the solution,” he said.
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