Africa-Press – Gambia. Thirteen civil society organizations vowed on Thursday to mount a peaceful but determined resistance to President Adama Barrow’s decision to remove the country’s Auditor General, denouncing the move as unconstitutional and a direct threat to Gambia’s fragile democracy.
“We will resist, using every lawful and peaceful means, until the Auditor General is reinstated, due process is respected, and the laws of The Gambia prevail over the whims of individuals,” the groups said in a joint statement at a press conference held on September 18, 2025.
The organizations argued that the legal requirements for removing the Auditor General are “clear and unambiguous” and that none had been met in this case. They called for the immediate reinstatement of the official, an end to what they described as intimidation of citizens exercising their rights, and a halt to police actions carried out in support of what they said were illegal executive orders. “Their duty is to protect the Republic, not serve as enforcers of illegal executive orders,” the statement read.
The coalition accused Mr. Barrow of undermining the Constitution and the National Audit Office Act, framing the dismissal as a “direct assault on democracy, the rule of law, and an attack on the sovereignty of the Gambian people.” They warned that allowing the decision to stand would endanger all independent institutions, embolden corruption, and erode human rights protections.
The groups invoked the legacy of Gambians who fought for democracy, saying that those sacrifices would be dishonored if the president’s actions went unchecked. “Democracy is not a gift from leaders to the people but a birthright of the people, defended by their courage and secured by their laws,” they said.
The statement bore the signatures of 13 organizations, among them the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights and Justice, the Center for Budget and Macroeconomic Transparency, the National Youth Parliament, Activista The Gambia, Team Gom Sa Bopa, the Solo Sandeng Foundation, the Women’s Association for Victims’ Empowerment, Beakanyang, Fantanka, the Movement for Social Justice, Think Young Women, Music for Change and Charter Seventy.
The standoff underscores growing tensions between the Barrow administration and watchdog institutions, raising fears that Gambia, nearly a decade removed from the fall of Yahya Jammeh’s authoritarian rule, may be slipping back toward executive overreach.
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