{"id":6922,"date":"2021-12-11T16:50:55","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T16:50:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide"},"modified":"2021-12-11T17:06:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-11T17:06:41","slug":"the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide","title":{"rendered":"The funny thing about Africa: Where comedy and politics collide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong><\/span>In the Gambia, a flourishing comedy scene is used to convey serious messagesA new Irish Times series, Young Africans Rising, begins today with this report by Sally Hayden.<\/p>\n

When he was still in control of the Gambia, Africa\u2019s smallest mainland country, Yahya Jammeh presided over a macabre kind of graduation. The eccentric dictator, who claimed he had discovered the cure for Aids, would bring infected people for treatment at his state house, smearing green paste on them, forcing them to drink herbal mixtures and banning them from taking their usual anti-retroviral drugs, before releasing them in televised ceremonies as he declared them cured.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, there was a foursome of young performers in attendance. Their job was to praise a man who they knew could have them, and everyone they knew, disappeared or killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave us money,\u201d says Assan Jobe, now 26. \u201cWe were very young. We were not thinking about criticising him at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jammeh was ousted in 2016 after 22 years in power. He has not faced justice and lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea. Many of the Gambia\u2019s banknotes still bear his face. We have so much police brutality. We came out and said the police should be respectful to everyone and we all deserve democracy and justice<\/p>\n

This sliver of land in West Africa is known as the \u201csmiling coast\u201d because of its shape and positioning on maps. You can get an idea how small the Gambia is from the telephone numbers, which are just seven digits long. It has a population of roughly 2.4 million people, almost three-quarters of whom are under the age of 35. Over the past five years, they have adjusted to their newfound democracy and freedom of speech with the involvement of one key group of influencers: comedians.<\/p>\n

Bright Stars Entertainment is made up of four members, now in their mid- to late 20s. The young men, who met while they were volunteering with the Red Cross, say they no longer want to reflect on the past or what it was like growing up in a dictatorship.Speaking days before the Gambia\u2019s December 4th election \u2013 the first since Jammeh left power \u2013 they say their focus is on whoever will be the new president, and they would be front and centre, protesting, before the country turned towards authoritarianism again.<\/p>\n

Assan says comedy is a useful tool in a dictatorship because \u201cyou can address issues without insulting [the leadership]\u201d. But when Jammeh was in power, they had to \u201ccensor the content very well\u201d.<\/p>\n

No-go zones included \u201cthe government itself; the work of the government. Ridiculing them. Some of the things they were not doing.\u201d Now, he says, \u201cwe believe we have the right to say anything\u201d while making sure their jokes are based on \u201cfacts\u201d and \u201crespect\u201d.\u201cWe don\u2019t want to talk about Jammeh now, he has no influence over the country, we don\u2019t even think about him . . . It was like we were sleeping. Never again,\u201d says 27-year-old Pa Modou Yaffa. \u201cDo you believe in oxygen? It\u2019s so sweet. We enjoy breathing the oxygen of democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the issues they have spoken out about is police brutality. \u201cWe have so much police brutality. We came out and said the police should be respectful to everyone and we all deserve democracy and justice,\u201d says Assan. They create songs, using them to talk about corruption. \u201cIn one of the songs, we said follow the Covid-19 money. We want to know where the [donations] are going,\u201d he says. Sporadic<\/p>\n

In another, they make fun of the sporadic electricity supply citizens were dealing with, which served less than half of the population. \u201cIt went viral,\u201d says Yaffa. Shortly afterwards, a government deal with Turkish company Karpower was announced.Still, they feel they walk a difficult line between challenging power and encouraging stability. \u201cWe are not enemies. We work with the government; just sometimes we pinpoint issues that are affecting the society. We are neutral, we are not into any [politician]. All we want is national development,\u201d says Assan.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Gambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. In the Gambia, a flourishing comedy scene is used to convey serious messagesA new Irish Times series, Young Africans Rising, begins today with this report by Sally Hayden. When he was still in control of the Gambia, Africa\u2019s smallest mainland country, Yahya Jammeh presided over a macabre kind of graduation. The eccentric […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,7,8],"tags":[2355,2361,3165,3166,260],"class_list":["post-6922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-gambia","tag-collide","tag-funny","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nThe funny thing about Africa: Where comedy and politics collide - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the Gambia, a flourishing comedy scene is used to convey serious messagesA new Irish Times series, Young Africans Ris ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The funny thing about Africa: Where comedy and politics collide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Gambia, a flourishing comedy scene is used to convey serious messagesA new Irish Times series, Young Africans Ris ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-11T16:50:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-12-11T17:06:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/12\/img-61b4da8aba4a7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"The funny thing about Africa: Where comedy and politics collide\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-11T16:50:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-11T17:06:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide\"},\"wordCount\":696,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2021\/12\/img-61b4da8aba4a7.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Gambia\",\"collide\",\"funny\",\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/the-funny-thing-about-africa-where-comedy-and-politics-collide\",\"name\":\"The funny thing about Africa: Where comedy and politics collide - 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