OPINION
By Dave Manneh – Research Lead, Securing Futures: Land Rights Action Collaborative
10th May 2025
In democracies, independent institutions guard against the concentration and abuse of power. When these bodies fail, or worse, actively undermine their mandates, they not only endanger democracy but imperil orderly society. The recent controversy involving the chair of The Gambia’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) exemplifies this danger, necessitating an intense and thorough public scrutiny.
Institutional Compromise in Plain Sight
The NHRC was initially welcomed as a symbol of democratic renewal following the collapse of Jammeh’s authoritarian regime. Established by an Act of Parliament in 2017 and operational by 2019, it represented a cornerstone of The Gambia’s post-dictatorship transition. It quickly gained recognition for its ambitious mandate, earning “A status” accreditation from the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). This designation marked it as one of the first in the region to fully comply with the Paris Principles on independence, accountability, and pluralism. Abubacarr Tambadou, then Attorney General and Justice Minister, was widely credited as a driving force behind the NHRC’s creation during the early Barrow administration. His involvement was initially seen as instrumental to its legitimacy, cementing the NHRC as a flagship institution of the so-called New Gambia. But the very closeness between the NHRC and its political architects would soon emerge as its most profound vulnerability.
The troubling sequence began with The Republic’s investigative report on 30 April 2025. The report documented how assets seized from former dictator Yahya Jammeh, valued at approximately $362 million, were sold for merely $23.7 million, representing a staggering 93% loss of public value. More disturbingly, the report implicated former Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou in procedural irregularities surrounding these sales. Rather than defending press freedom and upholding public accountability, both core components of its human rights mandate, the NHRC acted in defence of Tambadou. On 6 May 2025, NHRC Chairperson Emmanuel Daniel Joof joined Media Council leaders in pressuring The Republic’s editor to issue a joint statement with Tambadou that would effectively exonerate him. Contextualising this alongside the NHRC’s public endorsement of Tambadou for the International Court of Justice reveals a profound institutional capture, directly threatening The Gambia’s democratic foundation.
The Founder’s Paradox
This controversy highlights the “founder’s paradox”: can institutions genuinely hold accountable those who created them? The NHRC’s statement supporting Tambadou’s ICJ nomination explicitly acknowledges his instrumental role in establishing the Commission. This creator-creation dynamic has transformed a potential independent guardian into a protective shield for its originator, illustrating a critical failure of oversight.
The NHRC’s behaviour embodies a corollary of elite capture: classic regulatory capture, where bodies of society set up to serve the public become instruments for protecting the powerful. When such watchdogs become complicit, the entire accountability ecosystem collapses, eroding public trust and enabling further abuses.
Beyond Individual Ethics: A Structural Problem
While focusing exclusively on individual ethical failures is tempting, the problem lies in systemic issues. The revolving door between government positions and oversight bodies generates conflicts that compromise institutional independence. In The Gambia, the transition from Jammeh’s authoritarianism has yielded formal democratic structures without the substantive application of democratic principles. The NHRC case underscores a critical failure of “horizontal accountability”, the system where state institutions are meant to scrutinise one another. This breakdown elevates the importance of “vertical accountability”, where citizens, through elections and civil society, hold power to account. As internal checks falter, “vertical mechanisms”, most notably a robust and independent press, engage in investigative journalism, and become the ultimate defence against impunity. This highlights the indispensable role of a free press when institutional oversight within the government weakens. And it is for this very reason that The Republic’s investigative report is such an honourable public service.
The Broader Pattern of Asset Mismanagement
The NHRC controversy is not an isolated incident, sadly, but rather part of a wider and systemic pattern of elite capture documented across Gambian governance. From the undervaluing and underselling of Jammeh’s assets to the dispossession of communal lands, arbitrarily changing the primary use of lands leased from communities without the communities’ consent, let alone awareness, a pattern emerges: connected elites systematically transfer public resources through opaque processes. When institutions meant to prevent such transfers instead obscure them, the issue transcends mere corruption, signifying systematic state capture, the repurposing of public institutions for private gain. This further entrenches elite power and undermines the principles of equitable governance.
Media Freedom Under Threat
Perhaps most worrying is the attempt to undermine journalistic integrity. By pressuring The Republic to issue a joint statement with Tambadou, effectively retracting their factual reporting, the NHRC and Media Council leadership demonstrated contempt for press freedom’s fundamental role in democratic governance. This action directly assaults a key pillar of vertical accountability. The implied threats of legal action, coupled with baseless insinuations that someone or some party bribed The Republic’s editor to produce the story, represent classic intimidation tactics on critical reporting. When human rights institutions themselves deploy such tactics, the democratic regression is particularly severe and signals a dangerous erosion of fundamental rights.
From Authoritarian Rule to Oligarchic Capture
The Gambia appears trapped in the “grey zone” between authoritarianism and democracy, a space where elections occur but elite networks obstruct genuine accountability. The formal trappings of democracy exist, yet power remains concentrated among those who can manipulate institutions for their own advantage, hindering true democratic consolidation. This situation represents not a clean break from Jammeh’s authoritarianism but its evolution into “competitive authoritarianism” or “electoral authoritarianism”: where democratic forms conceal essentially undemocratic substance. When human rights institutions protect the powerful rather than the vulnerable, this evolution accelerates, solidifying elite control.
A Crisis of Legitimacy
The chair of the NHRC has engulfed a profound crisis of legitimacy by his scandalous actions. How can an institution the state tasks with protecting human rights command public confidence when it actively undermines press freedom? How can it credibly investigate rights abuses when it demonstrates a willingness to shield powerful figures from accountability? This erosion of trust strikes at the heart of the institution’s mandate, rendering the position of its head untenable.
The Gambia Press Union’s call to remove the Media Council’s Executive Secretary is an important initial step, but more fundamental reforms are essential. The NHRC itself requires genuine structural independence, extending beyond its founding legislation, which Tambadou helped craft, to its operational reality. The resignation of the NHRC’s head would be a necessary first move towards rebuilding public trust.
Toward Genuine Institutional Independence
Recovering from this crisis demands several urgent interventions. The government must implement clear cooling-off periods to prevent revolving-door appointments between government positions and oversight bodies. Human rights institutions need independent funding mechanisms that shield them from financial leverage that might compromise their activities. Crucially, the NHRC currently appears to receive its funding primarily from the Government of The Gambia, alongside support from United Nations agencies and potentially other international partners; they need to structure this funding to guarantee the NHRC’s operational autonomy and prevent undue influence. Leadership positions within these institutions should be filled through transparent, merit-based selection processes rather than political appointments that create inherent conflicts of interest. Furthermore, The Gambia must substantively implement the Paris Principles, requiring independence of national human rights institutions, moving beyond mere rhetorical invocation. Finally, formal mechanisms should empower civil society to effectively monitor and evaluate the performance of human rights institutions themselves, creating an additional layer of accountability.
Conclusion: The Democratic Promise at Stake
The Gambia’s transition from Jammeh’s dictatorship initially inspired hope across Africa. However, this promise remains unfulfilled when institutions meant to safeguard democracy instead undermine it. The NHRC controversy reflects a broader crisis of post-authoritarian governance where formal institutions often serve to mask entrenched informal power networks.
As civil society organisations like the Gambia Press Union and Securing Futures continue to push for accountability, international partners must recognise that a functioning democracy requires more than elections and formal structures. It necessitates the substantive independence of its institutions and their consistent application of principles, irrespective of who stands accused. Ultimately, when human rights commissions act to shield the powerful rather than protect fundamental freedoms, democracy exists in name only, and the Gambian people deserve institutions that genuinely serve the public interest, not private ambitions.
Dave Manneh is Research Lead at Securing Futures: Land Rights Action Collaborative, a registered NGO-think tank hybrid based in The Gambia, committed to empowering Kombo’s dispossessed land-owning communities and advocating for equitable governance policies.
Dave Manneh
Research Lead
Securing Futures: Land Rights Action Collaborative
