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En breve
After almost a decade of building momentum, Gambians seized a crucial window of opportunity in 2016 to overthrow a notorious dictator.
There is a widespread misconception that the 2016 Gambian revolution started with the #GambiaHasDecided mobilizations. But, as is the case with many struggles, a great deal of behind-the-scenes organizing took place in preceding years, making this transformation possible.
For over seven years, many activist groups — including Activista The Gambia, a national youth network — trained thousands of youth on movement building, strategic campaigning, and good governance. Under an iron-fist rule, the use of training was a strategic predecessor to action, as it enabled youth activists to organize small-scale campaigns on land rights, women’s rights, and education that slowly challenged existing power structures. These efforts built momentum and prepared organizers to seize the moment when the opportunity would arise for a more significant transformation (see: PRINCIPLE: Praxis makes perfect). And so it did.
Under an iron-fist rule, the use of training was a strategic predecessor to action.
In April 2016, a street protest demanding electoral reform was declared illegal and brutally dispersed by the regime. The regime’s brutality sparked anger, leading a major political party, and masses of people, to take to the streets to demand reforms (see: THEORY: Al faza’a [a surge of solidarity]).
One of many significant actions that showed the creativity of the post-April mobilizations was the calabash (aka kalama) revolution, where women from rural areas protested with calabashes — traditional bowls that symbolise sharing. The calabashes signified that leadership too should be shared, and that then President Yahya Jammeh should not be the only person drinking from the leadership calabash. Such actions drew heavily on local culture, tradition, and history, linking the protests to symbols in which Gambians took pride (see: PRINCIPLE: Use your cultural assets).
During the December 2016 elections, the opposition and activist groups rallied registered voters to vote out Jammeh, as well as mobilized online under the #GambiaDecides (see: TACTIC: Hashtag campaign). Jammeh lost the elections and accepted defeat declaring that “Gambia had decided,” only to make a surprise turnaround a few days later attempting to extend his dictatorship. This is when the slogan of the pro-reform mobilizations changed from #GambiaDecides to #GambiaHasDecided.
In the post-elections period, fear and intimidation among people were widespread, making it difficult for the national coalition defending the elections to mobilize in large numbers. To enable Gambians to overcome their fear, activists organized photo and short video actions asserting that #GambiaHasDecided. The courageousness of the activists in openly demanding their constitutional rights, despite the risk involved, encouraged fellow citizens to follow suit. The widespread support for political reform had been invisible, until people-powered actions exposed how massive it truly was (see: PRINCIPLE: Make the invisible visible).
One important takeaway from this journey is around international solidarity. Africans Rising — a Pan-African movement for justice, peace, and dignity — sent in a solidarity mission at the height of the political impasse. Most movement and civil society leaders gathered and conducted an analysis of who the main enablers of Jammeh’s regime were (see: METHODOLOGY: Pillars of power). They determined that Jammeh could not hold his ground without the support of his ministerial cabinet, because a convened government gave him legitimacy. The mission ran an intense phone banking tactic demanding the ministers resign. The callers also told the ministers that they had a choice to make: Join the revolution, and remain safe and at home, or side with Jammeh against the revolution, and be forced into exile when Jammeh loses. The tides turned, and 90% of Jammeh’s ministers chose to resign.
Jammeh capitulated power a few days later and fled into exile in January, 2017.
Táctica clave
It is not uncommon among activist groups to think that trainings are a “nice addition” to the core frontline organizing when possible. However, training is a critical component of a campaign’s success. The hundreds of training sessions in which thousands of youth were trained in The Gambia gave activists the chance to build trust and strong connections with one another, and to acquire strategic planning knowledge prior to tackling a major reform.
Principio clave
As activists, we often are not as well resourced financially or institutionally as our opponents. Thus, we lean back on the resources in which we are rich: people and culture — among others. Whether it is the use of calabashes or other culturally rooted tactics employed in this revolution, drawing on cultural assets was critical in disorienting Jammeh’s regime through exposing the regime’s “betrayal” of Gambian tradition with which Gambians strongly identify.