GambiaHasDecided: A hashtag that realised the dream of a nation and the demise of a regime
It’s undeniable; social media played a major role in ousting a repressive 22-year-long regime and former president Yahya Jammeh’s unyielding hold on power.
On Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere online, an army of dedicated bloggers and activists emerged to raise awareness on the massive ills affecting The Gambia and the repression of voices of change and opposition.
As Jammeh rejected results of the December 1st polls and attempt to subvert the will of the people, the hashtag “GambiaHasDecided” rose to spearhead a movement for defiance and change, firmly underlining that Jammeh must go.
In this interview, a leading figure of #GambiaHasDecided, Mr. Salieu Taal, speaks the efficacy and the objective of this hashtag to Elegance Media.
Elegance: Why the phrase ”#GambiaHasDecided”?
Salieu Taal: #GambiaHasDecided was chosen because it reflected the state of affairs at the time – Gambians had decided for new President. For us we wanted something simple and catchy.
Remember #GambiaHasDecided was initiated as a direct result of Jammeh’s attempt to annul the December 1st elections. As far as we were concerned, Gambians already cast their votes and Adama Barrow was declared president-elect.
EM: Why the hashtag instead of a street protest?
ST: We did not rule it out. However, we believed that at the initial stage, there was a need to rally Gambians behind one unifying message of public defiance and rejection of Jammeh. We wanted to maintain a united and resilient voice against Jammeh both at the local and international levels. We needed to maintain the pressure and resist Jammeh’s attempts to take away our votes. The hashtag amplified the voices of Gambians both within the country and in the diaspora at a very critical moment with a very clear message.
In my view, a public protest would have given Jammeh an excuse to declare a state of emergency and that would have bought Jammeh more time to find ways of consolidating his power.
EM: People got arrested for just wearing its t-shirts at the peak of the defiance but you fled to Dakar; many felt disappointed with this. What is your take on that?
ST: The truth is that Raffie Diab and I were identified as the ringleaders. Fortunately, I got a tip-off that we will be arrested on the 31st of December. As key players being arrested would have rendered us useless to the movement and would have demoralized the team. We took the decision to flee to Senegal and whilst in Senegal we were able to give #GambiaHasDecided an international dimension.
In Senegal, we were featured by almost all the local and the international media … this gave the movement more international exposure. From Senegal we were able to produce t-shirts, posters and other #GambiaHasDecided paraphernalia. The pressure and momentum of GambiaHasdecided continued.
EM: what were the threats that triggered your fleeing…?
ST: The threats to us were very serious. In fact we started using different unregistered cellphones to communicate with each other and had protocols to disengage from our Whatsapp group in the event any one of us was arrested. Raffie had received warnings to stop printing the billboards and t-shirts. We also knew that we were being monitored by the NIA. On the day I received information that the ringleaders including myself will be arrested on the 31st of December 2016. I went home around 15:30 and found two unmarked white pickups with tinted windows parked right at the junction of my street keeping my house under surveillance.
Both Raffie and I had to hide in a safe house courtesy of a very good ‘kotor’ until it got dark and subsequently, we left in a private car to cross ross from Banjul around 10:30pm or thereabouts and made it safely across into Senegal that night. Both our homes were subsequently visited by the intelligence officers looking for us around early hours of the 1st of January 2017. The threat was also against our other team members including those who stayed behind.
EM: Social media was used to fight injustice during those difficult times; now it is being used to spread xenophobic and tribalism. Do you believe social media can also contribute to dividing Gambians?
ST: Social media is a tool, which can be used for a positive or negative purpose. Using the social media to spread hate, xenophobia and tribalism is not new and not unique to Gambia. I believe that as Gambians, we should not allow ourselves to be divided. Gambia is bigger than any tribe, any politician or any group. I think we need to rethink and ask ourselves: what Gambia do we want now that Jammeh is gone?
EM: What is the new page for the #ambiaHasDecided movement?
ST: GambiaHasDecided is now registered as a civil society association (CSO). We are now working and contributing towards building our nascent democracy. We are working very closely with other CSOs not only to help build our democracy but to strengthen the role of CSOs in this space.
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