Gambiaj.com – (BANJUL, The Gambia) – Authorities on Sunday blocked a planned press conference by members of the “No to Alliance” movement in Marakissa, following President Adama Barrow’s strongest warning yet against what he described as Yahya Jammeh’s unlawful political maneuvering from exile.
Police summoned the organizers earlier in the day and instructed them to cancel the event, which was billed to discuss former President Yahya Jammeh’s alleged imminent return to The Gambia.
Initial reports claiming arrests were later dispelled, with police sources confirming that the group had only been invited for questioning and cautioned about the security risks associated with “entertaining a false narrative” around Jammeh’s return.
The development came barely 24 hours after President Barrow, speaking in Foni, delivered a forceful message signalling a decisive shift in the government’s approach toward Jammeh loyalists operating under the banner of “No to Alliance.”
Barrow accused the group of exploiting the country’s democratic openness to spread misinformation and provoke instability at the behest of the exiled former president.
“There are people going around and manipulating Gambians,” Barrow said. “Some people are deliberately abusing the existing democratic environment in the country. They call themselves ‘No to Alliance.’ From now on, they will call themselves ‘Yes to Alliance’ because I will rise to their provocations to ensure that they fully comply with the laws of The Gambia.”
Barrow stressed that while his government promotes democracy, it would now vigorously enforce compliance with the law. “Whatever that group does must be in accordance with the law because if it is not, we will exert the full force of the law on them. There can’t be two presidents in a country. It is one president at a time,” he warned.
In an unusually direct address, Barrow also sought to dismantle claims surrounding Jammeh’s possible return, asserting that the former president remains firmly contained under strict supervision in Equatorial Guinea.
“I am aware of every movement of Jammeh from where he is currently in exile, including the meal he had for lunch today,” Barrow said. He described Jammeh as having “no power, no money, no health, and no friends capable of bringing him back” outside the authority of the Gambian government.
Barrow emphasized that only the sitting president, “today it’s President Adama Barrow,” he said, has the constitutional power to approve Jammeh’s return or issue him a passport.
“Where he is, Jammeh is surrounded by security, and he cannot escape them… If his hosts wanted him to come back, they would write to me and seek my expressed approval. Without a passport, how can he travel back to The Gambia, and who can give him one? It’s me,” the president declared.
The cancelled Marakissa press conference marks the first visible enforcement action following Barrow’s remarks, signalling what appears to be a new, more assertive posture toward Jammeh-driven political agitation.
Security analysts say more interventions may follow as the government moves to prevent narratives or activities deemed capable of destabilizing the country ahead of the 2026 electoral cycle.
