Solo Sandeng Memorial Center Inaugurated in Kerr Serign in April 2025

Fatimah Sandeng and Hon. Ousainu Darboe of the UDP © Askanwi

By Edward Francis Dalliah

In a landmark effort to preserve the memory of victims of human rights violations committed during the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, the Solo Sandeng Foundation on 14th April 2025 inaugurated the Solo Sandeng Memorial Centre, located in Kerr Sering. The centre pays tribute to the late Ebrima Solo Sandeng, a pro-democracy activist, as well as other victims of state-sanctioned abuses during Jammeh’s rule.

Speaking at the commemoration, the foundation’s founder and CEO, Fatimah Sandeng, daughter of the late Ebrima Sandeng, highlighted the foundation's ongoing mission since its formation in 2017 to preserve the memory of victims of human rights violations, particularly those who advocated for electoral reforms in April 2026.

She noted that the foundation was established to “give power and knowledge to the legacy of [the late] Solo Sandeng and his team of protesters of April 14, and subsequently April 16 and then May 9 and all the other victims who have been brutalised afterwards.”

April is widely regarded in The Gambia as ‘Victims’ Month’, owing to a series of tragic events that unfolded in the same month across different years. One such example is the April 10th and 11th, 2000 student massacre, where former President Jammeh was reported to have ordered security forces to fatally shoot over a dozen student demonstrators who were protesting the alleged “murder and rape” of fellow students by paramilitary officers.

Victim Community at Inauguration © Askanwi

In a similarly harrowing episode in 2016, on April 14th and 16th, and later on May 9th, more than 70 supporters of the United Democratic Party (UDP) were arrested while protesting for electoral reform.

Among them was Solo Sandeng, who led the April 14 protest demanding reform of the country’s electoral laws ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He and his colleagues were reportedly arrested, subjected to brutal beatings and torture, and detained. Subsequently, in July of that year, thirty of them were convicted and sentenced to three years in prison; tragically, two of them, including Solo Sandeng, died in custody.

In his remarks at the commemoration, the Secretary General of the UDP, Hon. Ousainu Darboe, described the event as “an event that remembers the Gambia's Liberation Day.” He added that Gambians must come to terms with the fact that “Solo’s death was the sine qua non of the Gambia’s liberation.”

Hon. Darboe further emphasised the significance of memorialization and civic education, stating, “What we want to do is to teach generations yet unborn about the legacy of this great patriot, what he and his compatriots have done for the Gambian people.” He expressed hope that in years to come, they are looking forward that, “the authorities will see it fit to include this particular event in the civic curriculum in the schools so that the school children of the Gambia are taught of the values of sacrifice, of the values of patriotism, of the resilience of patriotic people.”

Hon. Ousainu Darboe at inauguration © Askanwi

Echoing similar sentiments, Fatimah Sandeng referenced the work of ANEKED’s Memory House, which offers access to victim stories and promotes historical awareness. She stressed the importance of broadening educational resources to expose the atrocities committed between 1994 and 2017.

Within the framework of transitional justice, memorialization is recognised as a vital mechanism for honouring victims of human rights violations. As articulated in the Government’s White Paper on the recommendations of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), “memorialisation is a key feature of the National Strategy for Transitional Justice in The Gambia and formed part of the TRRC's Reparations mandate as it contributes to the acknowledgement of victims and documenting of past human rights violations.”

Although the TRRC proposed several key memorialization initiatives, such as the renaming of Arch 22 to “Memorial Arch” and the erection of a permanent plaque bearing the names of those who lost their lives, and were formally accepted by the government, their implementation has so far yielded limited tangible results.

While the opening of the Solo Sandeng Memorial Centre is a step forward in acknowledging past injustices, it also underscores the urgent need for the government to fully implement the TRRC’s recommendations on memorialisation.