My article about President Jammeh’s ‘back to the land’ policy was published today by The Samosa: Back to the land with nothing to eat.

I spent a couple of weeks in The Gambia in October 2009. I left deeply saddened. The Gambia is a tiny, beautiful country nestled within Senegal in West Africa. Largely forgotten by the rest of the world, this small nation is slowly collapsing in on itself like a pack of cards. It’s not dramatic and it will go largely unnoticed by the rest of the world. Certainly the rest of the international media.

15 years into his reign, President Jammeh has implemented a series of policy that line his pockets and do little for the people. This is couple with a terrifying press freedom record and its accompanying propaganda barrage that leaves the population with little information, opinion or ability to chance either. One Gambian journalist I spoke to said of the situation, “Human development is stagnant. Jammeh keeps them just stupid enough.”