By Kebba Ansu Manneh
Some local authorities and national leaders have called for government intervention to end the caste conflicts that have emerged among the Seranculeh/Soninke communities in the Upper River Region (URR). The relative peace enjoyed by many Seranculeh communities in the Upper River Region of the country is on the brink of total collapse. The classism within the caste system of the Seranculeh tribe heighten in the region resulting in the stabbing and death of one Muhammadou Ceeesay in Garawol village. Bilal Conteh, who reportedly have fled the country into neighboring Senegal, is allegedly accused as the sole perpetrator in the murder of Mr. Ceesay.
Numerous skirmishes have been reported in the Seranculeh communities of Misiraba Mariama, Diabugu, Garawol, among other communities, where the (commong) slave class has been locking horns with the (Horong) noble class leading to injuries, property damage and death. The continued conflicts have ignited the worries of local authorities in the region who called on government to intervene swiftly to quell the situation.
The recent street fights erupted in certain Seranculeh communities when some members of the commong caste felt offended by the continued use of the term they have been called by for generations. Some members of the Horong class insisted that they must accept the inferior class status their great-great-grand parents accepted many generations ago. The Horong insisted that this caste system has been centuries-old traditions held by the Seranculeh communities as it’s among other ethnic groups in The Gambia and other West African countries.
Kajali Barrow is the Alkalo of Darsilami Mandinka in Sandu District of the Upper River Region of the country who has been very concerned about the recent upsurge of communal caste tensions. He told The Gambia Times that the recent tensions are as a result of certain people who are offended by being referred to as slaves. He added that this archaic traditional belief must be dumped if peace is to prevail in the communities.
“We can only have peace when we dump this long-held belief. The fact is no one is a slave to his fellow human except when you are being feed, sheltered and clothed,” Alkalo Barrow argued. According to him, communities must learn to move away from this long-held traditional belief to enjoy peace and harmony. In appealing for peace in The Times interview, Alkalo Barrow said, “I am urging all the Seranculeh communities to maintain peace that they are known for. This caste system is outdated and has no relevance in our present day society and should be abandon in totality.”
Mbye Touray is the Ward Councilor of Misiraba Mariama in Sandu district, few kilometers away from Diabugu Batapa another hot zone where the tensions are heightening. The local community of Diabugu has issued bylaws that bars the slave class from participating in community activities including attending mosque prayer and services, using public taps, and the common cemetery to bury their deaths.
Mbye Touray said such laws are insane as they are designed to sow seeds of discontent and disunity among communities. Touray added that it’s an insult to label people as slaves when one is not providing for their needs.”We understand the local authorities in Diabugu have formulated their own bylaws, this is insane and out of proportion. In fact, it’s an insult to label people as slaves,” the Councilor for Misiraba Mariama Ward told the Times.
According to him, the local authorities in the region are working round the clock to defuse the already heighten tensions among the Seranculeh communities.”It’s unfortunate that we’ve already lost a life in Garawol and a compound burnt to ashes in the same community, and amidst this situation there cannot be any relenting in our efforts to arrest the situation,” Councilor Touray disclosed to The Times.
Councilor Touray called on The Gambia government to intervene swiftly to defuse what he calls a ticking time bomb that is about to explode, warning that if government fails to intervene more troubles will emerge. Rejecting the old traditional belief of social hierarchy, the councilor said, “it must be clear to all Gambians that as far as one is not feeding, clothing and sheltering another person, then that person cannot be one’s slave. Hence it would be an insult to call someone else a slave.”Councilor Touray further told The Gambia Times that his council is doing everything possible to embark on a massive sensitization in the region to quell the communal caste troubles around the region.
A resident of Diabugu village who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity said if the authorities fails to intervene in a timely manner more damages and casualties would occur. Stricken by fear, he said in a Times telephone interview, “I have been staying in this village for more than a decade now, but what I am witnessing is that the situation is getting out of control and needs the government’s intervention.”
According to him, the recent sanctions imposed in Diabugu Batapa on the slave class are very unfortunate and will not do any help to quelling the problems. Instead, he said, the new bylaws would only spread and start more conflicts in other communities. He disclosed to The Times that many communities including Misiraba Mariama, Diabugu, Garawol, Demba Kunda, Numuyel, Dampha Kunda, among others, are currently embroiled in the communal caste clashes and tensions. He warns that if The Gambia government failed to address this situation it may spread into other villages and towns within the Seranculeh communities.
The Gambia Times reporter visited some Seranculeh communities in URR where these problems are prevalence. Many people in the communities this reporter visited declined to comment on and off the records. Few people who spoke, however, said its time for The Gambia government to take steps and measures before the problems escalate to deteriorating situations.
The Gambia Times reporter observed that Seranculeh communities are highly segregated by class or caste settlements and neighborhoods in their villages and towns. The Times observed and can authoritatively report that the slave class is usually settled in the outskirts followed by the smiths and crafts caste, whereas the nobles live at the center of their settlements.
The Gambia Times also caught up with Sulayman Waan, the Voice Newspaper provincial reporter who spent more than five years covering rural news. Mr. Waan told The Times how the slave class in the Seranculeh communities are continually subjected to discrimination, adding that discrimination among the Seranculeh communities may have surge up the recent tensions.
According to him, intermarriages between the noble class and the slave class are strictly forbidden, adding that if one is born into the slave class in a Seranculeh community, one is condemned in perpetuity to the life of a slave but nothing else for the better.
“It’s sad that if you are a slave in a Seranculeh community you cannot become Alkalo (village head) neither lead prayers in a mosque, nor could one marry a noble no matter how you may love each other,” Waan said to The Times.
He said that he is not surprised with the recent communal caste tensions as the slave caste have been enduring worst forms of discrimination. Mr. Waan added that there is no better time to intervene than now if the government is any serious about ending the skirmishes caused by the pervasive discrimination in many Seranculeh communities in the URR.
On another development, The Times have learned that President Adama Barrow has invited leaders and members of the Seranculeh communities across the country to the State House to discuss and find ways to ending these conflicts. The meeting is slated to take place today in Banjul.