By: Sering Mass Jallow
Tombong Saidy, a senior executive member of the Unite for National Integrity, Transformation and Equality (UNITE), has called on the Gambian government to take urgent measures to safeguard the Bainounka people, warning that their cultural identity faces a serious threat.
Saidy said the Bainounkas are among the earliest settlers of The Gambia and original custodians of the Senegambia region, whose culture and language have significantly shaped the country’s history.
He warned that the country is witnessing a gradual erosion of one of the oldest pillars of its national identity, noting that the continued existence of the Bainounka people as a distinct community is under threat.
According to him, the Bainounka language is in decline as younger generations increasingly adopt dominant languages such as Mandinka and Wolof due to social and economic pressures.
While describing the shift as part of a modernising society, Saidy cautioned that it could lead to the extinction of a language that embodies centuries of knowledge, history and identity.
He also expressed concern over the gradual disappearance of Bainounka cultural practices, including traditional ceremonies, initiation rites and oral storytelling, which he said are central to the community’s identity and continuity.
Saidy urged the government, through the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture and the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCCA), to implement an inclusive national programme aimed at preserving the Bainounka heritage.
He said such a programme should focus on documenting and revitalising the Bainounka language, preserving oral histories, and promoting cultural festivals and heritage sites.
He further stressed the need to protect The Gambia’s reputation for peace, tolerance and cultural diversity, warning that failure to act could result in the disappearance of one of the country’s oldest communities.
“We cannot afford to be the generation that stood by while one of our oldest communities faded into extinction,” Saidy said.