By Ousman Saidykhan
Claim: “Between 2013 and 2024, the Gambia’s population grew by 300,000 people. However, between 2016 and 2021 its eligible voter population grew by 600,000 people! Our electoral thieve have been exposed again!”
Source: Yankuba Darboe, Chairman, Brikama Area Council (BAC)
Verdict: FALSE
In a Facebook post made on the September 11, 2024, Yankuba Darboe, the Chairman of Brikama Area Council, wrote: “Between 2013 and 2024, the Gambia’s population grew by 300,000 people. However, between 2016 and 2021 its eligible voter population grew by 600,000 people! Our electoral thieve have been exposed again!”
He was commenting on the Gambia Bureau of Statistics’ preliminary report on 2024 Population and Housing Census which indicated the country’s population had increased to more than 2.4 million.
Yanks Darboe, as fondly called, was comparing the increase registered in The Gambia’s population from 2013 to 2024, with the increase in the number of registered voters for the 2021 presidential election from that of the 2016 election.
Fact-check
Yankuba Darboe’s claim is that within five years, the Gambia’s eligible voters increased almost as twice as the growth in population in eleven years.
As of October 19, 2024, the Facebook post had generated at least 280 reactions in the form or likes and other emojis. It had 54 comments and had been shared 37 times.
Firstly, according to the 2024 Census and the 2013 Census published by the Gambia Bureau of Statistic, the total population increased from 1,857,181 people to 2,422,712. The difference between the two proves that the total population grew by 565,531 people and not by 300,000 people as claimed by BAC Chairperson – as seen in the comparative figures below.
Secondly, data published by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), shows that the number of voters registered in 2016 is eight hundred and eighty-six thousand, five hundred and seventy-eight (886,578).
In the lead up to the 2021 Presidential Elections, a new voter register recored a total of nine hundred and sixty-two thousand, one hundred and fifty-seven (962, 157).
See the table below containing data from IEC
| Year | Registered Voters | Increase |
| 2016 | 886,578 | |
| 2021 | 962, 157 | 75, 579 |
This means that the voter population actually grew by just 75,579 voters and not by 600,000 voters as claimed by Yanks Dabo. That is just 12.5%, and less than a quarter of what the BAC Chairman claimed to have been the increase in the voter population between 2016 and 2021.
Based on our research, Darboe’s claim that The Gambia’s eligible voter population grew by 600,000 between 2016 and 2021 is false.
Verdict: FALSE
