Serekunda Explained

Official Name:Serekunda
Settlement Type:City
Pushpin Map:Gambia
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Mapsize:300
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in the Gambia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Gambia
Subdivision Type1:Division
Subdivision Name1:Kanifing
Subdivision Type2:District
Founder:Sayerr Jobe
Named For:Founder
Unit Pref:Imperial
Population As Of:2021
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:340,000
Population Blank1 Title:Ethnicities
Population Blank2 Title:Religions
Timezone:0 GMT
Coordinates:13.4333°N -56°W

Serekunda (proper: Sayerr Kunda or Sere Kunda, sometimes spelled Serrekunda) is the largest urban centre in The Gambia.[2] It is situated close to the Atlantic coast, 13km (08miles) south-west of the capital, Banjul,[3] and is formed of nine villages which have grown together into a larger urban area.

History

Foundation and toponymy

Serekunda was founded in the second half of the 19th century by Sayerr Jobe, a Wolof man originally from Koki in the Kingdom of Cayor, in what is now northern Senegal. At the time Sukuta was the only nearby settlement, and the area was a thick forest.[4] The name 'Serekunda' is a corruption of 'Sayerr Kunda', meaning 'the home of Sayerr's family'.[3]

Post-independence

In 1982, a survey found that less than 10% of workers in Serekunda were in unions.[5]

Jammeh administration

In March 1996, students at the Muslim High School were involved in a riot against Yahya Jammeh's military rule, which led to its principal, Pa Modou N'jie, being fired.[6] In the 1997 Gambian parliamentary election, the first election after Jammeh took power, the Serrekunda East seat was won by the little-known Fabakary Jatta in an upset against Halifa Sallah, a founding member of PDOIS. Sallah did not contest the result.[7] In 2001, Jammeh's government conducted extrajudicial killings at the University of the Gambia.[8]

Barrow administration

On 21 January 2017, when Yahya Jammeh left the country, a crowd celebrated at Westfield Junction in Serekunda.[9] After Jammeh lost the presidency, many Gambian emigrants returned to the country. Management of these migrants was concentrated in Serekunda.[10] A group that had been stuck in transit in Libya stoned the International Organization for Migration's office in Serekunda, feeling frustrated that the government had not kept its promise to reintegrate them.[11]

After incumbent Adama Barrow won the 2021 Gambian presidential election, the candidate Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party contested the result. A group of the party's supporters gathered at his house in Serekunda and were dispersed with tear gas, which was condemned by the National Human Rights Commission.[12]

Geography

The conurbation of Serekunda and Banjul, known as the Kombos, is the only major urban area in the Gambia.[13] The expansion of Banjul has been limited by it being an island, leading to Serekunda overtaking its status and gaining its overflow population.[14] [15] In the 2000s, offices in Banjul moved to more modern offices with better infrastructure in Serekunda.[16]

Climate

Serekunda is near the Sahara Desert. It is cloudless on 80% of days. It has one rainy season lasting from June to October.

Its total ozone amount ranges from 225 to 329 Dobson units, with a mean of 268.1±15.97 Dobson units, as of 1993 to 1996. Its ozone peak is during its rainy season. The average daily erythemal ultraviolet dose is 5 kilojoules per square meter, with more variation during the rainy season.[17]

Demographics

Population history

!1973!1983!1993!2007!2021
25,50570,435194,987348,118340,000

Languages

The Wolof language serves as a lingua franca in Serekunda and across the west of the country. Nearly all signage is in Gambian English.[18]

Religion

The Deeper Christian Life Ministry runs a health centre in Old Yundum.[19]

Tablighi Jamaat movement

Serekunda is a centre of the Tablighi Jamaat Islamic movement. The Markaz, a dawah centre in the Bundung area, is the country's main centre of the Jamaat. The Markaz is open to the public and congregates on Thursdays. It has a reputation for being secretive and is surrounded by barbed wire.[20]

In the 1990s, and adherents from across West Africa convened in the city. Imam Dukureh, who had grown up in the village of Gambissara and studied in Saudi Arabia, introduced the Jamaat to the Gambia. After his followers determined the Jamaat would not be popular in the village, they built a compound in Serrekunda, that he moved into. As the compound expanded, it moved to another part of Serekunda, expanding to a two-storey building with an adjacent mosque that can seat 2,000 people. Pakistani preachers preach at the compound. Dukureh served as the imam of the Markaz until his death in 2000. Since the Markaz banned women in 2003, five homes of women who adhere to the Jamaat have served as centres of it.[21]

Immigration

People from villages come to the Kombos to study, work, run small businesses, or join businesses of relatives. On average, these villagers stay for 2.2 years.

Serekunda is an ethnic enclave of Soninke people, including many from the town of Sabi. Some Soninke migrants move their families to Serekunda.[22] [23]

Economy

Serekunda's market is crowded. It is a popular place to buy batik.[24] Vendors at Serekunda Market have other jobs such as farming.[25]

Serekunda and other Gambian cities have informal trade networks that smuggle products across the Gambia–Senegal border.[26]

The Banjul-Serrekunda Highway has large billboards for companies such as Gamcel. Sayerr Jobe Avenue has shops whose storefronts advertise to people walking or driving on the street.

Tourism

The Senegambia Strip in Serekunda is the country's most famous site for coastal entertainment. It receives tourists from wealthy countries, whose spending is a major contributor to the economy. It has a large market for sex tourism.[27]

Infrastructure

Transportation

Westfield Junction is a busy intersection at the terminus of a highway to Banjul. From the intersection, drivers can go to coastal Serekunda or continue inland.[28]

Healthcare

Kanifing General Hospital, formerly known as Serrekunda General Hospital, is a tertiary referral hospital.[29] It serves a catchment area of 600,000 people, and it has 114 beds and 2 operating theatres, as of 2021. Its thyroid clinic was established in 2015.[30]

Kanifing General Hospital and the smaller Serrekunda Health Centre provide infertility care.[31] Serrekunda Health Centre has an infant welfare clinic.[32] The Serekunda Government Major Health Centre has seen a decrease in malaria cases since 2005.[33]

Sport

Ahead of the country hosting the 2005 African U-17 Championship, the Gambia Football Federation upgraded two stadiums in Serekunda, with support from the government and the FIFA Forward programme. The Gambian National Olympic Committee's Sport Infrastructure Initiative Project completed a mini stadium in Serekunda in 2001, which opened in 2007.[34]

Traditional wrestling matches attract tourists.[35]

Districts or suburbs

The following districts form part of Serekunda:

  1. Bakoteh
  2. Bunungka Kunda
  3. Dippa Kunda
  4. Eboe Town
  5. Faji Kunda
  6. London Corner
  7. New Jeshwang
  8. Old Jeshwang
  9. Kololi
  10. Kotu
  11. Latri Kunda
  12. Latri Kunda Sabiji
  13. Manjai Kunda
  14. Serekunda District
  15. Talinding Kunjang
  16. Churchill's Town

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Population of Cities in Gambia (2021) . 2021-12-08 .
  2. Web site: Introducing Serekunda & the Atlantic Coast. Lonely Planet. 29 May 2014.
  3. Web site: Serrekunda Town, Gambia . Access Gambia . 2015-07-15.
  4. News: Jabai . Sailu Bah Saikou Suwareh . "Sayerr Jobe's name cannot be easily forgotten" Says a descendant . 29 February 2024 . . 2 March 2015.
  5. Perfect . David . 1986 . Organized Labour and Politics in The Gambia: 1960-85 . Labour, Capital and Society / Travail, capital et société . 19 . 2 . 168–199 . 43157755 . 0706-1706.
  6. Wiseman . John A. . 1996 . Military Rule in the Gambia: An Interim Assessment . Third World Quarterly . 17 . 5 . 917–940 . 10.1080/01436599615182 . 3993237 . 0143-6597.
  7. Saine . Abdoulaye S. M. . Winter 1998 . The Military's Managed Transition to "Civilian Rule" in the Gambia . Journal of Political & Military Sociology . 26 . 2 . 157–168 . 0047-2697.
  8. Hultin . Niklas . Jallow . Baba . Lawrance . Benjamin N. . Sarr . Assan . 2017 . Briefing: Autocracy, Migration, and the Gambia's 'Unprecedented' 2016 Election . African Affairs . 116 . 463 . 321–340 . 0001-9909.
  9. News: Mallinder . Lorraine . 15 February 2017 . A dictator in the family . 19 August 2024 . New Statesman.
  10. Marino . Rossella . Schapendonk . Joris . Lietaert . Ine . 2023-05-27 . Translating EUrope's Return Migration Regime to The Gambia: The Incorporation of Local CSOs . Geopolitics . en . 28 . 3 . 1033–1056 . 10.1080/14650045.2022.2050700 . 1465-0045.
  11. Zanker . Franzisca . Altrogge . Judith . 2019-03-29 . The Political Influence of Return: From Diaspora to Libyan Transit Returnees . International Migration . en . 57 . 4 . 167–180 . 10.1111/imig.12578 . 0020-7985.
  12. Perfect . David . 2022-03-04 . The Gambia's presidential election, 2021 . The Round Table . en . 111 . 2 . 153–168 . 10.1080/00358533.2022.2058261 . 0035-8533.
  13. Jukes . Matthew C. H. . Grigorenko . Elena L. . 2010-12-24 . Assessment of cognitive abilities in multiethnic countries: The case of the Wolof and Mandinka in the Gambia . British Journal of Educational Psychology . en . 80 . 1 . 77–97 . 10.1348/000709909X475055 . 19857377 . 0007-0998.
  14. Thomson . Steven . 2012-10-03 . Developing a Multiethnic Ethos: How Colonial Legacies, National Policies, and Local Histories Converged in a Gambian Village Charter . Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism . en . 12 . 2 . 286–308 . 10.1111/j.1754-9469.2012.01171.x . 1473-8481.
  15. Hough . Carolyn A. . 2008 . Re/Producing Mothers: Structure and Agency in Gambian Kanyaleng Performances . Ethnology . 47 . 4 . 257–269 . 25651568 . 0014-1828.
  16. Sundby . Johanne . 2014-09-14 . A rollercoaster of policy shifts: Global trends and reproductive health policy in The Gambia . Global Public Health . en . 9 . 8 . 894–909 . 10.1080/17441692.2014.940991 . 1744-1692 . 4166968 . 25203251.
  17. Ssenyonga . Taddeo . Stamnes . Jakob J. . Dahlback . Arne . Steigen . Andreas . Okullo . Willy . Frette . Øyvind . 2010-03-17 . Analysis of Ozone (O3) and Erythemal UV (EUV) measured by TOMS in the equatorial African belt . South African Journal of Science . en . 106 . 1/2 . 10.4102/sajs.v106i1/2.12 . 1996-7489.
  18. Juffermans . Kasper . 2013-05-29 . Multimodality and audiences: local languaging in the Gambian linguistic landscape . Sociolinguistic Studies . 6 . 2 . 259–284 . 10.1558/sols.v6i2.259 . 1750-8657.
  19. Ankomah . Baffour . 1 October 2006 . A church in transition . . 21 . 455.
  20. Janson . Marloes . 2005 . Roaming About For God's Sake: The Upsurge of the Tablīgh Jamā'at in the Gambia . Journal of Religion in Africa . 35 . 4 . 450–481 . 10.1163/157006605774832199 . 0022-4200.
  21. Janson . Marloes . 2016-02-27 . Male Wives and Female Husbands . The Journal of Religion in Africa . 46 . 2–3 . 187–218 . 10.1163/15700666-12340084 . 0022-4200.
  22. Lobnibe . Isidore . 2017-04-03 . Bush Bound: Young Men and Rural Permanence in Migrant West Africa, by Paolo Gaibazzi . Anthropological Forum . en . 27 . 2 . 171–173 . 10.1080/00664677.2016.1265276 . 0066-4677.
  23. Gaibazzi . Paolo . 2014 . Visa problem: certification, kinship, and the production of 'ineligibility' in the Gambia . The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute . 20 . 1 . 38–55 . 10.1111/1467-9655.12078 . 43907611 . 1359-0987.
  24. Unzué . Michelle . 1 December 2007 . En Gambia: No problem . . 39 . 19 . 2.
  25. Schapendonk . Joris . Ekenhorst . Marieke . 2020-12-13 . From Sectors to Circuits: Re-Describing Senegambian In/Formal Practices in Europe, and Beyond . Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie . en . 111 . 5 . 705–717 . 10.1111/tesg.12401 . 0040-747X.
  26. Benjamin . Nancy C. . Mbaye . Ahmadou Aly . 2012-10-18 . The Informal Sector, Productivity, and Enforcement in West Africa: A Firm-level Analysis . Review of Development Economics . en . 16 . 4 . 664–680 . 10.1111/rode.12010 . 1363-6669.
  27. Kachipande . Sitinga . 2023 . Sun, Sand, Sex, and Safari: The Interplay of Sex Tourism and Global Inequalities in Africa's Tourism Industry . Journal of Global South Studies . 40 . 1 . 1–37 . 10.1353/gss.2023.0007 . 2476-1419.
  28. Hultin . Niklas . 2013-01-01 . Law, Opacity, and Information in Urban Gambia . Social Analysis . 57 . 3 . 10.3167/sa.2013.570303 . 0155-977X.
  29. Cross . James H. . Jarjou . Ousman . Mohammed . Nuredin Ibrahim . Gomez . Santiago Rayment . Touray . Bubacarr J. B. . Kessler . Noah J. . Prentice . Andrew M. . Cerami . Carla . 2023-06-26 . Iron homeostasis in full-term, normal birthweight Gambian neonates over the first week of life . Scientific Reports . en . 13 . 1 . 10349 . 10.1038/s41598-023-34592-z . 2045-2322 . 10293170 . 37365154. 2023NatSR..1310349C .
  30. Jammeh . Saffie . Eeson . Gareth . Sanyang . Buba . Badjie . Alieu D. . Eckfeldt . Matthew . Eckfeldt . Catharine B. . Brauer . Deborah S. . Just . Jon . 2021-10-01 . Multidisciplinary thyroid disease management in The Gambia: Results of a 6-year multinational collaboration . East and Central African Journal of Surgery . 26 . 4 . 153 . 10.4314/ecajs.v26i4.2 . 19 August 2024.
  31. Bittaye . Haddy . Mooney . Jason P. . Afferri . Anna . Balen . Julie . Kay . Vanessa . 2023-02-28 . Introducing assisted reproductive technologies in The Gambia, a survey on the perspectives of Gambian healthcare professionals and medical students . BMC Health Services Research . en . 23 . 1 . 203 . 10.1186/s12913-023-09171-7 . free . 1472-6963 . 9979844 . 36855053.
  32. Odutola . Aderonke . Afolabi . Muhammed O. . Ogundare . Ezra O. . Lowe-Jallow . Yamu Ndow . Worwui . Archibald . Okebe . Joseph . Ota . Martin O. . 2015-08-25 . Risk factors for delay in age-appropriate vaccinations among Gambian children . BMC Health Services Research . en . 15 . 1 . 346 . 10.1186/s12913-015-1015-9 . free . 1472-6963 . 4551385 . 26315547.
  33. Ceesay . Serign J. . Casals-Pascual . Climent . Nwakanma . Davis C. . Walther . Michael . Gomez-Escobar . Natalia . Fulford . Anthony J. C. . Takem . Ebako N. . Nogaro . Sarah . Bojang . Kalifa A. . Corrah . Tumani . Jaye . Momodou Cherno . Taal . Makie Abdoulie . Sonko . Aja Adam Jagne . Conway . David J. . 2010-08-18 . Continued Decline of Malaria in The Gambia with Implications for Elimination . PLOS ONE . en . 5 . 8 . e12242 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0012242 . free . 1932-6203 . 2923605 . 20805878. 2010PLoSO...512242C .
  34. Camara . Pascal Mamudou . 2023-07-03 . Sport policy in the Gambia: power imbalances between the government and the NOC . International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics . en . 15 . 3 . 549–561 . 10.1080/19406940.2023.2219268 . 1940-6940.
  35. Williams . Stephen . July–August 2001 . A Traveller's Tale . . 267.

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