Supporters of incumbent president Adama Barrow’s National Peoples Party (NPP) during a campaign rally in Banjul in November 2021.
Photo by Guy Peterson/AFP via Getty Images
Adama Barrow’s re-election in The Gambia was not unexpected. It, however, leaves the opposition with an uncertain path forward and signals the shrinking status of his predecessor, Yahya Jammeh.
The Gambia has a unique system of voting that does not involve the use of paper ballots in casting votes – instead it uses marbles.
Supporters of Gambia’s president, Adama Barrow, sing and dance during a campaign rally in Banjul on November 27, 2021.
Guy Peterson/AFP via Getty Images
The 2021 presidential election in The Gambia is expected to be peaceful and losing candidates are likely to accept the outcome.
Gambians celebrate the departure of former strongman Yahya Jammeh in front of an armoured vehicle manned by West African troops in early 2017.
Carl de Souza/AFP via Getty Images
No one is immune to change in leadership that has led many African presidents to lose their coveted top job.
Gambian refugees on a wooden boat. Thousands of Africans make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean each year hoping for a better life in Europe.
Emma Farge/Reuters
Gambia became a symbol for democratic change earlier this year when former dictator Yahya Jammeh was peacefully ousted through the ballot box. Now Europe wants its Gambian immigrants to return home.
People cheer as Senegalese troops arrive to take charge of security at the presidential palace in Banjul, The Gambia.
EPA/Legnan Koula
The adoption of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance five years ago raised hopes for a new democratic Africa. But its ideals remain elusive for many parts of the continent.
Members of the Ecowas force at the Denton Bridge check point in Banjul, The Gambia, following Yahya Jammeh’s departure.
Reuters/Thierry Gouegnon
Regional power Ecowas, which has just seen off yet another dictator in Yahya Jammeh, started off with a tame agenda 42 years ago. But it was soon shaped by civil wars, military coups and despots
Gambia’s new President Adama Barrow arriving home.
EPA
Although Ecowas and the AU made sure that Yahya Jammeh stepped down after losing the elections in The Gambia, caution is warranted in assuming this heralds a trend against African dictatorships.
Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow during an interview in December 2016.
Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde
There is a real sense of optimism in The Gambia: for the first time since Yahya Jammeh came to power, there has been open dissent of the regime and a feeling of ownership of the country’s future.