By Mohamed Jalloh
On the 4th December 2021, Gambians went to the polls to elect their president for the first time after dictator Yahya Jammeh left the political scene for exile in Equatorial Guinea.
I am going down memory lane to bring out facts about the country`s experience with democracy since the attainment of independence from the British in 1965.
Gambia is one of the smallest countries not only in Africa but among the 193 United Nations recognized states. It is located in the west coast of Africa, occupying a narrow strip of land that surrounds the river Gambia.
Except for the Atlantic Ocean out post, it could have been entirely surrounded by neighboring Senegal. That is why historians remarked that Gambia is like a dagger that digs deep into the heart of Senegal.
When it comes to electioneering, the people of Gambia have been voting since colonial days.
As in other British controlled territories in Africa, the 1960`s was the period when these lands where transformed from colonial to dominion status with the Queen in England still reposed as the head of state.
In 1962, Sir Dauda Kairaba Jawara`s party the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) won the general elections and led the country to independence in 1965.
Jawara maintained a competitive party political system and held free and fair elections. Jawara`s PPP won six consecutive elections under his reign.
An excerpt from a New York Times 1977 publication aptly describes governance in Gambia at the time.
“Gambia has no prestige projects, no grandiose spending projects, no political prisoners, no army and no defense budget. It elections are perhaps the cleanest on the continent. It has opposition parties and a free press, including several mimeographed broad sides that attack the government in round house punches”.
An ambitious economic recovery programme opened a floodgate of corruption further eroding trust in Jawara`s government.
Jawara was nearly toppled in 1981 when a young Marxist Kukoi Samba Sanyang led an attempted coup. His regime was only saved by the timely intervention of Senegalese forces.
A military was later established to provide for national defense and to protect the regime.
As public distrust heightened over the regime, a young military captain Yahya Jammeh finally toppled Jawara in 1994.
The country relapsed into dictatorship under Jammeh`s rule. The new leader outlawed opposition parties, muzzled reporters and sent soldiers to attack political protesters.
Ethnic tensions among the main tribal groups (Mandinka, Fula, Wolof, Jola &Serer) heightened.
President Jammeh is on record to have at one point in time threatened to kill all Mandinka`s and dump their bodies where a fly cannot hover over their remains.
Some political pundits even compared political conditions in the Gambia to that of North Korea at the time.
A revelation by Jammeh`s anointed assassins in a recent Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings shocked the public psyche regarding the extent of Jammeh`s hidden atrocities.
A soldier Omar Jallow, who was a hit man in Jammeh`s notorious “Junglers” unit admitted in participating in the killing of 48 perceived enemies of the regime including foreigners. Other “Junglers” also testified of committing similar horrible crimes.
Yahya Jammeh ruled the Gambia with an iron fist for over 22 years until he lost elections in 2016 to a coalition of opposition parties called the United Democratic Party (UDP) That coalition was headed by a newcomer politician, Adama Barrow.
Initially, Jammeh accepted the outcome of the election results but later made an unprecedented U-turn based on apparent threats to indict him for his 22 years misrule.
Jammeh tried to resist and hold onto the forte but mounting international pressure forced him to relinquish power and subsequently sought refuge in Equatorial Guinea.
Adama Barrow entered the political scene in 2017 with huge expectations to undo the democratic pitfalls of the previous Jammeh regime and set the country on the trajectory of socio- economic development.
A three year agreement as president that could usher in a transitional government after Jammeh`s exit was discarded by Incumbent Adama Barrow. Political bickering saddled the UDP coalition and Barrow was accused of dictatorship, nepotism and corruption by his former political allies.
Mistrust grew within the UDP, prompting Barrow to part ways with veteran politician and political mentor Ousainou Darboe. Street protests were engineered by political opponents aimed at forcing Barrow to adhere to the three years agreement as president of the Gambia.
The protests hardly gained a national momentum as they were easily dispersed by teargas firing police. Having tasted the goodies of power, Barrow seems determined in continuing his presidency. His first five years at the apex of Gambian politics soon expired, necessitating the conduct of a general election on December 4th 2021.
After severing ties with the UDP coalition, Barrow had to test his popularity by running under the ticket of a new party he personally created called National People`s Party(NPP).
As political tension heightened, the elections become hotly contested.
Barrow`s main challenger in the elections was his old political godfather Ousainou Darboe.
The international community was very enthusiastic about the conduct of the elections, which was the first after the ouster of former president Yahya Jammeh.
Tiny Gambia hosted five former presidents in the continent as international observers, in an election that is deemed as crucial in the consolidation of her hard won democracy.
At the close of polls after the results were counted, Adama Barrow`s NPP polled the highest votes 53.23% which automatically retains him as the president of Gambia for a second term of five years.
Ousainou Darboe becomes runner up after polling 27.72 votes making him the main opposition to his former political ally.
The Gambia Democratic Process (GDP) of Mama Kandeh followed in third position after polling 12.3% of total vote cast.
The country`s marble voting system which seems to offer simplicity and transparency is totally different to that of a paper ballot voting system. However, the system was not free from criticism. Darboe argued that the results did not reconcile with the results recorded by his party polling agents.
After the elections were announced, supporters of Darboe`s UDP took to the streets claiming electoral fraud by the incumbent. The protesters were also dispersed with the discharge of teargas canisters.
Ousainoe Darboe has so far urged his supporters to exercise calm and restraint as he intends using the legal system to challenge the validity and legitimacy of the results.
On the other hand, incumbent President Adama Barrow has appealed for calm and national unity.
He has vowed to continue with infrastructural development and to promulgate a new constitution that could work and appeal to all Gambians.
Political observers have noted that ushering in a new constitution is a calculated ploy for Barrow to prolong his stay in power.
Barrow could easily argue that his previous term as president does not count.
The move could further escalate political tension in the Gambia, as Barrow could easily discard his past five years as president and seek a fresh mandate after instituting a new constitution.
In the ensuing looming constitutional uncertainty, fulfilling the democratic hopes and aspirations of the Gambian people would be precarious.