The Gambia - 2021 Election
On December 4, Gambian voters headed to the polls to elect a new president. The election marked the first time voters decided since the electoral defeat of former president Yahya Jammeh in 2016 ended his 22-year dictatorship. The vote will likely set the course for democratic governance in Gambia for years to come. The stakes are high. A significant issue hanging over the election is the candidacy of current President Adama Barrow. His commitment to leaving power after three years — a vow that convinced many Gambians to vote for him in 2016 — had morphed into a broken promise. It appears that Barrow is determined to be more than a transitional president, which irked some young voters.
The Gambia’s constitution enumerates a full range of provisions and assurances for a multiparty democratic republic. In 2016 Adama Barrow, the consensus candidate of a coalition of seven opposition political parties, defeated incumbent president Yahya Jammeh in what international observers deemed a peaceful and credible election. Barrow was initially sworn into office in January 2017 in Dakar, Senegal, during a six-week political impasse when Jammeh refused to cede power. President Barrow was sworn into office again in The Gambia the following month after a peaceful regional and international intervention, led by Economic Community of West African States member countries, resulted in the former president departing for exile. In the 2017 parliamentary elections, the United Democratic Party won 31 of the 53 seats contested. International and domestic observers considered these elections to be free and fair.
The Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparation Commission (TRRC) was established in 2017 to address human rights abuses during the 22-year rule (1994-2016) of former president Jammeh. Families of individuals detained during the Jammeh regime continued to demand information on their missing relatives and that those responsible for killings, disappearances, and other serious crimes be held accountable. Nearly 400 witnesses gave chilling evidence about state-sanctioned torture, death squads, rape and “witch hunts”, often at the hands of the “Junglers”, as Jammeh’s death squads were known. Jammeh was linked by witnesses at the truth commission to the killing and torture of many opponents, “witch hunts”, a sham HIV treatment programme, the murder of 56 West African migrants, rape and sexual assault.
In a 14,000-page report handed to President Barrow 26 November 2021 gave details of nearly 400 victims of torture, killing and rape. In all, 240-250 people died at the hands of the state or its agents, the commission said. It recommended that the “persons who bear the greatest responsibility for abuses” be prosecuted, but did not name anyone. “To forgive and forget with impunity the violations and abuses … would not only undermine reconciliation but would also constitute a massive and egregious cover-up of the crimes committed,” the TRRC said in a statement.
Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening due to food shortages, gross overcrowding, physical abuse, and inadequate sanitary conditions. Courts continue to hand down death sentences. There were no reports of political prisoners or detainees. Article 69 of the current Constitution, which provides for full civil immunity and limited jurisdiction over criminal proceedings against the President after he leaves office, remains in place. The current Constitution also gives blanket immunity to members of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council and individuals appointed by them, as well as any member of the government or individuals allegedly involved in the 1994 coup d’état.
The constitution and law provide for freedom of expression, including for the press, and the government generally respected this right. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to promote freedom of expression, including for the press. On 14 February 2018, the Court of Justice of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued a judgment that found most Gambian media laws violated freedom of expression. The court asked the government to repeal or amend all criminal laws on libel, sedition, and false news in line with Gambia’s obligations under international human rights law. However, most of the laws which were used to oppress human rights defenders, activists and journalists during Jammeh’s rule are still in force.
By law the Gambia Police Force must grant a permit for all public meetings and gatherings. The inspector general of police has the authority to approve or disapprove permits and is required to communicate his decision to the requester in writing. Requests are generally approved unless there is concern regarding the peaceful nature of a proposed protest. On 26 January 2020, police arrested 137 demonstrators during a protest organized by the Three Years Jotna Movement that began peacefully but turned violent. The group's name derives from the Wolof word "jotna," meaning "year," and roughly translates to "three years are up." A total of 131 police and protesters were injured. The Three Years Jotna Movement called for the president to honor the commitment he made during his 2016 campaign to step down after three years, with some persons affiliated with the movement advocating violence to forcibly remove the president from office. Violence erupted when a group of protesters allegedly deviated from the negotiated area approved by authorities for the protest and police moved to disperse protesters. Police used tear gas against stone throwing protesters, a small group of whom set fire to a bus-stop shelter. Most injuries suffered by protesters were respiratory due to tear gas; however, some protesters and police sustained serious lacerations from thrown rocks and debris.
Despite Gambian President Adama Barrow’s pledge to reform the country nearly five years earlier, oppressive laws curtailing human rights including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, which were used under former President Yahya Jammeh to suppress peaceful dissent remain operative, Amnesty International said in a new analysis published 22 September 2021. Michele Eken, Amnesty International West Africa researcher, noted “Upon assuming power in 2017, President Adama Barrow vowed to carry out critical reform in the country and to reverse the oppression which characterized the previous government. Nearly five years later, Gambia’s legislative landscape has barely changed.... “There is still no new Constitution. Punitive and restrictive legal provisions on human rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly among other issues are still on the statute books. What’s more, the current parliamentary session, which represents one of the rare opportunities to make significant legal reforms and changes consistent with the country’s international human rights obligations before the presidential election in December, is expected to end by next week.”
The country has undergone several major political shifts under Barrow — including three vice-presidents — as well as a chaotic constitutional reform process that ultimately collapsed after individual politicians tried to secure their grip on power. Key reforms, including the scrapping of the Jammeh-era constitution and overhauling draconian press and public order laws, have yet to be completed. The country is also struggling with an "unsustainable" debt burden.
In the December 2016 polls, a relatively unknown Adama Barrow, acting as the arrowhead of an opposition coalition, defeated Jammeh against all odds. With Jammeh refusing to concede, Barrow was sworn in as president in January 2017 in a ceremony held at The Gambian embassy in Dakar, the capital of neighbouring Senegal. Barrow was meant to serve as a transitional leader for three years, but instead decided to finish his tenure. In 2019, he broke ranks by registering a new party, the National People’s Party (NPP) in pursuit of a second term in office.
For two decades, Ousainou Darboe was Jammeh’s nemesis as leader of the United Democratic Party, the country’s largest opposition political force. But his role in street protests against the death of an activist led to his detention by the Jammeh government and a three-year prison sentence. In his absence but with his reported endorsement, the UDP nominated Barrow, who had resigned as the party’s treasurer to contest as an independent, to be the candidate of an opposition coalition. Darboe, 73, served as foreign minister and one of the three vice presidents, but was sacked in March 2019 after falling out with Barrow for reportedly refusing to endorse his bid for a second presidential term.
Mama Kandeh, who came third in the 2016 polls, was a former APRC lieutenant until his expulsion that year led to his formation of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC). Under the APRC umbrella, he had won a parliamentary seat by defeating Barrow in what was the latter’s first major political foray, back in 2007. Kandeh hopes to capitalise on the grievances of supporters of the APRC No Alliance Movement, a splinter group within the former ruling party formed after the APRC’s partnership with the NPP that is gravitating towards his candidacy.
Three other candidates are vying for the highest office in The Gambia: Essa Mbye Faal, who resigned his position as the lead prosecutor of the TRRC to contest as an independent candidate; former aviation chief Abdoulie Ebrima Jammeh, another independent; and Halifa Sallah, MP with the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). The country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) disqualified 15 of the 21 hopefuls – including Marie Sock, the only female aspirant – for not meeting the constitutional requirements. About half of them were running on independent platforms.
The election is expected to be a tight race between Barrow and longtime opposition leader Ousainou Darboe. The exiled Jammeh has urged his supporters to vote for the opposition coalition. Despite the magnitude of abuse allegations facing Jammeh, the 56-year-old retains a considerable following in The Gambia. Many supporters are pushing for his return from exile. His influence has been a key issue in the run-up to a presidential election on December 4 – the first since Jammeh’s departure. Barrow, who had previously promised to implement the TRRC’s recommendations, formed a coalition alliance with Jammeh’s old party – the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) to help him win a second term. But Jammeh rejected the Barrow-APRC alliance and directed his loyalist supporters by voice recording at rallies to form the “No Alliance Movement” with Mama Kandeh running for the Gambia Democratic Congress party.
Adama Barrow comfortably won a second term in The Gambia’s presidential election, with thousands of supporters celebrating and opponents disputing the results. Barrow garnered 53 percent of the vote, according to results released by the electoral commission late on 05 December 2021. His main challenger Ousainou Darboe won 27.7 percent, with the turnout at 87 percent, according to official results.
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