BANJUL, Gambia
Gambia’s President Adama Barrow has secured his re-election with a comfortable margin over his opposition in a vote that set the bar for a new chapter in the small West African nation’s democracy.
Barrow
won about 53% of the vote in Saturday’s election, according to results from the
Independent Election Commission announced Sunday. He easily beat out his main
contender Ousainou Darboe of the United Democratic Party who received about 28%
of the vote.
This
was the country’s first presidential election in decades that did not include
former dictator Yahya Jammeh, who now lives in exile in Equatorial Guinea after
losing the 2016 election and refusing to accept defeat.
The
Chairman of the IEC, Alieu Mommar Njie, announced the results and prayed for
peace to prevail in the nation of about 2.4 million people.
“I
hereby declare Adama Barrow duly elected to serve as President of the Republic
of The Gambia,” he said, after indicating that the National People’s Party
(NPP) emerged victorious with 457,519 of the votes cast.
UDP’s
Darboe was credited with 238,233 votes, and Mama Kandeh of the Gambia Moral
Congress party came in third with 105,902 votes, according to results announced
by the IEC.
Demba
Sabally, who represented the NPP at Election House, said the presidential
election was transparent and fair.
“Gambia
is the winner of this election,” he added.
The
results, however, have already been contested by four opposition leaders,
including Darboe and Kandeh, who on Sunday held a press briefing to challenge
the credibility of the vote. According to a statement from the parties, they
were concerned about an “inordinate delay” in the announcement of results.
Campaigner
Banka Manneh told The Associated Press that he would not deny the opposition
leaders their rights to protest. But, he added, “They need provide the evidence
of their claims. The courts are here to settle dispute.”
Thousands
of people stormed Westfield Youth Monument, located in the heart of Serrekunda,
to celebrate Barrow’s reelection.
“President Barrow is a man of peace. We have to give him a chance to continue his development projects,” Modou Ceesay, 36, a resident of New Jeshwang told AP.
Fatou
Faal of Kanifing told the AP that Gambians did the “right thing in giving
Barrow a chance to complete the development projects he initiated.”
Nearly
860,000 Gambians came to vote on Saturday, a high number that shows a determination
for many to exercise their democratic rights as demands for justice in the
post-Jammeh era rise.
Barrow
emerged victorious in 2016 as the candidate for an opposition coalition that
tested the 22-year rule of Jammeh. After initially agreeing to step down,
Jammeh resisted, and a six-week crisis saw neighboring West African countries
prepare to send in troops to stage a military intervention. Jammeh was forced
into exile.
Jammeh’s
two-decade rule was marked by arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and
summary executions that were revealed through dramatic testimony during Truth,
Reconciliation and Reparations Commission hearings that lasted for years.
The
other week, the commission handed its 17-volume report to President Barrow, urging
him to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations are prosecuted.
Barrow
has vowed to fight for justice for the victims. - AP
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