Gambian President Jammeh handed shocking defeat

By Alieu Manneh

BANJUL, Gambia 

His hopes of ruling Gambia for life dashed, strongman President Yahya Jammeh suffered a shock defeat in Thursday’s elections, bested by a seven-party opposition coalition, making him the first president to be defeated at the polls in the small West African country.

Adama Barrow, a 51-year old real estate businessman, was declared the winner Friday morning by the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

“We are urging calm because ladies and gentlemen it is clear from these results already announced that there will be a change of government,” IEC Chairman Njai said before announcing Barrow the winner. “The incumbent has accepted defeat even before the final results were announced and he said he would call the new president and congratulate him on his victory.”

The vote took place without any major incidents, and Njai touted the poll’s transparency as “second to none.”

In the nation of 1.9 million people, Barrow got 263,515 votes, while Jammeh got just over 212,000, and a third candidate Mamma Kandeh got some 102,000.

Jammeh even lost the capital Banjul, the country’s seat of power.

Gambia has a simple majority system where even one vote can decide an election, and in 2011 Jammeh won 71 percent of the vote.

The feared ruler, who came to power through a 1994 military coup, has ruled the small country with an iron fist for 22 years, and faced accusations of severe human rights violations, including murders and disappearances of journalists, politicians, and human rights activists.

Before the final results were announced, Gambia’s Inspector General Yankuba Sonko and Interior Minister Alieu Bah both made televised addresses to the nation urging calm and lawful celebrations of victory.

This was the first time the votes in Gambia were counted on the spot and the tallies written and published at polling places before being announced by the Independent Electoral Commission.

Thus the final results were already known to all political parties, even though it took the IEC hours before they could announce them, prompting speculations that Jammeh had ordered the chairman to hold back the outcome.

This caused panic and frantic telephone calls, with relatives advising each other not to go outside amid fears Jammeh’s loyalists in the army would resist relinquishing power.

The Independent Electoral Commission earlier announced nearly 886,600 people had voted, called turnout impressive.

- Internet shutdown

The country’s authorities also shut down the Internet and international calls and text messaging from Wednesday night until Friday morning, when the results were already known.

There was no statement on the blockage from the government, Internet service providers, or the GSM companies.

Journalists, especially foreign correspondents who lacked established satellite communications, were unable to file stories.

After voting, candidate Barrow told journalists that the government blackout’s move was “unfortunate,” especially at a time “when Gambians expect a free flow of information … [and] so that Gambians outside can know what is happening in their country.”