Gambia wheels in Barrow !!
Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2016 10:16 pm
Wow 
The recent election results in Gambia make Trump's victory over Clinton seem completely mundane. Former security guard and real estate agent Adama Barrow has come from nowhere to oust long-serving president Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power since a military coup 22 years ago and had promised to rule for 'a billion years.' Jammeh had already imprisoned his main rival, Ousainou Darboe, in October for protesting against the government, thereby bringing Barrow into contention, and on the day of the election cut off the internet. Yet Barrow pulled off a major upset by winning with 45.5% of the vote, compared to 36/7% for Jammeh. & The partying continued in the streets all night apparently! This also signals the demise of one of Africa's traditional strongmen. His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor President Jammeh liked to flaunt his wealth to his mostly impoverished subjects, appeared frequently on TV, and was also known to practise witchcraft. But he may well have shot himself in the foot by removing Darboe from the equation, as the significantly younger and fitter Barrow seems to have presented a more appealing candidate. Jammeh was no tyrant, improving infrastructure throughout his tenure, avoiding wars, plagues, famine and terrorism, and last year banning female circumcision, however belatedly. He also withdrew Gambia from the Commonwealth and International Criminal Court and removed English as the official language. Nonetheless, he was undeniably guilty of human rights violations, with Gamibians ranking sixth among migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe this year, despite and country's tiny population of just under 2 million. Many would like to see Jammeh brought to trial for the hundreds of dissidents who 'disappeared' during his rule, but it is not yet clear where the military's allegiance would lie should conflict between the new leader and the old arise...
The recent election results in Gambia make Trump's victory over Clinton seem completely mundane. Former security guard and real estate agent Adama Barrow has come from nowhere to oust long-serving president Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power since a military coup 22 years ago and had promised to rule for 'a billion years.' Jammeh had already imprisoned his main rival, Ousainou Darboe, in October for protesting against the government, thereby bringing Barrow into contention, and on the day of the election cut off the internet. Yet Barrow pulled off a major upset by winning with 45.5% of the vote, compared to 36/7% for Jammeh. & The partying continued in the streets all night apparently! This also signals the demise of one of Africa's traditional strongmen. His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor President Jammeh liked to flaunt his wealth to his mostly impoverished subjects, appeared frequently on TV, and was also known to practise witchcraft. But he may well have shot himself in the foot by removing Darboe from the equation, as the significantly younger and fitter Barrow seems to have presented a more appealing candidate. Jammeh was no tyrant, improving infrastructure throughout his tenure, avoiding wars, plagues, famine and terrorism, and last year banning female circumcision, however belatedly. He also withdrew Gambia from the Commonwealth and International Criminal Court and removed English as the official language. Nonetheless, he was undeniably guilty of human rights violations, with Gamibians ranking sixth among migrants crossing the Mediterranean to Europe this year, despite and country's tiny population of just under 2 million. Many would like to see Jammeh brought to trial for the hundreds of dissidents who 'disappeared' during his rule, but it is not yet clear where the military's allegiance would lie should conflict between the new leader and the old arise...
