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YAHYA JAMMEH, WHO once said he would govern for a billion years if God willed it, has suffered a shock defeat in the Gambian presidential election.
Opposition candidate Adama Barrow pulled off a stunning presidential election victory, putting an end to Jammeh’s 22-year rule.
Official results showed Barrow, a former migrant to Britain who reportedly worked there as a security guard in Argos, was a political unknown until six months ago.
He comfortably won yesterday’s poll, capping a remarkable rise to prominence.
Jammeh conceded defeat, the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said as Gambians began to take to the streets to celebrate the biggest upset in the west African nation since the incumbent seized power in a 1994 coup.
In Westfield, a district near the capital, teenagers piled on top of cars, taking selfies and strumming guitars, while others waved flags coloured the grey of the opposition coalition. A hundred horns honked in unison.
Although the mood was largely ecstatic, some Gambians expressed relief tinged with emotion as they recounted stories of difficult lives spent under constant fear during Jammeh’s rule.
Barrow won 55% while Jammeh took 37% and third party candidate Mama Kandeh took 18%. Turnout was around 65%.
In his first comments afterward, Barrow acknowledged the nation’s totemic shift.
“It’s time for work. It’s a new Gambia,” he said.
“It’s really unique that someone who has been ruling this country for so long has accepted defeat,” electoral commission chief Alieu Momar Njie told reporters.
Jammeh, who once said he would govern for a billion years if God willed it, was attempting to win a fifth term with his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).
On the streets of Bakau, on the outskirts of the capital Banjul, Gambians began an impromptu street party.
“This man (Jammeh) beat and oppressed us,” a young man who gave his name as Jawara told AFP, choking back tears.
We didn’t have our freedom but definitely Barrow will give it to us.
State television said Jammeh would later make a statement to congratulate opposition leader Barrow, 51.
An estate agent who worked as a security guard in Britain, Barrow was chosen as the opposition flag bearer by a group of political parties who had joined forces for the first time, whipping up unprecedented popular support.
Barrow told AFP before the vote was announced that he was “certain” he had won.
If Jammeh’s concession is confirmed, Barrow will likely serve a three-year term at the head of a transition reform government in the tiny ex British colony that occupies a narrow sliver of land surrounded by French-speaking Senegal and pristine Atlantic ocean beaches beloved by tourists.
Banjul success
Jammeh campaign manager Yankuba Colley said he was not aware of the electoral commission chairman’s statement but said he believed the president would step down if the Gambian people wanted it.
“When the Gambians make their verdict, he is someone who is faithful,” he said
It is a difficult result but the man I know will accept whatever comes.
The election was marked by an internet blackout that sparked condemnation from rights groups and the United States.
Before dawn broke, military and police, some covering their faces, set up checkpoints every few hundred metres on the outskirts of the capital, while citizens were inside sleeping or watching results come in.
“Power belongs to the people. You cannot stop us and you cannot stop them,” Barrow said at his final rally this week.
Jammeh had predicted the biggest landslide of his political career. His tenure was marked by his surviving multiple attempts to remove him from the presidency.
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We have a bank cartel, a duopoly of media, an energy providers oligopoly, and an insurance cartel.
And to top it off, we have a coalition government that have run the country for 100 years, and will do nothing about any of it!
Time to change how we vote folks!
@Franklin Roosevelt: ? Main thing is they are all well educated.
@Franklin Roosevelt:
The only alternative is the useless left and even more useless left leaning independents
@Franklin Roosevelt: well said franklin sums it up in a nut shell .
@John the Baptist: who is this useless left that you speak of and what policies of theirs do you not like?
Very easy to criticize without offering a useful alternative.
@John the Baptist: Yeah, we need to vote SF! A terrorist organisation would do some changes alright!
@John the Baptist: anything to back up your sweeping statement or are you just trash talking anyone who’s not a conservative? looking for some factual argument
@Andy K: ugh, this boring troll.
Yeah, Pearse Doherty, an engineering school dropout, is a terrorist.
And Mary Lou, a former research and consultant, is also a terrorist.
Gimme a break.
Their policies are far better than any pathetic proposals by FFG.
You can’t criticize their policies, so you talk bullsh*t.
@Andy K: YAWN.
@Franklin Roosevelt: they advocate open borders…they would ruin this country if in power on that issue alone.
@John the Baptist: That’s a cop out. if they had the TD’s to make it past the line. they would relish it. corbyn in the labour party has the same ideas as our lefties.
@Franklin Roosevelt: Thing is we don’t have an alternative, Left or right!!!!! Despite the daily nonsense you write about SF they have too much baggage and their time in government in the North wouldn’t fill you with much enthusiasm.
They asked for whistle blowers to come forward. Are they out of their fooking mind. What whistleblower will stick their head above the parapet in this country, where the guards and government will come after you.
Another outstanding investigation into the bleeding obvious, Returning a result that black is indeed white and Ian Pasley was Catholic.
Of course their is no cartel whoever came up with such a suggestion A very honest bunch of lads in the banking industry wouldnt tell a lie or steal your money and its regulated by another bunch of lovely lads and when it all goes bang again we wont have to bail them out honeatly.
This is the gospel according to
Eddie Hobbs.
@Joe Bloggs: No your right joe, you would read it in the Irish Times, where all the educated go to be further brainwashed.
No hard evidence ,come on we are talking about the banks ,ask little seany ,another soft landing for the financial services industry .what else could one expect in the land of the gombeens .
There watchdogs are a bunch of stevie wonders then.
The state of the country and the tracker mortgage fiasco would bed to disagree.
Quite a poor watchdog. They want their stomach scratched as the bankers fleece the country
@Skinnerbot: Yes the UK banks offering 100% house loans and wrecking our banking system are gone. These banks were welcomed by the media when they arrived and praised for breaking the prudent banking practiced by our banks.
Ah that’s grand so… after all when did an arm of the Irish state ever ever ever get it wrong about our fabled wank …sorry Banking System
Whats her backround?
Somebody gave that watchdog a big juicy steak I’d say.
Maybe the onus should be on the banks to prove they are not a cartel. If it looks like a duck etc…
I think that the watchdog needs their own watchdog. I never saw an more useless bunch in my life.
It’s not a banking cartel it is an upgraded hole in the gang with Armani suits
Someone needs to get the EU in with some more of those Early Morning Competition Raids. My car insurance has gone down €400 since that.
Any evidence of competition among Banks..
There’s no evidence of anything in this country. Either they are very good at hiding it or someone is not looking in the right places.
Wouldn’t half make one wonder!
With the price of Car Insurance, I’m more concerned about collusion in the Insurance
industry. My car insurance in Ireland is E1200 per year while similar cover for my similar
car in Australia is $405 AUD (E267). Surely I’m not 4 times the risk in Ireland!
I travel about 5000 klms/year in Ireland and about 11000 klms/year in Aus.
Just write to your TD & express concern.
It’s not a banking cartel it’s an upgraded hole in the wall gang in Armani suits
If it looks like a duck,
Walks like a duck,
And quacks like a duck,
It’s a duck!
If we have to engage the services of a high powered investigative committee to tell us that it’s actually something called “not a duck”, then thats OK too!
But it’s still a DUCK!
CCPC looked up every tree in North County Dublin.
Laughing at the CCPC.
It can arrive at conclusions without conducting a intensive investigation.
NAMA
LOL
This is coming from a regulator that said we would have a soft landing.
Gangsters in suits,
There’s simply not enough banks to form a cartel
@Limón Madrugada: How many banks would we need then ?
Lol lol lol lol
F#%k banks, buy Bitcoin.
Dead right, glad that’s put to bed.
I thought it was called the Troika and the IMF?
No Shit, Batman!?!
I think the watchdog needs a guide dog
have your say