The constitution puts him on fairly firm ground but citizens of post-dictatorship Gambia are determined to hold their leader to account
Gambians protest over President Adama Barrow’s decision to renege on his promise and govern for longer than three years.
Barrow and the coalition of several political parties and civil society groups for which he had stood as an independent candidate made a deal to end the crisis however and on January 19 2017, Barrow with little political experience was sworn in as president in neighbouring Senegal. Days later, Jammeh fled into exile and Barrow returned home.
As the three-year deadline drew near and the legality versus morality debate over Barrow’s tenure deal gained traction, a new grassroots movement dawned: “Three years jotna” which translates to “three years are up”. “On social media there is much talk about a good president gone bad. This is certainly accurate,” says Penar. Many Gambians had high expectations when Barrow came to office. “The post-Jammeh agenda was and is still long.” The truth about human rights abuses and corruption under Jammeh needed to be uncovered; political prisoners needed to be rehabilitated, the economy had to be put on track.
The question over Barrow’s tenure left him “compelled to engage in politics, rhetoric and divisive activities” rather than development and reforms, says Nyima Camara, a political science lecture at the University of Gambia. “The political space is very divided since the coalition started to disintegrate in 2017. The environment has been dominated by claims and counterclaims and intense rivalry among political party leaders with regard to the president.
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