Like Jonathan, Yahya Jammeh concedes defeat

Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh has conceded defeat to his electoral opponent – thus following the good example lid by Nigeria’s Drm Goodluck Jonathan who, in 2015 willingly conceded defeat to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Alieu Momar Njie the Chairman of the electoral commission, in the West African country, reportedly told the BBC that Jammeh, who has been in power since 1994, has accepted defeat from Adama Barrow, an estate agent, in Thursday’s election.

Njie, was said to have described as unprecedented for a Gambian head of state to accept defeat before the final results, even though there has been no official word from Jammeh, who took power in a coup in 1994.

Jonathan, was about the first West African President to concede defeat, when he called then General Muhammadu Buhari, now President, to congratulate him, after a hot contest for the nation’s number one job, in 2015, which drew him accolades within Nigeria and the international community.

Now, another West African country, which has not had a smooth transfer of power since independence in 1965, and whose leader is known for his brutal attitude, has followed the same example.

The 51-year-old leader has been trailing Mr. Barrow in partial results and was defeated in the capital, Banjul, his stronghold.

A devout Muslim, Jammeh once said he would rule for “one billion years” if “Allah willed it”.

“It’s really unique that someone who has been ruling this country for so long has accepted defeat,” Njie told reporters.

Jammeh’s concession has been greeted with astonishment in The Gambia, where most people expected him to win. He has served four terms as president but it now looks as though the man seen by same as unpredictable and ruthless would be replaced by an estate agent.

Jammeh’s 22 years in power have brought repression and intolerance to this tiny seaside nation, popular for cheap holidays in the sun.

He has been tough on journalists, the opposition and gay people. He also said he could cure Aids and infertility.

During the campaign, the country’s mostly young population seemed to be yearning for change, said the BBC’s Umaru Fofana in Banjul.

The economic challenges the country faces have forced many to make the perilous journey to Europe, with some drowning on the way, he said.

Human rights groups have accused Mr Jammeh, who has in the past claimed he can cure AIDS and infertility, of repression and abuses.

Several previous opposition leaders are in jail after taking part in a rare protest in April.

Observers from the European Union (EU) and the West African regional bloc Ecowas did not attend the vote.

Gambian officials opposed the presence of Western observers, but the EU said it was staying away out of concern about the fairness of the voting process.

The African Union did despatch a handful of observers to supervise the vote, however.

The Gambia, a tiny country with a population of fewer than two million, is surrounded on three sides by Senegal and has a short Atlantic coastline popular with European tourists.

Source BBC