As we leave The Gambia, after our five-week stay, I’m reflecting on the kind of trip it’s been. This is the first time we’ve ever booked to go back to the same place again. It’s not that we haven’t loved so many places we’ve been – it’s just that there’s always somewhere new to explore! This time, though, we decided to come back to the same resort and the same hotel as last year. Our reasoning was that the main purpose of this trip was as a holiday – to relax – and so there wasn’t so much of an urge to go sightseeing. Also, we would be away over Christmas and New Year, so it was good to know exactly where we were coming to – no surprises, just immediate switch off and venues for special meals already decided. Above all, we had made lots of Gambian friends last year and had helped at a local school, so it would be nice to see them all again.
Having said all this, though, we didn’t intend to simply lie on the beach for five weeks. We fully intended to do a bit of travelling. We had left one excursion within The Gambia to do (which we did and which I wrote about here), but we also planned to explore more of Senegal, having visited the country briefly last year. In the event, the political situation in The Gambia has prevented us from crossing the border, so this has turned into more of a beach holiday than we imagined! Not that I’m complaining!
We arrived in The Gambia on December 11th. We follow the news relating to all things Gambian on BBC Africa, so we were already aware that the election which had taken place on December 1st had been won, against all the odds, by the leader of the opposition coalition, Adama Barrow. The incumbent, Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, following a military coup in 1994, had been defeated. From an outsider’s point of view, this felt like good news. When we were in The Gambia last year, many of the young people we met talked about the need for change. On arrival at Banjul airport this time, this feeling was corroborated when the porter who helped us with our luggage welcomed us to ‘The New Gambia’ and told us how happy everyone was about the result.
Immediately following the election, President Jammeh had accepted the result, conceded defeat and congratulated his opponent. Within a few days, however, he did an about face, declaring that the election had not been fair and that the result should not be respected. Moreover, he went on TV to tell the Gambian people that, come January 19th, the date when Adama Barrow, as President Elect, should assume office, he fully intends to remain as President of The Gambia.
Since then, there has been a war of words between the two sides, with neither willing to concede defeat. Leaders of neighbouring West African nations – Benin, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone – have urged Jammeh to do the right thing and stand down. There has even been talk of ECOWAS massing troops in Senegal in order to remove Jammeh by force if necessary. A delegation from these countries was in The Gambia yesterday, in what was described as ‘a last ditch attempt to make Jammeh accept the will of the Gambian people’. It failed. Nigeria has offered the defeated president asylum if he agrees to go. In the face of all this, though, Jammeh has remained implacable. He has launched a legal challenge to the election result, which the Nigerian judge charged with the task of presiding over has said won’t be heard until May, and has vowed to remain in office until after that. Equally, Barrow, with some international political support, has promised that his swearing-in as president will go ahead as planned on 19th.
As the weeks since the election have elapsed, and the political impasse has not been resolved, the initial optimism about ‘The New Gambia’ has been replaced by a feeling of fear and trepidation. Those old enough to remember the last transfer of power, are afraid that the civil unrest (swiftly crushed by the army) and the food shortages experienced then will be repeated. For the younger generation, their hopes of better times ahead are fading. Educational establishments are closed until the fate of the country has been decided. Many families have packed up and left the capital, Banjul, either to try and cross the border into Senegal, or to travel to villages in rural Gambia far away from potential trouble spots. Many hotels in the tourist resorts are reporting numerous cancellations by holidaymakers who are worried about what might happen.
All of this adds up to uncertain and worrying times for ordinary Gambians. Those who make their living from the tourist trade are seeing their incomes reduced due to poor visitor numbers. Others are praying that their worst fears won’t be realised and that the transition of power will pass off peacefully. As we leave, this is my fervent hope for this tiny country filled with friendly people, many of whom we call our friends.
Join our mailing list
Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter. Keep up with what we're doing and be the first to receive special offers and insider tips.
