The Gambian people are preparing for general elections, starting at the end of the Jammeh | Election Issues

Yahya Jammeh has promised to rule the Gambia for “a billion years”, but his real rule is 22 years. inatha on the evening of January 21, 2017 when he and his close relatives boarded a small, unmarked plane at the airport in Banjul.

Jammeh refused to step down after the December 1, 2016 elections in which opposition leader Adama Barrow was declared the winner, sparking controversy that lasted for weeks when West African leaders threatened to use force to oust him if he failed to step down. After days of negotiations with regional leaders, Jammeh was forced to be deported to Equatorial Guinea, ending a period when many people thought he was being mistreated and robbed.

Five years later, Gambians are due to go to the polls on Saturday – and for the first time in 27 years, Jammeh, who took office in 1994, will not run in the by-elections. Instead, Barrow, the incumbent president, and five other nominees are fighting for a higher position, in a closely monitored vote that is seen as a test of national democracy.

Former politician Ousainou Darboe, 73, is known as Barrow’s arch-enemy. Vice-president and lawyer who represented Jammeh’s opponents, Darboe contested the election against the former governor several times.

But even though he is far away, Jammeh continues to disrupt Gambia, where he still receives political support. Mu a a list of phone conversations.

Their possible return and the way the country should feel about the alleged crimes – including rape, torture, the use of genocide and government-sanctioned “witch hunts” – have been major issues before the vote.

Polling stations must be open at 08:00 GMT and close at 17:00 GMT. There will be one vote, and preliminary results can be expected from Sunday.

Very high

For Barrow, the vote is a test of confidence in its ability to deliver development.

The Gambia, the smallest country in Africa, is one of the world’s poorest countries. About half the population lives on less than $ 1.90 a day, reports the World Bank.

Since taking office, Barrow has been in charge of the country’s multi-party democracy, implementing reforms such as the abolition of the death penalty and the release of political prisoners. Under his leadership, the predominantly Muslim country has filed a lawsuit against the Myanmar International Court of Justice for killing a number of people during his campaign against the Rohingya minority.

But the former landlord has once again criticized criticism for what some see as directing his political future.

He won in 2016 after a coalition agreement helped him, as long as he resigned three years later. It was the president who rejected the promise, with a five-year legal term in place.

Barrow’s NPP party also announced a compromise with the Jammeh APRC in September, sparking doubts as to whether he was ready to file a lawsuit against Jammeh.

In 2017, the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparation Commission (TRRC) was set up to investigate cases of corruption in Jammeh’s administration. The group heard about 400 witnesses, both former victims and former “Junglers”, or members of the murder squad. On November 25, his much-anticipated and double-reported report recommended the government is prosecuting a number of high-profile cases in the Jammeh administration.

The winner of Saturday’s election will have six months to decide how to respond to the report. The APRC has repeatedly denied the agency’s work as a witch hunt and has recently pushed for a reconciliation issue.

Since the election is supposed to be highly contested, there is a high risk for those affected by the Jammeh era, who see the vote as crucial in judging wrongdoers. Human rights activists have expressed frustration that the agency’s policies on litigation have not been made public.

“This will prolong the painful waiting for those affected to close down,” said Nana-Jo Ndow, founder and executive director of ANEKED, whose father Saul Ndow is said to have been forcibly missing from Jammeh’s administration. he tells Al Jazeera.

“The government can choose to follow [recommendations] or not. As a result, the fight for justice continues, “added Ndow.