President Adama Barrow has won all three Niamina constituencies, Niamina Dankunku, Niamina East and Niamina West.

In Niamina Dankunku, President Barrow polled 2,410 votes to UDP’s 543. Mamma Kandeh came third struggling at 296 votes.

President Adama Barrow has taken Bundung constituency too after polling over 10,000 votes to UDP’s 7,000.

President Barrow polled 10,542 to Darboe’s 7,132 votes.

President Adama Barrow has won in all three constituencies in Banjul, swatting aside his opponents in style.

In Banjul South, President Barrow scored 3,641 votes while Darboe scored 857 votes. Halifa Sallah came third with 565 votes.

Essa Faal scored a sorry187 votes while Mamma Kandeh got 183 votes. Abdoulie Jammeh got 19.

In Banjul North, President Barrow polled 3,430 votes while Darboe polled 1,778 votes. Halifa Sallah got 447 votes.

Essa Faal, Mamma Kandeh and Abdoulie Jammeh got 165,186 and 19 votes respectively.

In Banjul Central, President Barrow got 4,749 votes while Darboe got 1,453 votes. Halifa Sallah polled 719 votes while Mamma Kandeh got 306 votes.

Essa Faal got 260 votes while Abdoulie Jammeh got 14.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has continued its announcement of official results of the December 4^th Presidential Election. The first set from Janjanbureh, the second from Serekunda, Kiang Central and Jara Central bringing the total number of constituencies announced to four of the 53. The results were read by Alieu Momarr Njie Chairman of IEC.

Janjanbureh Constituency

Adama Barrow (NPP) – 657

Ousainou Darboe (UDP) – 454

Essa Faal (Independent) – 31

Abdoulie Jammeh (NUP) – 12

Mama Kandeh (GDC) – 97

Halifa Sallah (PDOIS) – 21

Serekunda Constituency

Adama Barrow (NPP) – 7143

Ousainou Darboe (UDP) – 1952

Essa Faal (Independent) – 272

Abdoulie Jammeh (NUP) – 56

Mama Kandeh (GDC) – 727

Halifa Sallah (PDOIS) – 1927

Kiang Central Constituency

Adama Barrow (NPP) – 3496

Ousainou Darboe (UDP) – 2469

Essa Faal (Independent) – 72

Abdoulie Jammeh (NUP) – 52

Mama Kandeh (GDC) – 270

Halifa Sallah (PDOIS) – 42

Jara Central Constituency

Adama Barrow (NPP) – 3303

Ousainou Darboe (UDP) – 1313

Essa Faal (Independent) – 71

Abdoulie Jammeh (NUP) – 60

Mama Kandeh (GDC) – 494

Halifa Sallah (PDOIS) – 50

 With four constituencies announced, President Barrow is ahead of the polls with Ousainou Darboe following closely behind. Although the results so far show Barrow leading it is still too early to determine an ultimate winner.

President Adama Barrow has battered his opponents in all four constituencies called by the Independent Electoral Commission so far.

The first constituency to be called by IEC was Janjangbureh where President Barrow polled 657 votes to Darboe’s 454 votes. Mamma Kandeh came in third at 97 votes.

Essa Faal, Abdoulie Jammeh and Halifa Sallah scored a sorry 31, 12 and 21 votes respectively.

In Serrekunda constituency, President Barrow ran away with it with a staggering 7,143 votes to Darboe’s 1,952 votes. Halifa Sallah sits third with 1,927 votes.

In Kiang Central, President Barrow polled 3,960 votes to Darboe’s 2,469 votes. The rest struggled between 270 votes and 42.

In Jarra Central, President Barrow showed ruthlessness by polling 3,303 votes to Darboe’s 1,313 votes. Mamma Kandeh polled 494 votes while the rest struggled between 71 and 50 votes.

Voting has ended in many centres and counting has begun. So far, the process remains quite peaceful with no major violent incident reported. Although the polling centres have closed those already in the queue will be allowed to cast their votes.

Some centres have led the way and are already counting the tokens. Sabina Registration Centre in Fajara is one of them.

The election process dictates that after voting, the marbles are counted at each polling station, signed off by the political parties or candidates and the head of the polling station will post on the wall for public viewing.

United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe will be one of the citizens who will decide who will be the country’s next leader after casting his vote Saturday morning.

The UDP leader needed support walking as he travelled to his to Fajara from his Pipeline home to vote.

Mr Darboe, 73, spent the last days of campaign home following a leg fracture after falling.

He is up against President Adama Barrow his political son – and the UDP leader has vowed that he will win the election.

A confident President Adama Barrow has said he will win Saturday’s poll in landslide fashion – as he cast his vote as a citizen.

“We will never lose this election. It will be the biggest landslide victory in the history of this country. I enjoy unprecedented support in this country. You have been following my campaign and my campaign was very very successful,” President Barrow told reporters at the McCarthy Square after voting for his candidate of choice.

President Barrow is seeking re-election and doing so against five tough opponents including his political father UDP leader Ousainou Darboe.

Close to a million citizens are set to vote in the election.

Some Gambians are raising concerns over their marbles not entering the drums of their candidates. According to these voters, the size of the marbles do not match the holes of the drums.

Report reaching The Fatu Network confirms that indeed some marbles are too big and cannot be put through the opening on the ballot drums, this has upset many voters.

An IEC official confirmed the concerns are genuine and has said they will change any ballot/ token/ marble that cannot pass through the hole of the drums.

Gambia has a unique way of voting for their president – instead of ballot papers, voters use marbles. It is uniquely the only country in the world which uses marbles to cast their ballots rather than paper.

In the 2012 election there were only two invalid votes when people placed their marbles on the top of the voting drum

Turn Around Movement Candidate Essa Faal has called on his supporters and Gambians to maintain peace before and after the elections. Faal was speaking after casting his vote in today’s presidential election.

He says anyone who wins will be given the free hand to lead The Gambia, maintaining that the country belongs to all Gambians.

More on the way…

Happening now!

Incumbent President Adama Barrow has called on the country’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to be vigilant and ensure the conduct of a free, fair, transparent, and credible election.

President Barrow, who seeks re-election today, was speaking to the press immediately after casting his vote in Banjul, Gambias Capital. He was accompanied by the 1^st Family

By Amara Thoronka

The Republic of The Gambia elects its president today. Incumbent President Adama Barrow of National Peoples Party (NPP) will be contesting with his former sacked vice president Ousainou Darboe of United Democratic Party (UDP). Also in the race are Mama Kandeh of Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), Halifa Sallah of Peoples Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS), Abdoulei Jammeh of National Unity Party (NUP) and independent candidate Essa Mbye Faal. Gambia laws allow independent candidates to contest presidential elections.

In the presidential nomination process early last month, the small West African nation witnessed 26 people nominated to contest in today’s election. After scrutiny by the country’s election body, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), the number of candidates curtailed from 26 to six, meaning 20 presidential aspirants were disqualified. The nomination eligibility criteria stated that a candidate must be a citizen of The Gambia and must have attained a minimum age of 30 years. It also required a candidate to have completed senior secondary school education and should have ordinarily resided in The Gambia for five years immediately preceding the election.Also, a candidate should be nominated by not less than five thousand voters whose names appear in the register of voters with at least two hundred voters drawn from each of the country’s 7 administrative areas. Declaration of assets, proof of tax clearance certificate and payment of a 10,000 dalasi (about $ 200) deposit were also required. Additionally, a candidate must submit a representative symbol, colour, passport-size photos, and manifesto to encourage what the IEC calls “spirit of tolerance and multiculturalism.”

According to the IEC, only six aspirants met the set criteria. As campaigns ended yesterday, most of the twenty disqualified candidates have endorsed some of the six contenders for the presidential bid.

International election observers are in the country. Ex-President of Sierrra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma, heads the election observers mission of West African regional body [ECOWAS]; while Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obansajo, heads the Commonwealth election observers mission. Other international and local observers are also monitoring the process.

According to the country’s election body, 962,157 Gambians are expected to vote in 1,554 polling stations nationwide. Gambians will decide either to re-elect President Barrow or replace him.

The Gambia uses first-past-the-post system in its elections, meaning the candidate with simple majority of the valid votes is the winner. Interestingly, the country is the only nation in the world that still uses marble ballots instead of paper to elect officials to public offices. Every candidate has a drum painted in his/her party colour with a sticker bearing the candidate’s face. A voter drops a marble into the drum of his/her preferred candidate. After voting, the marbles are counted on a tray with holes which can accommodate the marbles during the counting process.

Though the election is perceived by many as a closely contested one, a recent election survey: “The Gambia Pre-election Opinion Poll Survey 2021,” done by the Center for Policy, Research and Strategic Studies (CepRess) indicated that incumbent President Adama Barrow would win today’s election.

The election is the first after the 22-year rule of ex-president Yahya Jammeh who was defeated in 2016 presidential election by a coalition of political parties. Jammeh lives in Equatorial Guinea under political asylum.

President Adama Barrow has used his election eve address to call on Gambians to see themselves as belonging to the same family and has asked them not to allow anyone use them to break the law.

In a 12-minute address, the president said: “The objective of the December 4^th election is to elect a president for the next five years.

“Like all other national elections, it is not about hate speech, enmity or ethnic rivalry. We must remember that after election, we will always have to continue to live together, work together, intermarry and interact like family, friends, neighbours, colleagues and partners.

“Accordingly, Gambians must not allow anyone to use them to break the law, be it against any person, group of persons or state institutions.”

President Adama Barrow is seeking re-election tomorrow and he will battle it out with five other candidates including his political father Darboe.

Mai Ahmad Fatty simply wrote ‘fake news’ as he dismissed reports he has flipped to President Adama Barrow.

Reports got rampant on Friday that the Gambia Moral Congress leader who is locked in a huge fight with the Independent Electoral Commission has endorsed President Barrow.

“Fake news, fake news, fake news,” Mai Fatty simply wrote along with a photo of him and the president with comes with a caption of him endorsing President Barrow.

Mr Fatty has been one of the disqualified leaders who has not thrown his weight behind any political party amid his party’s legal fights with the IEC.

Former President Yahya Jammeh spoke again on Thursday but he embarrassed his interpreter for poor interpretation.

Jammeh touted his achievements in the healthcare sector in the 22 years he was in power during GDC’s rally at Buffer Zone.

Speaking in English and his remarks being interpreted in Wollof, the clueless interpreter drew Jammeh’s ire for poor interpretation.

“Within two weeks of the arrival of the UDP-led coalition government,” Jammeh said but the interpreter translated in Wollof to be: “He said within two weeks of the APRC-GDC-GAP-and-independents alliance.”

“Hey I did not say that. Look, what is wrong with you,” Jammeh lashed out but the poor interpreter responded: “You said within two weeks of the alliance.”

Jammeh fired back: “I did not say that. I said it was not up to two weeks of the coalition government headed by the two. They sacked all the Cuban doctors no sooner they came into office. They gave the Cubans one year and the Cubans left. They stole all the medicine and everyone got a private pharmacy.”

Jammeh then continued that any Gambians who votes for either President Barrow or UDP doesn’t want himself.

“Our country is backward. Today, over 50,000 primary school children have dropped out of school just this year,” Jammeh said.

The former dictator has been campaigning remotely for the opposition Mamma Kandeh with the hope the GDC leader will facilitate his return and safety when he wins tomorrow’s election.

President Adama Barrow will on Saturday be among the country’s over 900,000 citizens who are voting in the 2021 presidential election.

There is no doubt the president will be voting for himself as he seeks a second mandate as president.

It has been revealed the president will cast his vote at 11am in Banjul.

UDP battlefield commander Momodou Sabally spent Thursday the last day of campaign meeting women at Brikama fish market and officials of Citizens’ Alliance.

Sabally said: “And then an early morning foray into the Brikama Fish market with former Regional Women Mobilizer for Citizens Alliance Kaddy Ceesay…

“We later visited Alhagie Juka Ceesay who is the honorary father for Citizen’s Alliance and Aja Lalia Sanyang, honorary mother of Citizens Alliance.

“Both Honorary parents of CA have publicly endorsed His Excellency Alhagie Ousianu DARBOE and they have also called on their family members and followers to vote for UDP.”

Officials of the Kanifing Municipality Citizens’ Alliance women wing on Thursday 2nd December 2021 met President Adama Barrow at the State House in Banjul to declare their intention to vote for him on Saturday 4th December 2021, according to a statement by the deputy spokesman of National People’s Party.

Women leaders and Yai Compin’s of Citizens’ Alliance were led to State House by Ida Bah, the party’s regional Chairwoman for Kanifing Municipality Region.

The statement said: “In her statement, Ida Bah informed President Adama Barrow that the visit was to declare their resolve and unanimous decision to back his re-election and assured President Adama Barrow that (8500) eight thousand five hundred Citizen Alliance’s vote in KM are all for him.

“Ida Bah further informed the President that their decision is as a result of his leadership qualities and his commitment to the welfare of the people of The Gambia most especially the women.

“She asked all and sundry to come out in their numbers and vote for President Adama Barrow as he’s the right man for continuous socio-economic development as well as national unity, cohesion and inclusion.

“Ida Bah told President Barrow that the women’s wing decision was communicated to their leader Dr Ismaila Ceesay who gave them his blessing.”

The 2021 Gambia presidential election is finally here featuring an unprecedented six candidates.

The poll is on Saturday December 4.

The candidates are spending Friday cooling off after a torturous campaign lasting three weeks.

The poll is the first presidential election since the removal from power of former tyrant Yahya Jammeh.