By Dawda Baldeh
Gambia Participates, a youth-led civil society organization that focuses on enhancing transparency and accountability in the public sector, has said the Saturday presidential pool was free, fair and transparent.
The validation statement was made at a press conference held yesterday at Kololi in Serekunda.
Speaking at a press conference, Executive Director of Gambia Participate, Marr Nyang confirmed that they served as local election observers throughout the polling process with 453 volunteers assigned to various polling stations across the country.
“In the vast majority of polling we observed, people living with disabilities at 94%, elderly at 98%, pregnant women and lactating mothers at 99% and patience at 96% where given priority to vote before others. Voters were allowed to cast their marbles secretly. Ballot boxes were positioned in a manner that voters could easily see the colours, photos and names of their candidates. In 98% of the polling stations observed, the official results were given to party agents and subsequently pasted in a visible place for the public to see.”
In his statement, chairman of non-governmental organizations (TANGO) in The Gambia, John Charles Njie reiterated the credibility of the election and applauded Gambians for exercising their constitutional rights in a peaceful manner. He noted that Gambians should be proud of themselves, pointing out that The Gambia has proven to the world that the country is indeed the “smiling coast.”
“I think we can boast as a nation and applaud ourselves for peacefully going through our election process. I am sure a lot of us were apprehensive and the international community was also concerned, but we showed the world that we are a peaceful nation.”
Salieu Taal, President of Gambia BAR Association stated that the election marks a historic moment since the country attained independence from Britain, adding that this has proven the democratic nature of the country.
“We peacefully went through this election which is the first after the change of government in 2017. The election was very peaceful as the opposition conducted their activities without fear of being arrested. All Gambians and partners have contributed immensely to the fact that we can sit here and freely discuss the democracy of the country. The last election was totally different, people were shocked and state security personnel were deployed everywhere. The political atmosphere this year is very good compared to the previous elections.”
Gambia Participates commended the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), but however recommended for the IEC to reopen voter registration to enable Gambians who have attained the voting age or those who did not register previously to participate in next year’s national assembly election. The also recommended for timely release of polling stations list for voters to avoid delay in voting.
