By Alhagie Jobe
Alieu Momar Njai, the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had proved critics wrong by ensuring a free, transparent, credible and fair election in The Gambia which ended in a surprise move.
Mr Njai who has ever been defending the body saying it is credible and will ever remain fair, manifested it in the just concluded Presidential elections in which he boldly declared the incumbent President Yahya Jammmeh as looser.
Declaring the final results, Njai said “It’s really unique that someone who has been ruling this country for so long has accepted defeat”.
Njai who had to read it out in full 53 times as he announced results from all of the Gambia’s electoral districts throughout the night to the following day says the voting system is second to known in the world. He rubbished claims that its not fair and credible saying what makes it more credible is the counting on the spot introduced this year.
At the end of a night long announcement, Mr Njai declared the opposition candidate and coalition leader Mr Adama Barrow as the winner of the 2016 presidential election.
The results were: Adama Barrow – 263,515 votes; Incumbent President Yahya Jammeh – 212,099 votes and Mama Kandeh – 102, 969.
President Yahya Jammeh has conceded defeat.
Mr Jammeh has rule the small West African nation for the past 22 years. His defeat comes as a huge surprise to him and many of his surrogates.
Despite a surge of support for an opposition broadly united behind one candidate, most people expected the status quo to prevail.
