In July 1994 Yahya Jammeh, a young army officer, took control of The Gambia in a coup. He would reign for 22 years, brutally suppressing all opponents who stood in his way.

This Saturday, Gambians go to the polls, and many will vote for the first time in an election without Mr Jammeh on the ballot. The competition is an astonishing turnaround for the small West African country of 2.4 million inhabitants.

But The Gambia’s path to dictatorship has not been easy. Transforming an authoritarian country into a country with a truly representative system is a difficult process and there are many risks hanging over the fragile democracy.

“The stakes are incredibly high for this election. This is the one that really sets up … how the country’s transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic regime [system] will, ”said Dr Satang Nabaneh, a Gambian lawyer at the Center for Human Rights at the University of Dayton. While the progress to date is commendable, she said, improving human rights and democracy will require constant effort and activism to move forward.

Serekunda, Gambia

It was dark and there was a curfew – and confusion. A teenager at the time, Lamin Marong was at his friend’s house. When he glanced outside, all he could see were soldiers, crisscrossing in all directions.

As it turned out, he was witnessing the start of one of the most brutal periods in Gambia’s history. It was July 22, 1994, and Yahya Jammeh, a young army officer, took control of The Gambia in a coup. He would reign for 22 years, brutally suppressing all opponents who stood in his way.

Today, Mr. Marong envisions another pivotal moment for his country. This Saturday, he will vote for the first time in an election without Mr. Jammeh on the ballot. The competition is an astonishing turnaround for the small West African country of 2.4 million inhabitants.

“This one is going to be different,” says Mr Marong, now the owner of a cell phone store in Serekunda, Gambia’s largest city, just outside the capital, Banjul. “This is a democratic election – no fear, no threats. We feel free.

But The Gambia’s path to dictatorship has not been easy. Even though Mr Jammeh lost a race in 2016 and is absent from the ballots for the first time in a quarter of a century, turning an authoritarian country into one with a truly representative system is a difficult process, and many risks await the fragile democracy.

“The stakes are incredibly high for this election. This is the one that really sets up … how the country’s transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic regime [system] will, ”said Dr Satang Nabaneh, a Gambian lawyer at the Center for Human Rights at the University of Dayton. While the progress made so far is laudable, she said, improving human rights and democracy requires constant effort and activism. “We took Jammeh out of power, but [the 2016 election] didn’t necessarily bring about systemic change, ”warns Dr. Nabaneh.

“Political demand”

Dictators are not meant to be ousted from the polls. And yet, that is exactly what happened in 2016. Mr Jammeh was unexpectedly defeated in the presidential elections, which he previously organized and won through intimidation, when the fractured opposition gathered behind presidential candidate Adama Barrow and won. Mr. Jammeh first conceded and then reverted to this concession. The Gambia’s West African neighbors have sent a military coalition to the country, and Mr. Jammeh has fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea, where he remains.

Since then, new political parties have formed, as have civil society organizations – particularly those focused on victims of Mr. Jammeh’s political repression, which included killings, enforced disappearances and acts of torture. . The Truth, Reparations and Reconciliation Commission (TRRC) concluded the proceedings at the time and will establish a reform program when it is made public. The once heavily restricted independent media have flourished. A government monopoly on information dissemination has been broken by 33 radio stations and six television channels.

At the same time, according to Sait Matty Jaw, executive director of the Center for Research and Policy Development, a non-partisan Gambian research group, there have been worrying shortages. Mr Barrow, who initially promised to stay for three years as transitional leader, remained for a full five-year term. Now that he is running for re-election, many Gambians doubt his democratic intentions. In September, he formed an alliance with Mr. Jammeh’s former political party, which still holds seats in the Legislative Assembly. Mr. Jammeh is now campaigning from exile for another party’s candidate.

The Gambian presidency also remains too powerful. The adoption of a new post-dictatorship constitution – which would have restricted control of the executive branch – was scuttled by parliament last year, and the security sector, the judiciary and electoral laws remain in great shape. part unreformed, according to critics.

“Political will is important. what if [elected leaders] you don’t have the political will? This is why I started to invent a new expression, “political demand,” Emmanuel Joof, president of the National Human Rights Commission, said at a conference on democracy in November. He was referring to civil society, which he said must continue to pressure the government to implement the policy recommendations set out in the TRRC’s final report.

“For me, and for many Gambians,” said Mr Jaw, “this election is about the extent to which we have progressed since Jammeh left.”

A range of views

On a recent day in the sprawling open-air market of Serekunda, amid fishmongers, street food stalls, hair salons and dry goods shops, Gambians weaving their way through narrow lanes and boulevards Wider ones offered a range of opinions on the upcoming race.

While some fear that Mr Barrow’s attempt to stay in power will be reminiscent of Mr Jammeh’s, others are happy to vote to re-elect the president. “Adama Barrow and Yahya Jammeh are not the same,” says Lamin Trawally, a cafe owner who was surprised his 2016 vote for Mr Barrow resulted in real change and would like to see the president take on another term.

Other voters are celebrating the return to democracy, even if they are lukewarm towards Mr Barrow himself. “If he wins, that’s good; if he loses, that’s good, ”says Palma Conteh, frequenting a convenience store in the market.. “Ku win, baax na” – whoever wins is good – he says in the local Wolof language.

But polarization has increased during this cycle – marked by false news and derogatory remarks across ethnic lines by political candidates – and many Gambians continue to support Mr Jammeh.

A high school student walking around is excited about the election. As the conversation revolves around Mr. Jammeh, he is interrupted by a man who derails the interview, insisting that the student has no right to speak ill of the former dictator. “You don’t know anything about The Gambia! he shouts. “You are talking about Yahya Jammeh. … You don’t know anything about him!

Under Mr. Jammeh, whose face continues to adorn old banknotes still in circulation, the country got its first TV channel in 1995. Some Gambians, including Mr. Jaw, are uncomfortable with the share of their success and their education which they owe to the dictator. , he says. “He is accused of human rights violations. Others celebrate it because it lifted them out of poverty, or even made it possible for their children to study.

“It’s part of his legacy,” said Mr Jaw – and something that Gambians will have to struggle with to move their country forward.

Outside of politics, many Gambians are plagued by harsh economic realities. While Musukuta Fatty is happy that Mr. Jammeh is gone, she is also waiting for the benefits of democracy to trickle down to her wallet. She runs a modest vegetable stall in a country where the gross domestic product per person hovers below $ 800. “We are suffering,” she said. But at least, she says, she can express her frustration at the polls – by voting for one of Mr Barrow’s half-dozen opponents.

Many people – Barrow supporters and detractors alike – are grateful to have serious political discussions and debates in the open air, without fear of being detained for criticizing the president.

“Before, you couldn’t even sit down and talk about Yahya Jammeh. When you talk about Yahya Jammeh, you have to watch your back, ”says Mr. Marong, the owner of a mobile phone store, who then mimics looking over his shoulder. You never knew who might secretly report you for criticizing the president, he says, even if your “crime” was as simple as hanging an opposition poster. “Corn [with] Adama Barrow, you can say what you think. You can say whatever you want, ”he adds. “There are no more harassing people, no more torture, no more arrests of people at night.”

“The mere fact that we can have an election that doesn’t include Jammeh is, I think, a celebration in itself,” says Dr Nabaneh of the University of Dayton. “And a victory for democracy.”