EFSCRJ Statement on the July 22 Military Coup

Ten Years After Jammeh: The Struggle Against Self-Perpetuating Rule Continues

Ten years ago, Gambians courageously ended 22 years of Yaya Jammeh’s tyranny. We rejected dictatorship, corruption, impunity, abuse of power and self-perpetuating rule. We voted for democracy, human rights, justice and accountable government.

Today, that historic promise is under threat.

After removing one ruler who refused to leave, The Gambia faces the spectre of another unending one-man rule as Pres. Adama Barrow seeks a third term. His ambition betrays the spirit of December 2016 and threatens to return our country to the politics of presidents-for-life.

Ten years later, The Gambia still has no new Constitution. Draconian laws remain. Arbitrary arrests, corruption, selective justice, institutional politicization and abuse of office continue. Most TRRC and Janneh Commission recommendations remain unimplemented, while poverty, inequality and the cost of living deepen.

The struggle was never merely to remove Jammeh and replace him with another self-perpetuating ruler. It was to dismantle dictatorship and build strong democratic institutions.