ECOWAS AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE POST-2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL CONFLICT IN GAMBIA
Abstract:This study explores the role of ECOWA in the
management of the post-2016 presidential electoral conflict in Gambia. The 2016
election was surprisingly won by the leader of an opposition coalition; Adama
Barrow. Barrow defeated Yayha Jammeh, who had already won consecutively four
previous presidential elections. This marked the terminal point of Jammeh’s
20-years rule of Gambia, marred with human rights abuses. Jammeh initially
conceded defeat but later changed his mind after a week, thus triggering a
major political conflict. For months, he made incessant desperate attempts to
cling to power, before finally leaving the country on 21 January 2017, when it
appeared he would be removed by force. Indeed, different stakeholders including
the ECOWAS played a vital role for ensuring peace in Gambia. In this
connection, this study discusses exclusively the roles of ECOWAS in mitigating
the conflict under consideration. With extant literature and oral sources
backed with the realist conflict theory, the paper traces the historical
foundations of the ECOWAS and electoral conflict in Gambia. It emphasizes the
roles the organization has played in mitigating the post-2016 electoral
conflict in the Country. The study reveals that ECOWAS was able to restore civil
rule and peace in the country by threatening the use of force. ECOWAS enjoyed
the support of both African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN). The two
organizations gave ECOWAS the much needed support. This conflict resolution in
the Gambia was termed the African solution to African problems. Hence this
study recommends among others that ECOWAS should continue to act as the
regional defender because the numerous conflicts in the region are indeed
African problems and should therefore be tackled by Africans themselves.