Mr Ousainou Darboe, a candidate under The United Democratic Party claimed that the election campaign is polluted by corruption and bribery
The Gambia’s Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal laid by barrow’s main opposition to cancel the result of the presidential election that was held on 4 December 2021 which the current president Adama Barrow was announced the winner
Ousainou Darboe, the leader and veteran member of The United Democratic Party (UDP) said the election is stained by corruption and bribery
“The UDP failed to comply with the requirement of Rule 11 of the election petition rule, which required that you file a motion or petition and security,” Chief Justice Hassan Jallow wrote in his judgment announced on Tuesday
Barrow came victorious on the election that was hosted in December after winning 53 per cent of the vote while Darboe, who was the former vice president in barrow’s previous administration garnered 28 per cent.
Alongside Barrow, two other candidates that participated in the election rejected the result for the same reason as Darboe though without providing any concrete evidence to back their claim
Using Facebook to express what he felt towards the supreme court ruling, Mr Darboe said he did not count the decision made by the court as a personal loss since the petition was dismissed on a procedural technicality rather than on the merit of its claims.
“We should be proud of ourselves for what we have done and will continue to do for the country”
It was alleged that some members of Barrow National People’s Party make use of cash or gifts to buy the voters vote and such an act infiltrated the electoral commission.
There is also an allegation that foreign countries illegally cast ballots and that voting and the vote count itself was crippled by irregularities.
However, Darboe did not reveal his next plan on whether he or his party would continue to challenge the election outcome after his petition has been dismissed by the supreme court. Supreme Court verdicts are final and can’t be appealed.
The Birth of Democracy in Gambia
The December 4 Presidential Election in Gambia marked the first election in the country since 2017 after Yahya Jammeh fled into exile in January 2017 after his shocking defeat at the ballot box
Yahya Jammeh had ruled for 22 years and his reign was accused of litany abuse including torture and death squads.
International observation and verdict on the election
As reported by Aljazeera.com, the United States gave I approval to the December 4 election
It says that the US and other observers had noted “Some minor procedural irregularities” but the election was otherwise “free and fair”
The European Union’s observer mission said the Gambia had made “democratic headway” as shown by “wide voter participation and citizen engagement”
The EU and US are pushing for the Gambia to endorse wide-ranging electoral transformation
