Gambia’s electoral Chairman Alhagie Momar Njai who led the Independence Election commission that declared the opposition the winner of Gambia’s December 1st, elections has reportedly fled the country for Neighboring Senegal. Mr. Njai was the deputy electoral chairman during several electoral cycles that Jammeh won which the opposition alleged to have been rigged. He was appointed chairman of the electoral commission in April 2016, after the long serving Chairman of the IEC Mustapha Carayol retired due to health conditions.
Alhagie Momar Njai took over the electoral commission shortly after the government instituted new drastic electoral reforms neglecting the opposition and ECOWAS demand for more balance electoral reforms. The government instituted new measures including hiking of political party registrations to D1 Million Dalasis for new party registration and D500,000 for nomination of a presidential candidate. The Jammeh government also allowed counting of votes to happen on the spot which many people now see to be the deciding force in the incumbent’s inability to steal the votes. At the time of instituting these measures Yahya Jammeh who has been in control of every institution in the country thought the new reforms were in his favor by depriving the opposition of effectively competing on a level playing field especially in the areas of resource availability.
Mr. Njai was repeatedly accused of favoring the incumbent given the history of the IEC in conducting elections in the Gambia. President Jammeh had the power to hire and fire members of the electoral commission without consulting the opposition or Gambian citizens. This gave him control over what the commission does and how they conduct themselves. However, the idea of counting votes which are physical marbles at polling stations appears to have tied the hands of both the IEC and the incumbent president. Mr. Njai consistently maintained his neutrality and willingness to declare the results as they were. He made very strong remarks during the nomination process assuring members of the opposition of his impartiality.
Mr. Njai lived up to his expectations when he declared the election results on December first pronouncing the opposition candidate Adama Barrow as the winner of the hotly contested elections. Incumbent President Yahya Jammeh graciously accepted the elections before changing his mind and illegally nullifying the elections alleging that the IEC had made a mistake in the votes. Gambians and the world over celebrated the conduct of the peaceful elections on December 2nd and congratulated the outgoing President for accepting the verdict of the people. Jammeh changed his mind and sued the IEC alleging corruption at the polls. Many observers found it ironic that the very corrupt system that Jammeh uses for almost two decades winning elections on landslides will now come back to hunt him.
Mr. Njai and the IEC commissioners were prevented from entering the IEC building and were sent home. Since then Jammeh has made derogatory remarks towards the IEC chair and called him and his team the most corrupt electoral commission. Mr. Njai on few interviews repeated his stance that the votes were counted correctly and that the results represents the will of the people. He reportedly received several threats at his residents and through phone calls prompting his family to convince him to flee the country for his safety. It is to be noted the incumbent president is suing the IEC chairman in the country’s Supreme Court which have not had judges since June 2015.
The IEC Chair’s flee did not surprise many people as Gambia’s iron fist leader has used intimidation and exile as a tactic to drive citizens away from the Gambia so he can get his way. By forcing the IEC chair to flee Jammeh can now play the delay game at the Courts on hearing his petition and he could very much bribe a member of the commission to falsely testify against the IEC Chair. Gambians and the world will not be surprise if threatening the IEC Chair into exile is a ploy to divide the commission and get them to testify against each other. Jammeh has been a master in implanting witnesses in the courts to testify against citizens he accused of crimes thereby enabling his mercenary Judges from Nigeria to carry out his wishes. The Gambian opposition and President-elect Barrow are this time not buying into Jammeh’s dubious plans. West Africa’s regional body ECOWAS has backed the electoral results and have pledge to send troops to Gambia should Jammeh refused to hand over power come January 19th, 2017. Mr. Njai’s flee is unfortunate but more importantly signifies Jammeh’s plans to extend his stay in power. What happens to the remaining IEC commissioners is now in limbo but one must not be surprise of the deputy emerges as Jammeh’s right hand man to dispute the actual results. Jammeh is fond of paying large sums of money to buy loyalty. Gainako will continue to monitor the situation and will update our readers on what happens next in Gambia’s impending inauguration of the President-elect Adama Barrow.
1 Comment
The fact that Jammeh’s crafty political mastery is fast waning cannot be overemphasized. Unless he proves his statesmanship by handing over power to the people’s choice sooner rather than later, all other options are already exhausted and any attempt to exercise them is inconsequential. There is more than meets the eye to his deliberate attempt to create a crisis that never was by filing a petition in a court whose credibility and constitutional threshold is questionable. How a fellow player can order a rematch and threaten the referee in my opinion defeats logic. The entire world is for the first time learning what has been transpiring behind the scenes in The Gambia. I do not wish to incite The Gambians to a physical confrontation but Jammeh at the same time should not misconstrue their leniency as a flow within their idiosyncrasy. The sequence of these events are drawing International attraction by the day and I hope the World in due time will not watch as The Gambians succumb to dictatorship whereas their votes dictate otherwise. Good luck!