Gambian opposition leader Adama Barrow defeated long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh to win the 2016 presidential election with 43.34% of the vote.
Barrow was the presidential candidate for Coalition 2016, a group of eight opposition parties that united behind him for the December 1 election.
Jammeh seized power in 1994 by overthrowing Dawda Jawara in a military coup. He was elected president in 1996 and re-elected in 2001, 2006, and 2011.
Independent Electoral Commission The Gambia (IEC) Chairperson Alieu Momarr Njai said “I hereby declare Adama Barrow duly elected president of the Republic of Gambia for the next five years,”
On December 1 President Jammeh was on state TV rejecting the outcome of the presidential elections before appearing the next day calling Barrow to concede defeat.
This marks the first time in Gambia’s history that a sitting president has lost an election and conceded defeat. Could this signal a new era for the country?
Gambia’s 2016 presidential election results
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Votes % |
| Adama Barrow | Coalition 2016 | 227,708 | 43.29% |
| Yahya Jammeh | Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction | 208,487 | 39.64% |
| Mama Kandeh | Gambia Democratic Congress | 89,768 | 17.07% |
| Valid votes | 525,963 | 99.97% | |
| Invalid votes | 165 | 0.03% | |
| Total votes | 526,128 | 100% | |
| Registered voters / turnout | 886,578 | 59.34% |
Adama Barrow – A short biography
- Born on 15 February 1965 in Mankamang Kunda, Gambia
- Barrow has two wives Fatoumatta Bah, whom he married in 1997, and Sarjo Mballow
- He is the son of Mamudu Barrow (Father) and Kaddijatou Jallow (Mother)
- Barrow left school to work at Alhagie Musa Njie & Sons a Gambian energy company rising to become a Sales Manager
- He moved to London in the early 2000 where he worked as a security guard
- Barrow returned to Gambia in 2006 and started Majum Real Estate
