The Gambia will head to the polls on December 5, 2026, officials announced Thursday, setting the stage for a tense contest as President Adama Barrow faces growing backlash over his decision to seek a third term in office.
The announcement by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) also fixed April 10, 2027, for parliamentary elections, reaffirming what its chairman, Joseph Colley, described as the body’s “commitment to transparency, inclusion and strict adherence to electoral laws.”
Barrow’s declaration earlier this year that he would run again stunned many Gambians. While the country’s 1997 constitution does not prohibit a third term, the move rekindled anger among citizens who had expected constitutional reform to limit presidential tenure after his 2016 victory.
That expectation collapsed in 2020, when lawmakers loyal to Barrow torpedoed a draft constitution that would have introduced a two-term cap—and barred him from contesting again. A second version of the bill, stripped of its retroactive clause, was also rejected in July 2024, further dimming hopes of reform.
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Barrow’s National People’s Party (NPP) insists his candidacy falls within the law, but opposition parties and civic groups have accused him of betraying the spirit of the transition that followed Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year rule.
The United Democratic Party (UDP), The Gambia’s largest opposition group, has already nominated veteran politician Ousainou Darboe as its flagbearer. Still, analysts suggest Barrow remains the frontrunner — for now — given the opposition’s fragmentation and the incumbency’s advantage.
The Gambia’s current constitution, enacted in 1997, was crafted during Jammeh’s authoritarian era, allowing him to consolidate his grip on power following the 1994 coup. His two-decade rule was marked by widespread rights abuses and alleged personal appropriation of state funds before he fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea in 2017 after losing to Barrow.
As the 2026 race approaches, many Gambians see the coming vote as a test of whether the small West African nation will entrench democratic accountability—or repeat old cycles of power without limits.
— Africa Today News, New York