Adama Barrow’s presidency in the Gambia. Recapitulation of five years of the new rule

Abstract

The Gambia, the smallest state in continental Africa, has been undergoing a through transformation since the beginning of 2017. This is the outcome of a change in many years’ rule, initially of President Dawda Jawara (24 years) and then Yahya Jammeh (22 years), and the take-over of power by Adama Barrow. The incumbent president, who has been holding the position for five years, bearing in mind numerous problems resulting from the heritage of his predecessors, among others abuse of power, ignorance for the constitutional rules, failure to observe the rule of law and violation of human rights, has set a goal for himself and his associates to prepare a strategy for the repair and development of the state, which could guarantee that the Republic of The Gambia transforms into a state with democratic foundations, ensuring safety and prosperity to all its citizens. It is obvious that such a short time to implement the new policy cannot produce spectacular successes, yet the purpose of the paper is to present an assessment of the first five years of Barrow’s presidency. It is an attempt at answering questions as to which of the assumed goals show any progress and which still remain in the sphere of the new president’s unre-alised aspirations.

In the text below, the author primarily uses three research methods. The task of the institutional and legal method is to analyse the functioning of the political institutions in The Gambia (reasonability of the adopted strategies, verification of the functions of state institutions with respect to the citizens; assessment of the effects of adopted premises; analysis of impact of quality of the state institutions on the efficient or inefficient functioning of the state). The system method is used to analyse a group of elements, i.e., the political system in the state, the relations of such elements (authorities, offices, parties, etc.) and their reciprocal impact, as well as impact on the environment and behaviour (level of residents’ life, observance of human rights, degree of civil society). In turn, the method of statistical analysis is used to compare the statistical data prepared regularly by international institutions that assess the level of a state’s correct operation.