#GambiaElection: Get familiar with the 6 leading candidates

 West African Country, Gambia will be heading to the polls on December 4 to elect the country's next President after Adama Barrow.

This will be the first election in over two decades not involving exiled leader Yahya Jammeh. Five candidates are seeking to unseat the incumbent, Adama Barrow who took over the country after Jammeh fled.

21 presidential candidates filed to contest for the Gambia presidency. But earlier this week, the country's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) disqualified 15 of the presidential hopefuls bringing the list to 6. The only female presidential aspirant in the race, Marie Sock was also disqualified for not meeting citizenship requirements. She revealed she was still a US citizen at the time of filing to contest.

As the people of Gambia prepare to take this big step in their governance to select a leader for the next 5 years, we present what you need to know about the 6 presidential candidates.

Adama Barrow

Adama Barrow is the incumbent President of Gambia and a leading candidate in the presidential race. Fairly popular prior to the 2016 elections, Adama Barrow unseated dictator, Yahya Jammeh on the ticket of a coalition opposition.

While Jammeh refused to step down from office following his defeat, Barrow was sworn into office in the capital of Senegal, Dakar.

Barrow promised to serve three years as a transitional leader but refused to step down and finished his 5-year term. He later left the coalition which brought him to power and launched his own National People's Party (NPP) in 2019.

In his bid for a second term, his NPP formed a controversial alliance with exiled Jammeh's party. Jammeh's victims who were disgruntled by the alliance believe it will bring Jammeh back to the country's political space and leave him unpunished.

Ousainou Darboe

Once detained by Yahya Jammeh's government and hit with a 3-year prison sentence for his role in a protest against the death of an activist, Ousainou Darboe was a longtime arch rival of the exiled dictator who led The gambia for over two decades.

Darboe led the largest political opposition in the country known as the United Democratic Party (UDP). With his strong force, he gave Barrow his blessings to lead the opposition coalition against Jammeh in 2016 which saw the dictator toppled in a humiliating defeat.

Darboe will later serve as a foreign minister and one of the three vice presidents under Adama Barrow. He was sacked by Barrow in March 2019 for reportedly refusing to endorse his bid for a second presidential term.

The 73-year-old remains Barrow's strongest opponent as far as the December 4 polls is concerned.

Essa Mbye Faal

Faal is a renowned Gambian international lawyer and defense counsel at the International Criminal Court. He became very popular in The Gambia following the setting up of the Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRCC) to conduct an investigation into human right violations under the Jammeh administration. 

Faal was the lead prosecutor of the TRCC for 3 years. He however believes that the Barrow-led administration is not interested in the outcomes of the investigations.

He announced his bid in August to contest in the December 4 elections as an independent candidate. In a recent interview with a local media house, Faal said he doesn't see himself joining any political party because it will be difficult to change their thinking and ideas towards turning Gambia around.

Mama Kandeh

Mama Kandeh was a former presidential candidate in the historic 2016 polls which saw Yahya Jammeh removed from office. He came 3rd in the polls. The 56-year-old formed the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) following his expulsion from APRC.

While in the APRC, won a parliamentary seat by defeating Barrow back in 2007.

This will be the politician's second presidential race after he was sacked from the APRC in 2013.

Abdoulie Ebrima Jammeh

Abdoulie Ebrima Jammeh was an aviation Chief at the Gambia Civil Aviation Authority for 9 years after joining the authority in 1997.

He is the National Unity Party Secretary-General and flagbearer for the December 4 elections.

Halifa Sallah

Halifa Sallah is the leader of the People’s Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS). He is currently a lawmaker for Serekunda Constituency.

From a presidential candidate for PDOIS in 2016, Sallah became a spokeperson for Adama Barrow after his party joined the determined opposition to unseat Yahya Jammeh. After the election, he turned down a cabinet role and another appointment as the Special Advisor to Barrow on Governance.