ECOWAS OBSERVER MISSION TO THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN THE GAMBIA
15 - 27 SEPTEMBER 2006

FINAL REPORT - Executive Secretariat, Banjul, 25th September 2006

CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

II. GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE GAMBIA.

A. Geography and Demography
B. Administrative Information
C. Brief History and Politics of The Gambia

III. PLAN OF WORK OF OBSERVER MISSION

A. Preparatory Work of the Mission
B. Observation of the Voting Process
C. An overview on provisional Results

IV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSIS

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

VI. CONCLUSION

VII. ANNEXES

· Geographical Map of The Gambia

· Constitution

· Electoral Code

· Terms of Reference

· Distribution of Teams of Observers by regions

· Reporting Forms for Observation

· List of Polling Stations

· Provisional Election Results

· Communiqué issued by various International Observation Missions

INTRODUCTION

1. The Executive Secretary of ECOWAS deployed forty (40) observers to The Gambia with the task of observing the presidential election held on Friday, 22 September 2006. This is in conformity with the provisions of Article 12 of the Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, the Supplementary Protocol relating to the Mechanism on Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping and Security and the implementation of Decision A/DEC.19/01/03 of the 26th Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government held in Dakar on 31 January 2003, which mandate the Executive Secretary to send into any member state holding elections, either a supervisory or observer mission.

2. The ECOWAS Observer Mission was made up of delegations from Member States of ECOWAS, personnel of the Executive Secretariat and the ECOWAS Parliament, ECOWAS Ambassadors accredited to Nigeria, as well as ECOWAS trained observers .

3. The Mission was led by Hon. Elizabeth Alpha-Lavalie, Deputy Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Sierra Leone and member of the ECOWAS Council of Elders. The Coordinator of the Mission was Mr. Komi Ruben Dogbe, Head of Electoral Assistance Unit of the ECOWAS Executive Secretariat.

4. The terms of reference of the Observer Mission were as follows:

(i) To maintain close contact with the competent authorities of the host country.

(ii) To cooperate with other NGOs and other observer missions, as may be necessary, while still maintaining the independence of the Mission.

(iii) The members of the Mission to refrain from making any individual declarations. Declarations made were to reflect the collective view of the Mission and issued on behalf of the Mission by the Chief of Mission or a spokesperson designated for such a task.

(iv) The Head of Mission to forward a report, signed by every member of the Mission, to the Executive Secretary within a period not later than 15 days from the end of the Mission. The report should include:

· observations of the Mission;
· all relevant information gathered by the Mission;

· assessment of the election against the yardstick of national electoral laws and universally accepted electoral principles.

· recommendations on ways to improve future elections and Observer Missions.

II. GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE GAMBIA
THE POLITICAL AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACT FILE

11,295 square kilometers in size and with a population of 1.5 million, The Gambia is one of the tiniest Member-States in the ECOWAS sub-region. It is completely surrounded by Senegal except for the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Its geographical location within the Senegambia enclave imposes unique security challenges on the country. It serves as a bridge between mainland Senegal and its troubled Casamance enclave and shares common ethnic and cultural ties (Jola) not only with the enclave, but also with another unstable country – Guinea Bissau. The Gambia is also the tourist destination of choice, as well as a major source of retail trade goods, in the Senegambian enclave. These characteristics have exerted direct and indirect impacts on the evolution of the Gambian political and security landscape. Apart from direct military threats emanating from outside its borders as well as the burden of refugee flows, the country has had to deal with other challenges to security related to cross-border crime, paedophilia and human trafficking, custom and free movement issues.

The main ethnic groups that populate the Gambia are Fula, Mandinka, Jola, Serahule and Wollof. The Gambia is an LDC State, with an illiteracy rate of 61% and dependent primarily on groundnut exports and tourism for its income. In 2000, the UNDP Human Development Report ranked the country at 161 out of 174 countries.

The Gambia gained independence from British colonial rule in 1965, becoming a Republic in April 1970 with an Executive President and a Parliament. In contrast to a number of African countries, The Gambia retained a democratic tradition, holding regular multi-party parliamentary elections every 5 years and the Parliament in turn electing an Executive President. In 1982, the electoral system was modified to allow for the direct election of the President by the electorate. Following an attempted coup by the paramilitary Field Force in July 1981, Senegalese troops intervened to restore the Government of President Sir Dawda Jawara, an act that culminated in a temporary amalgamation of the two States through the creation of the Confederation of Senegambia. Irreconcilable differences led to the break-up of the Confederation in September, 1989.

The Government, led by President Jawara’s ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), was finally overthrown July 1994 by a group of junior officers led by then Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, who set up the Armed Forces Provisional Revolutionary Council junta (AFPRC). Two years into military rule and under the double pressure of internal demands and the wave of democratization sweeping Africa, The Gambia returned to controlled multi-party democracy following a referendum on a new constitution in August 1996. Consequently, a presidential election was held on 26th September 1996 under an electoral management body controlled by the Interior Ministry. The parties that operated before the 1994 coup were barred.

The four new parties that contested the 1996 elections were: The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) led by Mr. Yahya Jammeh who resigned from the military to run in the elections; The United Democratic Party (UDP) led by Barrister Ousainou Darboe; The Peoples Democratic Organization for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS) led by Mr. Sidia Jatta; and the National Reconciliation Party (NRP) led by Mr. Hamat Bah. Jammeh won 56% of the votes to become the first President of the Second Republic. National Assembly Elections was held on the 2nd of January, 1997 and the APRC won 33 seats out of 45. UDP won 7 seats, NRP 2 seats, and PDOIS 1 seat and 2 Independent Candidates.

In the Presidential election of 18th October 2001 in which the pre-coup parties contested for the first time, President Jammeh was returned into office but with a reduced majority of 52.96%, representing 242.302 votes. The new Coalition composed of UDP, the reinstated PPP and the Gambia People’s Party (GPP) and led by Mr. Ousainou Darboe polled 149.448 votes. Hamat Bah’s National Reconciliation Party (NRP) polled 35.671 votes while Sheriff Moustapha Dibba’s reinstated National Convention Party (NCP) won 17.271 votes. PDOIS won 13.841 votes.

In the National Assembly Elections that followed in January 2002, the main opposition alliance led by the main opposition party UDP staged a boycott, citing fraud and an uneven political playing field during the presidentials. Consequently, APRC ran unopposed in 33 of the 48 constituencies. PDOIS and NRP took part. PDOIS won 2 seats and NRP won 1 seat.

On 22nd September, 2006, the Gambian electorate went to the polls to elect the President of the country. Three candidates representing the ruling APRC and two opposition alliances contested the elections. The candidates were :
1. the incumbent, President Yahya Jammeh of the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC);
2. Barrister Ousainu Darbo, representing the United Democratic Party (UDP)-National Reconciliation Party (NRP) Alliance ; and
3. Halifa Salla, the flag-bearer for the National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD).
The Independent Electoral Commission officially opened its doors to receive nominations on 28th August. The electoral campaign officially started on 31st August and ended on 20th September. During the campaign, the Independent Electoral Commission oversaw the distribution of equal airtime to all candidates on state radio and television. Candidates were also allowed to buy additional slots should they so desire, particularly from the private media.

From our analyses and media reports, it appeared obvious that President Yahya Jammeh was going to win easily, particularly as the opposition parties, the NADD and UDP-NRP alliances, failed to unite and present a single candidate to challenge the President. In the last presidential election, President Jammeh won just under 53% of the vote. Taking this into account, the opposition parties had decided to put up a single candidate to offer them the best chance of victory in 2006. Discussions towards this end did not achieve their objective.

The President also appeared to have taken note of his narrow victory and, taking advantage of his party’s near monopoly in parliament following opposition boycott, to introduce far-reaching amendments to the Constitution to enhance his chances of victory. Part 3 of the 1996 Constitution required a presidential candidate to garner more than 50% of the vote to be declared winner without the need for a run-off. In 2001, this clause was amended to allow a candidate to be declared President with a simple majority (First past the post). For the incumbent, therefore, the more candidates that presented themselves, the greater his chances for victory.

Given the advantages of incumbency, impressive development projects that had sprung up in the last few years (construction of roads, airport, university and other infrastructure), APRC control over limitless resources as well as the wave of presidential euphoria following the hosting of the AU Summit, it was going to be near impossible for the opposition to cause an upset, except by fielding a single candidate and greatly improving their campaign message and campaing.

III. PLAN OF WORK OF OBSERVER MISSION

A Preporatory Work of the Mission

Since October 2005, ECOWAS has been interacting with relevant authorities of The Gambia and monitoring progress in the preparations towards the presidential election through its Zonal Bureau I for Conflict Prevention based in Banjul. These consultations have been fruitful and following an invitation from the Government of The Gambia, an ECOWAS fact-finding mission was dispatched to Banjul in July 2006. The Mission held consultations with the, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), political parties, Government and security agencies, members of civil society organisations , the media and ECOWAS international partners.

On receipt of the report of the fact-finding mission,the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS dispatched an ECOWAS coordinating team to Banjul on 15 September 2006, to prepare the ground for the deployment of the Observer Mission and to hold further consultations with relevant agencies and other observer missions such as, the Commonwealth Observer Mission.

For the purpose of coordination and security, ECOWAS observers were accommodated at the Paradise Suites Hotel, Kololi before their deployment to the field.

In line with the plan of deployment, the work of the Mission comprised six (6) phases as follows:

· Tuesday, 19 September 2006: Arrival of observers.
· Wednesday, 20 September, 2006: Briefing by the coordinating team on the plan of deployment of the observers, accommodation, transportation, communication, health and financial matters.

· Thursday, 21 September 2006 : Departure of observer teams detailed for administrative divisions where they were required to sleep overnight.
· Friday, 22 September 2006 : Observation of the voting and counting processes.
· Saturday, 23 September 2006: Debriefing of observers and press conference addressed by the Head of Mission on ECOWAS preliminary declaration at the Paradise Suites Hotel.
· Saturday 23-Monday 25 September 2006: discussions and analysis of evaluation reports and preparation of final report.

ECOWAS observers were deployed to all the seven administrative divisions of The Gambia.

Each team was provided with a kit which included a SIM card, one rechargeable card and a First Aid Box.

On noticing that the colours of the ECOWAS t-shirts and some caps that were designed for the Observer Mission were of the same colours as those of two of the presidential candidates, it was decided that ECOWAS observers should not wear these t-shirts and caps.

B: Observation of the Voting Process

· The opening and closing of polling stations

Most polling stations opened within 15 minutes of the stipulated official time of 07:00 Hrs and closed at 18:30 Hrs instead of 16:00 Hrs because the IEC had to extend the closing time by two and half hours to compensate for time lost as a result of heavy rains. However, a few polling stations closed at 16:00hrs as stipulated by law because by the time the polling officials received the information for extension of voting hours, they had already closed voting and sealed the ballot drums.

· Electoral materials

Electoral materials were complete and available in all polling stations observed.

· Security at polling stations

No major incidents were observed or reported. Security was effectively assured.

· Secrecy of the vote

The secrecy of the vote was assured; polling screens were installed in some polling stations while others were improvised so as to protect the secrecy of the vote.

· Identification of Voters
Adequate measures were taken to prevent double voting. These included the checking of voters ID cards, the cross checking of names on voters’ list by all representatives of the candidates and the use of indelible ink. A backup counter foil register with pictures was used as the last resort to cross check the identity of a voter who had an ID card but whose name did not appear on the voters’ list .

· Voting Process
Polling stations were easily identifiable and the voters demonstrated commendable patience and orderliness while waiting to cast their ballots. No scuffles or acts of violence were recorded. Each of the three candidates fielded representatives at most of the polling stations observed. The cordiality displayed among representatives of competing candidate is commendable. Vigilance of the candidates representatives is also commendable.

· Counting and Collation Processes

The counting and collation processes were transparent and done in conformity with the provisions of the electoral laws.

· Declaration of results

The results were declared in the open in the presence of representatives of the presidential candidates assigned to the counting centres, international and local observers as well as the electorate. Legally provided appropriate record sheets were jointly signed by representatives of the candidates. The manner in which the results were being released by the IEC in batches, on television and radio, in English and in local languages added credibility to the whole process.

· Election Officials

The election officials had a good working knowledge of the provisions of the electoral law and carried out their tasks with a high sense of moral conscience, confidence and efficiency.

· Voter Turnout

Overall, the voter turnout was fairly good even though it was below the average percentage in the sub-region.

C: An Overview of Provisional Results (see annex)

IV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSIS

Inspite of some disturbing trends which characterised the period leading to the election, there were no major problems regarding the general credibility of the election.

Even though each candidate had fair access to the public media during the two-week campaign, the posters and billboards of the incumbent president who was also a presidential candidate was disproportionately overbearing. The posters and billboards of the other two candidates were virtually non-existent.

A consequence arising out of human rights violations and restrictions on the freedom of expression led to the self censorship of the media, many of whom felt intimidated.

Members of the uniformed state security services were seen openly displaying (including wearing) badges, t-shirts, caps and scarves of a particular presidential candidate. This was clearly against universally accepted electoral principles and the Memorandum of Understanding signed by all the political players.

At a particular polling station in Bakau, soldiers were seen voting in the presence of a senior military officer, which gave the impression that it was a deliberate and provocative act on the part of the ruling government machinery. It is pertinent to note that soldiers who attempted to vote but were not registered to vote at this polling stations were fiercely resisted by representatives of the other candidates. This resulted in the retreat of the soldiers from further voting.

The opposition in The Gambia may have their own weaknesses since they did not position themselves in such a way that they could be viewed as governments-in- waiting. These weaknesses include lack of a message ,resources, internal capacity to mobilise people and the inability to inspire a nationalistic identity and image.

Furthermore, what may have happened was that the registration exercise was flawed which might have resulted in under aged persons, and possibly non-Gambians, being registered to vote.

What is becoming clear as a trend is that, on the day of election nothing untoward will be recorded but any possible rigging would have been carried out during the process leading up to the election, including the registration exercise, the misuse of incumbency and intimidation.

The coordinating team stayed in constant touch with the Executive Secretary who directed that the mission makes an early declaration on its findings. This was done at the press conference of Saturday, 23 September 2006.

V. RECOMMENDATIONS

Following from the observations made on the voting process on 22 September 2006, the Observer Mission recommends the following, that Member States should be :

· Reminded to strictly respect and adhere to the constitution and electoral code of the Member State, all inter-political party Memorandum of Understanding and all other agreements that all political parties may have arrived at in relation to elections.

· Encouraged to draw up a clear calendar of events leading to presidential and legislative (Parliamentary) elections;

· Reminded to have unambiguous constitutional provisions and electoral codes that clearly fix the dates and conditions for elections;

· Reminded to appoint members of their Independent National Electoral Commissions at least one year before the actual date of elections;

· Reminded that frequent changes in the appointment of chairpersons and members of National Electoral Commissions not only undermine the credibility of the electoral process but also are not in the supreme interest of democracy;

· Encouraged to accord special attention to voters who are physically challenged, aged, expectant and nursing mothers;

· Encouraged to ensure that security agencies are made to vote at least two days before the day of national elections. Such voting must be subject to the same controls and checks as the national election;

· Encouraged to improve upon the security and delivery of electoral materials;

It is also recommended that:

· The laws governing the opening and closing hours of voting are strictly respected;

· The means of communication within electoral management bodies for better coordination are improved upon;

· The counting of ballots be done on the spot.

· The efforts to harmonise the electoral systems and processes within the sub-region should be speeded up;

It is strongly recommended that ECOWAS Observer Missions be dispatched to the mission areas at least four days before the actual election day to enable the missions to be better acquainted with the security and political situation during the last days of the political campaigns.

The Observer Mission noted with satisfaction, the establishment of the ECOWAS Electoral Assistance Unit and recommends that the Unit be given all the necessary support to make its mark on the democratic agenda of ECOWAS Member States.

VI. CONCLUSION

On the whole, the presidential election of 22 September 2006, in The Gambia was adjudged by the Mission as generally peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible. In its press conference, the Head of Mission called on all the candidates and their supporters to continue to play their part in the consolidation of peace in The Gambia by accepting the outcome of the election and resorting to only legal and constitutional means to resolve any eventual disputes as stipulated in the electoral laws of the land.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Mission was accorded all necessary courtesies which enabled it to discharge its task without hindrance and recommends that the Executive Secretary of ECOWAS conveys to the Government and people of The Gambia its appreciation and gratitude for a successful mission.

Banjul, 24th September 2006