The surprise presidential win of a real estate agent and political novice over Gambia’s leader of 22 years has the country, and many on the continent, celebrating, Lily Kuo writes for Quartz:
Gambia’s longtime leader, Yahya Jammeh, who once promised to rule for “one billion years,” conceded the presidency to Adama Barrow, after electoral officials announced results of the Dec. 1 poll last week…..Observers elsewhere quickly hailed the election as a win for democracy on a continent that seems to be increasingly under the sway of leaders intent on holding on to power.
But the only two leaders that have publicly congratulated Barrow, Kuo adds, are Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, who unseated Goodluck Jonathan last year, and Ghana’s John Dramani Mahama, who faces reelection in an upcoming presidential poll.
The news coincides with reports that Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the second-longest serving president in Africa, will not stand for re-election when Angola holds its presidential poll next year, according to a document by the ruling party, Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
The National Endowment for Democracy’s Kamissa Camara talks to CNNI’s Jonathan Mann (and to TRT – above) about what these developments mean for the future of Gambia, Angola and Africa.