THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 11,295 sq km
Population: 1.4 million
Capital City: Banjul (approximate
population: 50 000)
People: African 99% (Mandinka 42%,
Fula 18%, Wolof 16%, Jola 10%, Serahuli
9%, other 4%), non-African 1%
Language(s): English (official),
Mandinka, Wolof, Fula, other indigenous
vernaculars
Religion(s): Muslim 90%, Christian 9%,
indigenous beliefs 1%
Currency: Dalasi (GMD)
Major political parties: Alliance for
Patriotic Reorientation and
Construction (APRC); National
Reconciliation Party (NRP); People's
Democratic Organization for
Independence and Socialism (PDOIS);
United Democratic Party (UDP); the
People's Progressive Party (PPP); the
National Convention party (NCP); the
National Democratic Action Movement
(NDAM).
Government: The Gambia is a republic
under multiparty democratic rule. The
APRC currently holds a huge majority
(45 of the 48 elected seats)
GEOGRAPHY
The Gambia is a small country in
Western Africa, bordering the North
Atlantic Ocean and Senegal. It consists
of the flood plain of the Gambia river
flanked by some low hills. The climate
is tropical with a hot rainy season
(June to November) and a cooler dry
season (November to May).
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Gambia became a British protectorate
in 1894. It gained independence from
Britain in 1965, with Dawda Jawara as
Prime Minister. In 1970, The Gambia
became a Republic following a
referendum, with Jawara elected as
President.
Recent History
In July 1994 Captain Yahya Jammeh
overturned the 30-year rule of Sir
Dawda Jawara in a bloodless coup.
Jammeh's Armed Forces Provisional
Ruling Council (AFPRC) ran the country
by decree and all political activity was
banned. Under international pressure,
Presidential elections were held in 1996
and Parliamentary elections in early
1997. A decree was passed lifting the
ban on political activity though it
excluded the three largest political
parties. Four political parties
registered, including the Alliance for
Patriotic Re-Orientation and
Construction (APRC) led by Jammeh.
The leaders of all four registered
parties stood as Presidential
candidates.
The Presidential election was accepted
by the international community despite
reported irregularities. Jammeh won
with 56% of the vote and was
inaugurated on 18 October 1996. In the
campaigning for legislative elections
(on 2 January 1997) opposition parties
were still harassed but the elections
themselves were peaceful and there
were no reports of irregularities over
polling or vote counting. Observers
from two human rights NGOs
monitored the elections. The APRC won
33 seats, the UDP 7 and other
opposition parties 5. Turnout was 73%.
POLITICS
Recent Political Developments
Despite the democratically elected
government, political stability remained
fragile after the 1996/97 elections.
Few senior ministers retained their
posts for long, rumours of coups
regularly circulated amongst the
population of The Gambia and the
independent media and opposition were
regularly harassed for allegedly
stirring anti-government feeling. In
April 2000 during student
demonstrations, the Gambian security
services shot dead 16 people. The
report by the Commission of Enquiry
into the deaths was published on 26
January 2001. The Government of The
Gambia said they will not prosecute any
of the people named in the report,
students or police.
The months preceding the Presidential
elections on October 2001 saw a
decline in good governance. Concern
was raised over the suspension of the
Auditor-General, the dismissal of the
Chairman of the Independent Electoral
Commission and the removal of the
Deputy Inspector General of Police. All
had shown reformist and independent
tendencies. There was ongoing
harassment of the independent media
by the security services including the
National Intelligence Agency. A raft of
amendments made to the constitution in
May reduced the authority of the
Independent Electoral Commission and
gave more power to the National
Assembly (where the government held
a majority).
In July 2001, 3 months before the
Presidential election, after pressure
from the international community
Jammeh repealed Decree 89, a decree
which had banned members of the pre
coup government from running for
office. The repeal of Decree 89
encouraged the two main opposition
parties to form a coalition to contest
the Presidential elections. The
UDP/PPP alliance chose Ousanou
Darboe as their candidate. Jammeh,
Darboe and three other candidates ran
in the Presidential election on 18
October. Jammeh won in the first
round with 53% of the vote. Darboe
won 33%. Although the election was
free and peaceful on the day, it could
hardly be said to have taken place on a
level playing field. The lack of
opposition access to the media and
resources severely hampered their
campaigns as did the intimidation of
opposition activists.
Immediately after Jammeh's victory
there was a spate of human rights
abuses including the detentions and
torture of opposition activists and
human rights campaigners and the
harassment of the independent media.
Civil servants who were seen to be
sympathetic to the opposition were
sacked. Things have now calmed down.
Jammeh made a reconciliatory and
progressive inauguration speech in
December 2001, in which he offered an
amnesty to former President Jawara
to return to The Gambia.
In National Assembly elections on
January 17 2002, Jammeh's APRC
party won a huge majority – 45 of the
48 elected seats, largely owing to a
boycott by the UDP/PPP alliance. Only
15 seats were contested. The boycott,
because of unsubstantiated allegations
of malpractice over the electoral
register, was widely seen as a
misjudgement. The elections were free
and fair on the day, though Jammeh
again threatened Opposition candidates
and villages voting for the opposition in
the days before polling. More recently
there has been renewed cause for
concern. In July 2002 the National
Assembly passed the controversial
Media Commission Bill. The same month
witnessed the apparently unfounded
and unconstitutional dismissal of a
Supreme Court Judge, and in August
2002 the Country Director of Action
Aid The Gambia was expelled from the
country.
Commonwealth Ministerial Action
Group (CMAG)
A CMAG Assessment Mission visited
The Gambia from 19–22 November
2000 to explore ways in which the
Commonwealth might assist the Gambia
to fulfil more effectively the
Commonwealth's fundamental political
values. The delegation was assured by
President Jammeh of his commitment
to repeal Schedule to Decree No. 89,
which proscribes the political activities
of certain political parties and
individuals. The President also promised
to look into allegations of human rights
violations, and to make public the
Report of the Commission of Enquiry
into the killings of students during
disturbances in April 2000. The report
was made public in May 2001 but the
Government rejected the
recommendations to prosecute
security services personnel and
students due to the 'spirit of
reconciliation'. President Jammeh
called for the repeal of Decree 89
during celebrations to mark the
anniversary of the 1994 coup in July
2001. He encouraged those previously
banned to run for office in the
October and January elections. The
Gambia was removed from the CMAG
agenda in January 2002.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
GDP - real growth rate: 5.7% (2001
est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power
parity - $1,770 (2001 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
- agriculture: 21%
- industry: 12%
- services: 67% (1998 est.)
Industries: processing peanuts, fish,
and hides; tourism; beverages;
agricultural machinery assembly,
woodworking, metalworking; clothing
Agriculture - products: peanuts, millet,
sorghum, rice, corn, sesame, cassava
(tapioca), palm kernels; cattle, sheep,
goats; forest and fishery resources
not fully exploited
Exports - commodities: peanuts and
peanut products, fish, cotton lint, palm
kernels
Exports - partners: Benelux 26%,
Japan 15%, UK 14%, Brazil 7% (2000)
Aid & development: (2000 statistics)
US$ 49.1 million equating to US$ 38 per
capita.
Exchange rate: 1 GBP = 37.789 Gambian
Dalsai
The Gambia has no important mineral
or other natural resources and has a
limited agricultural base. About 75% of
the population depend on crops and
livestock for its livelihood. Small-scale
manufacturing activity features the
processing of peanuts, fish, and hides.
Re-export trade normally constitutes a
major segment of economic activity,
but a 1999 government-imposed
pre-shipment inspection plan, instability
of the Gambian Dalasi, and the stable
political situation in Senegal have drawn
some of the re-export trade away
from Banjul. The government's 1998
seizure of the private peanut firm
Alimenta eliminated the largest
purchaser of Gambian groundnuts; the
following two marketing seasons saw
significantly lower prices and sales. A
decline in tourism from 1999 to 2000
has also held back growth, although
there has been a minor increase in
tourist numbers during 2002.
Unemployment and underemployment
rates are extremely high. Short run
economic progress remains highly
dependent on sustained bilateral and
multilateral aid, on responsible
government economic management as
forwarded by IMF technical help and
advice, and on expected growth in the
construction sector.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The Gambia's Relations with Neighbours
Jammeh contributed to the peace
process in Guinea-Bissau in 2000,
hosting some talks between opposing
sides. The Gambia has also offered
troops to ECOMOG (the Economic
Community of West Africa's Monitoring
Group) in Sierra Leone and
Guinea-Bissau. Jammeh facilitated talks
for rebel factions from the Casamance
in southern Senegal and discussions
between them and the Senegalese
Government in Banjul and the Gambian
Government were involved in the latest
peace talks between the Senegalese
Government and the Movement of
Casamance Democratic Forces.
However relations with Senegalese
President Abdoulaye Wade remain cool
and relations with Senegal in recent
years have been difficult due to trade
and transport issues, and tensions
mounted in June as a result of football
violence. However, there have been
recent signs of goodwill on both sides.
The visit to The Gambia by Senegalese
Prime Minister Idrissa Seck marked an
important step forward in firming up
an agreement on the future
construction of a bridge over The
Gambia. This was followed in August by
a one-day working visit to The Gambia
by President Wade of Senegal.
The Gambia's Relations with the
International Community
The Gambia maintains generally good
relations with most countries in the
region. Relations with the West, in
particular with the US, strengthened
during 2002.
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