President Yahya Jammeh’s volte face, following his earlier acceptance of the verdicts of the Gambians during the 1 December 2016 presidential poll, did not only jolt the international community but, if not for the intervention of external actors, would have set the Gambia on the path of implosion. This article, based on desk analysis, examines the mediatory role of ECOWAS in the resolution of the 2016 post-election crisis in the Gambia. It notes that unlike the previous similar case in Cote d’Ivoire, ECOWAS took the lead in resolving the political crisis and thus demonstrated that Pax Africana is at work in the sub-region. It argues and concludes that ECOWAS with or without the support from outsiders has the capacity to take charge of threats to democracy and peace in member states, by deploying mediatory diplomacy backed with threat of coercion.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
Adetula, V. (2011). Measuring democracy and good governance in Africa: A critique of assumptions and methods. In K. Kondlo & C. Ejiogu (Eds.), Governance in the 21st century: Africa in focus. Human Sciences Research Council.
African Union (2002). Protocol relating to the establishment of the peace and security council of the African Union. African Union.
African Union (2007). African charter on democracy, elections and governance. African Union.
Aljazeera (2017, January 22). Gambian crisis ends as Yahya Jammeh leaves for exile. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com.2017/01/.
Amnesty International (2016). Opposition in Gambia. The danger of dissent. Amnesty International.
Basiru, A. S. (2016). The politics of domesticating ‘liberal peace’: Nigeria and the 2001 ECOWAS supplementary protocol on democracy and good governance. Paper presented at the National Conference on the Dynamics of Democratic Practice in Nigeria, 1999–2015, The Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Research and Training, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria, 9–10 November.
Basiru, A. & Osunkoya, O. (2020). Between the rock and a hard place: The Africa Union and democracy promotion in Africa. Journal of Governance and Development, 16(1), 49–67.
BBC (2017a, January 19). Gambia crisis: Barrow sworn-in in Senegal as Jammeh stays out. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa/.
BBC. (2017b, January 22). Ex-President Yahya Jammeh leaves the Gambia after losing election. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa/.
Bellamy, A. J., Williams, P. & Griffin, S. (2008). Understanding peacekeeping. Polity Press.
Boutros-Ghali, B. (1992). An agenda for peace. UN Department of Public Information.
Boutros-Ghali, B. (1995). Supplement to an agenda for peace. UN Department of Public Information.
Bratton, M. & Van de Walle, N. (1997). Neopatrimonial rule in Africa. In M. Bratton & N. Van de Walle (Eds.), Democratic experiments in Africa: Regime transitions in comparative perspective. Cambridge University Press.
Carothers, T. (1999). Aiding democracy abroad: The learning to curve. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
CNN (2016, October 12). Gambia’s Yayha Jammeh refuses to accept election results. https://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/10/africa/gambia-yahya-jammehelection/index.html.
Da Costa, P. (1995). The Gambia: out with the old. Africa Report, 40(1), 48–51.
Derso, S. A. (2012). The quest for pax Africana: The case of the African Union’s peace and security regime. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 12(2), 11–47.
ECOWAS (1991). Declaration of political principles of the ECOWAS. ECOWAS.
ECOWAS (1993). Revised treaty of the economic Community of West African States. ECOWAS.
ECOWAS (1999). Protocol relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peace-keeping and security. ECOWAS.
ECOWAS (2001). Supplementary to the protocol relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping and security. ECOWAS.
ECOWAS (2016a). ECOWAS, African Union and UN Statement on the political developments in the Gambia, press statement. ECOWAS.
ECOWAS (2016b). ECOWAS, African Union and UN statement on the political developments in the Gambia, press statement. ECOWAS.
ECOWAS (2016c). Final communiqué: 50th ordinary session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government. ECOWAS.
Edie, C. J. (2000). Democracy in the Gambia: Past, present and prospects for the future. Africa Development, XXV, 161–198.
Ekiyor, T. (2008). ECOWAS Conflict Prevention Framework (ECPF): A new approach to an old challenge. West African Civil Society Institute.
Francis, D. J. (2009). Peacekeeping in bad neighbourhood: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in peace and security in West Africa. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 9(3), 87–116.
Frempong, A. (2009). Monitoring democratic governance within ECOWAS: The theory and practice. In J. Ogwu & W. O. Alli (Eds.), ECOWAS: Milestones in regional integration. Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.
Glen, P. J. (2012). Institutionalizing democracy in Africa: A comment on the African charter on democracy, elections and governance. African Journal of Legal Studies, 5, 149–175.
Hartmann, C. (2017). ECOWAS and the restoration of democracy in the Gambia. Africa Spectrum, 52(1), 85–99.
HRW (2016). Gambia: Free speech ban threatens rights in vote aftermath. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/02/.
Hughes, A. (1992). The collapse of the Senegambian Confederation. Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 30(2), 200–222.
Hughes, A. & Perfect, D. (2006). A political history the Gambia, 1816–1994. University of Rochester Press.
Hughes, A. (2000). ‘Democratization’ under the military in the Gambia, 1994–2000. Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 38(3), 35–52.
Hultin, N., Jallow, B., Lawrance, B. N. & Sarr, A. (2017). Autocracy, migration, and the Gambia’s ‘unprecedented’ 2016 election. African Affairs, 116, 321–340.
Independent Electoral Commission (2016). Final election results: presidential elections 1 December 2016. Independent Electoral Commission.
Jaw, S. M. (2017). Restoring democracy in the Gambia? An analysis of diaspora engagement in Gambian politics [Master Thesis, University of Bergen].
Kandeh, J. (1996). What does the Militariat do when it rules? Military regimes: The Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Review of African Political Economy, 69(9), 387–404.
Konaré, A. (2007). Address to special meeting of the Security Council on Africa. African Union/Peace & Security Council.
Kora, S. & Darboe, M. N. (2017). The Gambia’s electoral earthquake. Journal of Democracy, 28(2), 147–156.
Levitsky, S. & Way, L. A. (2002). Elections without democracy: The rise of competitive authoritarianism. Journal of Democracy, 13(2), 51–65.
Mazrui, A. (1967). Towards a Pax Africana: A study in ideology and ambition. Chicago University Press.
Mbeki, T. (2012). Address by Thabo Mbeki at the Makerere University Institute of Social Research conference on the architecture of post-cold war Africa: between internal reform and external intervention, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, 19 January. Retrieved from http://www.thabombekifoundation.org.za/pages/address-by-thabo-mbeki-at-the-makerere-university-institute-of-social-research-conference-on-the-architecture-of-p0119-651.aspx.
Moore, C. (2003). Democratic governance and peace: two sides of the same coin? Centre for Policy Studies.
News Express (2017, January 14). Buhari, other negotiators fails to convince Jammeh to step down as Gambian President. Retrieved from http://www.newsexpressngr.com/new/.
OAU (1990). Declaration of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity on the political and socio-economic situation in Africa and the fundamental changes taking place in the World, OAU Doc. AHG/Decl. 1 (XXVI). OAU.
OAU (1995). Relaunching Africa’s economic and social development: the Cairo agenda for action, OAU Doc. AHG/ Res. 236 (XXXI). OAU.
OAU (2000). Constitutive Act of the African Union. OAU.
Odigie, B. (2017). In defense of democracy: lessons from ECOWAS’ management of the Gambia’s 2016 post-election impasse. Policy and Practice Brief, No. 046. Retrieved from http://www.accord.org.za/publication/in-defense-of-democracy/.
Odukoya, A. (2007). Democracy, elections, election monitoring and peace-building in West Africa. African Journal of International Affairs, 10 (1–2), 147–160.
Owen, J. M. (1994). How liberalism produces democratic peace? International Security, 19(2), 87–125.
Perfect, D. (2017). The Gambia 2016 Presidential Election and its Aftermath. Round Table, 106(3), 323–337.
Sahara Reporters (2016, December 13). Buhari, other ECOWAS leaders visit the Gambia, ask Jammeh to hand over power to Barro. Retrieved from http://saharareporters.com/2016/12/13.
Saine, A. (1996). The coup d’état in the Gambia, 1994: The end of the first republic. Armed Forces and Society, 23(1), 97–111.
Saine, A. (2009). The paradox of third-wave democratization in Africa: the Gambia under AFPRCAPRC Rule, 1994–2008. Lexington Books.
Saine, A. (2015). The Gambia’s deepening governance and economic crises: 1994–2015. In S. Ndongo (Ed.), Recent political developments in West Africa. Daraja Press.
Sanyang, E. & Camara, S. (2017). The Gambia after elections: Implications for governance and security in West Africa. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiffung.
Sawyer, A. (2004). Governance and democratization. In A. Adebajo & I. Rashid (Eds.), West African security challenges: Building peace in a troubled region. Lynne Reiner Publishers.
The Commonwealth (2011). The Gambia presidential election 2011: Final report. Retrieved from http://www.thecommonwealth.org/media/news/gambia-presidential-election-2011-final-report.
The Guardian (2016a, December 10). Gambian president Yahya Jammeh rejects election result. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/10/gambian-presidentrejectselectionresults.
The Guardian (2016b, December 23). Forces on standby to oust Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/dec/.
The Guardian (2017, January 20). The Gambia: The defeated president backs down and agree to go on exile. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/jan.
The Sierra Leone Telegraph (2016, December 13). Yahya Jammeh’s grand finale-can ECOWAS leaders pull him back from the brink. Retrieved from http://www.thesierraleonetelegraph.com/2016/12/13.
The Star (2016, December 2). Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s president of 22 years, defeated in re-election. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/12/02/yahya-jammeh-gambias/president-of-22-years-defeated-in-re-election-bid.html.
Vanguard. (2016, December 31). Buhari set to actualize ECOWAS mandate of removing Gambia’s Jammeh from power. Retrieved from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/31.
VOA (2017, January 18). ECOWAS gives Jammeh ultimatum to relinquish power, leaves Gambia. Retrieved from http://www.voanews.com/a/african-forces-gambia-defeatedpresident/3672439.html/.
Wiseman, J. A. & Vidler, E. (1995). The July 1994 coup d’etat in The Gambia: the end of an era. Round Table, 333, 53–65.
Wiseman, J. A. (1996). Military rule in The Gambia: an interim assessment. Third World Quarterly, 17(5), 917–940.
Yeebo, Z. (1995). State of Fear in Paradise: The Military Coup in The Gambia and its Implications for Democracy. Africa Research and Information Bureau.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 975 | 125 | 22 |
Full Text Views | 35 | 9 | 3 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 74 | 21 | 8 |
President Yahya Jammeh’s volte face, following his earlier acceptance of the verdicts of the Gambians during the 1 December 2016 presidential poll, did not only jolt the international community but, if not for the intervention of external actors, would have set the Gambia on the path of implosion. This article, based on desk analysis, examines the mediatory role of ECOWAS in the resolution of the 2016 post-election crisis in the Gambia. It notes that unlike the previous similar case in Cote d’Ivoire, ECOWAS took the lead in resolving the political crisis and thus demonstrated that Pax Africana is at work in the sub-region. It argues and concludes that ECOWAS with or without the support from outsiders has the capacity to take charge of threats to democracy and peace in member states, by deploying mediatory diplomacy backed with threat of coercion.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 975 | 125 | 22 |
Full Text Views | 35 | 9 | 3 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 74 | 21 | 8 |