FES PSCC Citizens and Security Sector Reform in Gambia’s Democratic Transition: Fostering Dialogue and Informed Civic Discourse DR. LUQMAN SAKA MARCH 2025 Tucked perfectly inside Senegal and closely following the meandering curves of the River Gambia, The Gambia has the smallest landmass and population in continental Africa. Though a small state, the Republic of The Gambia enjoyed an enviable record of political stability and social harmony. 1 Not only that, but The Gambia was also successful in projecting the values of peace, democracy, and liberal internationalism in its international engagements during the First Republic under the stewardship of Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara. 2 However, The Gambia’s path to building a liberal constitutional order at home and promoting the values of peace, stability, and public order on the international stage was disrupted by the 1994 military coup led by then-Colonel Yahya Jammeh. While President Jammeh returned The Gambia to electoral democracy in 1996, the restriction of civic and political space turned elections into mere rituals, devoid of free and fair competition. Thus, considering numerous other 1 See Saine, A.; Ceesay E. and Sall E.(2013) Preface. In A. Saine; E. Ceesay and E. Sall(Eds.) State and society in The Gambia since independence: 1965-2012 (pp. XXVII-L), Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, p. IX. 2 See; Saine; Ceesay and Sall,“Improbable” Gambia: Three dialogical strands, 2013, pp. xxvii-xxxi. non-democratic tendencies under Jammeh, The Gambia effectively became an‘authoritarian democracy.’ 3 The Gambia’s political trajectory witnessed a seismic shift with the electoral defeat of then-President Yahya Jammeh by the relatively unknown opposition coalition candidate, Adama Barrow, in the 2016 presidential election—despite Jammeh’s tight grip on power and control over state institutions, including security agencies. 4 The political environment leading up to the 2016 presidential election provides context for explaining the distinct outcome of this 3 For discussion on the conduct of elections by authoritarian regimes and the whole concept of“electoral authoritarianism” see; Levitsky, S. and Way, L. A.(2010). Competitive authoritarianism: Hybrid regimes after the Cold War . New York: Cambridge University Press; Gandhi, J. and Lust-Okar, E. (2009). Elections under authoritarianism. Annual Review of Political Science , 12: 403-422. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev. polisci.11.060106.095434; Lindberg S.(2006a). Democracy and elections in Africa . Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; Schedler A, Ed.(2006). Electoral authoritarianism: The dynamics of unfree competition . Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publisher; Diamond L.(2002). Thinking about hybrid regimes. Journal of Democracy Volume 13, No. 2, pp: 23-35. 4 Njie, E.& Saine, A.(2019). Gambia’s‘billion year’ president: The end of an era and ensuing political impasse. Journal of African Election , 18(2): 1-24. https://www.eisa.org/pdf/JAE18.2Njie.pdf 1