Alieu Momar Njai, the Gambian election chief who is known for presiding over the 2016 elections which ousted former President Yahya Jammeh has finally retired after much fuss over his tenure, APA can confirm on Friday.
His retirement came into effect on Thursday, February 6th.
The former chief scout commissioner who turns 90 later this year was appointed head of the Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission by then President Jammeh, months before the 2016 elections.
He was widely praised at home and abroad for demonstrating courage during the crisis which saw Jammeh play the role of a Pantomime villain by challenging the outcome of that year’s election over supposed abnormalities despite initially conceding to his eventual successor Adama Barrow.
The subsequent politico-electoral crisis robbed The Gambia of a rare chance to stage its first smooth transfer of power since independence.
Njai is credited with the introduction of on-the-spot counting which improved transparency in the election cycle beginning in December 2016.
While standing out as the only post-independence election chief who presided over an electoral defeat for the incumbent, his later years in the role had been mired in controversy as opposition to his continued tenure.
Given his advanced age, many of his critics accused him of being too physically unsuited to man one of the country’s most sensitive spheres of public life.
In spite of widespread public criticism, Njai resisted pressure from members of his family to call it quits and held on until Thursday when his retirement was confirmed.
Njai is a former mayor of the Kanifing municipality, the most populous administrative division in The Gambia.
WN/as/APA