As Gambians wait patiently for the official announcement of Saturday’s presidential election, there are expectations from whoever emerges as the eventual winner.
The Independent Electoral Commission chairman Alieu Momar left it late into the night to begin announcing the results which put incumbent Adama Barrow on the lead, with Ousainou Darboe in second and Mamma Kandeh third.
The IEC are applying caution over the results given the pre-poll tension that characterised three weeks of intense campaign.
It was The Gambia’s first presidential election since the fall of Yahya Jammeh with six candidates vying for the country’s top job including incumbent Adama Barrow and his nearest challenger Ousainou Darboe.
Before polls closed, the independent electoral commission issued a statement praising the “high turnout” from Gambian voters.
Due to the high stakes of the election, voters eager to cast their ballot stayed overnight near their designated polling stations in the Greater Banjul Area.
Who leads The Gambia in the next five years will have to deal with the mounting expectation of its citizens such as those of young voter Sainey Bojang.
Fresh from casting in vote at the same polling station in the coastal town of Bakau as Ousainou Darboe, the 32-year-old told APA that his list of expectations has been growing before the polls and it is expected to grow even bigger as time goes on.
The Gambia, which is the smallest country on mainland Africa has a population of over 1.8 million people, some six percent of which is youth.
Many say the demographics of the 2021 election suggest that most of voters are unemployed youth.
“The next president should look at youth employment first and foremost” he said rubbing his index finger which was dipped in indelible ink by the polling staff to mark him out as a recognizable voter in the December 4th presidential election.
“Young people like us have no trade, and we think Barrow or whoever is in charge after December 4th should try to help us with training and jobs at the end of it” he added.
Bojang said security is one issue of utmost concern in the course of the past five years.
“It has been one of the recognizable weaknesses of the current dispensation and this should improve to assure Gambians that their country is safe” he pointed out.
For Amie Bojang, a voter in the village of Sinchu Alhaji, the rising cost of living in The Gambia is reaching disquieting levels and expects the next government to make efforts in tackling this challenge.
With price instability an unmistakable part of daily life, Ngangne Mbye told APA that he was expecting one of the six presidential candidates he voted for to do something about improving the struggling economy.
Mbye also expects the losers of this landmark election to concede to the winner and preserve Gambia’s peace and tranquility going into the next five years.
Ms. Bojang agreed, pointing out that elections come every five years and should not undermine or destroy the “culture of peace and positive co-existence” Gambians have cultivated for a long time.
“The contestants should act responsibly where the victor should react with magnanimity and the losers with grace” she added.
WN/as/APA