‘Democratisation’ under the military in The Gambia: 1994–2000

Abstract

A ‘democratic audit’ of The Gambia since the return to civilian rule reveals the ambiguous nature of redemocratisation under military direction. The military radicals, under Yahya Jammeh, ostensibly seized power to restore democracy and good governance, yet their continued rule in elected guise not only perpetuates the neo‐patrimonial leadership which they so despised under the deposed head‐of‐state, Sir Dawda Jawara, but also displays a level of intolerance and coercion towards political opposition and public criticism, never found previously in The Gambia. The evidence presented here prompts doubts about the capacity and intention of military putschists to achieve a fully participatory democracy and, in the latter's absence, raises the spectre of future military intervention.