Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Andrew Green curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent.
Gambians are not going to let President Adama Barrow forget his promise. When Barrow, then largely a political unknown, challenged longtime autocrat Yahya Jammeh in the 2016 presidential race, he pledged that, if he won, he would run a three-year provisional government before calling new elections. But backing off that promise, Barrow recently said he will serve a full five-year term until 2021, sparking protests.
Gambians took to the streets of the capital, Banjul, this week in outrage over his decision. Though Barrow is within his constitutional rights to serve all five years, and some members of his coalition are backing his reversal, the protesters “are saying that politicians in the new Gambia must be held to account,” Nyang Njie, a Banjul-based political blogger, told the German news agency Deutsche Welle.