In The Gambia, it is the last week of the campaign before the presidential election which will take place on Saturday in the smallest country on the African continent. Six candidates are in the running.
With our correspondent in Banjul, Milan Berckmans
The tension gradually rises six days before the election in Gambia. The party caravans that have crisscrossed the country from east to west for three weeks are back in the capital this week.
Neck and neck of this final sprint, we find on one side the outgoing President Adama Barrow and his National People’s Party and on the other, the lawyer and former Prime Minister, Ousainou Darboe, leader of the United Democratic Party and main opposition figure.
Since the start of the campaign, the two candidates are those who mobilize the most among the population. As evidenced by the aerial images of large crowds broadcast by the Gambian media during their meetings.
Alongside the two big favorites, a candidacy made a lot of noise. It is that of Mammah Kandeh, of the Gambian Democratic Congress. Coming third in 2016, Kandeh this time received the support of former president Yahya Jammeh. From Equatorial Guinea where he went into exile in 2017, the former leader even spoke to activists by phone on several occasions.
Another noteworthy fact, last week, the Banjul court ruled in favor of two candidates rejected by the Electoral Commission last November. So there could be two more runners for the last strides.