Gambian President Adama Barrow Officially Launches His Political Party

President Barrow's NPP is Now Official

Gambia's President Adama Barrow launched his National People's Party (NPP) on Saturday evening to support his candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for December 4. In a televised broadcast of a meeting that saw a large crowd of delegates and supporters gathered at the Independence Stadium in Bakau, about 12 km from the capital Banjul, the 55-year-old politician said the NPP "is the party of all categories, based on the notion of true democratic and patriotic citizenship."

Why Now?

Created and declared in December 2019, Barrow waited to officially launch the NPP.

Perhaps intentionally, in light of the violent protests against him that same month and also in January 2020 for not honouring his pledge to step down after three years following his December 2016 win and hold a new election in which he could not stand.  Background and Context

Backed by a coalition of seven opposition parties, Barrow won the December 2016 presidential election and ended the 22 year-long regime of President Yahya Jammeh — who had been  forced into exile under the pressure of a West African military intervention, after refusing to admit defeat. President Barrow has now been at the head of the smallest country in continental Africa since January 2017.