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Adama Barrow promises economic progress after winning the election again last month with 53% of the vote in the first round.
Gambian President Adama Barrow has pledged to work to boost the economy near the capital, Banjul, as she has vowed for a second five-year term.
Barrow, 56, came to power in 2017 by ousting his former Yahya Jammeh at the polls. She is comfortable he won the election again with 53% of the first round of votes in the last month.
Opposition leader Ousainou Darboe’s United Democratic Party has appealed the election results to the Supreme Court, alleging irregularities and corruption in Barrow’s campaign. It was a claim discarded.
“We can comfortably conclude today that the election for another five years is a vote of confidence in my government, a vote of recognition of my achievements,” Barrow said, wearing a white cap and gown, after vowing on Wednesday. The audience was led by several other West African states.
“From 2022 to 2027 is the time to press for accelerating growth, expansion and progress. It is now focused on economic development,” he said.
It has faced the challenge of reviving the economy of the smallest country in continental Africa.
The Coronavirus pandemic pushed the economy into recession in 2020, taking tourists away from white sand beaches.
However, growth is estimated to have returned to around 5 per cent last year.
Congratulations to Adama Barrow Excellence for taking office as President of the Republic of Gambia for a second term. Joseph R. Biden Jr. The Presidential Delegation to Banjul held a ceremony chaired by Ambassador Richard Carlton Paschall. pic.twitter.com/hsOLHK03Mz
– US Embassy Banjul (@USEmbassyBanjul) January 19, 2022
In his first term, he improved his relations with many foreign countries that had cooled during Jammeh’s 22-year tenure and worked. regain civil liberties who were repressed at the time.
Jammeh has been accused of leading a human rights group a litany of abuses, including death squads and torture.
Nicolas Haque of Al Jazeera, from Dakar, Senegal, said the swearing-in ceremony was “not only a historic moment for Adama Barrow himself, but also for all Gambians” and was seen as a “breakthrough” in democracy.
“Eight heads of state in the region, almost all from West Africa, took part in the swearing-in ceremony, a region that has taken a step back from democracy, especially Mali or Guinea,” he added.
During the swearing-in ceremony, Barrow reiterated his previous commitment to present a new constitution. He first said he would set presidential terms for the presidency, but did not say whether that would prevent him from seeking additional terms.
Debates over the limits of the presidential term have erupted in several neighboring countries in the Gambia, including Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea, whose presidents used constitutional changes in 2020 as buttons to reinstate their mandates to extend beyond two terms.
Barrow vowed to run for office in 2016 if he was elected for only three years, but later backed down.
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