Thousands of Gambians on Monday 16th December 2019 took part in a protest aimed at reminding President Adama Barrow of his promise to serve for only three years and step down.
The protest, which was planned and talked about for months, aimed at demanding that the president step down and organise a free and fair election as promised in his Coalition 2016 campaign.
Thousands and thousands poured out in the streets calling on the president to honour his words and step down after the completion of the three years.
The Three Years Jotna group had earlier applied for a permit from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to hold a procession on Monday 16th December 2019. The IGP gave them the permit with some conditions which were criticised by some activists who said that they were meant to frustrate the movement and curtail its right to protest.
The permit stipulated that the protesters have to begin their procession at Sting Corner at ten o’clock and march to two hundred metres away from Denton Bridge on the road to Banjul where they were to hand over their petition to a government representative.
Citizens were afraid that there would be violence and so many businesses remained closed and the roads were all but empty as many people remained indoors fearing that the protest will degenerate into violence as was seen in previous protests.
It is nonetheless a huge win for democracy as the protest happened peacefully with the group submitting a petition in which there are a series of demands for President Barrow to meet.
