Gambia electoral commission to examine Barrow’s candidacy
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Bénin Web TV
The Independent Electoral Commission is to examine Adama Barrow’s candidacy, submitted on 10 November for Gambia’s 5 December 2026 presidential election. The submission does not amount to approval and the commission must verify whether the application meets legal requirements, according to Bénin Web TV.
Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission is to examine President Adama Barrow’s candidacy before confirming his eligibility for the 5 December 2026 presidential election. The head of state submitted his documents on Tuesday 10 November in Banjul to seek a third term, Bénin Web TV reports.
Adama Barrow now makes the adoption of a Constitution limiting the number of presidential terms conditional on his party securing a sufficient parliamentary majority in the 2027 legislative elections. The legislative election is scheduled for 10 April, four months after the presidential election. Gambia’s 1997 Constitution currently sets no limit on the number of presidential terms. A draft providing for a two-term limit, with retroactive application, failed in Parliament in 2020.
The outgoing president has not said whether a possible third term would be his last. Opposition leader Ousainou Darboe and former Kanifing mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda have also submitted their applications. Bensouda’s candidacy is separately the subject of a dispute over his eligibility.
The Electoral Commission recorded 1,146,474 voters across 1,773 polling stations following the update of the electoral register announced on 2 November. The period for submitting candidacies is due to end on 14 November, before the election campaign begins.
Adama Barrow’s candidacy and his promise of constitutional reform were announced on 10 November, as part of the Gambian presidential election on 5 December. Ousainou Darboe’s candidacy was also announced on 9 November.
