Election Results

No this is not a post about the American primaries even though I am following the race as much as I can from my small radio in village. The Gambia had area council elections, similar to state legislatures, about a month ago. For the most part it was uneventful with APRC (the ruling party since Jammeh took control in a coup in 1994. He has won three succesive presidential elections) winning 101 or 102 of the 114 seats throughout the country.

The day after the elections I asked someone how the elections went and he said: "They went well. There was no trouble or fighting. " At first, I was surprised by his answer. I expected some excitement when his candidate won or sadness because his candidate lost. The thought of "fighting" due to an election was not the first issue to come to mind. In the States, I am never worried about the outcome leading to armed combat. I temporarily forgot how in most parts of Africa fighting is not only a possiblility, but many times a reality.

My district/ward was more interesting than most parts of the country. The current APRC candidate had an opposition candidate while most APRC candidates run without opposition. The opposition candidate lived in a neighboring village. However, his father, the village's alkaloo (the head of the village), was deposed. (The Alkaloo is a descendent of the founder. When he dies, the village usually meets to decide the successor, but it almost always remains in the family. The villagers can decide to vote out an alkaloo, but it is rare.). I am not sure by who, but a new alkaloo was appointed. The deposed alkaloo was told he could not be alkaloo if his son was running against an APRC candidate. The village is split in alegencies and the police are solving the matter.

My Mom's purple finger after she voted

Most adults in my village voted. They are given a small rock to put in one of the two boxes. Each box has a picture and the name of each candidate because most people are illiterate. [sidenote: I started teaching my mom how to draw 1 to 10 and say them in english]. After they vote they put their left hand in purple ink.