The Gambia's president of 22 years, Yahya Jammeh has been defeated in presidential
elections by opposition, Adama Barrow.
Adama
Barrow's victory in the West African country may bring to an end Jammeh's
22-year rule.
Jammeh,
who came to power in 1994 as a 29-year-old army officer following a military
coup, had won four previous polls.
Barrow
received 263,515 votes while Jammeh won 212,099, Alieu Momarr Njai, the
electoral commission head, said in the capital Banjul on Friday.
"Having
received 263,515 votes of the total votes cast in the election, I hereby
declare Adama Barrow duly elected to serve as president of the Republic of
Gambia," Njai said.
Many
Gambians stayed up all night listening to the radio and tallying results as
they were read out constituency by constituency.
News
of Barrow's victory prompted thousands to take to the streets of Banjul in
celebration - some on foot while others rode in cars and trucks and on
motorbikes - as confused soldiers looked on.
"There
will be celebrations, there will be disappointment, but we all know we are all
Gambia," Njai said, calling for peace, tolerance and calm to be respected
as it was during campaigning.
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