Gambia: Sudden Hope in a Small Country

"The bells of freedoms are ringing in the four corners of the Gambia. We are free at last and the thousands of Gambians who were forced into exile can now return home and help rebuild their country. We shall no longer be afraid to hold political discussions in the open. We can now sleep peacefully at night without the men in black breaking in our homes and take us away in front of our children. We are indeed really free. ... Alhamdulillah, change has happened in the Gambia." - Jollof News editorial, December 2, 2016 This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a round-up of short articles following the surprise election victory of opposition candidate Adama Barrow and the even more surprising concession speech by strongman Yahya Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years. The first is the editorial from JollofNews quoted above. Others are from the Guardian (UK), African Leadership Magazine (UK), Daily Maverick (South Africa, and Foreign Policy (USA) Also of particular interest are three short articles from Quartz Africa, the first of which features a video of Jammeh's concession phone call to the victor, shown on state television. Quartz Africa, December 2, 2106 "One of Africa's longest-serving strongmen has conceded victory to his opponent live on state TV" http://tinyurl.com/zj5396b - Includes video of the concession phone call. "Africa's long-serving strongmen are conspicuously silent on Gambia's democratic ouster of its 22-year leader", Quartz Africa, Dec. 5, 2016 - http://tinyurl.com/zc35xt4 Quartz Africa, "The updated chart of Africa's longest-serving rulers if these two step down in 2017 as promised," Dec 3, 2016 http://tinyurl.com/hbawut6 - includes list of ten, after subtraction of Jammeh of Gambia, and dos Santos of Angola, who has said he will retire next year.