Our latest documentary for BBC Africa Eye Bringing Down Jammeh is now available to watch via YouTube.
Yahya Jammeh was one of Africa’s most feared and brutal dictators, ruling Gambia with an iron fist for over two decades. But in 2016 the impossible happened: he lost his own rigged election. This is the story of the men and women who challenged a dictator and, against all the odds, defeated him in a democratic process.
It was a defeat that was never supposed to happen. Yahya Jammeh had ruled the small West African nation of Gambia for 22 years with brutal effectiveness, comfortably winning four rigged elections before scheduling a return to the polls for December 2016.
But this time something had changed.
Gambians from across the country united against Jammeh’s regime. Using the power of social media, mass protest and an unprecedented unifying of the opposition, they rose up to force an unlikely victory on election day.
Three years later, the men and women who risked their lives to restore democracy recount the extraordinary events leading up to and immediately after the 2016 election, revealing the details of a breath-taking political heist that ultimately defeated a dictator.
Featuring interviews with all the key players, including current president Adama Barrow and then-opposition leader Ousainou Darboe, the film charts the decisive events and individual acts of bravery during this critical moment of Gambian history. Two of Jammeh’s personal bodyguards also speak for the first time on camera about their daring raid to burn 300,000 illegal voting cards, which could otherwise have been used to win Jammeh the election.
But at the heart of the story is the emotional testimony of a group of young people whose activism and courage were instrumental in delivering change. From teenage activist Mohammed Sandeng, whose politician father was tortured and murdered by the regime as a result of staging a peaceful protest, to journalist Kifa, who was brutally tortured for reporting on that same protest – the younger generation tell the story through their eyes and look ahead to the challenges of restoring democracy to Gambia.
Is it possible for a country to become a smooth-running democracy overnight? Can president Barrow deliver on his promises? And can the scars left by a generation of oppression and torture heal soon enough for Gambians to move forward into a brighter future?
