ECOWAS and the 2016 Post-Election Crisis in the Gambia: Pax Africana or What?

Abstract

Abstract President Yahya Jammeh’s volte face, following his earlier acceptance of the verdicts of the Gambians during the 1 December 2016 presidential poll, did not only jolt the international community but, if not for the intervention of external actors, would have set the Gambia on the path of implosion. This article, based on desk analysis, examines the mediatory role of ECOWAS in the resolution of the 2016 post-election crisis in the Gambia. It notes that unlike the previous similar case in Cote d’Ivoire, ECOWAS took the lead in resolving the political crisis and thus demonstrated that Pax Africana is at work in the sub-region. It argues and concludes that ECOWAS with or without the support from outsiders has the capacity to take charge of threats to democracy and peace in member states, by deploying mediatory diplomacy backed with threat of coercion.