Login
Login

List of heads of state of the Gambia

{{Short description|None}}

{{EngvarB|date=October 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}

{{Politics of The Gambia}}

This is a list of the heads of state of The Gambia, from the independence of The Gambia in 1965 to the present day.

From 1965 to 1970 the head of state under the Constitution of 1965 was the queen of the Gambia, Elizabeth II, who was also the monarch of other Commonwealth realms. The monarch was represented in the Gambia by a governor-general. The Gambia became a republic within the Commonwealth under the Constitution of 1970 and the monarch and governor-general were replaced by an executive president.

Monarch (1965–1970)

The succession to the throne was the same as the succession to the British throne.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

! rowspan="2" |Portrait

! rowspan="2" |Name
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

! colspan="3" |Reign

! rowspan="2" |Royal House

! rowspan="2" |Prime minister(s)

Reign start

! Reign end

! Duration

1

| 90px

| Queen Elizabeth II
{{small|(1926–2022)}}

| {{nowrap|18 February}} 1965

| {{nowrap|24 April}} 1970

| {{ayd|1965|2|18|1970|4|24}}

| Windsor

| Jawara

=Governor-general=

The governor-general was the representative of the monarch in the Gambia and exercised most of the powers of the monarch. The governor-general was appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the monarch. Since the Gambia was granted independence by the Gambia Independence Act 1964, rather than being first established as a semi-autonomous dominion and later promoted to independence as defined by the Statute of Westminster 1931, the governor-general was to be always appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of the Gambia without the involvement of the British government, with the sole exception of John Paul, the former colonial governor, who served as governor-general temporarily until he was replaced by Farimang Mamadi Singateh. In the event of a vacancy the chief justice would have served as the officer administering the government.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

! rowspan="2" |Portrait

! rowspan="2" |Name
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

! colspan="3" |Term of office

! rowspan="2" |Monarch

! rowspan="2" |Prime minister(s)

Took office

! Left office

! Time in office

1

| 90px

| Sir John Paul
{{small|(1916–2004)}}

| {{nowrap|18 February}} 1965

| {{nowrap|9 February}} 1966

| {{ayd|1965|2|18|1966|2|9}}

| rowspan=2|Elizabeth II

| rowspan=2|Jawara

2

| 90px

| Sir Farimang Singateh
{{small|(1912–1977)}}

| {{nowrap|9 February}} 1966

| {{nowrap|24 April}} 1970

| {{ayd|1966|2|9|1970|4|24}}

Republic (1970–present)

;Political parties

{{legend|{{party color|People's Progressive Party (The Gambia)}}|People's Progressive Party (PPP)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|{{party color|Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction}}|Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|{{party color|National People's Party (The Gambia)}}|National People's Party (NPP)|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

;Other factions

{{legend|{{party color|Military rule}}|Military|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{{legend|{{party color|Independent politician}}|Independent|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

=First Republic (1970–1994)=

Under the Constitution of 1970, the first constitution of the Republic of the Gambia, the president replaced the monarch as executive head of state. The president was elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy the vice-president served as acting president.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

! rowspan="2" |Portrait

! rowspan="2" |Name
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

! rowspan="2" |Elected

! colspan="3" |Term of office

! rowspan="2" |Political party

Took office

! Left office

! Time in office

style="background:{{party color|People's Progressive Party (The Gambia)}}; color:white;"| 1

| 90px

| Sir Dawda Jawara
{{small|(1924–2019)}}

| 1972
1977
1982
1987
1992

| {{nowrap|24 April}} 1970

| {{nowrap|22 July}} 1994
{{small|(Deposed in a coup)}}

| {{ayd|1970|4|24|1994|7|22}}

| PPP

=Military rule (1994–1996)=

Colonel Yahya Jammeh led a coup d'état which overthrew President Jawara and his government, all political parties and Parliament were dissolved.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

! rowspan="2" |Portrait

! rowspan="2" |Name
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

! colspan="3" |Term of office

! rowspan="2" |Political party

Took office

! Left office

! Time in office

style="background:{{party color|Military rule}}; color:black;"| 2

| 90px

| Yahya Jammeh
{{small|(born 1965)}}
{{small|Chairman of the AFPRC}}

| {{nowrap|22 July}} 1994

| {{nowrap|6 November}} 1996

| {{ayd|1994|7|22|1996|11|6}}

| Military

=Second Republic (1996–present)=

Under the current constitution of the Republic of The Gambia, the president is executive head of state. The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. In the event of a vacancy, the vice-president will serve as acting president.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! rowspan="2" |{{Abbr|No.|Number}}

! rowspan="2" |Portrait

! rowspan="2" |Name
{{small|(Birth–Death)}}

! rowspan="2" |Elected

! colspan="3" |Term of office

! rowspan="2" |Political party

Took office

! Left office

! Time in office

style="background:{{party color|Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction}}; color:white;"| {{small|(2)}}

| 90px

| Yahya Jammeh
{{small|(born 1965)}}

| 1996
2001
2006
2011

| {{nowrap|6 November}} 1996

| {{nowrap|21 January}} 2017{{efn|Jammeh's presidential term was originally scheduled to end on 19 January 2017. However, in a widely disputed move amidst a constitutional crisis, the National Assembly extended his term for three months and he refused to relinquish power until 21 January, when he was forced to step down after the ECOWAS military intervention. Adama Barrow nevertheless took his oath at the Gambian Embassy in Senegal on 19 January, as scheduled, after which much of the international community recognised him as the legitimate President.}}

| {{ayd|1996|11|6|2017|1|21}}

| APRC

rowspan=2 style="background:#40484F; color:white;"| 3

| rowspan=2|90px

| rowspan=2|Adama Barrow
{{small|(born 1965)}}

| rowspan=2|2016
2021

| rowspan=2|{{nowrap|19 January}} 2017{{efn|Barrow was inaugurated on 19 January 2017 at the Gambian embassy in Senegal, but Yahya Jammeh did not relinquish his position until 21 January. Barrow returned to Gambia on 26 January and took the oath of office a second time on 18 February.}}

| rowspan=2|Incumbent

| rowspan=2|{{ayd|2017|1|19}}

| Coalition 2016
{{small|(until 2019)}}

NPP

Notes

{{notelist}}

Timeline since 1970

{{#tag:timeline|

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:21

PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:150 left:20

AlignBars = late

Define $today = {{#time:d/m/Y}}

Colors =

id:military value:rgb(0.76,0.69,0.57) legend:Military

id:ppp value:rgb(1,0.41,0.71) legend:People's_Progressive_Party

id:aprc value:rgb(0.13,0.42,0.27) legend:Alliance_for_Patriotic_Reorientation_and_Construction

id:c2016 value:rgb(0.83,0.64,0.08) legend:Coalition_2016

id:npp value:rgb(0.25,0.28,0.31) legend:National_People's_Party

id:gray1 value:gray(0.85)

id:gray2 value:gray(0.95)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy

Period = from:01/01/1970 till:31/12/{{#expr:{{#time:Y}}+1}}

TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal

ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1970

ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1970

Legend = columns:1 left:150 top:35 columnwidth:170

TextData =

pos:(20,38) textcolor:black fontsize:M

text:"Political party:"

BarData =

bar:Jawara

bar:Jammeh

bar:Barrow

PlotData =

width:5 align:left fontsize:9 shift:(5,-4) anchor:till

bar:Jawara

from: 24/04/1970 till: 22/07/1994 color:ppp text:"Dawda Jawara"

bar:Jammeh

from: 22/07/1994 till: 06/11/1996 color:military

from: 06/11/1996 till: 21/01/2017 color:aprc text:"Yahya Jammeh"

bar:Barrow

from: 19/01/2017 till: 31/12/2019 color:c2016

from: 31/12/2019 till: $today color:npp text:"Adama Barrow"

}}

Standards

File:Flag of the Governor-General of The Gambia (1965-1970).svg|Governor-General's standard

File:Flag of the President of The Gambia.svg|Presidential standard

See also

{{Portal|The Gambia|Politics}}

External links

  • [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Gambia.html World Statesmen – The Gambia]
  • [http://rulers.org/rulg1.html#gambia Rulers.org – The Gambia]

{{Heads of State of the Gambia}}

{{Gambia topics}}

{{Representatives of the monarch in Commonwealth realms and Dominions}}

Category:Government of the Gambia

Head

*

Gambia

Heads of state of the Gambia