Constitution of the Gambia
The Constitution of The Gambia is the supreme law of the Republic of The Gambia.
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| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of the Gambia |
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Executive |
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Legislative |
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Judiciary |
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Administrative divisions
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The Gambia became a nation independent from the colonial rule of the British Empire in 1965 and adopted a constitution. The constitution was suspended by a military coup d'état in 1994.[1] A revised constitution that came into effect in January 1997 then marked an official return to civilian control of the government, although the leader of the coup, Yahya Jammeh, remained in power as President for another 20 years and exercised strong de facto personal control over the country.[2]
Following the presidential election of 2016, there was a constitutional crisis after Jammeh rejected the official results of the election and refused to step down. He was then ejected from power by a military intervention by nations of the ECOWAS regional alliance, allowing the new president, Adama Barrow, to enter the office in January 2017.
References
- "Gambia or The Gambia." The Houghton Mifflin Dictionary of Geography. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Credo Reference. 1 Jan. 2001. Web. 15 June 2011. <http://www.credoreference.com/entry/hmgeog/gambia_or_the_gambia>.
- "Gambia, The: Independence to Present." Encyclopedia of African History. London: Routledge, 2004. Credo Reference. 13 Sept. 2007. Web. 14 June 2011. <http://www.credoreference.com/entry/routafricanhistory/gambia_the_independence_to_present>.