Gambia

The African Diaspora Policy Centre (ADPC) programme Strengthening Policy Making Capacities of African Diaspora Ministries (SEDIMA), which ran from July 2012 to July 2015, aims to contribute to strengthening policy making capacities and practical operations of African government officials serving at the newly-formed Diaspora Ministries and related institutions tasked with overseeing Diaspora and development-related matters.

The Gambia gained independence from Britain in 1965 and became a Republic in 1971; it was one of the very few multiparty democracies in Africa at the time. A military coup in 1994 briefly interrupted the country’s democratic process, but democracy was restored in 1996 with the holding of Presidential elections followed by National Assembly elections in 1997, completing the return to civilian rule. On the path to a maturing democracy, the 1970 Constitution of the First Republic was replaced by the 1997 Constitution of the Second Republic through a referendum.