The 1 December presidential election in The Gambia is now attracting the global community. Ecowas has conducted a pre-election fact finding mission. EU has conducted a human rights fact finding mission. Now the AU is also conducting a pre-election fact finding mission.
It is therefore important for the government to put its house in order and prepare the country for genuine elections. This could be best done by releasing all prisoners who are connected to the 14 and 16 April and 9 May incidents and discontinue the trial of those who were arrested on 9 May, open up the state media to divergent views and dissenting opinions and put an end to all detentions without trial. These actions will go a long way in sanitizing the electoral process.
