List of heads of state 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 Gambia Independence Act 1964 was the Queen of The Gambia, Elizabeth II, who was also the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen was represented in The Gambia by a Governor-General. The Gambia became a republic in 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.

№	Monarch (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Reign			Royal House	Prime Minister
			Reign start	Reign end	Time in Office
1	Queen Elizabeth II (1926–2022)		18 February 1965	24 April 1970	5 years, 66 days	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. The Governor-General was appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of The Gambia without the involvement of the British government. In the event of a vacancy the Chief Justice served as Officer Administering the Government.

Status

  Denotes Chief Justice acting as Officer Administering the Government

№	Governor-General (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Tenure			Monarch	Prime Minister
			Took office	Left office	Time in Office
1	Sir John Paul(1916–2004)		18 February 1965	9 February 1966	356 days	Elizabeth II	Jawara
2	Sir Farimang Mamadi Singateh(1912–1977)		9 February 1966	24 April 1970	4 years 75 days	Elizabeth II	Jawara

Political affiliation (at time of appointment)
			People's Progressive Party
	chairman National Revolutionary Council, in rebellion
	People's Progressive Party

Military
			Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council

Political affiliation (at time of appointment)
			Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction
	United Democratic Party

President

The President of the Republic of the Gambia is the head of state and head of government of the Gambia. The president leads the executive branch of the government of the Gambia and is the commander-in-chief of the Military of the Gambia. The post was created in 1970, when the Gambia became a republic and has been held by three people: Dawda Jawara, who ruled from 1970 until 1994, Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless coup that year and Adama Barrow, who defeated Jammeh in elections held in December 2016.

№	President (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Tenure		Elected		Political affiliation
			Took office	Left office
Gambia Colony and Protectorate (1961–1965)
1	Pierre Sarr N'Jie		14 March 1961	12 June 1962	1961		People's Progressive Party
2	Dawda Jawara		12 June 1962	18 February 1965	1965		People's Progressive Party
The Gambia (1965–1970)
3	Dawda Jawara		18 February 1965	24 April 1970	1965		People's Progressive Party
The Gambia
4	Sir Dawda Jawara		24 April 1970	31 July 1981 (deposed.)	1972 1977		People's Progressive Party
chairman National Revolutionary Council, Gambia Socialist Revolutionary Party
5	Kukoi Sanyang		30 July 1981	5 Aug 1981			chairman National Revolutionary Council, Gambia Socialist Revolutionary Party
5 6 7	Kukoi Sanyang , Ousman Bojang , Gibril George		5 August 1981	5 August 1981	–		chairman National Revolutionary Council, Gambia Socialist Revolutionary Party
The Gambia
8	Sir Dawda Jawara		5 August 1981	22 July 1994 (deposed.)	1982 1987 1992		People's Progressive Party
Military rule (1994–1996) coup d'état
	Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council		22 July 1994	22 July 1994			Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council
9	Colonel Yahya Jammeh		22 July 1994	18 October 1996			Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council
Second Republic (1996–2006)
10	Yahya Jammeh		18 October 1996	18 October 2006	1996 2001 2006		Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction
11	Lang Tombong Tamba		18 October 2006	18 October 2006 (deposed.)	—		Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council
Third Republic (2006 — 2014 )
12	Yahya Jammeh		18 October 2006	30 December 2014 (deposed.)	2006 2011		Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction
13	Colonel Yahya Jammeh , Ousman Badjie		30 December 2014	30 December 2014 (deposed.)	–		Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council
14							Independent
Fourth Republic (2014 — 2017 )
15	Yahya Jammeh		30 December 2014	21 January 2017 (deposed.)	— ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia		Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction
2016–17 Gambian constitutional
16	Yahya Jammeh		9 December 2016	21 January 2017			Independent
17	Adama Barrow
Five Republic (2017 — Incumbent)
18	Adama Barrow		19 January 2017	9 December 2023	2016		United Democratic Party
19	Sanna Fadera		9 December 2023	25 December 2023	—		Armed Forces
20	Adama Barrow		25 December 2023	Incumbent	2021		United Democratic Party

President Candidates

Nominations were accepted between 30 October and 5 November. From twenty-one nominees, six candidates were approved to run by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC):

Name	Party	Position
Adama Barrow	National People's Party (NPP)	Incumbent President (2017-present)
Ousainou Darboe	United Democratic Party (UDP)	Former Vice President (2018-2019)
Essa M. Faal	Independent	Chief Prosecutor of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (2018-present)
Mama Kandeh	Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC)	MP in Pan-African Parliament
Abdoulie Ebrima Jammeh	National Union Party (NUP)	Former Director General of The Gambia Civil Aviation Authority
Halifa Sallah	People's Democratic Organisation for Independence and Socialism (PDOIS)	Special Advisor to the President on Governance (2017), National Assembly Minority Leader (2002-2007)

Vice president

#	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Political party
1	Sheriff Mustapha Dibba (1937–2008)	1970	1972	PPP
2	Assan Musa Camara (1923–2013)	1972	1977	PPP
3	Alieu Badara Njie (1904–1982)	1977	1981	PPP
2	Assan Musa Camara (1923–2013)	1981	May 1982	PPP
4	Bakary Bunja Darbo (born 1946)	12 May 1982	1992	PPP
5	Saihou Sabally (born 1947)	1992	22 July 1994 (Deposed in a coup)	PPP
6	Edward Singateh	1996	1997
7	Isatou Njie-Saidy (born 1952)	20 March 1997	18 January 2017 (Resigned)	APRC
	Fatoumata Tambajang (born 1949)	23 January 2017	9 November 2017	UDP
8		9 November 2017	29 June 2018
9	Ousainou Darboe (born 1948)	29 June 2018	15 March 2019	UDP
10	Isatou Touray (born 1955)	15 March 2019	4 May 2022	Independent
11	Badara Joof (1955–2023)	4 May 2022	17 January 2023	Independent
	Vacant (17 January – 24 February 2023)
12	Muhammad B. S. Jallow	24 February 2023	Incumbent	Independent

• Edward Singateh, designated vice president in 1996,

See also

• List of colonial governors of the Gambia
• List of heads of government of the Gambia
• Lists of office-holders

References

• Guinness Book of Kings, Rulers & Statesmen, Clive Carpenter, Guinness Superlatives Ltd
• African States and Rulers, John Stewart, McFarland

Other websites

• World Statesmen – The Gambia
• Rulers.org – The Gambia