"The continued persecution, intimidation and harassment of activists by the Mugabe regime is paving the way for their own demise," Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa told News24. "Instead of stifling dissent as in years past, the continued crackdown might actually embolden more of it."

Jeffrey Smith knew he wouldn’t get much sleep on December 1. The American human rights advocate sat up all night in front of his computer in Washington, D.C., with his dog Theo, watching as votes in the Gambian election trickled in. More than 4,000 miles away, in the West African country, volunteers in the capital city, Banjul, were emailing him results. The contest promised to be pivotal: Yahya Jammeh, Gambia’s eccentric, autocratic president of 22 years, was facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from Adama Barrow, 51, a mild-mannered real-estate agent, who had months earlier been relatively unknown.

After weeks of turmoil and uncertainty, Gambians are looking forward to getting the country "back on track," one human rights campaigner told CNN ahead of Barrow's return to Gambia this week.

Jeffrey Smith is the executive director of Vanguard Africa, a nonprofit organization that provides support to pro-reform political candidates and backed Barrow's campaign.

Smith told CNN: "The priority right now is getting the country back on track. Gambians just want to get on with building the country back up again."
 

The swift resolution of the Gambian crisis stands in contrast to similar African mediation efforts where leaders have defied term limits or otherwise sought to remain in power indefinitely.

After weeks of turmoil and uncertainty, Gambians are looking forward to getting the country "back on track," according to one human rights campaigner.

Jeffrey Smith is the executive director of Vanguard Africa, a nonprofit organization that provides support to pro-reform political candidates and backed Barrow's campaign.
 

"The fear began to erode," said Jeffrey Smith, from campaign group Vanguard Africa. "People had had enough." 

For the first time, Gambian opponents of Jammeh managed to rally behind a single candidate, Adama Barrow, in a coalition. "It emboldened the Gambian people because they knew that the opposition was serious about making a change," says Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa.

Jammeh's announcement to relinquish power is a good first step, said Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa. "For the Gambia to truly move on, President Barrow must reside in state house and begin the task of governing. In an ideal scenario, Jammeh will also face justice for the many crimes he has committed since 1994."

A longtime dictator in one of Africa’s smallest countries is refusing to relinquish power, ignoring a Jan. 18 deadline set by a coalition of neighboring countries who have threatened to use military action to force his departure. Gambia is now on tenterhooks as West African troops entered Gambian territory late on Jan. 19, giving Yahya Jammeh just hours to cede power and end his 23-year-long dictatorship.

“That a regional bloc is willing to go beyond mere rhetoric, and defend the will and democratic aspirations of an entire people, speaks volumes and will undoubtedly resonate well beyond the Gambia,” said Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Washington-based Vanguard Africa, a nonprofit organization that has worked closely with the Gambian opposition.