Vanguard Africa, a nonprofit consultancy, built a client base by working for the opposition for free in Gambia, where one of the region’s most brutal and longest-serving presidents was ousted in 2016.

Founding Director of Vanguard Africa, Jeffrey Smith, criticized the deal, saying it is a manifestation of everything that is wrong in Washington DC.

In 2013, three-quarters of Africans surveyed said democracy was the best form of government. Since then, the figure has slid. And democracy is struggling. In a story in Foreign Affairs, Nic Cheeseman and Jeffrey Smith cited a handful of troubling statistics: One measure of the level of democracy has decreased each of the last 14 years; just 40 percent of those in another survey said their last elections were free and fair.

“Shutting down the internet has become a go-to tactic. Robert Mugabe, who was rightly reviled for the human rights abuses, did not go so far as to order a blackout. The (new) government has shown zero political will to protect rights,” said Jeffrey Smith a founding director of Vanguard Africa, a foundation advocating for open democracy, with a special interest on Zimbabwe.

Gnassingbe’s critics have been dismissive of these gestures. In a piece this week for Vanguard Africa, Wolali K. Ahlijah, a co-founder of the Faure Must Go campaign, suggested that Tsegan’s election was a cynical attempt by the government to get plaudits for “empowering women.” The released prisoners, meanwhile, should never have been detained in the first place, he said, and were “held hostage and used as a bargaining tool by the regime.” 

Elections “will be a true litmus test of the power of the country’s youth and a testament to their collective aspirations for a better, more prosperous country,” said Jeffrey Smith, Washington-based executive director of the Vanguard Africa Foundation, which advocates for inclusive democracies.

Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa, says the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe is worrying as armed soldiers and police are terrorizing local people following protests over the nation's economic decay.

Au lendemain des élections en République démocratique du Congo, le Web et les SMS ont été suspendus. Ce n’est pas le premier pays du continent à user de cette méthode.

Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa, a pro-democracy organization that engages with African governments, says he is not surprised by the insult law arrests. Mnangagwa — nicknamed the Crocodile for his crafty ways as a liberation fighter — rose to power through a de facto coup. Smith believes it would be a mistake to assume the country will now become more democratic.

Hot FM Gambia heads to Washington, DC as Jeffrey Smith, who helped highlight the plight of Gambia's dictatorship at the highest levels of the US administration, tells us what he thinks of the Barrow government after two years.