Military rule in The Gambia: an interim assessment.

This article assesses the military government established in the Gambia after the July 1994 coup d'etat. On July 22, 1994, the political system of the small West African state of The Gambia was subjected to an abrupt and dislocative change. On that day a group of very young junior officers from the Gambia National Army staged a coup d' etat which succeeded in overthrowing the government of Dawda Kairaba Jawara and his People's Progressive Party which had ruled the country since independence in 1965. With very few exceptions military government in Africa has not been totally militarized and civilians have continued to play a prominent role, but not a dominant one. In the Gambian case this can be observed in two ways. First, the regime has made considerable use of the technocratic and administrative skills of civilians within government. Second, in common with other African military rulers, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council has tried to encourage and construct support groups among the civilian population as a way of buttressing their rule and making it appear less overtly militaristic.