By Alieu Manneh

BANJUL, Gambia 

Following last week’s shock election ending the 22-year reign of President Yahya Jammeh, Gambian opposition figures are urging the release of political prisoners in the small West African country, and the prisoners’ relatives are anxiously awaiting action.

President-elect Adama Barrow, set to take office in January, has promised to release all political prisoners, including Ousainou Darboe, leader of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), currently serving a three-year jail term. Rumors are swirling that an early prisoner release by Jammeh might be announced as early as Monday.

Neither the victorious coalition nor Jammeh’s team would comment on this, but a minister in the outgoing government who asked not to be named due to restrictions on speaking to the media told Anadolu Agency that he thinks “the president will release all political prisoners on Christmas Day or Jan. 1.”

“It is not just a priority for our new government to release all political prisoners, it is an obligation,” Hamat Bah, a leading opposition figure in the coalition and leader of the country’s number two opposition party, National Reconciliation Party, told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

Darboe, a Gambian human rights lawyer and politician, got his sentence for leading a peaceful demonstration for the release of party members, two of whom ended up dying in state custody.

Some 55 members of the UDP, including senior members, are currently in custody.

- Proud of his sacrifice

Mai Darboe, the jailed opposition leader’s wife, told Anadolu Agency that the past nine months has been challenging for them as a family.

“Ousainou is the breadwinner of this family and we missed him. His grandchildren kept asking me when he’s coming back,” she said. “They can't understand why he was put in jail. They were very used to him and he often took them to the beach on Sundays.”

She added, “He was ready to die to ensure that Gambians are free and justice is served. Somebody had to sacrifice to end the dictatorship in this country and that was what my husband did and I am proud of it."

Separately, Mohammed Ibn Chambas -- the special UN envoy for West Africa and the Sahel -- on Saturday urged Gambians to reconcile their political differences and also praised Jammeh for “graciously accepting defeat.”

Barrow has also asked Gambian dissidents based abroad, many of them journalists and Jammeh’s political opponents, to return home.