Gambian President Adama Barrow will face five challengers in an election on December 4, the first vote in 27 years not to include exiled former leader Yahya Jammeh, who fled the country after refusing to accept his defeat five years ago.

Barrow will be judged on his progress dragging the country out of a Jammeh era characterized by harsh political crackdowns, fear and financial plunder. The election is being held under conditions of economic hardship after the COVID-19 pandemic kept European tourists away from Gambia’s beaches.

Candidates include Barrow’s former political mentor Ousainou Darboe, 73, as well as Essa Mbye Faal, who served as chief counsel of Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission that chronicled the abuses of Jammeh’s rule. Also running is Mama Kandeh, who came third in the 2016 polls.

Fifteen other candidates were rejected for not meeting election commission standards.

Barrow, a former security guard in London, has been stymied by COVID-19. The economy shrank 0.2 percent in 2020, although it is expected to grow 4.9 percent this year.