He was a real estate businessman before he entered politics. Born in Mankamang Kunda, a small village in the far east of the Gambia, 

On Friday, December 2, 2016, the head of the Gambia's Supreme Electoral Commission announced that opposition candidate Adama Barrow had won a majority of the vote, officially ending the country's nearly 22-year rule. 

On January 19, 2017 , after Yahya Jama refused to acknowledge defeat and hand over power, Barrow was sworn in at the Gambia embassy in Senegal , calling on his country's security forces to declare allegiance to him