Last-chance mission to convince Gambian leader to step down
WEST African heads of state began arriving in Gambia yesterday to try to convince longruling President Yahya Jammeh to relinquish power after losing an election this month.
Jammeh, who seized power in a coup in 1994 and earned the reputation as a repressive leader, had conceded defeat to opponent Adama Barrow, prompting wild celebrations in the country of 1.8 million after the December 1 election.
However, he changed his mind a week later, citing irregularities in the official results, which were corrected to show a victory margin of fewer than 20 000 votes for Barrow.
The U-turn has prompted sharp criticism from the US, UN, regional body Ecowas and even the African Union, which typically takes a softer line.
Diplomats in the region say if Jammeh seeks to cling to power after negotiations fail, neighbours might consider options for removing him by force.
Ecowas commission president Marcel de Souza said sending troops was a conceivable solution.
Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari, Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone’s Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana’s outgoing President John Mahama landed at noon and immediately convened at a luxury hotel ahead of talks with Jammeh.
They were not met at the airport by the president but by his deputy Isatou Njie-Saidy.
“We hope we can talk and that the will of the people will prevail,” Sirleaf said after her arrival as head of the delegation.
Absent from the gathering was neighbouring Senegal, which entirely engulfs the riverside nation and has a history of poor relations with it.
Senegal sent troops there during a coup in 1981 and some officials suspect Jammeh of sponsoring a rebellion in its southern Casamance region.
Senegal’s Foreign Ministry called yesterday’s trip a last chance mission for Jammeh.
However, the AU said late on Monday it also planned to send a high-level delegation led by Chad’s President Idriss Deby to facilitate a peaceful and speedy transfer of power.
The streets of the capital Banjul were calm yesterday, with a high-security presence.
Up until now the president of the tiny country of fewer than two million people may have exasperated his peers but has never threatened peace in the sub-region, a situation that has dramatically shifted since his move to void the election.
If Jammeh and the delegation did not reach an agreement, west African states would contemplate more draconian decisions, a top Ecowas official said.
Barrow has said he wants Jammeh to step down now, though the leader has the legal right to stay in office until next month, It was unclear whether Jammeh’s party would file a complaint with the Supreme Court yesterday, thought to be constitutionally the last day possible to contest the election result.
US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power warned that Gambia faced a very dangerous moment, citing reports that some military officers had sided with Jammeh.