NEW PRESIDENT TAKES THE CHAIR
Adama Barrow, the new Gambian leader, returns from exile to take office,
BANJUL // Gambian president Adama Barrow finally returned home yesterday, solidifying his position as the country’s first new commander- in- chief in two decades after a political crisis that sent the previous ruler into exile.
Hundreds of people lined the road to the airport ahead of his arrival, while boys on top of packed minibuses played drums on empty petrol canisters and women danced with joy. Hundreds more gathered at the airport, where Mr Barrow emerged from the plane in a flowing white robe to shouts of “Welcome! Welcome!”
He moved slowly along the red carpet, greeting people amid heavy security.
“Every Gambian must be free,” said Seedia Badjie, 37.
“We suffered for 22 years, but now enough is enough.”
Gambians have eagerly awaited Mr Barrow’s return. The new president has promised to reverse many of the authoritarian policies of former leader Yahya Jammeh, who was accused of imprisoning, torturing and killing his political opponents. Mr Barrow defeated Mr Jammeh in December elections, but the veteran leader had refused to cede power. The international community threw its support behind Mr Barrow.
The 51-year-old businessman was sworn into office on January 19 at the Gambian embassy in neighbouring Senegal because of security threats as the standoff continued.
Mr Jammeh finally left Gambia last weekend, bowing to inter- national pressure that included a regional military force, ending a more than 22-year rule.
The troops from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) were poised to remove Mr Jammeh by force if diplomatic talks failed. They spent recent days securing the country for Mr Barrow’s arrival.
A larger, more formal ceremony to welcome Mr Barrow home will take place at a later date, his spokesman Halifa Sallah said. About 2,500 of the Ecowas troops remain in Gambia – in the capital, Banjul, as well as at key crossing points between Gambia and Senegal and at the port and airport, said Sweden’s United Nations ambassador Olof Skoog, the Security Council president.
Mr Barrow asked the troops to stay for six months to provide security, said Mohamed Ibn Chambas, special representative of the UN secretary general and head of the UN office for West Africa and the Sahel.
Gambia, with nearly 1.9 million residents, has become an example in West Africa for democratic change. The world watched as Gambians supported a coalition of opposition parties whose aim was to oust Mr Jammeh.
The former leader is now in Equatorial Guinea, having taken with him luxury cars and other riches amassed during his presidency. It leaves the new president with problems as Mr Jammeh left the state coffers empty, the new leader said.
Gambia’s biggest export is peanuts, although the country, the smallest on Africa’s mainland, has also become a significant source of migrants making their way to Europe. Mr Barrow’s months ahead will be crucial to building a country that can put a climate of fear behind it and work towards reconciliation. He has vowed greater freedoms and reforms to the security forces and the constitution. He has named a female vice president, Fatoumata Tambajang, who has called for Mr Jammeh to be prosecuted for human rights abuses. But it emerged that she might be above the constitutional age limit for the post, and Mr Barrow said he would form a vetting committee for further appointments.
Mr Sallah, the spokesman, said a human rights commission would be set up and the new government would create a freedom of information act.
“We expect a lot of things from Barrow,” said 26-year-old Modou Fall, who, like many others, wore a # Gambiahasdecided T-shirt to show support for the new president. “We want the forces to stay so we can reform our army and we need development in this country.”