Defeated Gambian leader heads into exile
GAMBIA’S defeated leader Yahya Jammeh and his family have headed into political exile, ending a 22-year reign of fear and a postelection stand-off which threatened to spiral into military action.
As he mounted the stairs to his plane, Mr Jammeh turned to the crowd, kissed his Koran and waved one last time to supporters, including soldiers who cried at his departure.
The flight came almost 24 hours after he announced on state television he was ceding power in response to mounting international pressure.
The incoming president, Adama Barrow, has said Mr Jammeh would fly to Guinea, though that might not be his final destination.
Although tens of thousands of Gambians had fled the country during his rule, Jammeh supporters flocked to the airport to see him go.
Mr Barrow defeated Mr Jammeh in the December elections, but Mr Jammeh contested the results, as calls grew for him to be prosecuted for alleged abuses
A regional force had been poised to force out Mr Jammeh if last-ditch diplomatic efforts failed.
The situation became so tense that Mr Barrow had to be inaugurated in neighbouring Senegal at the Gambian Embassy. He said he would return to Gambia once it is “clear” and a security sweep is completed.
Mr Jammeh’s announcement ended hours of last-minute negotiations with the leaders of Guinea and Mauritania.
As Mr Jammeh prepared to leave the country after more than two decades in power, human rights activists demanded that he be held accountable for alleged abuses, including torture and detention of opponents.
Mr Jammeh once vowed to rule for a billion years. His departure has brought an end to the political crisis in this nation of 1.9 million, which has promoted itself to European tourists as “the Smiling Coast of Africa”.
Jeggan Bahoum, of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in Gambia, said: “Jammeh came as a pauper bearing guns. He should leave as a disrobed despot.”
Mr Jammeh, who first seized power in a 1994 coup, had been holed up in recent days in his official residence in Banjul, increasingly isolated as he was abandoned by his security forces and several Cabinet members.
Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa, said: “For the Gambia to truly move on, president Barrow must reside in State House and begin governing. In an ideal scenario, Jammeh will also face justice.”