Deadline past, Gambian faces ouster by bloc forces
DAKAR, Senegal — Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who lost December’s election, faced the prospect of a military intervention by regional forces for refusing to step down for a peaceful transition of power after ruling two decades.
A few minutes after a midnight deadline set by the West African regional bloc to step down, there was no word from Jammeh.
Earlier, a military commander with the regional bloc announced that troops were positioning along Gambia’s borders.
“The mandate of the president is finished at midnight,” declared Seydou Maiga Moro, speaking on Senegalese radio station RFM. “All the troops are already in place,” he added, saying they were merely waiting to see whether Jammeh would acquiesce to international pressure to cede power to President-elect Adama Barrow.
As midnight approached, Jammeh met with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on the crisis. The Mauritanian leader left Gambia shortly before midnight, telling Gambia state television that “I am now less pessimistic [Jammeh] will work on a peaceful solution that is in the best interest for everyone. “
Thousands of Gambians have fled the country, including some former Cabinet ministers who resigned in recent days. Hundreds of foreign tourists were evacuating on special charter flights, though some continued to relax poolside despite the political turmoil. Gambia is a popular beach destination in winter, especially for tourists from the United Kingdom, the former colonial power.
The downtown area of the Gambian capital, Banjul, there was no visible military presence apart from a checkpoint at the entrance to the city, despite the threat of incoming forces.
Gambia is surrounded by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean. Late Wednesday, witnesses reported Senegalese soldiers deploying in the Senegalese Kaolack region, north of Gambia, and in the southern Senegalese region of Casamance.
In another sign of the international pressure, Nigeria confirmed a warship was heading toward Gambia for “training,” and RFM radio reported that Nigerian military equipment had begun arriving in Dakar in advance of the midnight deadline. Ghana also has pledged to contribute militarily.
The regional bloc was seeking the U.N. Security Council’s endorsement of its “all necessary measures” to remove Jammeh. “There is a sense that the whole situation rests in the hands of one person, and it’s up to that person, the outgoing president of the Gambia, to draw the right conclusions,” said Sweden’s U.N. Ambassador Olof Skoog, the current council president.
Jammeh, who first seized power in a 1994 coup, has insisted that his rule was ordained by Allah. He initially conceded defeat after the December vote, but after reports emerged suggesting he could face criminal charges linked to his rule, he reversed himself a week later. He said voting irregularities invalidated the results, and his party went to court seeking a new round of voting. The case has stalled because the Supreme Court currently has only one sitting judge.
Human-rights groups have long accused Jammeh of arresting, jailing and killing political opponents. Tensions have been so high that Barrow, the president-elect, has remained in the Senegalese capital since last weekend, at the advice of regional mediators, who feared for his safety. He was not even able to return to Banjul for his 7-year-old son’s funeral Monday after the child was fatally mauled by a dog.