Gambia’s new leader shelters in Dakar

Barrow ‘to return for inauguration’, but Jammeh still won’t quit

THE Gambia’s president-elect Adama Barrow landed in neighbouring Senegal yesterday where he will remain until his planned inauguration this week, Senegalese sources said, following an agreement with west African leaders.

The president-elect is due to take power on Thursday when President Yahya Jammeh’s mandate runs out, but the long-serving strongman has refused to cede power after disputing the result of the December 1 election won by Barrow.

Senegalese President Macky Sall accepted a request to host Barrow in Dakar “until his inauguration”, the official APS agency said. “Barrow is in Dakar as of Sunday [yesterday], just after midnight,” it added. “The Senegalese president accepted the request of his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the current Ecowas [Economic Community of West African States] president.”

A source in the Senegalese presidency confirmed that Barrow was in Dakar following consultations with heads of state from theEcowas at a Bamako summit.

Ecowas, a 15-nation bloc, has repeatedly called on Jammeh to respect the result of the vote and leave after 22 years in power.

Barrow flew into the Malian capital as a surprise guest at the Africa-France summit after talks broke down on Friday between a three-nation west African delegation and Jammeh.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sirleaf and Ghana’s ex-president John Mahama have appealed to Jammeh to step down twice in person, without success.

The leaders of at least 30 nations had gathered in Bamako to discuss jihad on the continent and Africa’s impact on the European migrant crisis – but The Gambia’s political impasse dominated events.

The spectre of a military intervention has arisen in recent days following declarations by the UN and African Union that boots on the ground could receive the green light without a rapid resolution of the crisis.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, said on Friday that the Ecowas would ask the Un Security Council to approve the deployment of troops to The Gambia if Jammeh continued to refuse to leave office.

Ecowas has made it clear in the past that force will not be ruled out as a last resort, but the Nigerian army has denied reports it is preparing troops for a Gambian intervention. There are just three days left of Jammeh’s five-year term, and he has warned the international community against “undue external interference”.

Jammeh has said he will not stand aside until the country’s Supreme Court decides on his legal challenge seeking to annul the result of the election, which he had initially conceded losing. The ruling, however, is unlikely to happen before May. — AFP