Jammeh’s gamble

•AU and ECOWAS must ensure the defeated ruler respect the people’s wish

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf talked tough on December 17 when she told the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to consider recommended measures to end the political crisis in the Gambia before January 19 when incumbent President Yahya Jammeh’s term constitutionally ends. A worried Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf spoke at the 50th ordinary session of the body, the highest organ of the regional group.
The crisis in the Gambia was triggered by the refusal of President Jammeh to accept defeat in the country’s presidential election held on December 1.
The crisis must have come as a rude shock to the international community, given that Jammeh had immediately after the results of the election were announced conceded defeat and even congratulated the winner, Adama Barrow. “You are the elected president of The Gambia, and I wish you all the best,” Jammeh told Barrow adding that he had “no ill will.” But, nine days later, the president, in a dramatic volte face alleged that investigations since the December 1 vote had revealed a number of voting irregularities, which he described as unacceptable.”I hereby reject the results in totality,” he said in his address that aired late December 9. “Let me repeat: I will not accept the results based on what has happened.”
After staying in power for 22 years, one would have expected President Jammeh to willingly relinquish power, following his defeat at the polls. Without doubt, this is not a peculiar mess in Africa because it is a path many African leaders had taken. The problem, however, is: neither ECOWAS nor even the African Union (AU) has any antidote to the problem beyond moral suasion to get sit-tight rulers out. For instance, there is no standing army to deploy against them.
It is against this backdrop that we see a perplexed Johnson-Sirleaf asking the regional body to end the crisis in Gambia without necessarily stating how. After regaling us with what we already knew about the Gambian crisis, the Liberian president said that President Jammeh’s reversal of his earlier acceptance of the election result necessitated the visit by her and a host of other leaders, including President Muhammadu Buhari, to Banjul, the Gambian capital, for consultations with all the relevant stakeholders.
“The mission was successful in its consultative effort by holding meetings with the president, the president–elect and all the relevant stakeholders. It is now important that the authority, at this summit, considers recommended measures to bring this matter to successful conclusion before January 19, (2017) the constituted date when the mandate of the incumbent president expires”, she told her colleagues.
Except for mere academic exercise, the mission being referred to by Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf could not be regarded as ‘successful” because President Jammeh was fully in charge at the meeting; not even the body language of the visitors during the meeting with him was reassuring. Indeed, it could be said without fear of contradiction that if the visit to Banjul achieved anything, it was inflating Jammeh’s ego.
This is unacceptable.
ECOWAS and the AU must come up with a workable policy on sit-tight leaders in Africa; particularly those who still want to cling to power after they had been roundly rejected at the polls. The Gambia’s military leaders must be careful about how they handle the avoidable impasse. Both the military authorities and the president must be reminded that they have the International Criminal Court (ICC) to contend with, irrespective of whether the president had begun the process of withdrawing from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.
President Jammeh must be made to relinquish office in deference to the election result, the wish of the international community as well as even at least 11 of the country’s ambassadors who have urged him to step down for the coalition candidate to take over.