The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Gambia

  • Gambia: Military intervention inevitable as Jammeh stays put

    Gambia: Military intervention inevitable as Jammeh stays put

    As all attempts to convince President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia to step aside on the expiration of his tenure fails, the prospect of military intervention by regional forces seem inevitable.

    Recall that Jammeh lost the presidential election to the candidate of the United Democratic Party (UDP) Adama Barrow on December 1st, 2016 and initially conceded defeat before refusing to step down.

    Jammeh and Barrow

    Jammeh had ruled the country for more than two decades, but said if God willed it, his presidency could go on for “a billion years“.

    He has refused to leave office despite international pressure and a threat by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to enforce his election defeat.

    Earlier this week, he disclosed the telephone conversation he had with the Chairperson of the ECOWAS, and Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, public. See video below:

    On Wednesday, a military commander with West Africa’s regional bloc, Seydou Maiga Mboro said its forces will “take action” at midnight unless a solution is found to Gambia’s political crisis before then. According to him, all the troops are already in place awaiting the deadline for President Yahya Jammeh to step down.

    Senegalese and Nigerian troops have arrived the borders of the Gambia awaiting instructions to oust Jammeh out of office if he refuses to step down after clinging to power for over 22 years despite losing to Adama Barrow.

    However, Barrow on his social media account invited everyone to his inauguration which according to him will hold at the Gambian embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

     

    Before running for the Presidency of his country, Barrow lived in the United Kingdom (UK) for several years, where he reportedly worked as a security guard at the Argos catalogue store in north London, while studying for his real estate qualifications.

    [news_box style=”2″ display=”tag” tag=”Gambia” count=”8″ show_more=”on” show_more_type=”link” header_background=”#ef8700″ header_text_color=”#000000″]

  • Gambian president refuses to leave after deadline

    Gambian president refuses to leave after deadline

    A last minute attempt to convince Yahya Jammeh to give up his role as Gambian president before Wednesday’s midnight deadline failed, according to sources in the country’s capital.

    Mauretanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz allegedly made a last-ditch effort late Wednesday night to persuade Jammeh to stand down after more than two decades in power, but was not able to convince him.

    Troops from Senegal, Nigeria and Ghana remained in position in neighbouring Senegal as the deadline passed.

    Meanwhile 26,000 Gambians crossed the border into Senegal between the start of the year and Monday, with many continuing to flee the impending conflict in recent days, according to UNHCR spokeswoman Helene Caux in Dakar.

    Eyewitnesses reported heavily armed soldiers arriving at the Senegalese border town of Karang late Wednesday, while the Nigerian Air Force deployed fighter jets and troops to Senegal ahead of a likely military intervention in Gambia, where the post-election political crisis was escalating.

    Regional bloc ECOWAS pledged to send troops to ensure a peaceful transition of power after it failed in repeated attempts to convince Jammeh to cede power.

    After ruling Gambia for 22 years, Jammeh has refused to accept the result of a December 1 election, which saw him lose power to real estate mogul Adama Barrow.

    Halifa Sallah, a spokesman for the president-elect, said if Jammeh refused to step down by midnight, Thursday’s inauguration would take place at the Gambian embassy in Dakar due to the military intervention in Gambia.

    The Nigerian Air Force said in a statement its deployment was in keeping with the West African bloc’s pledge to enforce the election mandate.

    Nigeria moved 200 troops, fighter jets, transport aircraft, helicopters and other air assets to the Senegalese capital Dakar, and planned to move them from there into Gambia.

    “The deployment is also to forestall hostilities or breakdown of law and order that may result from the current political impasse in Gambia,” the statement read.

    Barrow fled Gambia on Saturday to Dakar amid fears of violence, but has insisted he would be inaugurated as scheduled on Thursday.

    The president, who refuses to leave office, on Tuesday placed his army on highest alert and chief of defence staff, Ousman Badjie, repeatedly pledged his loyalty to the autocrat.

    Experts, however, don’t believe Jammeh will be able to hold up a military battle for long.

    The country of 1.9 million people has about 1,000 soldiers, little capacity to fight a well-trained army, for example that of Senegal, which has almost 20,000 troops.

  • Nigeria deploys 200 Air Force men, jets for action in Gambia

    Nigeria deploys 200 Air Force men, jets for action in Gambia

    The stage is set for a showdown in The Gambia.

    Nigeria yesterday deployed troops and fighter jets ahead of today’s end of President Yahya Jammeh’s tenure. He lost the December 1, 2016 election to Adama Barrow but has declined to respect the result.

    Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is leading the international community’s efforts to make Jammeh to recognise the result and transfer power peacefully to Barrow, who is in Senagal after attending last week’s Franco-African Summit in Mali.

    Nigeria deployed 200 Air Force troops from the 117 Air Combat Training Group (ACTG), Kainji, Niger State – in line with ECOWAS mandate.

    The Air Force personnel were flown out from Kainji to Dakar, the Senegalese capital, from where they will operate should there be need to move them for combat.

     The troops, including Special Forces, Combat Support Group, technicians and medical officials, among others, were taken in a Hercules C-130 military transport plane.

    Also deployed are: fighter air planes, helicopters, and a large utility helicopter.

    The navy on Monday deployed its newest warship – NNS Unity – on the waters around The Gambia.

    The Army, it was gathered, will deploy troops today.

    Also yesterday, columns of Senegalese troops moved to the Gambian border.

     “We are heading towards there,” one military source in Dakar told Reuters. “We are very seriously preparing ourselves.”

     Residents of the towns of Diouloulou and Ziguinchor in southern Senegal reported troops movements towards the Gambian frontier from midnight onwards.

     “Since early morning there have been hundreds of Senegalese soldiers heading in trucks towards the border with The Gambia,” one source in Ziguinchor said.

    Ghana is also expected to send troops.

    Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Siddique Abubakar told his men yesterday that they “have been given the task, which is very well defined, and we have put together all the air assets that we think are necessary to ensure that we are able to successfully conduct this operation and that is what we have on ground here”.

    He added: “What we have here are men that are highly trained, highly skilled. They know their job and they know their task, and as a professional service, the commander of the air assets will work together with other commanders and they will come up with what is required in terms of plans, to be able to execute their tasks and come back home.”

    Jammeh remained adamant yesterday, even as Vice President Mrs Isatou Njie-Saidy resigned.

    The United States warned Jammeh to avoid the consequences of his failure to peacefully hand over power today. It promised to give full support to the measures being taken by ECOWAS to end The Gambian impasse.

    U.S. Department of State spokesman John Kirby said at a news conference that Jammeh was putting his legacy and The Gambia in peril.

    “President Jammeh is losing opportunities to respect the will of the Gambian people and to peacefully hand over power to the president-elect, which is supposed to happen on Thursday.

    “Doing so would allow him to leave office with his head held high and to protect the Gambian people from potential chaos.

    “Failure to do so will put his legacy – and, more importantly, the Gambia – in peril, and we have been clear about this,” he said.

    According to him, the accusation by Jammeh of external interference in The Gambia’s internal affairs is not tenable.

    “I don’t know what interference he’s referring to, but we obviously want to see The Gambia succeed.

    “And we want to see the president-elect properly installed and to have in place a government, which is responsible for and responsive to the needs of the Gambian people.”

    The U.S. had on Friday, indicated support for ECOWAS to take all necessary action on Jammeh if he fails to handover to Barrow.

    The U.S. had regretted that Jammeh’s action had made the situation in The Gambia to become “very uncertain”.

    “We call on President Jammeh to listen to his own people, to listen to the Gambian people who have clearly called on him to accept the results of the Dec. 1 election.

    “And to again agree to what he already agreed to, which is a peaceful handover of power to President-elect Barrow.”

    Kirby, however, said the U.S. “believes that ECOWAS can certainly play an important role in providing security and addressing some of the concerns that there could be violence around the transition”.

    He also said that the U.S. was not ruling out its support to a military action, saying: “We do, and I’m not trying to back away from that in any way, shape, or form.

    “I just would say that we do, obviously, support ECOWAS as a force for peace and security in the region, and specifically in The Gambia.

    “Well, again, I don’t want to speak to what possible actions they may take. I don’t want to get out in front of those decisions,” he said.

  • For Gambia, it’s D-Day

    For Gambia, it’s D-Day

    SIR: Global civil society alliance – CIVICUS – urges President Yahya Jammeh to respect constitutional norms and the will of the Gambian people. For the last 21 years, his regime has used violence to shut down dissent. The current crackdown against the media and civil society is indicative of his regime’s past tactics.

    On January 1, three radio stations – Taranga FM, Hill Top Radio and Afri Radio were ordered to stop broadcasting by the National Intelligence Agency. On January 9, security agents stormed Paradise FM and called on the station to cease broadcasting to the public. The Ministry of Information and Communication Infrastructure subsequently sent a letter to all four radio stations informing them that their licenses have been revoked, without providing any justification.

    Since December 31, 2016, intelligence agents have arrested and detained citizens wearing t-shirts bearing the logo of the movement – #GambiaHasDecided. The movement is leading calls on President Yahya Jammeh to respect the results of the December 1, 2016 elections and step down. The targeting of the leaders of the movement and those perceived by the authorities to be associated with it has forced several Gambians to flee after receiving credible threats to their lives.

    The Gambia has been in a state of uncertainty and continues to experience heightened tensions since President Yahya Jammeh rejected the results of the December elections. At first President Jammeh conceded defeat and congratulated the political opposition, later denouncing the results, announcing he would challenge them in court. In line with the Gambian constitution, the newly elected president is due to be inaugurated today, January 19. The clampdown on independent media and members of the political opposition is aimed at preventing citizens from accessing information and intimidating those calling for him to honour the results and peacefully hand over power.

    The West African regional bloc – the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) – has called on President Jammeh to respect the outcome of the December elections and to step down today. ECOWAS leaders have also held meetings with President Jammeh to persuade him to do the right thing.

    CIVICUS calls on President Jammeh to cooperate fully with the leaders of the ECOWAS to ensure a peaceful transfer of power to avoid political instability and enhance Gambia’s democratic transition.

     

    • Comrade Akingbola Temidayo,

    Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Ondo-State Chapter.

  • Gambia: Regional bloc prepares for intervention at midnight

    Gambia: Regional bloc prepares for intervention at midnight

    A military commander with West Africa’s regional bloc says its forces will “take action” at midnight unless a solution is found to Gambia’s political crisis before then.

    The Associated Press quoted Seydou Maiga Mboro speaking on Senegalese radio station RFM, saying that “all the troops are already in place” awaiting the deadline for President Yahya Jammeh to step down.

    Witnesses in Senegal have reported seeing troops making their way toward Gambia’s borders.

     Jammeh has refused to cede power after 22 years at the helm despite losing the Dec. 1 election to Adama Barrow.

    The president-elect has vowed to go ahead with his inauguration anyway on Thursday, and ECOWAS, the regional bloc, has vowed to use military force if necessary to remove him.

    Jammeh seized power of Gambia in a 1994 coup

  • Jammeh declares state of emergency in Gambia

    Jammeh declares state of emergency in Gambia

    Desperate to hold on to power, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has declared a state of emergency, citing foreign interference in the presidential election he lost last month.

    In a television broadcast on Tuesday, Jammeh said the declaration was necessary “due to the unprecedented and extraordinary amount of foreign inference in the December 1 presidential elections and also in the internal affairs of The Gambia,”

    “ This had created an unwarranted hostile atmosphere, threatening the sovereignty, peace, security and stability of the country,” he added.

    More details soon

  • Update: Support for Gambia’s Jammeh crumbling as sixth minister resigns

    Update: Support for Gambia’s Jammeh crumbling as sixth minister resigns

    Gambia’s tourism and culture minister on Tuesday said he will step down, in what was a sign of dwindling support for Gambia’s outgoing president Yahya Jammeh, who refuses to recognise his loss in a recent election.

    Benjamin Roberts is the sixth member in the incumbent president’s cabinet to resign in less than 48 hours, following the ministers of trade, foreign affairs, finance, environment and sport.

    Observers believe the resignations showed that Jammeh, who ruled Gambia for 22 years with an iron fist, is increasingly politically isolated.

    The 51-year-old autocrat refused to accept the result of the Dec. 1 election, which saw him lose power to Adama Barrow, a real estate mogul little known before his candidacy.

    Barrow, who is scheduled to be sworn in as president on Thursday, fled Gambia to the Senegalese capital, Dakar, amid fears of violence on Saturday.

    Senegalese President Macky Sall had accepted to host Barrow at the request of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after repeated attempts failed to convince Jammeh to cede power.

    ECOWAS also pledged to send troops to ensure a peaceful transition of power.

    On Monday, Gambia’s Supreme Court postponed for the second time a petition Jammeh filed to challenge the presidential election.

    The court has been dysfunctional since Jammeh fired several of its judges in mid-2016 and could only sit if judges are flown in from neighbouring Nigeria or Sierra Leone. (dpa/NAN)

  • Buhari for The Gambia, Mali

    Buhari for The Gambia, Mali

    President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia and Bamako, the Malian capital, today.

    In Banjul, President Buhari, as the mediator in The Gambia, is scheduled to meet with President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia and the President-elect Adama Barrow to continue dialogue on the political situation in the West African country.

    The trip was shifted from Wednesday to today.

    The President will be joined by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Chairperson of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, President Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone, and the immediate past President of Ghana, John Mahama, who is the co-meditator of The Gambian mission.

    A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Buhari will later today travel to Bamako, Mali to participate in the 27th Africa–France Summit. The Summit for Partnership, Peace and Emergence, convened by French President Francois Hollande, is aimed at strengthening cooperation between France and African countries in the areas of peace and security, economic partnership and development.

    It reads: “Recognising the role played by France in the successes so far recorded in the implementation of the regional initiative against terrorism, President Buhari will reaffirm Nigeria’s commitment to global efforts on the war against terror and underline the need for improved collaboration to address the menace of terrorism in the region.

    “The President will be accompanied by Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Defence.”

  • Gambia: Jammeh ‘will not step down’

    Gambia: Jammeh ‘will not step down’

    Gambia’s outgoing President Yayah Jammeh will not step down when his mandate which ends on January. 18, in spite of his electoral defeat, the Information Ministry said on Thursday.

    The autocrat, who ruled the small West African nation for 22 years, will remain in office until the Supreme Court decides on a petition filed by Jammeh.

    According to the statement, Jammeh is challenging the result of the December. 1 presidential election.

    President-elect Adama Barrow, a former real estate agent who was little known before he announced his candidacy, meanwhile reiterated he is planning to take office on Jan. 19, as scheduled.

    Earlier, Gambia’s current dysfunctional Supreme Court adjourned hearing Jammeh’s petition till Jan. 16 since only one of a required minimum of five judges were present.

    Experts however believe it will be highly unlikely that four additional judges will be present on Monday.

    This is because the Supreme Court has not been operational since Jammeh fired several of the court’s judges in mid-2016.

    All other eligible Court of Appeal judges left the country after the December election.

    Observers fear that delays to the planned handover of power could lead to violence.

  • Confusion in The Gambia as Jammeh appoints mediator

    Confusion in The Gambia as Jammeh appoints mediator

    There is confusion in The Gambia following Tuesday night’s broadcast by outgoing President Yahya Jammeh.

    He announced the appointment of a mediator – Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle – between himself and President-elect Adama Barrow but still rejected the election outcome, saying the people should wait for the Supreme Court verdict before which he is challenging the outcome.

    Already the Court declared on Monday that it could not sit because of a lack of quorum. The sitting, it said won’t take place till May.

    The president-elect is due to be inaugurated on January 19.

    Jammeh also criticised international pressure for him to step down. President Muhammadu Buhari will on Friday lead an ECOWAS delegation to Banjul for another round of meetings with Jammeh and Barrow on a peaceful transfer of power on January 19.

     Gambia has been thrust into a crisis following a December 1 presidential vote, which saw Jammeh losing to Barrow.

    Jammeh initially conceded defeat but later reversed his position, lodging a legal case aimed at annulling the result and triggering new elections.

    In the Tuesday night surprise address on national television, Jammeh lashed out at “an unprecedented level of foreign interference in our elections and internal affairs and also a sustained smear campaign, propaganda and misinformation”

    He attacked ECOWAS, the UN Security Council and the African Union – all bodies that have urged him to respect the election result – for taking “unprecedented and hasty resolutions against our republic and constitution”.

    He also appealed for patience, asking Gambians to “await the Supreme Court review and ruling on the election results”.