The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Yahya Jammeh

  • Jammeh to receive Buhari’s delegation Friday

    Jammeh to receive Buhari’s delegation Friday

    President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia will receive the High Level ECOWAS mediation team led by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday.

    The delegation had on Monday resolved to visit Jammeh on Wednesday towards ensuring violence-free handover of power to the President-elect, Adama Barrow, on January 19.

    Buhari is mediating in the crisis alongside Mr. John Mahama, the immediate past president of Ghana.

    A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, said the shift in date will not prevent the delegation from realizing the ECOWAS mandate and goals.

    The statement reads: “President Buhari reiterated the appeal on Monday by ECOWAS leaders that the Gambian leaders do everything they can to douse the tension in the West African country, which has led citizens to leave the country due to political uncertainty.

    “The Nigerian leader said ECOWAS is committed to the resolution of the crisis through inclusive dialogue with respect to the constitution and the will of the people of Gambia.”

     

     

  • Jammeh incommunicado – Ban Ki-Moon

    Embattled President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia has been unreachable by phone, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has revealed.

    “Despite efforts to reach President Yahya Jammeh by phone, the Secretary-General has not yet been able to speak with him,” Stephane Dujarric, Ban Ki-Moon’s spokesman, said in a statement in New York.

    The UN chief has however spoken with Adama Barrow, the President-elect to congratulate him on his electoral victory and to reiterate the commitment of the UN to a peaceful, timely, and orderly transfer of power.

    In a readout of the phone call to Barrow, Ban Ki- Moon said the UN welcomed and fully supported the December 17 decision of ECOWAS to support the safety of the president-elect.

    Ban advised the president-elect to urge his supporters to show restraint and not resort to violence.

    The secretary-general emphasized that the UN would support the will of the people in their election of Barrow as well as the future government in efforts to promote democracy and sustainable development of the country.

    The UN Security Council and the African Union have also expressed such support and have acknowledged Barrow as the president-elect after he defeated the incumbent, Jammeh, in the December 1 presidential election.

  • Gambian president Jammeh will not ‘step down’

    Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said he would not step down and condemned mediation by West African regional bloc ECOWAS that aims to get him to leave power after he lost a December 1 election to challenger Adama Barrow.

    The comments on state television late on Tuesday were a hardening of the veteran president’s position after days in which hopes mounted he could be persuaded to hand over power at the end of his mandate on January 18, when Barrow is due to be inaugurated.

    “I am not a coward. My right cannot be intimidated and violated. This is my position. Nobody can deprive me of that victory except the Almighty Allah,” Reuters quoted Jammeh as saying on the state television.

    “Already the ECOWAS meeting was a formality. Before they came, they had already said Jammeh must step down. I will not step down.”

    Jammeh initially accepted the results of an election whose outcome was seen across Africa as a moment of hope. He is accused by human rights groups of the detention, torture and killing of perceived opponents during his 22-year rule.

    On December 9, he reversed his position and said he would challenge in the country’s Supreme Court the results of an election he said was riddled with irregularities.

     

     

     

  • AU backs ECOWAS’ decision on Gambia

    The Chairman of the African Union (AU), Mr. Idriss Deby, on Monday expressed full support for the decisions adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of State on the political situation in The Gambia.

    In a statement issued in Addis Ababa, Deby commended the ECOWAS Heads of State for their “principled stand with regards to the situation in The Gambia.

    He said the AU was in full support of the decisions reached at the meeting held in Abuja on December 16, including “the consideration to use all necessary means to ensure the respect of the will of the people of The Gambia.’’

    “The Chairman of AU reaffirms its readiness to pursue and intensify coordination efforts with ECOWAS and the United Nations,” the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted the statement as saying on Monday.

    “This is in order to facilitate the speedy and orderly transfer of power to the President-elect, including its full support to President Muhammadu Buhari, in his capacity as ECOWAS Mediator in The Gambia.’’

    Deby, who is the President of Chad, repeated his call on The Gambia’s outgoing President Yahya Jammeh to facilitate the smooth transfer of power to the newly elected president, Adama Barrow, as decided by The Gambians.

    He also called on members of the security forces in The Gambia to strictly abide by the country’s Constitution and the rule of law.

     

  • Gambia’s Jammeh must leave power when term ends – UN

    Gambia’s Jammeh must leave power when term ends – UN

    UN official in West Africa on Wednesday said Gambian President Yahya Jammeh will not be allowed to remain president if he refuses to go at the end of his term in January.

    Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the UN Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, told newsmen in Dakar that Jammeh would face strong sanctions if he tried to cling to power.

    Jammeh, who took power in a coup in 1994, initially conceded defeat in the Dec. 1 election to little-known challenger Adama Barrow, raising the prospect of an end to his
    22 years rule.

    Jammeh’s rule was tainted by allegations of widespread human rights abuses.

    However, in a dramatic about-face that drew international condemnation, Jammeh
    then rejected the voting results last Friday, and his party was challenging the outcome at Gambia’s Supreme Court.

    Chambas, however, said “for Mr Jammeh, the end is here and under no circumstances can he continue to be president.

    “By Jan. 18, his mandate is up and he will be required to hand over to Mr. Barrow.”

    He added that Jammeh would be “strongly sanctioned” if he did not step down and hand over power to Barrow, without giving details.

    Chambas accompanied a delegation of presidents representing the regional bloc ECOWAS who travelled to Gambia on Tuesday but failed to reach a deal that would see Jammeh step down.

    Instead, Gambian soldiers seized the headquarters of the national elections commission and sealed it just hours before the presidents touched down in the riverside nation.

    UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on Wednesday, said that the takeover was an “outrageous act of disrespect of the will of the Gambian people”.

    The building in Banjul remained deserted on Wednesday aside from two armed security guards, while its front gate and ground floor entrances were closed.

    “No one has gone to work. I didn’t even try. No one has informed me that I can go back,” elections commission chairman Alieu Momarr Njai said on Wednesday.

    The ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction filed a challenge to the election result, even as the delegation held mediation meetings on Tuesday.

    The court has not held a session for a year and a half, and legal experts believe that at least four new judges would need to be hired to hear Jammeh’s petition.

    “We do not believe it will be heard by a credible court dedicated to ensuring the integrity of The Gambia’s democratic process,’’ a U.S. Embassy statement said.

    Analysts have suggested that the challenge in the Supreme Court, the legal channel for resolving election disputes, could put diplomats in a difficult position.

    While such disputes are relatively common in Africa, the international community generally defers to established domestic legal mechanisms for resolving them.

    However, in a notable exception, UN troops intervened militarily alongside France to oust Ivory Coast’s then-president Laurent Gbagbo after he used the constitutional court to overturn the 2010 election victory of Alassane Ouattara.

    Meanwhile, report says ECOWAS leaders will discuss Gambia at a summit in Nigeria on Saturday.  (Reuters/NAN)

  • Buhari’s experience needed in Gambian crisis’

    Buhari’s experience needed in Gambian crisis’

    The coalition of seven political parties that produced The Gambia President-elect, Adama Barrow, is looking up to  President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy his vast experience, alongside other African leaders, to resolve the political logjam in the West African country.

    According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, one of the coalition members, Hamad Bah, spoke with the media during the high-level ECOWAS /AU/UN Joint Mission to The Gambia on Tuesday.

    He said: “We need the experience of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in many ways. Like President Jammeh, he is a former military officer, so he knows how the military thinks, and would be able to talk to him appropriately.

    “Again, President Buhari was in the opposition in Nigeria for about 12 years, before he won election in 2015. So, he also knows how the opposition thinks. He can feel what we feel. We are quite glad that President Buhari is here, it gives us a lot of hope.”

    The high-level team, in series of meetings that lasted the whole of Tuesday, met with President Jammeh, twice, conferred with Barrow, consulted with security chiefs, members of the diplomatic community, leadership of the electoral commission, and many other interest groups.

     

    The consensus was that President Jammeh needed to respect the result of the December 1 election, which he had earlier accepted, congratulated the winner, only to recant a week later, calling for fresh polls “to be conducted by a God-fearing electoral commission.”

    The Joint ECOWAS-AU-UN team, made of President Buhari, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia (current Chairperson of ECOWAS), President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, outgoing President John Mahama of Ghana, and Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, (UN Special Representative for West Africa), encouraged Jammeh to reconsider his rejection of the election results, citing “tallying errors” and his call for new elections.

    Jammeh was also urged to hand over power “within constitutional deadlines and in accordance with electoral laws of The Gambia.”

    President Johnson-Sirleaf said discussions on The Gambian impasse would continue, as ECOWAS leaders meet in Abuja this Saturda

  • Gambia’s ruling party challenges election result

    Gambia’s ruling party has filed a petition to challenge the result of the presidential election which saw Yahya Jammeh lose power after 22- year rule.

    The result of the December 1 polls should be annulled, the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), said in a document handed to the registrar of the Supreme Court in the capital, Banjul.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the petition was filed after an African Union (AU) delegation met with Jammeh, hoping to persuade him to hand over power to President-elect Adama Barrow.

    Earlier on Tuesday, security forces blocked the entrance to the electoral commission in Banjul, while the Chief of Defence Staff vowed to remain loyal to Jammeh, indicating that the country’s military would help him stay in power.

    Jammeh last week announced his intention to challenge the election results, even though he had earlier conceded defeat to Barrow.

    The 51-year-old, who has ruled the West African country for 22 years, deployed heavily armed military and police to the streets of the capital.

  • Buhari, ECOWAS leaders to meet Jammeh on Gambian crisis

    Buhari, ECOWAS leaders to meet Jammeh on Gambian crisis

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday morning arrived Banjul, The Gambia, to meet with the country’s President, Yahya Jammeh, who lost the presidential election penultimate week.

    A statement issued on Tuesday by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, said Buhari had arrived together with the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who is the current Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, and President Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra-Leone.

    They were received at the airport by Gambia’s Vice-President,  Isatou Njie-Saidy.

    The outgoing President of Ghana, John Mahama, who had earlier arrived Banjul, will join the other West African leaders to meet President Jammeh at the CoCo Ocean Resort and Spa, Banjul.

    President Jammeh had earlier conceded defeat in the election, after a 22-year rule, but recanted a week later, asking for fresh polls to be conducted by a “God-fearing and independent electoral commission.”

    President Buhari and the ECOWAS leaders will discuss the ensuing impasse in The Gambia with President Jammeh, and insist on the sanctity of the electoral process, and respect for the wishes of the people.

    They wIll also ask their host to respect the Constitution of his country and maintain the inviolability of an electoral process that had been concluded, and in which he had admitted defeat and congratulated his main challenger.

    The leaders are also scheduled to meet the President-elect, Adama Barrow.

    President Buhari is expected back in Abuja later on Tuesday.

  • Gambia: Jammeh rejects election result, winner kicks

    Gambia: Jammeh rejects election result, winner kicks

    A week after conceding defeat by his opponent in the presidential election, Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh has rejected the result.

    Citing abnormalities, Jammeh who lost to Adama Borrow of the opposition said he rejected the result after a thorough investigation and called for a fresh exercise.

    “I lament serious and unacceptable abnormalities which have reportedly transpired during the electoral process.

    “I recommend fresh and transparent elections which will be officiated by a God-fearing and independent electoral commission, ” Jammeh said on Saturday in a broadcast according to agency reports.

    The results of the election were revised by the country’s electoral commission on December 5 , when it emerged that the ballots for one area were added incorrectly, swelling Mr Barrow’s vote.

    The error, which also added votes to the other candidates, “has not changed the status quo” of the result, the commission said.

    Responding to Jammeh’s turn around, Barrow accused the incumbent of damaging democracy by refusing to accept the result. His transition team said the president-elect was safe.

  • Gambia: Army chief pledges allegiance to President-elect

    Gambia: Army chief pledges allegiance to President-elect

    Gambia’s army chief has pledged allegiance to President-elect Adama Barrow, Barrow’s spokeswoman has said, reinforcing hopes that the tiny West African nation will see its first peaceful change of power in more than half a century.

    A self-made real estate developer who once worked as a security guard at retailer Argos in London, Barrow beat incumbent Yahya Jammeh in last Thursday’s election.

    Jammeh, an autocrat who had banned opposition protests and pledged to rule Gambia for a “billion years”, shocked Gambians by admitting defeat, raising questions about what had persuaded him that the game was up.

    “General Badjie called to congratulate Barrow on his victory and to offer his allegiance,” spokeswoman Amie Bojang told journalists in Banjul.

    An army spokesman was not immediately available to comment.

    Though Jammeh called Barrow to congratulate him on his victory last week, the pair had not met since the vote. The constitution says he must hand over a month after the poll.

    Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup that unseated Dawda Jawara, the country’s leader since its independence from Great Britain in 1965.

    Welcomed at first on a promise of ending corruption, Jammeh became increasingly intolerant of dissent, jailing and torturing opponents, human rights groups say.

    His unexpected defeat was greeted with joy in Banjul, the capital, with crowds pulling down the ubiquitous posters of a grinning Jammeh and trampling them under foot.

    Gambians are hoping the quiet businessman Barrow will bring a new era of stability, after living under a president who arrested people for being witches and wizards and claimed to have magical herbal cures for AIDS and infertility.

    Barrow has promised to end rights abuses and step down after three years as a boost to democracy.

    A heavy police presence remains on the streets, a hangover from an era many Gambians are hoping is now behind them.

    In the last two days, 31 political prisoners have been released or granted bail.

    Mai Ahmed Fatty, the head of Barrow’s coalition transition team told journalists in Banjul that he was not worried that a meeting between Jammeh and Barrow has not yet taken place.

    “We take the outgoing president at his word,” said Fatty. “Part of our request was to release the political prisoners. This was done and it shows good will.”