Gambian crisis deepens
Gambian crisis deepens

Gambian crisis deepens

While president-elect Adama Barrow has tweeted that Jammeh's time is over, Jammeh has not made any move to depart.
Yanna Smith
Yesterday morning the Twitter world woke up to the following tweet from Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow: “My dearest Gambians — the presidency of Yahya Jammeh is officially over. The new era of Gambia is here at last.”

But Jammeh is going nowhere. After more than two decades in power, he faced the prospect of a military intervention by regional forces, as the man who once pledged to rule the West African nation for a billion years clung to power.

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 known as Ecowas 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 on Wednesday. “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 plane left Gambia shortly before midnight.



Special charter flights

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 Britain, the former colonial power.

The downtown area of the Gambian capital, Banjul, was empty late on Wednesday, with all shops closed. But there was no visible military presence apart from a checkpoint at the entrance to the city, despite the threat of incoming forces.

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.



Barrow's inauguration

The regional bloc was seeking the UN 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 UN 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.

The opposition vowed on Wednesday to go ahead with Barrow's inauguration, though there were no signs of preparation at the Banjul stadium where it was supposed to be held. It was unclear whether Barrow would take the oath at a Gambian Embassy outside the country or if he would return.



Peaceful change

“Those who resist peaceful change, effective 12 midnight tonight, shall face definite consequences, to their peril,” said Mai Ahmad Fatty, Barrow's special adviser, in a Facebook post on Wednesday in which he urged Gambians to stay indoors. “Anyone with firearms tonight shall be deemed a rebel, and will certainly become a legitimate target.”

As other longtime West African strongmen have died or been forced to step down in recent years, Jammeh has remained a rare exception — even launching a campaign to anoint himself “King of Gambia.”

In 2007, he claimed to have developed a cure for Aids that involved a herbal body rub and bananas. Alarming public health experts, he insisted Aids sufferers stop taking antiretroviral medications.

Two years later, his government rounded up nearly 1 000 people it accused of being witches, forcing them to drink a hallucinogen that caused diarrhea and vomiting. Two people died, according to Amnesty International. More recently, Jammeh seemed bent on increasing Gambia's isolation on the world stage. In 2013 he exited the Commonwealth, a group made up mostly of former British colonies, branding it a “neo-colonial institution.”

He also issued increasingly virulent statements against sexual minorities, vowing to slit the throats of gay men and saying the LGBT acronym should stand for “leprosy, gonorrhoea, bacteria and tuberculosis.” And in October, Jammeh said Gambia would leave the International Criminal Court, which he dismissed as the “International Caucasian Court.”

A timeline of the Gambian crisis:

Jammeh concedes defeat

December 1: Gambians vote.

A day later the electoral commission announces that Barrow has won, to scenes of jubilation on the streets.

Jammeh concedes defeat, congratulating Barrow for his “clear victory”, adding: “I wish him all the best and I wish all Gambians the best.”

December 5: Gambian opposition leader Ousainou Darboe, who was jailed in July for taking part in a protest, is freed on bail with 18 others. In the following days some 40 other members of the opposition are also freed.

December 6: The electoral commission says that Barrow has won the election more narrowly than originally thought, and with a lower turnout. He garnered 43.2% and Jammeh 39.6% of the vote. Third party candidate Mama Kandeh took 17.1%. December 9: Jammeh announces he has changed his mind, saying: “In the same way that I accepted the results faithfully believing that the Independent Electoral Commission was independent and honest and reliable, I hereby reject the results in totality.”

December 13: Ecowas heads of state are sent to Gambia, but do not manage to persuade Jammeh to acknowledge his defeat. A new mission takes place a month later.

December 31 Jammeh accuses Ecowas of declaring “war”.

January 4, 2017: The army chief reaffirms his loyalty to Jammeh.

January 9: Jammeh fires 12 ambassadors after they called for him to step aside. Several ministers have since been fired or resigned.

January 10: The Gambia's chief Supreme Court justice says Jammeh's legal challenge against the result will not be heard for several months.

January 13: The African Union (AU) urges Jammeh to respect the results and quit power peacefully, warning of “serious consequences”. It says it will not recognise him “as of 19 January 2017”.

January 15: Senegalese President Macky Sall announces that he has agreed to “welcome Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow in Dakar until his inauguration,” on January 19. January 16: The Gambia's top judge pulls out of hearing a bid by Jammeh to halt the inauguration.

January 17: Jammeh declares a state of emergency, saying foreign powers had created an “unwarranted hostile atmosphere, threatening the sovereignty, peace, security and stability of the country”.

January 18: The Senegalese army says it is ready to intervene in Gambia if there is no solution to the crisis. Senegal asks the UN Security Council to approval any Ecowas military action in The Gambia to force Jammeh to cede power.

– Additional reporting by

Nampa/AP

NAMPA/AFP

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