Gambia’s Barrow to stay abroad until swearing-in

 Banjul, Sunday

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

The president-elect is due to take power on January 19 when President Yahya Jammeh’s mandate runs out, but the long-serving strongman has refused to cede power after disputing the result of a 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 citing an official.

“The Senegalese president accepted the request of his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the current Ecowas president,” the official told APS.

A source in the Senegalese presidency confirmed to AFP that Barrow was in Dakar following consultations with heads of state from Ecowas 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 Friday between a three-nation west African delegation and Jammeh.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sirleaf and Ghana’s former 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 United Nations and African Union that boots on the ground could get the green light without a rapid resolution of the crisis.

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 Supreme Court decides on his legal challenge seeking to annul the result of last month’s polls.

The ruling, however, is unlikely to happen before May.          —AFP

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