Gambia’s new President Barrow returns home today

Banjul, Wednesday

President Adama Barrow is set to return to The Gambia after his predecessor Yahya Jammeh finally quit power under threat of a military intervention, west African political sources said.

A source close to the Senegalese presidency and a diplomatic source in The Gambia’s capital Banjul today confirmed the announcement made on a Facebook page linked to the new president that Barrow is due to arrive tomorrow at 4:00 pm (1600 GMT).

Barrow won December’s election, but for weeks, Jammeh refused to step down, setting off a crisis that saw the new president take his oath of office in neighbouring Senegal last week.

Jammeh went into exile in Equatorial Guinea at the weekend, under threat of a regional military intervention. Barrow, who has been in Senegal since January 15, had put off his return to The Gambia until his safety could be guaranteed by thousands of soldiers from five African nations currently deployed in the tiny nation, but unease had been growing over his absence.

Marcel Alain De Souza, head of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), told a briefing in Nigeria that the troops were working to secure Banjul and the surrounding area for Barrow’s return. —AFP

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