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Tag: Jammeh

  • Gambia’s Jammeh wants reconciliation, appoints mediator with Barrow

    Gambia’s Jammeh wants reconciliation, appoints mediator with Barrow

    President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia has on Wednesday appointed a mediator to facilitate a reconciliatory meeting between himself and president-elect Adama Barrow.

    In a televised address to the nation early Wednesday, Jammeh said the ruling party’s Secretary-General will mediate between himself and his supporters on one hand and the Barrow and his supporters on the other hand to “resolve any mistrust and issues.”

    He however still refused to accept the election result saying it was “full of arithmetic errors and anomalies, it also could not be credibly explained.”

    The announcement comes a day after the Supreme Court postponed hearing a court petition filed by Jammeh to challenge the election results.

    Yahya Jammeh Emmanuel Fagbenle, Gambia’s Chief Justice, had advised the settlement after ruling that the court could not hear Mr. Jammeh and his party’s appeal against the result of the presidential election due to non-formation of constitutionally required quorum of 5 Supreme Court judges.

    The case was adjourned to Monday, since only one of a required minimum of five judges was present, the court’s registrar said.

    Meanwhile, several West African heads of state, led by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari have, as requested by Jammeh, postponed a meeting earlier scheduled to hold on Wednesday with him to Friday.

    The meeting is aimed at helping to resolve the political crisis. Following the reconciliation move, Mr. Jammeh ordered the Justice Minister and National Assembly to draft a general amnesty bill, while issuing an executive order not to arrest or prosecute citizens for “acts or omissions’’ committed during the pre and post electoral period, between November 1 and January 31.

  • Don’t come to Gambia today – Jammeh warns Buhari, other ECOWAS delegates

     

    Embattled President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has warned the high Level ECOWAS mediation mission led by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari against coming to Banjul, the Gambian capital on Wednesday for peace talks.

    He asked them to instead come on Friday.

    President Buhari, who is leading the mediating team alongside Mr. John Mahama, the immediate past President of Ghana said the delay notwithstanding, the mandate of the ECOWAS would be accomplished.

    Jammeh who had hoped to use the country’s Supreme Court to upturn opponent Adama Barrow’s election found the road closed today after the court postponed the hearing of the case for months.

    Gambia’s Supreme Court said today that it cannot rule on Jammeh’s challenge against his electoral defeat on 1 December due to lack of judges.

    “We can only hear this matter when we have a full bench of the Supreme Court,” Emmanuel Fagbenle, the court’s chief justice said Tuesday.

    The Nigerian judge said the extra judges needed to hear the case were not available.

    The Gambia relies on foreign judges, notably from Nigeria, to staff its courts due to a lack of trained professionals in the tiny west African state.

    Jammeh’s political party lodged a legal case on his behalf last month aimed at annulling the December 1 election result and triggering new elections.

    “This is why alternative dispute resolution is important,” he said.

    “We are now only left with the ECOWAS mediation initiative and the inter-party committee set up by government to resolve the dispute,” he said.

     

  • Buhari, other West African leaders to meet Gambia’s Jammeh on Wednesday

    President Muhammadu Buhari and other West African leaders on Monday resolved to meet with President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia in Banjul on Wednesday to further hold talks on the political impasse in the country.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofrey Onyema, disclosed this to journalist at the end of the meeting attended by Buhari; the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; President of Senegal, Macky Sall; and former President of Ghana, John Mahama.

    According to him, those that will meet Jammeh include Buhari, Sirleaf, Mahama and the President of Sierra Leone among others.

    Onyema said the leaders agreed on the determination to resolve the crisis in a manner that conforms with The Gambia’s Constitution and the will of the people.

    He added that they expressed concern at the deterioration of security in the country as well as the closure of some media houses and indiscriminate arrests.

  • Gambian Govt. closes fourth ‘anti-Jammeh’ radio station amid crisis

    Gambian Govt. closes fourth ‘anti-Jammeh’ radio station amid crisis

    Gambian authorities have closed Paradise FM, the fourth radio station to be shut since last week, one of its presenters said on Monday.

    The minister said that Paradise FM was closed on orders allegedly given by the Communication and Information Ministry, presenter Andrew Gibba said.

    The closure came hours after Paradise FM had interviewed a spokesman of a coalition backing president-elect Adama Barrow, to whom President Yahya Jammeh has refused to cede power after losing the Dec. 1 election.

    The closure followed those of Teranga FM, Hilltop FM and Afri Radio.

    The authorities have not given an explanation for any of the closures.

    The Gambia Press Union has expressed concern that the closures could signal a crackdown on independent media amid the country’s escalating political crisis.

    Barrow has said he would take power on Jan. 19 as mandated by the constitution, despite Jammeh having challenged the election results in court.

    After more than two decades in power, Jammeh, 51, lost the election to Barrow, a former real estate agent who was little known even in Gambia before he announced his candidacy.
    West African leaders were due to meet in Abuja today to discuss the crisis.

  • Buhari, other West African leaders meet in Abuja over crisis in Gambia

    In furtherance of his mandate as mediator, the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, will be hosting four other West African leaders to a meeting aimed at avoiding violence and preserving democracy in The Gambia.

    President Buhari and the immediate past President of Ghana, John Mahama, as Mediator and Co-Mediator respectively, have also been mandated by the Economic Community of West African States to ensure the safety of the President-elect, Adama Barrow, and a peaceful handover of power on January 19.

    The meeting in Abuja is following the one in Accra on the sidelines of the inauguration of that country’s President, which expressed the readiness of the leaders of the sub-region to continue the pursuit of dialogue with the leaders of The Gambia, especially President Yahya Jammeh.

    The Presidents of Liberia and Senegal, the Vice President of Sierra-Leone and ex-President Mahama are expected at the meeting.

  • ‘I am alive’, Gambia’s President-elect, Adama Barrow cries out

    ‘I am alive’, Gambia’s President-elect, Adama Barrow cries out

    Gambia’s president-elect, Adama Barrow has refuted news of his assassination which became an item on the social media and on some local and foreign media on Wednesday.

    The report which was credited to CBN Television, Banjul had ‎reported that Barrow was murdered by unknown assailants who overpowered his security guards, leaving two dead and six others injured from gunshots.

    However, a tweet from his official handle, @adama_barrow, ‎said he’s alive and well. “We would like to inform you that the President-elect is alive and well. #Gambia‎”, it read.

     

    His rumoured death is coming few days after he referred to the country’s constitution that a court action taken by supposed outgoing President Yahya Jammeh cannot prevent the winner of the poll from assuming office as mandated by the constitution.

    “It should be crystal clear that filing an election petition is the private matter of a loser in an election. It does not prevent mandatory constitutional processes from taking place.

    “ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations could only intervene if the two presidents fail to do, with impeccable thoroughness, what the constitution of the republic demands,” Barrow, who vowed to take office on January 19 despite the refusal of Jammeh to give up power, had stated.

  • Nigeria will ensure Jammeh hands over peacefully – Onyeama

    Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama says Nigeria will do everything possible to help the Gambia have a peaceful resolution to its political crisis.

    Onyeama stated this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja.

    The minister expressed optimism that the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh would listen to the voice of his people to resolve the political impasse in his country.

    Recall that the Gambian leader had accused West African regional body, ECOWAS of declaring war against his country, when he was asked to step down for a democratically elected president.

    Jammeh, who accused ECOWAS of putting forces on alert in case he refused to step down, has vowed to stay in power in spite of losing a Dec. 1, 2016 election to rival Adama Barrow.

    He also promised to defend Gambia against any outside aggression in a New Year speech broadcast on state TV.

    The Gambian president initially conceded defeat in the vote, then changed his mind days later – raising fears that regional powers might have to intervene to oust him.

    Onyeama, in spite of the Gambian leader’s stands, expressed the belief that Jammeh would honour the call of the ECOWAS leaders to bow out of office at the end of his mandate on Jan. 19.

    “We will like to believe that he will listen to the voice of his peers in the sub region ECOWAS.

    “And that he will also listen to the voice of his people but above all he will follow the democratic path. So, we will do everything possible to bring that about.

    “Essentially, we want a peaceful resolution to the issue, you know we have experienced conflict in our country and we know how far back in development conflict can take a country to.

    “So we will do everything possible to help Gambia have a peaceful resolution to this political crisis,” the minister said.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, who is heading a mediation committee on the Gambia’s political impasse, had led other West African leaders to meet with Jammeh and Barrow on the issue.

    Other leaders in the ECOWAS delegation were Presidents Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone, and John Mahama of Ghana.

    The leaders appealed to Jammeh to leave office and also reportedly sought a ‘honourable exit’ for him.

    The exit would ensure that he is not tried for various human rights crimes he is alleged to have committed while in office.

    However, in spite of the visit, Jammeh remained defiant.

    Marcel de Souza ECOWAS Commission President, said last week that the body had put standby forces on alert.

    In his speech on New Year Day, Jammeh decried the resolution of ECOWAS on the current situation to implement the results of Dec. 1, 2016 presidential election by whatever means possible.

    “It is in effect a declaration of war and an insult to our constitution.

    “Let me make it very clear that we are ready to defend this country against any aggression,” he said.

     

    NAN

  • “I am not a coward, I won’t step down”, says Gambian president, Jammeh

    “I am not a coward, I won’t step down”, says Gambian president, Jammeh

    Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has reiterated he won’t step down despite losing the December 1 election, despite the several pleas from West African leaders and Western powers to hand over power peacefully.

    Jammeh initially conceded defeat on state television after 22 years in power, but a week later reversed his position, denouncing the election results and demanding a new vote.

    According to a report on Aljazeera said Jammeh insisted he won’t handover power in a broadcast on state television on Tuesday.

    “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,” Jammeh said.

    “Already the Ecowas [economic community of west African states] meeting was a formality. Before they came, they had already said Jammeh must step down. I will not step down,” he said.

    It came a day after president-elect Adama Barrow said he was ready to take office on January 18 – the day Jammeh’s mandate ends.

    “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,” Jammeh said.

    He also condemned West Africa’s regional bloc ECOWAS for what he termed “meddling” in The Gambia’s affairs.

    The political crisis in The Gambia will be settled internally and peacefully, Jammeh said, adding he would maintain his position of challenging the election result.

  • Jammeh must hand over power when tenure ends – UN

    Jammeh must hand over power when tenure ends – UN

    A United Nations, UN Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohammed Ibn Chambas has 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.

    Chambas disclosed this on Wednesday in Dakar in an interview with newsmen. He said Jammeh would face strong sanctions if he refuses to hand over power as the expiration of his tenure.

    Jammeh, who took power in a coup in 1994, initially conceded defeat in the Dec. 1 election to 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.

  • In-photos: Buhari, other African leaders hold talks with Jammeh to step down

    President Muhammadu Buhari and other West African leaders, which includes presidents from Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Sierra Leone, Ernest Bai Koroma; Ghana, John Mahama on Tuesday had a meeting with Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh at Gambia’s State House on the need to transfer power to President-elect Adama Barrow