Crisis In Gambia: West African Leaders Set Four Days Deadline

Bamako – Leaders meeting at a Franco-African
summit in the Malian capital Bamako on
Saturday set Jan. 19 as a deadline to solve the
Gambian political crisis, Radio France
Internationale quoted Togolese President Faure
Gnassingbe as saying.
January 19 is the date when president-elect
Adama Barrow has vowed to take power, despite
outgoing President Yahya Jammeh not
accepting his defeat in the December 1 election.
Barrow attended the summit bringing together
French President Francois Hollande and more
than 30 African leaders, while Jammeh was
absent.
“The choice of Gambian voters in favour of
Adama Barrow must be respected,” Hollande
said.
Barrow arrived in Bamako with Nigerian
President Muhammadu Buhari, who had met
both him and Jammeh in the Gambian capital
Banjul on Friday.
President Buhari with other world leaders at the
27th Africa-France Summit in Bamako Mali on
14th Jan 2017
A statement from Barrow’s office said Jammeh’s
meeting with Buhari and other mediators from
the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) was “unproductive.”
Barrow’s spokesman Halifa Sallah said ECOWAS
would nevertheless continue its mediation
efforts.
Gambia has been in a political deadlock since
Barrow, a real estate mogul who was little
known before he announced his candidacy,
defeated Jammeh in the election.
Jammeh, who has ruled the small West African
nation for 22 years with an iron fist, has filed a
petition to challenge the election result at the
Supreme Court.
The talks with ECOWAS came several hours after
Gambia’s ruling party filed a motion with the
Supreme Court to prevent Barrow from being
sworn into office on January 19.
The African Union said Friday said it will cease
to recognize Jammeh as president after that
date.
ECOWAS earlier pledged to send troops to
ensure a peaceful transition of power in Gambia
if Jammeh persists in his refusal to step down.