Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia has been given another opportunity to leave office peacefully on Friday or be forcefully removed.
Leaders of the West African regional bloc ECOWAS issued the ultimatum of Midday after Senegalese troops entered The Gambia on Thursday shortly after the swearing in of Adama Barrow as new president in Dakar, Senegal.
That means that should Mr. Jammeh who is reportedly staying in the State House in Banjul fail to heed to this last-minute deadline, the ECOWAS troops would advance further into the Gambia and oust him.
Guinea’s President Alpha Conde is due to attempt a final mediation talk with Mr. Jammeh on Friday.
The Chairman of the Ecowas commission, Marcel Alain de Souza, has indicated that if the meeting with the Guinean leader fails, ECOWAS troops will have no option than to force Mr. Jammeh out.
“If by midday, he [Mr Jammeh] doesn’t agree to leave The Gambia under the banner of President Conde, we really will intervene militarily,” he said.
Mr. Adama Barrow has already received solidarity messages from world leaders including the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who on Thursday called him to express his support after the Security Council backed ECOWAS’ intervention.
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has also congratulated President Barrow.
I hope that the former President Yahya Jammeh will, in the interest of #TheGambia, bow out peacefully, in accordance with the Constitution.
— Dr Dlamini Zuma (@DlaminiZuma) January 19, 2017
Source: Africafeeds.com
