Uneasy calm in The Gambia over change of government

Apprehension, anxiety and uncertainty prevail in The Gambia as the country prepares for a a change of government today. If the sitting President, Yahya Jammeh decides to step down before the inauguration of the President-elect, Adama Barrow today the military build-up led by ECOMOG will have no option than to strike the country to remove Jammeh.

Already “the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has deployed to Senegal as part of Nigerian contingent of Economic Community of West African States Military Intervention in Gambia (ECOMIG), – a standby force tasked by ECOWAS Heads of State to enforce the December 1, 2016 election mandate in the The Gambia”, a spokesman said a statement on Wednesday.

“The NAF today moved a contingent of 200 men and air assets comprising fighter jets, transport aircraft, Light Utility Helicopter as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance aircraft to Dakar from where it is expected to operate into Gambia,” said group Captain Ayodele Famuyima, the Director of Public Relations and Information at the Nigerian Air Force.

“The deployment is also to forestall hostilities or breakdown of law and order that may result from the current political impasse in The Gambia,” he added.

Addressing the contingent before departure, the Chief of the Nigerian Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Baba Abubakar, urged the troops to maintain discipline and be professional in their conduct, the statement said.

He reminded them to be good ambassadors of Nigeria, adding that no act of indiscipline by the contingent would be tolerated.
The contingent, led by Air Cdre Tajudeen Yusuf, was airlifted this morning from 117 Air Combat Training Group Kainji. Other troop contributing countries include Senegal, Ghana and countries within the sub-region.

Meanwhile, the Government of Senegal has given Jammeh ultimatum saying its army will step into the country if he refuses to step down.

The Senegalese army said on Wednesday it was ready to intervene in neighbouring The Gambia if there was no solution to the crisis triggered by President Yahya Jammeh’s refusal to step down after his election defeat last month.

“Our troops are on alert… The ultimatum takes effect at midnight,” when Jammeh’s mandate is due to expire, army spokesman Colonel Abdou Ndiaye told AFP.

“If a political solution fails, we will engage” in operations in The Gambia, he said, confirming that troops were heading to the border.

The country’s troops have been seen moving towards the Gambian border in an apparent show of force to pressure President Yahya Jammeh to stand down, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Mr. Jammeh who lost the December 1 presidential election to Adama Barrow first conceded defeat then changed his mind citing irregularities. He challenged the results in court but suffered setbacks.

Finally, he declare a 90-day state of emergency on Tuesday and got the National Assembly to pass a last minute resolution to allow him to stay in power for another three months.

Senegalese troops have been seen moving towards the Gambian border in an apparent show of force to pressure President Yahya Jammeh to stand down, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Mr. Jammeh who lost the December 1 presidential election to Adama Barrow first conceded defeat then changed his mind citing irregularities. He challenged the results in court but suffered setbacks.

Finally, he declared a 90-day state of emergency on Tuesday and got the National Assembly to pass a last minute resolution to allow him to stay in power for another three months.

Pressure from Africa, the United States and elsewhere fell into death ears, prompting ECOWAS to threaten military intervention.
The Nigerian military has deployed troops and a warship. Other ECOWAS members are ready to force Jammeh out of office.

Wednesday was meant to be his last day in office after his defeat by Adama Barrow but parliament has granted him three more months in office.That move effectively may stop Mr Barrow from being sworn in today.

West African countries are seeking UN backing to intervene militarily to eject Mr Jammeh, BBC said.

Meanwhile the Gambia’s President-elect, Adama Barrow, has said his countrymen and women are at the brink of making another world history on Thursday, after defeating Yahya Jammeh in the December 1 election, 2016.

“We made history on the first day of December. Our future starts tomorrow”, he said in a tweet on Wednesday morning.

“We made history on the first day of December. Our future starts tomorrow”, he said on his twitter handle.

Although he is now sequestered in Dakar, Senegal, leaders of the regional bloc ECOWAS have said he should be sworn in tomorrow on Gambian soil, indicating they would use military might to drive away President Yahya Jammeh whose tenure expires midnight on Wednesday.

The ECOWAS leaders, in mediatory efforts led by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari failed to convince Jammeh to voluntarily leave office after losing the December 1 election to Mr. Barrow, a real estate businessman.

Jammeh in a last-minute effort to save his job embarked on a time-wasting effort to get the court to order a new election and stop Mr. Barrow’s inauguration. He failed on the two efforts as the Supreme Court could not form a quorum to decide his cases.

In a last gambit on Tuesday, after shutting down four private radio stations, he declared a three-month state of emergency, starting from Tuesday.

In a televised address on state TV on Tuesday evening, Mr. Jammeh announced that the 90 days’ state of emergency started from Januar y 17 and will end April 17, 2017.

“Under this state of public emergency, civil liberties are to be fully respected while all citizens and residents in The Gambia are banned from any acts of disobedience to the laws of The Gambia, incitement to violence and acts intended to disturb public order and peace,” he said.

Mr. Jammeh gave reasons for the state of emergency including “the need to prevent a constitutional crisis and power vacuum pending the determination of the petitions at the Supreme Court and the application for an injunction against swearing in Mr. Adama Barrow, until the Supreme Court decides on the 1st December 2016 Presidential Election results”.

He also ordered the security forces, who pledged allegiance to him, to maintain law and order in the country during the period.

The resolution was passed by the country’s National Assembly after a motion was tabled by Majority Leader Fabakary Jatta on Tuesday morning as indicated by the order paper made available to the media.