Amid unconfirmed reports that last-ditch diplomatic effort has succeeded with the incumbent President Yahya Jammeh agreeing to handover power peacefully before the expiration of the deadline given him to quit by ECOWAS leaders, the photo of President-elect, Adama Barrow, has already replaced that of Jammeh on the Gambia government website, accompanied with a notice announcing January 19, 2017 as the inauguration date.
The last minute negotiations was spearheaded by Mauritanian President, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who is reportedly in Gambia to convince Jammeh to step down.
According to reports from Banjul, which are yet to be independently confirmed, Jammeh agreed to step down in the interest of peace and stability of the Gambia, after a tense closed-door meeting with the visiting Mauritanian president.
The change of photo on the website was done referring to Barrow as President, even before he is inaugurated, just as Ghana announced it has also deployed 250 troops in the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG). This is in addition to troops from Nigeria and Senegal that have been massing towards the Gambia border with Senegal.
President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has repeatedly approved and the deployment of a combat team of 250 troops, backed with the appropriate logistical equipment, to the Islamic Republic of The Gambia, as part of an ECOWAS mission in that country.
In a statement signed by acting Communications Director at the presidency, it said “ECOWAS has decided as a result of the refusal of President Yahaha Jammeh to accept the verdict of the Gambian people in the elections of December 1, 2016, to deploy troops from its member states to The Gambia with immediate effect.”
“The objective of is to create an enabling environment for the effective enforcement of the rule of law, and, in accordance with the Constitution of The Gambia, facilitate the inauguration of the President-Elect, Adama Barrow, on Thursday, January 19, 2017″ the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, a military commander with ECOWAS announced that Jammeh had only hours to leave or face troops already positioning along Gambia’s borders.
“We are waiting so that all political means have been exhausted. The mandate of the president is finished at midnight,” declared Seydou Maiga Moro, speaking on Senegalese radio station RFM.
“All the troops are already in place,” he added, saying they were merely waiting to see whether Jammeh would acquiesce to international pressure to cede power to President-elect Adama Barrow.
Barrow’s shock victory in the December 1 election plunged Gambia into crisis, forcing ECOWAS countries to seek UN backing to intervene militarily to eject Jammeh, who has ruled Gambia since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1994.
Meanwhile, thousands of UK and Dutch tourists are being evacuated from the tiny West African state, which is popular with European holiday-makers because of its beaches.
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