Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Saturday held an Emergency Summit on the Gambia’s political impasse in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
In a final communiqué, heads of state warned the West African country’s defeated President Yahya Jammeh to accept the election results otherwise the regional grouping will take “all necessary actions to enforce the results of 1st December 2016 elections.”
“The Authority calls on President Yahya Jammeh to accept the result of the polls and refrain from any action likely to compromise the transition and peaceful transfer of power to the President-elect,” ECOWAS communiqué agreed. The bloc upholds the result of 1st December 2016 election in the Republic of The Gambia.
The bloc wants the outgoing President to “guarantee the Safety and protection of the President-elect Mr. Adama Barrow.”
The ECOWAS Head of States will attend the inauguration of the President-elect Adama Barrow who must be sworn in on 19th January 2017 in conformity with the Gambian constitution.
They however call on both the hovernment and the Coalition Parties to show restraint in order to preserve national unity. “The Authority encourages all stakeholders, within and outside The Gambia, to exercise restraint, respect the rule of law and ensure the peaceful transfer of power. It calls on the Gambian defence and security forces to perform their role in a nationalistic manner and protect lives and property.”
The regional leaders want the will of Gambian voted to be respected at all cost.
The Summit appointed Presidents of Nigerian and Ghand – Muhammadu Buhari and John Dramani Mahama – to help diffuse the Gambia’s political crisis which resulted from Yahya Jammeh’s flip-flopping. The outgoing leader conceded election defeat on December only to change his mind a week later. Jammeh has since been bashed left and right. He has lost support among Gambians from all walks of life. The international community’s condemnation of Yahya Jammeh’s unacceptable behaviour was swift as evidenced in the quick involvement of the ECOWAS, the African Union and the United Nations.
Ends
As international and local pressure mounts on Gambia’s Dictator Yaya Jammeh, his inner circle within the government and his rubber-stamping National Assembly started to crumble. The latest member of Jammeh’s National Assembly to jump ship is Mr seedy Njie , a nominated member of National Assembly. Mr Njie is youths representative at the National Assembly and he was hand picked by Dictator Yaya Jammeh to serve as the voice of the oppressed youths population of The Gambia.
According to the sources, Mr Njie was asked by president Jammeh to organize a protest march to show solidarity to defeated and insolated tyrant who is desperately trying to subvert the will and aspirations of Gambian people. Mr Njie was not comfortable to organize such public protest to show support to the Dictatorship. He also refused to join a panel discussion at the GRTS alongside with the failed APRC mobilizer , Mr Yankuba Colley because of his firm belief that Gambian people have already spoken clearly and loudly in this election. Mr seedy Njie has already left the country and he is currently in Senegalese capital, Dakar waiting for Dictator Jammeh’s exit from power when his term expires in January 17, 2017. Mr Njie’s wife is a Senegalese National from the border village of Karang. His wife and children all left The Gambia and are currently in Senegal.
Gambians would recall that Mr seedy Njie is one of the most prominent political strategist for president jammeh and he has been on the record supporting all dictatorial policies and laws in The Gambia. Mr Njie has spearheaded enactment of the election act 2015 as a legislative law in the National Assembly. The election act 2015 was designed to curtail participatory democracy of the Gambian people and it has significantly increased the nomination fees for both National Assembly and presidential candidates. It was due to such draconian law that United Democratic Party’s organizing secretary, Mr solo Sanderg and his group led a peaceful protest which called for electoral reform that resulted to the death of Mr Sanderg and illegal incarceration of entire UDP leadership.
Sources have indicated that APRC action man , Mr Bala Garba Jahumpa is the only loyal civilian supporter of the lonely Dictator who is condemned and ostracized by both local civil society organizations and international community. The same sources have also indicated that Mr Jahumpa is under immense pressure to desert the Dictator and he has been encouraged to jump the sinking ship before Jammeh’s term expires in January, 2017. Mr Jahumpa is contemplating at this hour about the possibility of abandoning the crazy Dictator whose main objective is to cling onto power at all cost. I would encourage Mr Jahumpa to do the right for the supreme interest of peace and security of Gambian people. Already Dictator Yaya Jammeh has won four rigged elections and Gambian people are sick and tired of dictatorial rule . As we are free at last , there is no turning back to the old days of terror and humiliation. The civilized world and Gambian people have already decided that Dictator Yaya jammeh must go unconditionally.