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Jammeh Has No Birthright To Presidency

Written by Musa Saidykhan on

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By Abdoulie John
Prominent Gambian filmmaker has added his voice to the chorus of critics flooding on the Gambia’s defiant outgoing President Yahya Jammeh whose volte-face has left the country reeling in political impasse.

Prince Bubacarr Aminata
Sankanu too wants the ‘defeated incumbent’ to respect the will of the people and leave office in dignity.

“Yahya Jammeh has no exclusive birthright to the office of the
President of The Republic of The Gambia,” Mr. Sankanu said.

Jammeh had initially accepted Adama Barrow’s win following the December 1, but made a dramatic U-turn a week later, prompting his Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) party to file a petition in court. The party is pushing for a new vote.

“The voice of the people is the voice of God as we are taught and the voice of the Gambian people on December 1,  2016 was clear: Yahya Jammeh, you are fired!” he said, rubbishing the argument that the APRC’s petition might constitute a possible obstacle for the inauguration of President-elect Barrow to go ahead. The outspoken Gambian intellectual made it clear that the petition filed by the APRC should not stop the inauguration of President Adama Barrow on January 19, 2017.

In an attempt to draw a parallel, Sankanu revisited the circumstances surrounding the inauguration of the Gambian leader on 18 January 2011.

“Jammeh set a legal precedent when he went ahead with his own
inauguration without waiting for the outcome of the appeal of opposition leader Ousainou Darboe that was before the Supreme Court,” he recalled.We must not forget, he continued, that our regional bloc ECOWAS refused to observe that election as the condition for free and fair voting were not available. “It is therefore ironical and hypocritical that Jammeh would threaten regional peace simply because he is beaten by the election system he created.”

The tiny West African nation is faced with an unprecedented political
crisis. While the incumbent Yahya Jammeh said only Allah can deny him
victory, President-elect Adama Barrow has vowed to assume office come
January 19, 2017. The coming days will help elucidate what appears to
be an enigmatic political puzzle…

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