Embattled Gambia’s erstwhile President, Yahya Jammeh, has finally succumbed, agreeing to go into exile.
As you read this, the stubborn leader who ruled his country for 22 years with iron hands before being defeated in an election recently by Adama Barrow, is set to leave Banjul to begin a new life in exile, most likely in Guinea.
This was the aftermath of Friday, January 20, 2017 meeting between Jammeh and Presidents Alpha Conde and Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Guinea and Mauritania respectively, lest the West African forces who are already in Gambia descended and humiliated him out of the seat.
Said Jammeh’ successor, Adama Barrow, via one of his advisers, Mai Ahmad Fatty, ‘I can assure you that he has agreed to leave’.
Adding, ‘ He is scheduled to depart Gambia today. #NewGambia’.
Barrow, it would be recalled, had earlier been sworn in at the Gambian High Commission in Dakar, Senegal. The one time security guard in the United Kingdom had defeated Jammeh in the December 1, 2016 presidential election, after going into an alliance with all the other presidential aspirants.
Jammeh had conceded defeat initially only to later recant, alleging some electoral irregularities. Of course, it didn’t go down well with other ECOWAS leaders and even the UN. Leading to their coming together to mount serious pressure on him and subsequently his caving in and agreeing to embrace the exile option.
A #NewGambia, like the new President, Adama Barrow described it, indeed beckons!