Africa, Featured
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President Adama Barrow returns triumphantly to his country on Thursday, January 26, one week after being sworn-in in Senegal as president, following the insistence of Yahya Jameh, a former maximum ruler, not to leave office after losing the December 1, poll
| By Olu Ojewale with agency reports |
PRESIDENT Adama Barrow, The Gambia’s new president, returned to his country on Thursday, January 26, to be welcomed by a noisy jubilant crowd of enthusiasts waiting for him.
Reports said that by late afternoon, thousands of people had lined the streets of Banjul, the capital, blowing whistles, dancing, banging drums and singing “We welcome you, our president, our hope, our solution” in the local Fula language.
Supporters in their hundreds also thronged the airport, with drummers and dancers entertaining guests on hand to welcome him home. Eventually the plane that carried the new president arrived and Barrow, dressed in white robes and a cap, stepped off the plane in Banjul as heavily armed troops from Senegal and Nigeria stood by.
Flying overhead were low-flying fighter jets from the West African forces to guarantee the new president’s security performed fly-pasts.
“I am a happy man today,” he told a reporter from the Associated Press in the crush at the airport, adding: “I think the bad part is finished now.”
The president said his priority was to appoint his cabinet and “then get the ball rolling”.
The arrival of Barrow brought to an end a prolonged political crisis in the Gambia and marked the country’s first democratic transfer of power which was nearly marred by days of waiting in Senegal after Yahya Jammeh, a former dictator who ruled the country for 22years, had refused to leave after losing the presidential election of December 1.
Barrow took the oath of office at his country’s embassy in Dakar, on Thursday, January 19, while a multinational African force then entered The Gambia to ensure his safe return home and Jammeh’s departure. The new president had been forced out of the country January 15, when there were threats to his life and members of his family.
The return of Barrow, no doubt, brought to an end a prolonged political crisis in the tiny African country of about two million people and the beginning of a new era.
Ibrahima Gaye, a supporter, said Barrow would be different from Jammeh “in all aspects.”
“We have been living under dictatorship for 22 years. You can go home at night and sleep without worrying you will be arrested before daybreak,” he said.
Fatou Jagne Senghor, the west Africa director of Article 19, a pro-freedom of expression organisation, said the development was very welcome. “The Gambia has been waiting for this. Everyone has been … looking forward to the new era where people’s voices are heard,” Senghor, a Gambian said.
Ebrima Bah, who was waiting at the airport, said: “The arrival is long overdue. His arrival is raising my confidence in the new government.”
“The transformation will not be easy,” Senghor, said, adding: “To bring security, stability and fundamental freedoms when institutions are broken, the judiciary is not functioning, is going to be a major challenge.”
A senior government official in Banjul said people were “very happy” and that Barrow’s priority would be to put into place “the pillars of reform and human rights”.
During the election campaign, Barrow had promised wide-ranging reforms to overturn many of the authoritarian policies of Jammeh, who was accused of imprisoning, torturing and killing his political opponents.
Last year, a series of protests led to the detention of more than 90 opposition activists and supporters. One prominent opposition politician, a father of nine, was beaten to death in custody.
Kanamo Sansou, who was sitting with his friends in a market in Serrekunda, near Banjul, said: “I’m 100 percent a Barrow supporter and I’m more happy than I can say.”
Ibrahima Gaye, a pensioner, said: “He will be different in all aspects … we have been living under dictatorship for 22 years. You can go home at night and sleep without worrying you will be arrested before daybreak.”
Barrow has asked the force of about 7,000 west Africa troops to remain in his country for six months.
Diplomats had urged him to return quickly to curb the impact of the political crisis on the tourist-reliant economy, which is already in a fragile state.
Indeed, Barrow’s first job, reports said, would be to deal with an internal crisis after it emerged that Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, his pick for vice-president, may be too old for the role under the country’s constitution.
Barrow must also deal with latent ethnic tensions between Jammeh’s minority Jola people and Mandinkas, the majority, to whom the new president belongs. Many of the upper ranks of the military are Jola.
Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the UN envoy for West Àfrica anh Sahel, said the UN would help guarantee security in The Gambia.
BBC reports said that several thousand West African soldiers remained in The Gambia amid reports that some pro-Jammeh elements were embedded in the country’s security forces.
Hence, the new president has asked for the force to remain in The Gambia for six months.
There is also the controversial deal lenient terms under which Jammeh left the Gambia for exile in Equatorial Guinea. Barrow reportedly told Jammeh that he would have all the rights legally ensured to an ex-president, which under Gambian law include immunity from prosecution, barring a vote by two-thirds of the National Assembly.
However, Chambas said there was nothing in the UN-backed agreement that paved the way for Jammeh’s departure that gave him immunity.
The new government has also confirmed that Jammeh would be allowed to keep a fleet of luxury cars, despite the accusation by authorities that he looted $11.4m (£9m) from state coffers before his departure.
A witness told Agence France-Press that two Rolls-Royces and one Mercedes Benz were loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane, while others await shipment. The source said 10 cars were earmarked for future shipment. Diplomats and others familiar with the matter confirmed the collection included a Bentley, Land Rovers, a red Mini Cooper and another Mercedes.
However a presidential adviser said the police had been asked to investigate and would determine if anything was missing.
Jammeh was yet to comment on the allegations.
In the time being, President Barrow will be staying at his own home while a security assessment is carried out at the State House, official residence.
According to reports, about 4,000 West African troops would remain in The Gambia charged with ensuring safety and also flush out pro-Jammeh elements remaining in the security forces that were once under his personal control.
“President Adama Barrow has asked us to remain for two or three weeks to see if there are arms caches or mercenaries hiding out,” Marcel Alain de Souza, head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, commission, said.
— Feb 6, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT
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