President-elect Adama Barrow of Gambia has told his countrymen to brace up for the future which “starts tomorrow”.
Barrow defeated Yahya Jammeh in last year’s general election, and is supposed to be sworn in on Thursday, but Jammeh has refused to step down despite pleas from continental leaders.
Realising that Jammeh would not toe the path of honour, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) delegation which visited Banjul, the country’s capital, last Friday, took Barrow along to a security summit in Mali.
From there, the incoming president of Gambia headed to Senegal ahead his inauguration scheduled for Thursday.
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Barrow took to Twitter on Wednesday to communicate with his countrymen.
“We made history on the first day of December. Our future starts tomorrow”, he wrote.
We made history on the first day of December. Our future starts tomorrow. #Gambia pic.twitter.com/kSxUcROONJ
Advertisement— Adama Barrow (@adama_barrow) January 18, 2017
In a last gambit on Tuesday, Jammeh, who had shut four private radio stations, declared a three-month state of emergency.
“Under this state of public emergency, civil liberties are to be fully respected while all citizens and residents in The Gambia are banned from any acts of disobedience to the laws of The Gambia, incitement to violence and acts intended to disturb public order and peace,” he said.
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Jammeh gave reasons for the state of emergency including “the need to prevent a constitutional crisis and power vacuum pending the determination of the petitions at the supreme court and the application for an injunction against swearing in Mr. Adama Barrow, until the supreme court decides on the 1st December 2016 presidential election results”.
He also ordered the security forces, who pledged allegiance to him, to maintain law and order in the country during the period.
The country’s parliament has passed a resolution to extend Jammeh’s tenure by three months.
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