Barrow ‘won’t return’ to Gambia until end of Jammeh’s tenure

Gambia’s president-elect Adama Barrow is to remain in Senegal until Thursday when the tenure of President Yahya Jammeh will be officially over.

Quoting APS, a Senegalese media outfit, the BBC said the move was requested by ECOWAS leaders after the security summit in Mali.

At the summit, Barrow was referred to as president.

He left Banjul, capital of Gambia, after ECOWAS leaders, who had visited Jammeh, failed to convince him to step down.

Thousands of Gambians, mostly women and children, have already crossed the border into neighbouring Senegal and further afield to Guinea-Bissau, where they do not require a visa.

Jammeh has made it clear that he will not step down until the supreme court decides on his legal challenge seeking to annul the results of last poll based on alleged irregularities.

The apex court adjourned the case for months because it could not form a quorum.

The African Union (AU) has told Jammeh that it will cease to recognise him as the nation’s legitimate president from January 19.

UN office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) says ECOWAS has decided to take all necessary actions to enforce the results of the December 1, 2016 presidential election.

Mohamed Chambas, head of UNOWAS, disclosed this while briefing the UN security council on the political and security situation in the region.

Jammeh seized power in the country in 1994 and has been accused of human rights abuses, although he has held regular elections.