President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow, has said that he wish former leader Yahya Jammeh, will leave the country to enable him govern smoothly.
According to him, Jammeh’s stay in the Gambia under his presidency, will make governance very difficult.
Speaking to Aljazeera after his inauguration, Mr. Barrow said under the circumstances, Jammeh cannot be allowed to stay in The Gambia.
“Under the circumstances, we cannot allow him [Jammeh] stay in The Gambia. It will make our job difficult. That is why all our negotiations is towards he leaving The Gambia.”
He added that, although he wishes Jammeh should not be allowed to stay in the country, he could return at a later time.
“We can let him come back; but as at now, the political climate does not allow that.”
In his message to Yahya Jammeh, Mr Barrow said, “We are the children of the same generation, myself and Yahya Jammeh. And we have made history together, so I’ll advise him to accept everything in good fate and give peace a chance. It is about democracy”
‘Jammeh asks for extension of ultimatum’
ECOWAS had extended an ultimatum it issued to Mr. Jammeh to step down to 1600GMT from 1200GMT.
This was upon the request of Mr. Jammeh, who is currently meeting with the President of Guinea, Alpha Conde, and President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania.
The talks appear to be the last possible attempt by the subregional body to strike a deal with the former leader before it introduces its military troops.
ECOWAS troops had been on standby on the border of the Gambia since Wednesday, but moved into the country on Thursday when the UN Security Council approved of ECOWAS’ military actions in the West African country.
‘Barrow sworn in as President’
President Adama Barrow was sworn into office at the Gambian Embassy in Senegal after Jammeh’s refusal to step down forced him to leave the country for Dakar.
His inauguration was witnessed by representatives of the ECOWAS, AU and the UN as well as members of the diplomatic corps.
–
By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana