Gambia President Adama Barrow will return home on Thursday [January 26, 2017] after spending almost a week in Senegal over a political standoff in The Gambia.
In a public announcement via his Facebook page, the President said he was scheduled to arrive in the country at 1600GMT.
Mr Barrow, who won the December 1 election held in the country fled to the Senegal over security concerns following the refusal of the country’s former leader, Yahya Jammeh not to step down.
Jammeh after conceding defeat and congratulating Barrow, withdrew his comments and said he had discovered some irregularities in the electoral process hence filed a motion to challenge the election results.
He subsequently declared a 90-day state of emergency in the country, backed by Parliament.
The decision forced ECOWAS troops, with the backing of the UN Security Council to invade the country while some ECOWAS heads of states negotiated with Jammeh to step down.
Although Jammeh eventually agreed to step down and left the Gambia on Sunday, January 22, 2017, Mr Barrow was forced to take oath of office at the Gambia embassy in Senegal on Thursday, January 19, 2017 in the presence of representatives of the African Union, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), United Nations (UN) and Members of the diplomatic corps.
‘Millions looted from state coffers’
Exiled Gambian ruler Yahya Jammeh stole millions of dollars in his final weeks in power, plundering the state coffers and shipping out luxury vehicles by cargo plane, a special adviser for the new president said Sunday.
“The Gambia is in financial distress. The coffers are virtually empty. That is a state of fact,” Fatty said. “It has been confirmed by technicians in the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of the Gambia.”
‘Barrow nominates Vice President’
Meanwhile, President Adama Barrow has appointed Fatoumata Tambajang as vice-president, Halifa Sallah his spokesman disclosed on Monday.
Tambajang once served as minister of health under former President Yahya Jammeh.
She is a prominent pro-democracy activist and was a driving force behind forming a coalition of opposition parties that rallied behind Barrow during the December 1 presidential election.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana