The president announced it via his Twitter handle on Thursday, November 9, 2017.

Barrow had named her his vice in January this year, after beating long-serving Yahya Jammeh in elections last December. The appointment was however mired in controversy as the nominee was said to have exceeded the age limit to hold the office.

Local media reports indicate that the necessary legal rectifications were done in order to properly allow her to occupy the post. The president described her as “a woman with wealth of experience highly required for rebuilding the New Gambia.”

Photos from the presidency showed Barrow handing her a legal document after which she is seen appending her signature to a register.

Barrow himself took two oaths of office, first in Senegal where he was based at the height of the political crisis with Jammeh’s refusal to leave. The second was post-Jammeh, on a date that coincided with the country’s independence.

Fatoumatta Jallow-Tambajang is a prominent pro-democracy activist, who was part of the opposition coalition that unseated Yahya Jammeh.

She is touted as one of the main brains behind the formation of a coalition going into the December 1, 2016 polls.

The Gambia – Fatoumata Jallow Tambajang

Mrs. Tambajang, who was a former United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gender/development expert, also served as a cabinet minister in the government of Yahya Jammeh. She was Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women’s Affairs.

She replaces Isatou Njie-Saidy – Jammeh’s deputy since 1997. Isatou resigned in early January at the height of the political uncertainty that gripped the tiny West African country. Jammeh citing irregularities in the polls had unilaterally canceled the outcome of the election.

The regional political bloc, ECOWAS, mandated a mediation team led by Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, and met with Jammeh twice, but failed to convince him to leave.

It took a belated mediation by Guinea and Mauritanian presidents to convince Jammeh to leave.

At the time, the United Nations had okayed a regional standby force to enter The Gambia and to force Jammeh out. He is currently living in Equatorial Guinea.

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By: Africanews

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The finances of Mr Jammeh would also be investigated, Abubacarr Tambadou added.

People would be encouraged to confess to crimes, and victims would be offered compensation, he said.

The former regime was accused of widespread torture and enforced disappearances during its 22-year rule.

There were also unconfirmed allegations that more than $11m (£8.8m) went missing from The Gambia’s state coffers following Mr Jammeh’s departure in January.

He fled to Equatorial Guinea in January after regional troops entered the tiny West African state to force him to accept defeat to property developer Adama Barrow in elections the previous month.

“A Truth and Reconciliation Commission with appropriate reparations for victims will be set up within the next six months and public hearings will be expected to commence by the end of the year,” Mr Tambadou said in a statement.

Former intelligence chief Yankuba Badjie was arrested in January, making him the first of Mr Jammeh’s security officials to be taken into custody by the new government.

No official reason was given for his arrest.

Five notorious cases for The Gambia’s TRC:

• Opposition member Solo Sandeng allegedly beaten to death in detention in April 2016
• Journalist Alagie Abdoulie Ceesay allegedly forced to drink cooking oil and beaten unconsciousness in detention in July 2015
• Ex-army chief of staff Ndure Cham allegedly ordered to dig his grave and shot dead in 2013 for plotting coup
• Journalist Ebrima Manneh missing since he left his newsroom on July 2006
• Newspaper editor Deyda Hydara shot dead in his car in December 2004

After his election victory, Mr Barrow pledged that his government would not seek vengeance against officials of the former regime, and would instead set up a South Africa-styled Truth and Reconciliation Commission to heal wounds of the past.

In a 2015 report, campaign group Human Rights Watch said Mr Jammeh’s regime “frequently committed serious human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture against those who voiced opposition”.

Torture methods included the “electroshock of body parts, including genitals and dripping melted plastic bags onto the skin”, it said.

The regime relied heavily on its intelligence agency to target opponents, and was also accused of running paramilitary hit squads.

It denied the allegation, insisting that it upheld the law.

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Source: BBC

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Whilst in The Gambia, President Nana Akufo-Addo also interacted with members of the Ghanaian community resident there.

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The ceremony will take place at the main stadium in the country’s capital, Banjul.

This comes after President Barrow was sworn into office as The Gambia’s third President in The Gambian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, following long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh’s refusal to step down despite his electoral defeat.

Yahya Jammeh eventually stepped down under pressure from ECOWAS and the AU, and is in exile in Equatorial Guinea.

President Barrow’s inauguration today also coincides with the 52nd Independence Anniversary of the small West African Country.

Former President John Mahama was an ECOWAS Co-Mediator in the efforts towards resolving the election dispute that followed the December 01, 2016 election.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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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

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According to Mr. Agbodza, President Akufo-Addo exhibited a lack of restraint when he approved the deployment of 205 soldiers for ECOWAS military operations in The Gambia, which has two individuals claiming the Presidency.

The winner of The Gambia’s 2016 general elections, Adama Barrow, took the oath of office at the country’s embassy in Senegal, and he has been recognized internationally.

But the defeated Yahya Jammeh, has refused to step down as President, and West African leaders have threatened to remove him by force. Senegalese troops have already have entered The Gambia to ensure Adama Barrow is the sole president.

This notwithstanding, Mr. Agbodza said the President’s directive constituted an offensive action against The Gambia.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, he said “what we are trying to do in Gambia is an offensive action. There is no war currently going on in The Gambia. We are going in there to start a war and I am saying that it amounts to a declaration of war and I think that the Commander-in-Chief needed to consult with the people’s representatives in Parliament before he could take that decision.”

He further insisted that no resolution by ECOWAS allowed Ghana “to commit troops to an offensive operation in another country.”

“When we invest the power in this country in the President to be the Commander and Chief, we expect him to exercise this power with the best of his intentions, not capriciously.”

In the MP’s view, the law requires the President Akufo-Add0 to exercise his power with the “greatest restraint”.

He, however, said, “I haven’t seen anything that suggests that he is exercising his power with the greatest restraint… the constitution tells him to exercise his powers with the best of intentions and I don’t see those best intentions.”

No need for Parliamentary approval

The MP for Effutu, Alex Afenyo Markin, however, downplayed Mr. Agbodza’s concerns using the law as his basis.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Afenyo Markin explained that “under Article 75 of our constituency, where treaties are entered into and same is ratified by Parliament, that treaty becomes part of the international laws of Ghana.”

According to him, Ghana has already signed onto the ECOWAS protocol relating to the mechanism for conflict prevention, management, resolution, peacekeeping and security, and this protocol was subsequently ratified by the Parliament of Ghana on December 10.

Thus, the Effutu MP said President Akufo-Addo did not need another approval of Parliament to back the deployment of troops to The Gambia.

“The provisions under Article 21 of the protocol are clear on ceasefire monitoring groups which are composed of standby multi-purpose civilian and military, ready for immediate deployment,” he stated.

“The power given to the President to contribute troops to any mission as is happening today has already been given to him by the ratification of the said protocol on conflict prevention, management, resolution and peacekeeping,” Mr. Afenyo Markin concluded.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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According to the foundation, a lot of lives might also be lost.

Mr. Jammeh, whose mandate per the Gambia’s constitution should have ended at midnight on Wednesday, had that mandate extended by Parliament by 90 days.

[contextly_sidebar id=”KeV69UJW0H8SVlQAjLbwnDzUcCj8myrS”]Meanwhile, following failed efforts by ECOWAS to have Mr. Jammeh to step down after losing the elections organized in December 2016, the sub-regional bloc has sent troops to Gambia to ensure the restoration of rule of law.

But speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, the Executive Director of MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, explained that lives might be lost through military intervention.

“I will say that at this stage, it may not be the appropriate thing to do to intervene militarily to remove Jammeh…The Gambia has a military force of about 2,500 people…beyond that, I don’t think in terms of fire power they are that strong, so they can easily be defeated, but that wouldn’t mean that they wouldn’t resist. Resisting would mean that some innocent lives will be lost, infrastructure will be destroyed and even if Adama Barrow were to be put in as president he is going to face a very difficult situation,” he added.

Mr. Sulemana also explained that, The Gambia which has a population of about 1.9 million who rally along ethnic lines even in politics.

According to him, due to this situation, the ethnic group where Jammeh belongs to might revolt against the new president if there is any military intervention.

“The Gambia is a small country of about 1.9 million people, they are very well bonded around ethnic groups…and these ethnicity and bonding around ethnic lines are quite strong. And politics in the Gambia over the years has also been around ethnic lines. If you follow development from the international and regional media, there were so many people who were still demonstrating on the streets and social media against what ECOWAS was trying to do…and I think that if Jammeh were to be forcefully removed, the population will be divided and Adama Barrow will have a very difficult situation,” he noted.

Gambia: Barrow to be inaugurated in Senegal

Adama Barrow took to twitter to announce that his inauguration will be held at the Gambian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

“I would like to inform you that the Inauguration Ceremony is going to take place at the Gambian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal,” he announced.

I would like to inform you that the Inauguration Ceremony is going to take place at the Gambian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. #Gambia pic.twitter.com/ofxlIpJChl

— Adama Barrow (@adama_barrow) January 19, 2017

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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President Jammeh of The Gambia telephoned the ECOWAS Chairperson on Sunday, January 15, 2017, to make an appeal to ECOWAS Authority to make judges available as a means of addressing the political crisis in the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”xhEM2zg5ZWaTk8avaVYfFdYm3z9S8SnZ”]According to a release issued by Liberia’s Executive Mansion, the ECOWAS Chairperson in a statement said: “This was nothing new as he had said the same thing in meetings with the mediating team twice in Banjul”.

She said unfortunately, being the person that he is, Jammeh recorded and televised their conversation without advising her of his intent to do so.

The statement said President Sirleaf noted: “Let me make it clear that there is no change in ECOWAS position. The Constitution of The Gambia must be respected.”

Barrow’s inauguration in limbo
Gambia’s Parliament on Tuesday extended the tenure of Jammeh by 90 days.

Jammeh further declared a state of emergency in the country.

Following such moves, it seems the inauguration of Adama Barrow on Thursday, January 19, 2016 may not come on as scheduled.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, BBC correspondent, Umaru Fofana currently in Gambia said Barrow’s inauguration might not happen.

“To be honest everything seems to be up in the air, nobody is sure what will happen in the next minute… By midnight tonight, his [Jammeh’s] tenure should end, but Parliament extended his mandate yesterday, the legitimacy of that is being challenged. The opposition collation assured me that they will go ahead with their inauguration tomorrow but that was before the state of emergency declaration. Due to the emergency declaration, large gatherings will not be allowed and I honestly can’t see how an inauguration ceremony will go ahead tomorrow with a state of emergency,” he opined.

ECOWAS, AU fail to convince Jammeh to step down
Several talks between Jammeh, ECOWAS and AU leaders in a bid to have him step down failed.

The ECOWAS delegation was made up of Ghana’s former President John Mahama, Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari and Liberia’s Ellen Sirleaf Johnson.

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Source: GNA with additional files from citifmonline.com

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Jammeh’s tenure which expires by midnight today, Wednesday, has been extended by 90 days by Gambia’s Parliament while a state of emergency has also been declared in the country.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, BBC correspondent, Umaru Fofana currently in Gambia said Barrow’s inauguration might not happen.

[contextly_sidebar id=”wWfdKTY8BVlWwrnnjGTa8My5VLN2Kef7″]“To be honest everything seems to be up in the air, nobody is sure what will happen in the next minute… By midnight tonight, his [Jammeh’s] tenure should end, but Parliament extended his mandate yesterday, the legitimacy of that is being challenged. The opposition collation assured me that they will go ahead with their inauguration tomorrow but that was before the state of emergency declaration. Due to the emergency declaration, large gatherings will not be allowed and I honestly can’t see how an inauguration ceremony will go ahead tomorrow with a state of emergency,” he opined.

The country is currently facing a political crisis because Mr. Jammeh who was defeated in the country’s polls held in December 2016 and after conceding defeat has now rejected the results and thus challenging it in court.

However, the court is expected to rule on the matter in May 2017.

Nigeria’s Warship

There were reports that Nigeria has dispatched a warship to Gambia following the political crisis but Fofana said “at this moment, the Nigerian military source told the BBC that they were not coming to fire any shot at least for a start.”

“If there is cooperation it will end that way but we are not sure what is happening,” he added.

Tourists exit Gambia

The BBC reporter also said on the Citi Breakfast Show that scores of tourists are leaving the country following the declaration of the state of emergency.

“Since last night tourist have been streaming out of the country since that emergency declaration. As I speak with you now, I can see a lot of European tourists at my hotel leaving the country. But the place is still calm.”

ECOWAS, AU fail to convince Jammeh to step down

Several talks between Jammeh, ECOWAS and AU leaders in a bid to have him step down failed.

The ECOWAS delegation was made up of Ghana’s former President John Mahama, Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari and Liberia’s Ellen Sirleaf Johnson.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

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