Gambia prepares for new president's arrival
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Gambia's new President Adama Barrow is due to arrive in the country on Thursday, a week after he was sworn into office in neighbouring Senegal, a spokesman has confirmed.
How did it come to this?
- Opposition Adama Barrow was a surprise winner of the December presidential poll against long-time ruler Yahya Jammeh
- Several opposition parties united behind Mr Barrow, a property developer who had never held public office
- Mr Jammeh seized power in a bloodless coup in 1994 as a 29-year-old army officer and had won four previous polls
- Gambians voted by placing marbles into drums marked for each candidate
- In the December 1 election, Mr Barrow won more than 263,000 votes while Mr Jammeh received less than 213,000
- Commentators said his victory was arguably an even bigger shock that Donald Trump's in the US
- When campaigning, Mr Jammeh said if God willed it, his presidency could go on for "a billion years"
- Since independence from the UK, The Gambia has had just two leaders
- Before Mr Jammeh took power in 1994, Dawda Jawara held office from 1970
- The Gambia is the smallest country in Africa and officially called the Islamic Republic of The Gambia
- The West Africa country is mostly surrounded by Senegal with a short coastal strip on the Atlantic Ocean
Mr Barrow was waiting for the West African regional force to confirm that it was safe from him to return to Gambia, Halifa Sallah said.
Adama Barrow was sworn into office last week in Senegal, where he was for his safety.
A new inauguration will be held on Gambian soil, said Mr Sallah, speaking on Senegalese radio.
"We will organise a ceremony soon at the stadium. It will be an occasion to show strength. Everyone will be invited. The President will address his people."
Gambians eagerly await Mr Barrow, who has promised to reverse many of the actions of longtime leader Yahya Jammeh.
Mr Barrow defeated Mr Jammeh in December elections that the ruling party challenged.
Mr Jammeh finally flew into exile last weekend after African and international pressure, ending a rule lasting more than 22 years.
He has been accused by rights groups and others of leading a government that suppressed opponents with detentions, beatings and killings.
A West African regional military force that was poised to oust Mr Jammeh if diplomatic talks failed has been securing Gambia for Mr Barrow's arrival.
He has requested that the force remain in Gambia for six months, but it is unclear whether heads of state with the regional bloc, known as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), will approve a deployment for that long.
He has been busy this week forming his Cabinet and has named a woman, Fatoumata Tabajang, as Vice-President.
She has vowed to seek prosecution for Mr Jammeh, who flew with family and close aides to Equatorial Guinea.
On Tuesday, Gambia's politicians lifted the country's state of emergency and revoked a three-month extension of Mr Jammeh's term as the new government began dismantling his final attempts to cling to power.
AP
Topics: government-and-politics, world-politics, gambia
