The former president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, refuses to step down, after elections put an end to his 22 year reign, even though at first it looked like he was going to accept the election outcome. On the 2nd of december, he congratulated the winner of the elections.
Within a week however, he changed his stance, and now claims the elections were 'a fraud and unacceptable', a verdict which, by the way, can only be passed by the elections committee, and not by the president.
Personal visits from the presidents of Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia, all of whom have already congratulated the new president, have not been able to change his mind.
Gambia is quickly turning into chaos, as militants loyal to the old president are occupying the headquarters of the Gambian election committee, who declared the opposition candidate as the winner of the elections.
Ecowas, the regional coalition of nations including those of the four aforementioned presidents is now seriously considering a joint invasion of Gambia, to chase out the old president and help the new president take control. An Ecowas spokesman declared that a military invasion is 'a realistic solution'.
It wouldn't be the first time that Ecowas intervenes militarily. The last time it did was in the conflict in Sierra Leone at the start of this century. The counrties insisting now that Jammeh respects the election outcome and step down, have been trying hard the last decade to prove that they are becoming more and more democratic.
For instance in Ghana only last week, president John Mahama accepted his election loss and stepped down.
In Nigeria, the current president came to power by defeating the old president in fair elections in 2015. Nigeria is seen as the strongest regional power. It's army is many times larger than the Gambian army. Jammeh will not stay in power long if Ecowas decides to intervene militarily.
And then there's Senegal, which borders Gambia on 3 sides. It is well known that it's democratically elected president has no love for Gambian president Jammeh. Senegalese forces have already been ordered a while ago to concentrate at the Gambian borders.
It's not sure that it needs to come to an invasion though. It depends on Gambia's military. At first it looked like the Gambian army would support the new president, Adama Barrow, but in a later statement, army commander Ousman Badjie says that the army will 'support the president, whomever that may be'.
The past few days, reports have come in from Banjul, and other cities in the small country with 2 million inhabitants, that soldiers are digging trenches.
With his population, old president Jammeh is far from beloved. But the Gambians fear him, knowing that he does not abstain from arresting, torturing and executing his opponents.
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Topic: African news thread (Read 28018 times)