Gambia: Barrow’s inauguration in limbo

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 Accra based radio station, 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.

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.

It seems the inauguration of Gambia’s president-elect, Adama Barrow on Thursday, January 19, 2016 may not come on as scheduled following the extension of embattled President, Yahya Jammeh’s term of office.

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