Category: Politics

Gambia may not quit the International Criminal Court (ICC) after all.

President-elect Adama Barrow told Germany DW television in an exclusive interview that “there is no need for us to leave the ICC”.

He said ICC was advocating good governance – and that was “our principal”.

“We will come back to the Commonwealth and will be part of all international organisations,” DW quoted Mr Barrow saying.
“The moment we take office, we will investigate most of the things that have taken place in this country.”

Under President Yahya Jammeh, Gambia notified the United Nations that it was withdrawing from ICC, becoming the third African country to give formal notice of a pullout.

South Africa and Burundi also ignored appeals from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to reverse their decisions and have sent letters confirming that they are quitting the ICC.

Banjul’s decision to pull out of the court struck a personal blow against the tribunal’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian lawyer and former Justice minister.

Gambian Information Minister Sheriff Bojang charged that the ICC had been used “for the persecution of Africans and especially their leaders” while ignoring crimes committed by the West.

Mr Barrow defeated President Jammeh in a December 1 election, marking the end of a 22-year rule by the latter.

{Property developer Adama Barrow says his shock win of the Gambian election heralds new hope for the country.}

Yahya Jammeh, an authoritarian president who ruled for 22 years, has confirmed he will step down.

“I will help him work towards the transition,” Mr Jammeh said on state TV on Friday evening, after speaking to the president-elect by telephone.

Mr Barrow, 51, who has never held political office, won Thursday’s election with 45.5% of the vote.

Hundreds of Gambians took to the streets to celebrate one of the biggest election upsets West Africa has ever seen.

Mr Jammeh, also 51, took power in a bloodless coup in 1994 and has ruled the country with an iron fist ever since.

President Jammeh took 36.7% of the vote, while a third party candidate, Mama Kandeh, won just 17.8%.

The BBC’s Umaru Fofana, who spoke to Mr Barrow, said the president-elect seemed bewildered by the result.

President Jammeh has congratulated the property developer and vowed not to contest the results after deciding “that I should take the backseat”.

“I am very, very, very happy. I’m excited that we win (sic) this election and from now hope starts,” Mr Barrow told the BBC’s Umaru Fofana, adding that he was disappointed not to have won by a larger margin.

Born in 1965 near the eastern market town of Basse, Mr Barrow moved to London in the 2000s where he reportedly used to work as a security guard at an Argos catalogue store.

He returned to The Gambia in 2006 to set up his own property company, which he still runs today.

Mr Barrow, who is leading an opposition coalition of seven parties, has promised to revive the country’s struggling economy, look at imposing a two-term presidential limit and introduce a three-year transitional government.

Despite a surge of support for an opposition broadly united behind one candidate, most people expected the status quo to prevail.

Hopes weren’t high for a peaceful transfer of power, with a crackdown on opposition leaders months before the polls, the banning of international observers or post-election demonstrations, and then the switching off of the internet on election day.

But in a place where glass beads are used in place of ballot papers, it seems that the marbles have spoken.

The unseating of an incumbent president is not the usual way politics goes in this part of the world – but it’s becoming popular in West Africa at least, with Muhammadu Buhari unseating Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria just last year.

Former businessman Adama Barrow now has his chance to tackle the poverty and unemployment which drives so many young Gambians to join the Mediterranean migrant trail every year.

{{How has incumbent President Jammeh reacted?}}

The incumbent president has asked his successor to set up a time to meet and organise the transition period.

Yahya Jammeh, a devout Muslim, had once said he would rule for “one billion years” if “Allah willed it”.

“It’s really unique that someone who has been ruling this country for so long has accepted defeat,” the electoral commission chief, Alieu Momar Njie, said on Friday.

Human rights groups have accused Mr Jammeh, who in the past claimed he could cure Aids and infertility, of repression and abuses of the media, the opposition and gay people.

In 2014, he called homosexuals “vermin” and said the government would deal with them as it would malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

Several previous opposition leaders were imprisoned after taking part in a rare protest in April.

Mr Barrow has promised to undo some of Mr Jammeh’s more controversial moves, including reversing decisions to remove The Gambia from the Commonwealth and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

{{Where is The Gambia?}}

The Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, with a population of fewer than two million.

It is surrounded on three sides by Senegal and has a short Atlantic coastline popular with European tourists.

Tourism has become The Gambia’s fastest growing sector of the economy, and it is known to travellers as “the smiling coast of West Africa”.

Last year, President Jammeh declared the country an Islamic Republic in what he called a break from the country’s colonial past.

{A prominent opposition leader in Ethiopia has been detained after he returned from Europe.}

Merera Gudina had violated Ethiopia’s state of emergency by having contact with “terrorist” and “anti-peace” groups, state-linked media reported.

Mr Merera criticised the state of emergency in an address to the European parliament on 9 November.

The government imposed it in October to end an unprecedented wave of protests against its 25-year rule.

More than 11,000 people have since been arrested.

Mr Merera, who is the leader of the Oromo Federalist Conference, was arrested on Wednesday at the airport in the capital, Addis Ababa, after he flew in from Brussels, reports BBC Ethiopia correspondent Emmanuel Igunza.

Several of his relatives who were with him were also detained, local media report.
European parliament member Ana Maria Gomes, who invited Mr Merera, told the BBC she was “extremely shocked” about the arrests.

She said she would push for the European Union take a tougher line against the Ethiopian government.

Mr Merera has previously criticised the arrests of hundreds of people from the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups, which were at the forefront of anti-government protests.

The meeting at the European parliament was also attended by Ethiopia’s Olympic medallist Feyisa Lilesa.

He refused to return home after the Rio Games, saying his life would be in danger.
The marathon runner crossed the line in second place with his arms above his head in solidarity with Oromo activists.

Mr Merera had served seven years in prison for opposing the former regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam.

He also took part in the overthrow of Ethiopia’s last emperor, Haile Selassie.

Many people in the Oromo and Amhara ethnics groups, two of the largest in Ethiopia, complain of political and economic marginalisation.

{The Gambia has banned the internet and international phone calls as presidential elections are held in the West African state.}

Officials have also banned demonstrations to prevent unrest after the elections.

Estate agent Adama Barrow is challenging President Yahya Jammeh, who says divine intervention will give him a fifth term.

The Gambia has not had a smooth transfer of power since independence.

The BBC’s Umaru Fofana in the capital, Banjul, says turnout in the election appears to be very high.

Our correspondent went to a polling station outside Banjul, where he witnessed long queues of voters waiting to cast their votes.

The results of the election are said to be expected later tonight.

The Gambia has a unique way of voting for the president.

Instead of using ballot papers, voters put a marble into a coloured drum for their candidate.

The system is aimed at tackling illiteracy and preventing rigging.

In the 2011 election, only two votes were declared invalid after people placed their marbles on top of drums.

Observers say Mr Barrow, who, according to British news reports, was once a security guard in the UK high street store Argos, has generated fresh enthusiasm among opposition supporters.

Human rights groups accuse Mr Jammeh, who has in the past claimed he can cure Aids and infertility, of repression and abuses.

Several previously better-known opposition leaders are in jail after taking part in a rare protest in April.

Observers from the European Union (EU) and the West African regional bloc Ecowas are not attending the vote.

This poll in The Gambia is different.

An unprecedented number of people turned up at opposition rallies ahead of the election.

For a country that has known only two presidents since independence from the UK 51 years ago, its mostly young population is yearning for change.

The economic challenges besetting this small West African nation have forced many to make the perilous journey to Europe, with some drowning on the way.

President Jammeh has said he will rule for a billion years if Allah wills.

Mr Barrow says he wants to bring the country back from the brink and restore human rights and true democracy.

Mr Jammeh’s supporters say he has spread education and health care to remote parts of the country.

However, his critics accuse him of repressive tendencies with many dissenting voices either killed, jailed or forced into exile.

Gambian officials opposed the presence of Western observers, but the EU says it is staying away out of concern about the fairness of the voting process.

The African Union, however, has despatched a handful of observers to supervise the vote.

The Gambia, a tiny country with a population of less than two million, is surrounded on three sides by Senegal and has a short Atlantic coastline, which is popular with European tourists.

Mr Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup.

Ahead of the vote, rights groups expressed concern over a possible flare-up of violence.

However, campaigning passed off almost smoothly without a major incident.
On Tuesday Mr Jammeh warned his rivals against contesting the outcome of the vote.

“Our election system is fraud-proof, rig-proof, you cannot rig our elections,” he said.
“There is no reason that anybody should demonstrate. [Demonstrations] are the loopholes that are used to destabilise African governments.”

Mamma Kandeh of the Gambia Democratic Congress is also in the race.

{Gambians are due to head to the polls to choose a president with Yahya Jammeh seeking a fifth term in office.}

Most of the main parties have united behind estate agent Adama Barrow to challenge Mr Jammeh.

Human rights groups have accused Mr Jammeh of harassing the opposition ahead of the poll – charges he has dismissed.

The Gambia has not experienced a democratic transition of power since independence from the UK in 1965.

Observers from the European Union (EU) and the West African regional bloc Ecowas are not attending the vote.

Gambian officials expressed opposition to the presence of Western observers, but the EU says it is staying away out of concern about the fairness of the voting process.

The African Union however has despatched a handful of observers to supervise the vote.

The Gambia, a tiny country with a population of less than two million, is surrounded on three sides by Senegal and has a short Atlantic coastline, which is popular with European tourists.

The results of the election are not expected to be announced immediately.

Mr Jammeh took power in a 1994 coup.

Ahead of the vote, rights groups expressed concern over a possible flare-up of violence.

However, campaigning passed off almost smoothly without a major incident.

The BBC’s Umaru Fofana in Banjul says there has been a “razzmattaz atmosphere” on all sides.

At his rallies, Mr Jammeh touted his “development record”, claiming he took The Gambia “from stone-age to a modern country” and he should win.

“Ninety-eight per cent of students in universities are on scholarships,” he told the BBC.

“You can’t walk 25km [15 miles] without reaching a major health centre,” he said.
‘Rig-proof elections’

But Mr Barrow told the BBC that Gambians had been suffering for 22 years and now was the time for change.

“Voters know that [I am] genuine and ready for change and that’s why they should trust me,” Mr Barrow said.

On Tuesday Mr Jammeh warned his rivals against contesting the outcome of the vote.

“Our election system is fraud-proof, rig-proof, you cannot rig our elections,” he said.

“There is no reason that anybody should demonstrate. [Demonstrations] are the loopholes that are used to destabilize African governments.”

Mamma Kandeh of the Gambia Democratic Congress is also in the race.