-- "I have agreed to relinquish office" – Jammeh
-- Barrow, confirmed Jammeh's agreement to step down
Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on Saturday finally agreed to quit office following last-chance talks with west African leaders ahead of a possible military intervention.
Jammeh spent hours with Guinea and Mauritania’s presidents on Friday in Banjul, where agreement was reached that he would hand power to Adama Barrow, the declared winner of elections last month.
“I have decided today in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation with infinite gratitude to all Gambians,” Jammeh said in a statement broadcast on state television.
The leader declared his decision to leave office — after weeks of stalling through threats and legal action — was his alone, despite immense pressure from the international community.
There was however no confirmation of where he would spend his life after his presidency.
“My decision today was not dictated by anything else than the supreme interest of you the Gambian people and our dear country,” Jammeh said in his speech, thanking Gambians for their support.
“At a time when we are witnessing trouble and fears in other parts of Africa and the world the peace and security of the Gambia is our collective heritage which we must jealously guard and defend,” he added.
“I am proud and honoured to have served The Gambia. I submit myself only to the judgement of Allah.
“I am proud and honoured to have been of service to you. I believe in the capacity of Africans to decide for themselves all issues on democracy,social and economic development,” Jammeh stated.
Mauritania president Abdul Aziz talks confirmed that a deal has been struck with Jammeh’s to allow him step down peacefully.
“We’ve reached an agreement that saves the Gambia, guarantees peace and assures security, dignity honour for the outgoing president,” Aziz said.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo received briefing on the situation in Banjul from government officials on Friday soon after his return from Ibadan where he had gone on an official trip.
He is acting for President Muhammadu Buhari, who is on a 10-day medical vacation in the United Kingdom .
The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the VP , Laolu Akande, said on his Twitter handle yesterday that : “VP Osinbajo on return to Abuja received update and briefings on the situation in Gambia and briefings from a number of cabinet ministers.”
Barrow has been in neighbouring Senegal for days. He was sworn-in in the Gambian embassy there on Thursday.
His legitimacy as president has been recognised internationally, after he won last month’s elections.
Jammeh’s deadline to cede power to Barrow lapsed several times as West African troops moved into the nation in a bid to force his removal.
Hours before, Gambia’s army chief abandoned the embattled longtime leader, saying his forces would not fight against a military operation to remove him, as regional leaders led a last ditch effort to convince him to flee into exile.
The defection of General Ousman Badjie, who had previously stood by Jammeh, removed what was perhaps the former coup leader’s last remaining pillar of support, potentially raising the likelihood of a peaceful solution to the political impasse.
While Barrow’s election victory last month and inauguration on Thursday were celebrated by many across the tiny nation of less than 2 million people, support for Jammeh remained strong among some Gambians, who opposed the military intervention.
Hours before Jammeh agreed to quit yesterday Gambians had taken to social media, particularly the Twitter which had recorded more than 200,000 tweets in praise of Nigeria, Senegal and ECOWAS.
The new President, Mr Adama Barrow, took to twitter thanking the people of the Gambia and the world.
Barrow, confirmed Jammeh's agreement to step down
President of The Gambia, Mr. Adama Barrow, also confirmed that defeated former President Yayah Jammeh has agreed to step down.
Barrow, yesterday, wrote on his Facebook page, BarrowOfficial: “I would like to inform you that Yaya Jammeh agreed to relinquish power and leave the country.
““He is scheduled to depart Gambia today #NewGambia.”
He earlier wrote thanking Senegalese President Macky Sall: “Thank you once again President @Macky_Sall for hosting me and my family.”
He added: “I must also express profound gratitude to ECOWAS, AU, the Security Council of the UN and all nations who stood by us.
“Am taking this opportunity to thank the entire electorate of the #Gambia and Gambians in the Diaspora.”
Gambia’s Chief of Defence, Ousman Badgie, had said yesterday said there “is not going to be any war or any fighting’’ as talks to convince Yahya Jammeh to cease power continues.
The Gambian Army Chief assured that the West African leaders would continue to make a final attempt to convince Yahya Jammeh to cede power.
“It’s a political misunderstanding; it is going to be solved politically, not militarily.
“Security is guaranteed 100 per cent,’’ the army chief adds, inviting thousands of Gambians who fled their country in fear of violence to return.
“You cannot push us to war for an issue we can solve politically,” Badjie said. “We don’t see any reason to fight.”
“West African troops that crossed from neighbouring Senegal into Gambia to help unseat Jammeh would be welcomed “with a cup of tea,’’ said
The Gambia’s defense forces pledged their allegiance yesterday to the new President, Adama Barrow, while the leaders of Guinea and Mauritania tried to persuade Jammeh to cede power in the West African nation.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) military force awaited orders to roll into the capital and force Jammeh from the office he held for 22 years.
Barrow, who was elected president last month, was sworn in Thursday at the Gambian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal and the United Nations (UN) Security Council voted unanimously to approve the regional military intervention.
A Gambian Presidential aircraft was seen parked on the tarmac of Banjul’s airport yesterday.
The leaders of Guinea and Mauritania had arrived in Gambia’s capital in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to get Jammeh to cede power to Barrow.
Badjie told The Associated Press that Gambia’s security services all support Barrow and would not fight the regional force that was poised to push out Jammeh if talks failed.
With his security forces abandoning him and his cabinet dissolved, Jammeh was increasingly isolated as the last-minute talks continued at his official residence in the capital, Banjul, with the leaders of Guinea and Mauritania.
The West African regional force, including tanks, moved in during the evening without facing any resistance, said Marcel Alain de Souza, chairman of ECOWAS.
At least 20 military vehicles were seen yesterday at the border town of Karang. They included troops from Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Mali, and they moved in after Barrow’s inauguration and the U.N. vote.
Guinean President Alpha Conde arrived in Banjul with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Mauritania has been mentioned as a possible home in exile for Jammeh. After a first round of talks, they broke for Friday prayers and resumed.
Conde would offer Jammeh the chance to step down peacefully, de Souza said.
Jammeh “has the choice of going with President Alpha Conde,” he said, but if that fails, “we will bring him by force or by will.”
He had agreed to step down, but demanded amnesty for any crimes he may have committed during his 22 years in power and wanted to stay in Gambia, in his home village of Kanilai, de Souza said. Those demands are not acceptable to ECOWAS, he added.
Jammeh’s continued presence in Gambia would “create disturbances to public order and terrorist movements,” said de Souza. ECOWAS wants Barrow to take power in Gambia without any security threats, said de Souza.
At a news conference in Nouakchott before leaving for Gambia, Abdel Aziz said he would “never understand” why Jammeh backed off from his initial pledge to accept defeat and step down, Mauritanian state media reported.
In his inaugural speech, which took place under heavy security, Barrow urged Jammeh to respect the will of the people and step aside. He also called for Gambia’s armed forces to stay in their barracks.
Some of Gambia’s diplomatic missions have begun switching their allegiance.
“We embrace and support the new president Adama Barrow,” said Almamy Kassama, an official at the Gambian mission to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in an email.
The U.S. supported the regional force’s intervention and was in touch with officials in Senegal, said State Department spokesman John Kirby, adding that he didn’t have tactical information, but “obviously, it’s very, very tense.”
Senegalese radio station RFM reported 30 Gambian soldiers had crossed into Senegal to fight alongside the regional forces.
“I think the Gambian military would know it’s outnumbered,” said Maggie Dwyer, an expert on West African armed forces at the University of Edinburgh. “Gambia’s military has very little combat experience. This would be a very difficult situation for them.”
She estimated it had 2,400 troops at most, plus fewer than 1,000 paramilitary forces.
“My guess is a very small number would actually put their life on the line for Jammeh,” though some could stand by him to get the same deal he might receive to avoid prosecution, Dwyer said.
Soldiers at checkpoints in Banjul appeared relaxed, with one telling visitors, “Welcome to the smiling coast.”
Other nations have begun stepping away from Jammeh, with the African Union saying the continental body no longer recognizes him.
About 45,000 people have fled Gambia for Senegal, fearing violence, according to the Senegalese government and the U.N. refugee agency.
About two-thirds are children accompanied by women, the U.N. said.
Only about a few thousand international tourists are believed to still be in Gambia, and efforts continued to evacuate them.