Senegal's president has called on Gambia's leader to respect the results of the country's Dec. 1 election that saw President Yahya Jammeh lose to his rival.

Jammeh initially conceded defeat but later rejected results that would force him to step down after 22 years in power.

Senegal's foreign ministry, the United Nations Security Council, West Africa's regional bloc and Gambia's diaspora community have all urged Jammeh to respect the Gambian people's choice.

President Macky Sall of Senegal, which surrounds Gambia, late Saturday joined the calls for a peaceful transition in Gambia, where tens of thousands of Senegalese reside.

Gambia's president-elect Adama Barrow said Saturday that Jammeh has no constitutional authority to invalidate the vote, calling on him for a smooth transition in the interest of the tiny West African country.</s>The Gambian President, Yahya Jammeh, has reportedly backtracked over his resolve to hand over power to his successor, Adama Barrow, after ruling the West African nation for 22 solid years. In a speech broadcast on the state-owned television, the coup maker, turned constitutionally elected leader, claimed investigations since the December 1 election have revealed to him, a number of voting irregularities, which is unacceptable.

“I hereby reject the results in totality. Let me repeat: I will not accept the results based on what has happened,” he said. The constitutional dictator's rejection of the results comes barely a week after he had called Adama Barrow to concede defeat and promised to hand over power peacefully. “You are the elected president of The Gambia, and I wish you all the best,” Jammeh told Barrow at the time, adding, “I have no ill will.”

After seizing power in 1994, at the age of just 29, and forcing prominent citizens into exile, the despot ruled The Gambia with an iron fist until he decided to drop the army garb for that of a civilian leader. Since then, he has won several disputed elections, but, in the name of sovereignty, nobody said anything about him. Now after losing the December election and accepting defeat, this tyrant has decided to eat back his words, and is now saying he would no more accept the election results.

The Chronicle finds the conduct of Yahya Jammeh unacceptable and a complete disgrace to the already battered image of Africa when it comes to democracy. The Gambia is not the personal property of Jammah and his family, but a state whose sovereignty resides in the people, and the latter have decided that they no more need him as their leader. He cannot, therefore, arrogate to himself the powers to annul election results, without recourse to Gambian laws.

The Chronicle is, therefore, calling on the African Union, United Nations, European Union, and United States of America (USA) to start diplomatic talks with this dictator calling himself president, and prevail upon him to hand over power peacefully to Adama Barrow, the president-elect.

Should the diplomatic talks fail, these states and institutions, we have mentioned above, especially Britain, the former colonial ruler, should move in and use military force to remove Jammeh from power.

The Chronicle is surprised at the British foreign policy towards its former colonies. The Queen's people appear not to care about what goes on in their former colonies, though we admit that these former colonies are now independent states.

The Chronicle is not knocking the heads of both Britain and France together, but if this nonsense going in The Gambia had happened in any French speaking country, France would have moved in quickly to stop it.

In 1997, it had to take the intervention of ECOWAS, led by Nigeria, to restore former Sierra Leonean leader Ahmad Kabbah back to power, after he was overthrown by a junta group led by Johnny Koroma.

Britain, which boasts of having colonised countries in Africa including Sierra Leone, did not see the need to intervene and stop the bloodshed going on in its former colony.

In recent years, France has made interventions in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso among others, which saved these countries from sliding into civil war, but when it comes to English-speaking countries, Britain has always failed to act decisively. Yahya Jammeh, a man who even claimed at a point in time that he could cure AIDS, is gradually sending The Gambia into civil war, and should these world leaders sit aloof and allow him to plunge the country into chaos before living up to their responsibilities?

As the adage goes, when persuasion fails, force must be applied. Yahya Jammeh, we insist, must be removed from power through military intervention if negotiations for him to hand over fail. Africa is tired of this Stone Age conduct of some of its leaders, and the time to act is now!</s>One of President Yahya Jammeh’s challengers in the December 1st election has urged him to take the election defeat on the chin and handover power to the victor, Adama Barrow.

Mamma Kandeh of the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) said the Gambian people have elected Adama Barrow in a free, fair and transparent elections and his party has no plans to contest the results.

Tension is high in the Gambia and security officers are put on stand-by after Mr Jammeh on Friday told state television GRTS that he has rejected the totality of the December 1st election results and called for fresh elections.

Mr Jammeh, 51, who has ruled the Gambia since July 1994, had initially conceded defeat and praised the country’s electoral system as “the most transparent election in the whole world,” adding that he would not contest the result.

In a media statement issued on Saturday, Mr Kandeh, 51, who secured 17 per cent of the votes said: “The Gambia Democratic Congress has learnt with dismay the decision by President Yaya Jammeh to annul the 2016 election results.

“The move contravenes the constitution of the Gambia. GDC has accepted the outcome of the elections and that position remains unchanged. The Gambian people have elected Adama Barrow in a free, fair and transparent elections which President Jammeh himself initially accepted and GDC has no plans to contest it.”

Mr Kandeh urged Mr Jammeh to reverse his decision in the interest of peace and stability.

He added: “Your swift decision earlier to concede defeat and your subsequent move to call Adama Barrow to congratulate him was lauded throughout the world. We therefore prevail on you to reconsider your decision.”

Mr Kandeh appealed to Gambians to remain calm while the situation is being resolved.</s>Banjul. The UN Security Council on Monday urged Gambia’s longtime leader Yahya Jammeh to meet with international mediators who have been dispatched to Banjul to persuade him to hand over power.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf along with the presidents of Sierra Leone, Ghana and the UN envoy for West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, are set to arrive in Banjul on Tuesday.

Council members “urge President Jammeh to meet and cooperate with the UN-ECOWAS high-level delegation that will visit Banjul tomorrow,” said Spanish Deputy Ambassador Juan Manuel Gonzalez de Linares.

The council met behind closed doors at Senegal’s request to discuss the crisis over Jammeh’s refusal to recognize the outcome of the December 1 election.

Jammeh, in power for 22 years, had accepted defeat a day after the vote, but backtracked a week later, saying he rejected the outcome and calling for a new vote.

US Ambassador Samantha Power said it was a “very dangerous moment” for the West African country, citing reports that some military officers have sided with Jammeh in the standoff.

The Security Council on Saturday released a unanimous statement demanding that Jammeh “transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to President-elect Adama Barrow.”Gonzales said the council “reiterated the full contents” of that statement during their meeting on Monday and called for maximum restraint. The deputy ambassador said there was no specific discussion of measures to force Jammeh to step down.

“In this moment, our maximum priority is to support the high-level visit that is going to take place tomorrow in Banjul,” he said.. (AFP)</s>In a Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016 file photo, Gambia's president Yahya Jammeh shows his inked finger before voting in Banjul, Gambia. Gambia's ruler of more than 22 years now says he won't accept defeat in the presidential election, reversing course a week after he conceded defeat. In a speech on state television aired late Friday, Dec. 9, 2016,, President Yahya Jammeh said that investigations had revealed voting irregularities that he called unacceptable. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gambia's president-elect said Saturday that the outgoing leader who now rejects his defeat has no constitutional authority to call for another election, and he called on President Yahya Jammeh to help with a smooth transition in the interest of the tiny West African country.

Jammeh's surprise reversal late Friday was certain to spark outrage among the tens of thousands who took to the streets after Adama Barrow was announced the president-elect in the Dec. 1 vote, shouting "Freedom!"

The United States and others quickly rejected Jammeh's new stance, and the African Union on Saturday called for security forces to remain neutral. Soldiers were in the streets of the capital, Banjul, as Gambians closed down shops in fear of unrest.

Barrow said the Independent Electoral Commission is the only competent authority to declare a winner.

"It was already done so, and I am the president-elect," Barrow said. "President Jammeh is the outgoing president. He is to hand over executive powers to me when his term is expires in January."

Jammeh, whose 22-year rule has been marked by repeated accusations of human rights abuses, late Friday announced that he rejects the results of the presidential election, a week after he jovially conceded to Barrow. "Allah is telling me my time is up," he said then.

Jammeh now says investigations have revealed a number of voting irregularities.

The head of the electoral commission, Alieu Momarr Njai, would not comment to The Associated Press on whether Jammeh had filed a formal challenge to the vote.

On Saturday, Barrow recalled Jammeh's telephone call Dec. 2, broadcast on state television, to concede defeat.

"The outgoing president told me in a simple, clear language that the results were regarded of the people and God," Barrow said after meeting with the coalition government at his home.

Barrow, a 51 year-old real estate mogul and former security guard, called on Jammeh to join his side for a smooth transition.

"Let him know that leaders come and go. Sooner or later, I must also go," Barrow said. "I urge him to change his current position and accept the verdict of the people in good faith for the sake of the Gambia, our homeland, whose people deserve peace and freedom and prosperity."

Jammeh's reversal drew swift criticism from the international community. African Union Chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Saturday called his rejection of the election results "null and void." The United States government called it an attempt to remain in power illegitimately.

The West African regional body, known as ECOWAS, along with the AU and U.N. urged "all Gambian stakeholders, including the elected leadership, the armed forces, political parties and civil society organization to reject violence and peacefully uphold the will of the people as clearly expressed through the ballot box."

The foreign minister in neighboring Senegal, which surrounds the small country of 1.9 million except for its coastline, called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to address the situation.

The U.N. Security Council called on Jammeh to respect the choice of Gambia's people, and "to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the president-elect."

The Security Council members also "urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint, refrain from violence and remain calm," and called on international parties, including ECOWAS, to preserve stability and work toward the installation of a democratically elected government in Gambia.

Jammeh's protest is "an extremely dangerous move that risks leading to instability and possible repression," Sabrina Mahtani, Amnesty International's West Africa researcher, said in a statement.

Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless 1994 military coup, has long been accused of overseeing a government that imprisons, tortures and sometimes kill its opponents, according to human rights groups.

Mai Ahmad Fatty of the opposition Gambia Moral Congress, one of eight parties that backed Barrow, said the coalition has the will of the people on its side.

"Remain calm. We are working round the clock to restore sanity. We have the full support of our people. The world is with us," Fatty said. "Gambia cannot afford instability."

An Associated Press reporter in Yundum, Gambia, contributed to this report. AP writers Krista Larson and Abdoulie John in Dakar, Senegal, contributed.</s>Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh said he would not recognise the results of December 1 elections (AFP Photo/Issouf Sanogo)

Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Veteran Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh announced a legal challenge to an election in which he had already conceded defeat, in a weekend of dramatic twists that sparked international furore and fear of a crackdown in the west African state.

A week after conceding defeat to upstart rival Adama Barrow in the December 1 vote, Jammeh rejected the polls on Friday, citing "unacceptable errors" by election authorities.

His ruling party on Saturday qualified Jammeh's declaration as being "a prelude to a petition that the APRC party is in the process of filing before the Supreme Court".

An avalanche of international criticism rained down on immediately Jammeh, who has led the tiny sliver of a nation of two million for 22 years since taking over in a coup.

The UN Security Council unanimously demanded he hand over power, and "strongly condemned" the about-face.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is also the chairwoman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said Jammeh's reversal "threatened peace".

She issued a plea in a statement late Saturday for Jammeh to "do the right thing and take actions to facilitate a smooth and peaceful transition in The Gambia."

Sirleaf's plane was apparently refused the right to enter The Gambia as a mediator over the weekend.

Security forces on Sunday continued to pile into the capital Banjul where locals weighed the possibility of protest against fear of a crackdown.

Jammeh's swift concession of defeat had initially stunned observers and led to celebrations across the country.

A readjustment of the votes counted in the December 1 presidential election was made on Monday, reducing vote numbers for all three candidates but ultimately assuring Barrow's victory.

In his speech on Friday, Jammeh said he would now "reject the results in totality," and called for new elections.

One senior member of the Gambian legal community told AFP: "the president doesn't have the power to nullify the election."

By Sunday afternoon on the edges of the strategic highway that leads to Banjul, sandbags were being piled high as soldiers dug trenches out behind them.

Troops armed with assault rifles were stationed at some of these makeshift positions, eyeing the road leading to Jammeh's Banjul stronghold.

On the city's outskirts, joy had given way to nervousness as more troops watched citizens prepare for a Muslim religious holiday.

"We don't feel good; we don't feel happy. We have a new president," said Ibrahim Sisay, a businessman visiting the market in the populous Serekunda district.

Sisay said an international intervention would be welcomed by many Gambians.

"We want anyone to come. Senegal are the closest people to us but anyone, even the Japanese!" he told AFP.

Some were discussing protests while others said the cost could be heavy.

"People are afraid. If we go out on the streets he could kill us," said Assan Njie, a delivery man.

Latest official figures gave Barrow 43.29 percent of the votes in the presidential election, while Jammeh took 39.64 percent. The turnout was 59 percent.

Those figures reflect the correction issued Monday by election authorities, showing a slimmer-than-thought victory for Barrow, of just over 19,000 votes.

Constitutionally Jammeh has 10 days after the election result is declared to file a complaint, but that deadline -- December 12 -- is a bank holiday, meaning he may have an extra day in lieu.

His lawyers might also argue he has 10 days after the recount declaration, according to legal experts.

The Supreme Court has not sat in more than a year, so judges will have to be appointed before they can consider the president's legal complaint, potentially delaying Barrow's inauguration.

Jammeh, a devout Muslim who seized power in 1994 in the former British colony, warned Gambians not to take to the streets to protest his decision, raising concerns from rights groups.

Barrow on Saturday called on Jammeh to drop his challenge, while the UN, US and other foreign authorities lambasted the leader and urged Gambians to keep the peace.</s>Research and education think tank, Africa Center for International Law and Accountability (ACILA) has called on Gambian President Mr. Yahya Jammeh to hand over power to President-Elect, Mr. Adama Barrow, when his term of office expires next month.

President Jammeh lost the election to Mr. Barrow last week and he accepted the results of the election and called Mr. Barrow to congratulate him on his victory. Barely one week after accepting the results, Mr. Jammeh backtracked saying he ‘totally rejects the results’ of the election, and called for a new election.

Both the UN Security Council and African Union have called on Mr. Jammeh to hand over power to Mr. Barrow, with the UN Security Council saying that the transfer of power to Mr. Barrow should be unconditional. The African Union said Mr. Jammeh’s call for a fresh election is “null and void”.

A statement signed Mr. William Nyarko, Executive Director of ACILA said that Mr. Jammeh should respect the sovereign will of the people of Gambia as expressed in their vote rejecting a continuation of the 22-year rule of Mr. Jammeh.

He said that at this time, President Jammeh should focus his attention on helping to establish a transitional team to transfer power to Mr. Barrow in accordance with the Constitution of Gambia.

According to Mr. Nyarko, President Jammeh is welcome to go to court to challenge the results of the election if he believes that the election was allegedly rigged.

He said that Article 49 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia provides that any candidate who disputes the result of a presidential election should file a petition at the Supreme Court of the Gambia within ten days of the declaration of the result of the election for a determination, adding that Mr. Jammeh should follow the rule of law and file his petition at the Supreme Court.

“Any registered political party which has participated in the Presidential election or an independent candidate who has participated in such an election may apply to the Supreme Court to determine the validity of the election of a President by filing a petition within ten days of the declaration of the result of the election”, Article 49 of the Constitution of the Republic of the Gambia.</s>ATLANTA(MaraviPost): President Jammeh rejects the elections results. A week after admitting defeat! He claimed, after declaring himself that the process was fair and transparent, that there were “abnormalities” and therefore rejected totally the results and is now calling for fresh elections. This is Deja vu!

The president-elect of the Gambia has demanded that Yahya Jammeh step down immediately, as African leaders prepared to fly in and persuade the country’s autocratic leader to reconsider his refusal to accept defeat and resign.

After 22 years in power in the west African nation, it came as a surprise to many when Jammeh, an autocratic leader who had said he would rule for “a billion years if Allah willed it”, accepted defeat in a televised call to Adama Barrow, the leader of the opposition coalition.

However, a week later he declared that the vote was “fraudulent and unacceptable” and vowed to take the matter to the country’s supreme court. Barrow and his coalition said Jammeh’s plans were “illegal” and he should resign.

Barrow said he was relying on four senior African presidents due to arrive in the country on Tuesday to persuade Jammeh to reverse his pledge to nullify the election and retain power.

It is unclear whether Jammeh will agree to meet Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia, Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone and John Mahama, who has just accepted defeat in Ghana’s election, as well as Mohammed Ibn Chambas, the UN’s west Africa representative. If he does, this would be the first time he has met anyone from outside the government since losing the election.

“We want him to step down immediately so that we can move forward,” Barrow told the Guardian. “He lost the election, called me, swore to the Qur’an and said: ‘I am a Muslim, I have faith, I lost the election. I have accepted it in good faith and our electoral system is the best in the world. No one can rig it.’ We want him to step down because he has put himself in a very funny position, in a tight corner.”

Jammeh, Barrow said, “has a legal team and advisers and ought to know better. He doesn’t have the authority to annul the results. We were very disappointed for a sitting president to behave that way, but we believe that he made a mistake and he doesn’t have the authority to do that.”

The outpouring of joy at Barrow’s victory and Jammeh’s initial acceptance of it came to a halt when Jammeh said he would “not tolerate any demonstrations” and warned that there would be “serious consequences” for anyone who went against him.

Gambians who had taken to the streets, talking openly of the deaths and disappearances they had experienced under Jammeh, stayed at home on Sunday and Monday, wary of the armed security forces deployed on many street corners.

Soldiers have been digging trenches and building defence positions with sandbags on the road to Banjul, the Gambia’s capital, in the days since Jammeh rejected the result.

Sources in the country said there were serious threats to Barrow’s life, but Barrow dismissed this as “just a rumour, not something concrete”. “I have faith, I contested elections on principle. I have the support of the Gambian people. I am not in the least afraid,” he said.

“We contested elections under very difficult circumstances,” he added. “We were exposed to anything. But I think now we are in a better position because the whole international community is watching the Gambia. Everybody is watching the Gambia worldwide.”

Barrow had had to get rid of the private security firm from Senegal that had been protecting him after “lots of complaints” from the government, he said, and now he is protected by young Gambian volunteers, many of them family friends, armed only with scowls and sunglasses.

On Friday, Jammeh said that he was annulling the election with immediate effect and would hold another poll under a new electoral commission, as he said the old one, which he appointed, was not independent.

Later, however, his spokesman said he would take his complaint to the supreme court. No judges are currently sitting in this court, however, after Jammeh fired the last of them last year.

Legal experts in the country said Gambians were reluctant to take positions as judges, knowing that they were expected to do Jammeh’s bidding or bear the consequences, and that foreigners, particularly Nigerians, are brought in to fill positions as judges instead. If Jammeh appoints new judges in time, the case could go to the court on Tuesday.

Barrow would not say whether he would offer Jammeh an exit deal, such as immunity from prosecution that rights groups say were committed under his tenure in exchange for handing over power, but did cite South Africa’s truth and reconciliation process as a possible template for how to proceed.

“We are in a stronger position (than Jammeh),” he said. “Whatever he is doing is illegal. The apartheid regime was there, the ANC came to power, reconciled with the government and moved on. It’s possible everywhere. We will look at the circumstances – the Gambia is our priority today.”</s>Banjul. The UN Security Council on Saturday demanded that Gambia’s leader Yahya Jammeh hand over power to the president-elect after he rejected the election results in a dramatic political U-turn.

In a unanimous statement, the 15 council members called on Jammeh to “respect the choice of the sovereign people of The Gambia, as he did on December 2 2016, and to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the President-elect, Mr Adama Barrow.”

In power for the past 22 years in the West African country, Jammeh surprised his critics when he accepted defeat a day after the December 1 vote.

But he reversed course on Friday, announcing he no longer accepted the results. Council members “strongly condemned” Jammeh’s decision to reject the results and call for a new election. They urged him to “carry out a peaceful and orderly transition process and they requested that the security of the president-elect Adama Barrow, and that of all Gambian citizen be fully ensured.”

A consensus candidate backed by a coalition of opposition groups, Barrow on Saturday urged Jammeh to accept defeat, arguing he had no legal standing for the turnaround.

Senegal, a non-permanent member of the Security Council, has requested a meeting to discuss the crisis, which could be held on Monday, diplomats said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “dismayed” by Jammeh’s rejection of the election results and called on him to “fully respect the outcome of the election”.

Ban called for a “peaceful, timely and orderly transfer of power, in full respect of the will of the Gambian people as expressed in the election”, said a statement from his spokesman. ( AFP)</s>Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - Veteran Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh announced a legal challenge to an election in which he had already conceded defeat, in a weekend of dramatic twists that sparked international furore and fear of a crackdown in the west African state.

A week after conceding defeat to upstart rival Adama Barrow in the December 1 vote, Jammeh rejected the polls on Friday, citing "unacceptable errors" by election authorities.

His ruling party on Saturday qualified Jammeh's declaration as being "a prelude to a petition that the APRC party is in the process of filing before the Supreme Court".

An avalanche of international criticism rained down on immediately Jammeh, who has led the tiny sliver of a nation of two million for 22 years since taking over in a coup.

The UN Security Council unanimously demanded he hand over power, and "strongly condemned" the about-face.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is also the chairwoman of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said Jammeh's reversal "threatened peace".

She issued a plea in a statement late Saturday for Jammeh to "do the right thing and take actions to facilitate a smooth and peaceful transition in The Gambia."

Sirleaf's plane was apparently refused the right to enter The Gambia as a mediator over the weekend.

Security forces on Sunday continued to pile into the capital Banjul where locals weighed the possibility of protest against fear of a crackdown.

Jammeh's swift concession of defeat had initially stunned observers and led to celebrations across the country.

A readjustment of the votes counted in the December 1 presidential election was made on Monday, reducing vote numbers for all three candidates but ultimately assuring Barrow's victory.

In his speech on Friday, Jammeh said he would now "reject the results in totality," and called for new elections.

One senior member of the Gambian legal community told AFP: "the president doesn't have the power to nullify the election."

By Sunday afternoon on the edges of the strategic highway that leads to Banjul, sandbags were being piled high as soldiers dug trenches out behind them.

Troops armed with assault rifles were stationed at some of these makeshift positions, eyeing the road leading to Jammeh's Banjul stronghold.

On the city's outskirts, joy had given way to nervousness as more troops watched citizens prepare for a Muslim religious holiday.

"We don't feel good; we don't feel happy. We have a new president," said Ibrahim Sisay, a businessman visiting the market in the populous Serekunda district.

Sisay said an international intervention would be welcomed by many Gambians.

"We want anyone to come. Senegal are the closest people to us but anyone, even the Japanese!" he told AFP.

Some were discussing protests while others said the cost could be heavy.

"People are afraid. If we go out on the streets he could kill us," said Assan Njie, a delivery man.

Latest official figures gave Barrow 43.29 percent of the votes in the presidential election, while Jammeh took 39.64 percent. The turnout was 59 percent.

Those figures reflect the correction issued Monday by election authorities, showing a slimmer-than-thought victory for Barrow, of just over 19,000 votes.

Constitutionally Jammeh has 10 days after the election result is declared to file a complaint, but that deadline -- December 12 -- is a bank holiday, meaning he may have an extra day in lieu.

His lawyers might also argue he has 10 days after the recount declaration, according to legal experts.

The Supreme Court has not sat in more than a year, so judges will have to be appointed before they can consider the president's legal complaint, potentially delaying Barrow's inauguration.

Jammeh, a devout Muslim who seized power in 1994 in the former British colony, warned Gambians not to take to the streets to protest his decision, raising concerns from rights groups.

Barrow on Saturday called on Jammeh to drop his challenge, while the UN, US and other foreign authorities lambasted the leader and urged Gambians to keep the peace.
The president of Senegal urges The Gambia's fallen dictator Yahya Jammeh to respect the result of the polls.