Gambia's longtime leader Yahya Jammeh, who lost a December election but refused to recognise the result, has agreed to step down and go into exile, a close advisor to new President Adama Barrow told Reuters.

Mai Ahmad Fatty was shown a tweet from a Twitter account purported to belong to Barrow stating that Jammeh had agreed to the deal and was asked if it was authentic. "That is correct," he said.</s>Banjul. Gambian President Adama Barrow’s team announced Monday his vice-president would be a woman who has vowed to prosecute former leader Yahya Jammeh and take back assets she says were stolen from the nation.

The alleged plunder of some £11 million by Jammeh as he clung on to power in recent weeks has left the tiny African country in financial difficulty, a Barrow aide said. Barrow, who was sworn in as the new head of state on January 19 at his country’s embassy in neighbouring Senegal, has put off his return over fears for his safety.

As the nation waits, Barrow’s second-in-command was named as Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang, who became a controversial figure after telling The Guardian newspaper Jammeh would be prosecuted for crimes committed by his regime.

Jammeh initially conceded defeat after the December 1 election, but the mercurial strongman announced he no longer recognised the result after Jallow-Tambajang’s comments, and after the election commission issued revised results which made Barrow’s win narrower, although still clear.

The timing of her appointment comes after an aide to Barrow has accused Jammeh of raiding state coffers during his final days in power.

“Over two weeks, over 500 million dalasi ($11 million) were withdrawn” by Jammeh, Mai Fatty said on Sunday in Dakar. “As we take over, the government of The Gambia is in financial distress.”

A development expert who previously worked of the United Nations, Jallow-Tambajang is often described as the woman who persuaded The Gambia’s divided opposition parties to club together and field a single candidate -- Barrow.

She has also argued that a national commission for asset recovery should be established to take back land and goods Jammeh is accused of seizing for his own gain. Under the threat of a regional military intervention, Jammeh chose exile in Equatorial Guinea, which is not party to the International Criminal Court, and left The Gambia on Saturday.

That means he cannot be extradited in the event he is charged with crimes against humanity or other serious offences.

A truth and reconciliation committee is Barrow’s “preferred method” of dealing with grievances against the regime, his spokesman has said, but many Gambians take the harder line of his new vice-president. Sections of the security services were under Jammeh’s personal control and are responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detention, rights groups say. (AFP)</s>A mediation mission by West African regional bloc ECOWAS to Gambia has been delayed from Wednesday until Friday, the grouping said in a statement on Tuesday.

Gambia is locked in political crisis after President Yahya Jammeh refused to accept his defeat in a Dec. 1 election by opposition candidate Adama Barrow.

The standoff prompted an ECOWAS delegation led by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to intervene to try to ensure a peaceful transition of power in the tiny West African country.</s>Jan 23 Gambia's central bank deposits are "intact", a spokesman for President Adama Barrow said on Monday, a day after the new leader had said there was no money left in the state coffers.

Barrow said on Sunday that it appeared his exiled predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, had looted state resources after his election defeat. A Barrow adviser later said Jammeh had withdrawn the equivalent of over $11.5 million before he flew out of the country as West African troops were poised to remove him.

That amount would represent 1.2 percent of Gambia's 2015 GDP, according to World Bank figures.

"There had been information to the public about the central bank. It was of particular concern but the inspector general (of) police told me that everything is intact," Halifa Sallah said at a news conference in Gambia's capital Banjul.

It was not immediately clear if Barrow and his adviser, Mai Ahmad Fatty, had been referring to central bank funds or other state resources. Fatty could not be reached for clarification.

Jammeh is believed to have acquired a vast fortune, including a fleet of Rolls-Royces and an estate in a wealthy suburb of Washington, D.C during his rule.

The veteran leader, who had refused to hand over power after his defeat in December's election, flew out of Gambia late on Saturday en route to Equatorial Guinea after negotiations backed by regional military pressure.

But even before the cheers to celebrate Jammeh's departure had died down, there was dismay that the former soldier was being allowed to flee into luxurious exile and might hold onto his fortune.

Rights groups also accuse Jammeh, who took power in a 1994 coup, of jailing, torturing and killing political opponents - charges Jammeh has denied. Barrow denied on Sunday that Jammeh had been offered immunity.

Sallah on Monday also announced that Barrow had named Fatoumata Tambajang, the country's former health minister, as vice president. Tambajang was the architect of the opposition coalition that backed Barrow in the election.

He added that the director general of the country's National Intelligence Agency had assured him that all prisoners held by the agency had been released but that the new administration would be looking into additional claims of missing persons.</s>Jan 23 Gambia's central bank remained "intact" on Monday, a spokesman for President Adama Barrow said, after the West African nation's former ruler Yahya Jammeh fled the country at the weekend amid concern that he had looted state coffers.

"There had been information to the public about the central bank. It was of particular concern but the inspector general (of) police told me that everything is intact," Halifa Sallah said at a news conference in Gambia's capital Banjul. (Reporting by Lamin Jahateh; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)</s>Once Upon A Time in Gambia, By Reuben Abati

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – I have very vivid memories of my last visit to The Gambia. This was in 2013 when President Goodluck Jonathan paid a two-day visit to the country. In the course of that visit, President Jonathan commissioned the new Chancery of the Nigerian Embassy in Banjul, and also met with the Nigerian community, in addition to the usual bilateral meetings. Nigeria and The Gambia have very strong cultural and diplomatic relations.

We were quartered at a very nice, hospitable sea-side hotel, the Coco Ocean Resort. One of the first things I noticed was the large population of female tourists, lounging by the pool-side and the sea-side, with biceps-wielding, six-packs-flaunting young dark-skinned men on the prowl, with gigolo-ish gait and mien. A female member of our entourage who had gone to the restaurant alone, later returned – visibly shaken and alarmed and what was her problem: one of the male ushers in the hotel had asked her if she would need a man to keep her company so she could have a real taste of Gambian hospitality.

We laughed over it later, but you could not but wonder whether this was one of the reasons why The Gambia holds a special attraction for middle-aged ladies from Europe. There was no time to conduct further research into that aspect of our encounter with The Gambia. I was far too busy for that. But there was no doubt that The Gambia under President Yahya Jammeh took the country’s tourism endowments seriously: a beautiful seaside, good weather, low crime rate, good hotels, beautiful women, adventurous young men, and a meek populace.

President Yahya Jammeh was determined to give President Jonathan and his delegation a good reception. From the airport to the hotel, you would think a festival was afoot. A public holiday was declared and our visit was aired live on radio and television. When we got to the hotel, President Jonathan’s vehicle was immediately serenaded by a cavalcade of horse-riders and a full band of drummers, singers and bag-pipers in colourful costume. They led our convoy to the Presidential suite, where security had been heavily deployed in fitting recognition of the importance of the visitor. President Jammeh like virtually every other West African President took a special liking to President Jonathan- the only one who was aloof and liked to act like the father of everyone was that one in Cameroon, although I must say when we went there for a security summit, he received us excellently well too.

We felt very much at home in The Gambia. We were kept in rooms that were a bit far away from the President. And whenever that happened, the aides were always excited. It meant we could have a little more freedom away from the searching eyes of the security people around the President. And those ones, I will tell their story someday because they were fond of disturbing other matters of state and personal interest by suddenly interrupting with calls: “Oga dey call you, Oga says you must come now, now” only to get to the big man and he tells you, “No, I didn’t ask after you.” By the time you hang around for a while, just in case the big man would change his mind, whatever plan you were pursuing would have been aborted, or seeing you, the boss would find an assignment for you or drag you into a meeting. Angry, deflated, you went to the security man who made the phone call: “But you said Oga sent for me.” Those guys always managed a poker face: “But you know it is always good to stay around Oga in case he needs you.”

I was impressed by Jammeh’s hospitality and respectful disposition towards President Jonathan. I recall that in 2012, when President Jammeh tried to succeed President Jonathan as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority, his own colleagues, including President Jonathan, opposed him. He rarely attended ECOWAS meetings. His then Vice President, the motherly, regal and polite Isatou Njie-Saidy always occupied The Gambian seat. But he usually showed up when a new Chairman was to be elected. Seniority is something that is taken seriously within the club of African Presidents.

They refer to themselves as “my brother, my brother”, but they are always very mindful of seniority and that is one of the reasons why the likes of Paul Biya, Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni, Teodoro Obiang Mbasogo behave and speak as if they are God in human form. Each time Jammeh wanted the ECOWAS Chairmanship position, he behaved as if it was his birthright, but in 2012, and again in 2014, he was bypassed for junior Presidents as had been the case since he first expressed interest in the position in 2001. He was the only long-serving President who was never allowed to chair ECOWAS. He must have been aware of President Jonathan and Nigeria’s stand on the question of his Chairmanship, but he never held it against both. In fact, Nigeria and Nigerians were so influential in The Gambia under Jammeh, ordinary Gambians complained openly about the overwhelming influence of Nigerians in their country.

Everything went well during our state visit until it was time to meet with President Jammeh in the State House. It was part of my duty to introduce the Nigerian President’s delegation, except someone else seized the microphone and I stepped down. In The Gambia, mere protocol recognition of the President of the country ended up being a major problem. His full titles had to be mentioned, and in a correct order in order not to upset him. The pre-meeting briefing by my Gambian counterpart dwelt too heavily on the titles: His Excellency, Sheik Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Abdul-Aziz Awal Jemus Junkung (AJJ) Jammeh Nassiru Deen Babili Mansa, President of the Republic of The Gambia. It was something like that. The security guards were also rough and menacing. Security men often do not understand the language of diplomacy. We went to many countries where we were treated roughly and our own security men often threatened to retaliate if the affected country ever visited Nigeria. I don’t think we ever got a chance to retaliate because our protocol system proved to be more orderly.

The State House in The Gambia when we eventually went in, however, was quite modest. It looked like the guest house section of Aso Villa. The meetings went well too. And Jammeh, to my surprise, spoke very well. He didn’t sound like the fool he was portrayed to be in the Western press. He was articulate, debonair, well-composed and mentally sharp. I guess these are required qualities for dictatorship and crookedness. And I admired Jammeh. He is afterall, my age-mate. He sat there, in his royalty, running a country, and I was there, switching between a microphone and a notebook, documenting his history. But something else happened that gave a true picture of Jammeh’s Gambia.

Our official photographer, Callistus Ewelike (he took over from Kola Osiyemi– God bless his soul) had issues with Jammeh’s security men. Security men at State Houses around the world are unfriendly towards journalists. They seek to control access. They consider journalists busybodies, looking for negative news. Accreditation and the use of tags should ordinarily take care of this, still, the security people just prefer to misbehave, and I witnessed that even in the United States where we were treated as if the visiting media was a team of terrorists. There was no violence in the US, but in The Gambia, they seized Callistus Ewelike’s camera and smashed it. Callistus is an aggressive, stubborn photo-journalist. He would fight if you try to stop him from doing his job.

He was a staff of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) handed over to me by Ima Niboro when Kola took ill. Callistus must have resisted the Gambia goons, claiming his right as President Jonathan’s Official Photographer. In The Gambia under Jammeh, the President and the security agencies ruled as if there would be no tomorrow. They trampled on everyone else’s rights. Anyone who tried to act like a free man was brutalised and dumped in prison. For 22 years, Jammeh sat on his country and his people with the help of marabouts and security enforcers. He kissed the Koran everyday, but he did not act according to its dictates. He wore a trademark white garment, but his true garment was of a black colour from the kingdom of Satan.

Ewelike’s travails eventually became a full-fledged story on the second day of our visit when President Jammeh’s spokesperson and the rest of his media team started looking for me at the Coco Resort. We were to be treated to a luncheon before departure. The luncheon had started but I got cornered. Jammeh’s spokesman brought a brand new camera to replace the one the Gambian security people had destroyed. Callistus was with me. The Gambians apologized. Apology was taken and accepted. They said they didn’t want the two Presidents to hear about the incident. I gave them my word that I would not mention it to President Jonathan. Then, they pleaded that we should accept the replacement camera they brought.

I told them not to bother – as far as we were concerned, whatever happened was occupational hazard and Nigeria would replace its own damaged equipment. I looked at Callistus. He was eyeing the new camera greedily. At a point, he called me aside and whispered: “Oga, this camera they are giving us is better than the one they smashed oh. This one na better camera. Oga, abi make we take am?” I stood my ground. I also consulted Ambassadors Hassan Tukur and Daniel Hart who said accepting a replacement would amount to a diplomatic tit-for-tat. I thanked The Gambians for their good sense and assured them that we were fine with the photographic coverage of the visit so far, despite the damaged camera. I always had a back-up photographer and cameraman, in any case.

That encounter was a blessing in disguise. It saved me from the first course at the Presidential luncheon, which had started while we were outside the hall discussing the damaged camera. When we got back to Nigeria, close to eight persons on the Presidential delegation ended up in hospital due to food poisoning! They all took that first course. Nobody died but somehow the information got back to The Gambia and the chef was arrested and charged to court. Jammeh’s rulership of The Gambia was jinxed in many ways. The biggest jinx was his volte-face over the last Presidential election. Gambians deserve a new place in the sun and a new Gambia. But so much depends on new President Adama Barrow. He should look beyond the past and face the future. If he spends his time facing the past, he will disappoint his people and exhaust the enormous goodwill that has brought him to power.</s>The Gambia's president, Adama Barrow, has named senior politician Fatoumata Tambajang as deputy leader, as regional troops continued security sweeps to prepare for his return to the country from neighbouring Senegal.

The announcement of Tambajang's appointment will be followed by the unveiling of the rest of Barrow's cabinet later on Tuesday, according to presidential spokesperson Halifa Sallah.

Tambajang, a former minister and United Nations Development Programme staffer, was the architect of an opposition coalition that helped Barrow defeat longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh in a December 1 presidential election.

She made headlines last month when she told The Guardian newspaper that Jammeh, who came to power in a 1994 coup, would be prosecuted for alleged crimes committed by his regime.

Following her comments, Jammeh, who had initially conceded defeat, announced he no longer recognised the result, triggering a protracted political crisis which ended when he flew into exile late on Saturday.

READ MORE: The Gambia - Ex-ruler Jammeh 'plundered coffers'

Barrow, who fled to Senegal earlier this month for security reasons, was sworn in as president on January 19 at The Gambia's embassy in Dakar.

His return date has not yet been fixed, and the appointment of his cabinet is aimed at filling a void created by his absence.

The armed forces have pledged loyalty to him, though troops from West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which entered the country last week to pressure Jammeh to step down, continued clearing the presidential compound in advance of Barrow's arrival.

They also took over a Republican Guard barracks training centre in Bakau, just outside the capital, Banjul.

On Sunday, a Barrow aide accused Jammeh of plundering millions of dollars from the state coffers in his final weeks in power before flying to Equatorial Guinea.

"Over two weeks, over 500 million dalasi ($11 million) were withdrawn" by Jammeh, Mai Fatty said in Dakar. "As we take over, the government of The Gambia is in financial distress."

Jammeh also took luxury cars he piled onto a Chadian cargo plane, Fatty said.

'Torture, killings'

In addition to the accusations surrounding Jammeh's wealth, sections of the security services under the ex-ruler personal control have been accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detention during his rule, rights groups say.

A truth and reconciliation committee is Barrow's "preferred method" of dealing with grievances against the previous government, according to his spokesman, but many Gambians take the harder line of his new vice president.

Critics have also raised concerns over a statement issued by the UN, regional bloc ECOWAS and the African Union that seemed to offer Jammeh comfortable guarantees in return for his exit.

The statement said "no legislative measures" would be taken that against Jammeh or his family, noting that he could return when he pleased and that property "lawfully" belonging to him would not be seized.</s>DAKAR, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Gambian President Adama Barrow, who was inaugurated in neighbouring Senegal as mediators engineered an exit deal for predecessor Yahya Jammeh, is to return to Gambia on Thursday, a senior aide said.

Barrow will face the task of restoring democratic governance in the sliver-like West African country after 22 years under Jammeh, whose government gained a reputation for the torture and killing of perceived opponents.

"He (Barrow) is leaving tomorrow and will arrive in Banjul at around 4 p.m. (1600 GMT)," aide Amie Bojang told Reuters.

Jammeh pitched Gambia into turmoil in December when he refused to accept his loss in an election to Barrow and demanded a fresh vote.

The former soldier finally stepped down on Saturday and went into exile in Equatorial Guinea under diplomatic pressure given teeth by several thousand West African troops who crossed into Gambia and were poised to enforce the election result.

Many Gambians are angry that Jammeh fled into what they assume to be a luxurious exile rather than face trial for alleged human rights abuses. (Reporting by Emma Farge; writing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg; editing by Mark Heinrich)</s>Ajaratou Fatoumata Tambajang has been appointed as Vice President of The Republic of The Gambia.

Tambajang, a prominent pro-democracy activist was part of the opposition coalition that unseated long time ruler Yahya Jammeh.

She is touted as one of the main brains behind the formation of a coalition going into the December 1, 2016 polls. Her appointment was announced on Monday by Halifa Sallah, the spokesperson of President Adama Barrow at a Press Conference held in Banjul.

Born in on October 22, 1949 in Brikama, Gambia, the mother of eight was a former United Nations Development Program (UNDP) gender/development expert also served as a cabinet minister in the government of Yahya Jammeh. She was Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Women’s Affairs.</s>President Adama Barrow is planning to return to Gambia on Tuesday, now that West African troops have secured the country, Barrow’s spokesperson said on Monday. Barrow will return to the capital, Banjul, from neighbouring Senegal, where he sought refuge for security reasons, spokesperson Halifa Sallah said. Barrow also appointed Fatoumata Tambajang as vice president, said Sallah.

This post was syndicated from The NEWS. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook
Gambian President Adama Barrow names Fatoumata Tambajang as Vice-President of the Gambia.