ECOWAS Removes Yahya Jammeh from The Gambia
Yahya Jammeh conceded the Gambian election of December 2016, changed his mind a week later, and was removed by a West African army in January 2017. He had taken power in a bloodless coup in 1994 as a twenty-nine-year-old lieutenant and had won four elections since, with a security apparatus that disappeared journalists and opponents. He had said he would rule for a billion years if God willed it, and had claimed to cure AIDS with a herbal preparation administered on Thursdays. The opposition united behind Adama Barrow, a property developer who had once worked as a security guard at an Argos in north London. Barrow won with about 43 per cent. Jammeh accepted it on state television, telephoned to congratulate him, and then rejected the result on 9 December citing irregularities, and had parliament extend his term. What happened next had almost no precedent. The Economic Community of West African States refused to accept it, secured a UN Security Council resolution, and assembled a force from Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana and Togo. Barrow was inaugurated at the Gambian embassy in Dakar on 19 January, which made the intervention a request from a sitting head of state rather than an invasion. Troops crossed the border the same day and paused for negotiation. Jammeh flew to Equatorial Guinea on 21 January, reportedly having emptied the treasury and taken a number of luxury cars. A truth commission has since recommended his prosecution. He remains in Equatorial Guinea, and his party has been permitted to contest elections since.
- Year: 2017 CE
- Category: Political
