(JollofNews) – The US government Tuesday called on President Yahya Jammeh to step aside peacefully to prevent “potential chaos” in the small West African nation.
Mr Jammeh’s mandate ends at midnight but is refusing to handover power to opposition candidate Adama Barrow, who was declared winner of last month’s election. And as the standoff deepens, he has declared a state of emergency in the country due to what he called unprecedented foreign interference in the country’s internal affairs.
But John Kirby, US State Department spokesman said Mr President Jammeh is losing opportunities to respect the will of the Gambian people and to peacefully hand over power to the president-elect, which is supposed to happen on Thursday.
“Doing so would allow him to leave office with his head held high and to protect the Gambian people from potential chaos. Failure to do so will put his legacy – and, more importantly, the Gambia – in peril, and we have been clear about this,” he said.
“I don’t know what interference he’s referring to, but we obviously want to see the Gambia succeed and we want to see the president-elect properly installed and to have in place a government which is responsible for and responsive to the needs of the Gambian people.”
Mr Jammeh, 51, who has ruled the Gambia for 22 years has rejected the election results after accusing the country’s electoral commission of it rigging the election in favour of the opposition.
His attempt to overturn the election result at the Supreme Court has been delayed because of a shortage of judges as most of the judges come from neighbouring countries.
The regional group, Ecowas, which tried unsuccessfully to convince Mr Jammeh to handover power peacefully has warned of serious consequences if Mr Barrow’s is blocked on Thursday.
And as the deadline nears, Nigeria has deployed its newest warship, the NNS Unity, to the Gambia ahead of a planned military intervention to enforce the outcome of the election results.
Yaya baa beh. This is the most ignorant man I have ever seen. He’s a bastard who wants to destroy the Gambia but he will not succeed. We will send him back to his mothers pussy. We are tired of talking to this man nicely.
Jobe,
You are irresponsible, rude, ignorant, unschooled, unruly, villanous, barbaric and outside the periphery of civilized mankind.
Contents like this have contributed negatively to the present political predicament in our country. What has President Jammeh’s mother done to you to warrant such very stupid vituperative language from you? You are incensed with hate and vengeance. Elements like you have no place in the educated and mannered cadre of Gambians.
You are more than satan eblis Babu soli you are not a patriot if you are you will not be blind by the truth i dont blame you beacusr you are a foreigner not a citizen of Gambia too many wrong people in the right post we will clean out all your uneducated arrogant wolf in sheep clothings your judgements are near.
a parent to the devil bla bla
Babu Soli thank you and i agreed with you.Almost the majority is mad with Yaya Jammeh due to his sturbbornness and selfishness,but as you said his mother has nothing to do with this issue and besides,women are sacred and must be respected
Guys let’s keep it civil. Even though we disagree with 99% of what he did, there is no need for the foul language. The offensive language has no use.
Our Father who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name Thy Kingdom come.
Father have mercy upon us, Your children here in our beloved country, The Gambia.
We have decided, irrespective of our religious background, to stand together as One Gambia, One People, One Power, under the leadership of our choice President, Mr. Adama Barrow. You stood for us and gave us the courage to make the decision. The result turned out successfully in our favour. We thank You for answering our prayers. Father, we pray for a peaceful transition of power. Bless both Yaya Jammeh and Adama Barrow according to your will. Let there be peace in our land. Oh God, save us in Jesus Name, Ameen.
@Peter Sanneh=Thank you and keep the prayers going, I have been praying too.
Two wrong can’t make right. Let us pray for peace in the Gambia .
It is my prayer that the same Buhari that has sent troupes to Gambia after loosing election will quit Aso Villa come 2019, because Nigerians are tiredh of the hardship in the land under his government. Dayo.
I pray for people of The Gambia that January 19 would be a peaceful transition of power to the elected president, Mr. Barrow. President Jammeh needs to read about Liberia and what happened to Samuel Doe. Jammeh should think of the love of the Gambians and seek peace over war. Listen to the advise of all the head of states who have visited you seeking peace and advising you go depart gracefully. It’s not too late but hanging on to power on the Ill advise of those around you will cost you everything including you had work for. If nothing else, learn from Hilary Clinton of the USA.
Choose life over death and protect the lives of innocent Gambians.
I pray for the people of The Gambia that January 19 would be a peaceful transition of power to the elected president, Mr. Barrow. President Jammeh needs to read about Liberia and what happened to Samuel Doe. Jammeh should think of the love of the Gambians and seek peace over war. Listen to the advise of all the heads of states who have visited him seeking peace and advising him to go gracefully. It’s not too late but hanging on to power on the Ill advise of those around him will cost him everything he had worked for so hard, If nothing else, learn from Hilary Clinton of the USA.
Choose life over death and protect the lives of innocent Gambians.