More Gambian Ministers Flee As Crisis Grows

Yahya Jammeh, the longtime leader of Gambia, has lost four more members of his ministry. The ministers resigned and fled the country promptly to the neighboring Senegal.

The ministers' fleeing was announced only two days prior to Adama Barrow's bow to reign over the country despite Jammeh's staunch refusal to bow down. Barrow is none other than the man who ousted Jammeh in the elections of December.

According to Associated Press, amongst the people who have left the Jammeh administration are the foreign affairs minister and ministers of environment, trade and finance. The reporting political official refused to give his name and spoke on grounds of anonymity for fear of reprisal. The Gambian information minister went into Senegal on exile earlier, too.

Jammeh says that the country needs to wait for the Gambian Supreme Court decision regarding Barrow's challenge of the election results. As this delay could take weeks if not months, Barrow vows to move ahead with his own inauguration. Jammeh requested an injunction in order to block the inauguration, but the chief justice recused himself in this regard on Monday.

Gambia has been under the rule of Jammeh for more than 22 years now. At the beginning, Jammeh took to state television to concede his defeat in the election but later made a dramatic about-face just one week after.

Jammeh's mandate will end this week and in the case where he refuses to step down, the West African regional bloc has readied a standby force in case of any necessary military intervention. Jammeh has declared a state of emergency in the country for 90-days only two days prior to his resignation date.

ECOWAS, the regional bloc, is said to have urged Barrow to remain in Dakar, Senegal until the inauguration ceremony on Thursday, for his own safety. Barrow failed to be able to depart Senegal on Monday as he was attending his 7-year-old son's funeral. The child has severely mauled by a dog just a day ago.

Tags

Gambia, Senegal, Yahya Jammeh, adama barrow, gambia crisis

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