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US tells Gambian President to handover or face consequences

Jammeh’s tenure ends on Thursday, January 19, but he is refusing to vacate the office and handover to President-elect, Adama Barrow.

With two days left of his mandate, President Yahya Jammeh has caused a political crisis by refusing to step aside

Jammeh’s tenure ends on Thursday, January 19, but he is refusing to vacate the office and handover to President-elect, Adama Barrow.

The warning was given via U.S. Department of State spokesman, John Kirby, at a press briefing on Tuesday, January 17.

“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,” Kirby said.

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“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.

“…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,” he added.

Nigeria has sent a warship to The Gambia in preparation for a likely military intervention and Senegal is also preparing ground troops for the same purpose.

Meanwhile, Jammeh has declared a 90-day State of Emergency in the country.

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The Gambian president lost to Barrow in the December 1, 2016 general elections and initially conceded defeat but then backtracked and said he would not step down.

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