Former Jammeh ADC calls on security chiefs to stop recognizing Jammeh

Former ADC to outgoing president, Lamin Gano, has called on heads of security chief to put out a joint communique declaring they wouldn't recognize Jammeh as president upon midnight January 19th.

Writing on his blog, former close Jammeh ally posited:

"According to the 01 Dec 2016 Gambian presidential election statistics, the incumbent President Yahya Jammeh got 208, 487 votes. This is equivalent to 23.5% of the total registered voters of 886, 578. This is a man who has been in power for 22 years; who maintained a firm and autocratic control of all the institutions of the state; and who bastardized all the electoral laws to favour his re-election. Therefore, for Jammeh to have less than a quater of the registered votes and still have the audacity to challenging the results is simply ridiculous especially coming from a sitting president who claims to have brought his country from the dark ages to the modern world.
Therefore, it is irrelevant whether or not there were irregularities in the Dec polls. The bottom line is that 76.5% of Gambians have unequivocally rejected Jammeh as their President and a billion fresh elections cannot change that verdict. Jammeh has simply lost all legitimacy to rule the country and when his mandate expires at midnight on 18 January 2017, he becomes an ordinary citizen and it will be totally illegally for any security personnel to receive/execute any orders/instructions from Jammeh".

Proffering a solution to the current political stalemate, former Lieutenant, Gano postulated:

"Here is a simple and peaceful way out. All Service Chiefs must come together and immediately make a joint communiqué that they will stop recognizing Jammeh as their Commander-in-Chief with effect from the 19th January. In this communiqué, they must make it absolutely clear to Jammeh that by midnight of the 18th January, all the military checkpoints and fighting positions that are established around the country will be completely dismantled and all military personnel ordered to report back to their respective bases from where they would await further orders from the President-elect and new Commander-in-Chief".

Bar Association says term of president can't be extended, interference with constitution treason

The Gambia Bar Association has declared that president Jammeh cannot extend his term in office except by the express will of Gambian people ,while calling on the security apparatus to protect and respect the will of the people.
In a statement, the lawyers’ body said:

“The Gambia Bar Association (GBA) acknowledges the ExecutiveDirective of Outgoing President Jammeh issued on the 10th day of January 2017 to the effect that no arrests should be carried out for“acts or omissions in the pre and post election period, effective from 1st November 2016 to 31st January 2017”.

The Executive Directive is a reminder that the Security Forces have a sacred duty to protect the public and uphold the rule of lawand freedoms as enshrined in the Constitution. All citizens and residents of The Gambia are entitled to exercise their freedom of assembly, association and expression of political will without fear of arrest and intimidation.The GBA notes with concern the statements of Hon. Seedy Njie,the Minister of Information Communication and Infrastructure, and Mr Edward Gomez, Legal Counsel for APRC and the Outgoing President as petitioners before the Supreme Court in the Election Petitions SC 005/2016 and SC 001/2017.The said Mr Njie and Mr Gomez have publicly stated that the scheduled inauguration of President Elect Barrow shall not take place and that Outgoing President Jammeh shall stay in power until the Supreme Court hears the said petitions”.

For the avoidance of doubt on the legal position regarding the impact of of the petition on the presidency,the Bar Association added:
“The Term of the current Outgoing President Jammeh ends on the 18th of January 2017. This term cannot be extendedby any authority apart from the Gambian people through areferendum authorizing the amendment of the Constitution.Therefore the outgoing President shall cease to hold
executive office by midnight of the 18th January 2017.

The petition before the Supreme Court is an independent
process. The pendency of said petition does not have the effect of extending the term of office of outgoing President
Jammeh. Furthermore, the pendency of the petition does nothave the effect of preventing the inauguration of incoming President Barrow. Any attempt to interfere with the constitutional end of one presidential term and the beginning of another will be an abrogation of the Constitution and an act of Treason by virtue of Section 6 of the Constitution”.

Jammeh accuses sacked minister of 'disastrous failures'

The outgoing president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, has made a stinging indictment of the former Minister of Youth and Sports who recently tendered his letter of resignation prior to announcement of his sacking by state media.

The erstwhile Minister, Alieu K Jammeh,has since arrived in the Senegalese capital as the plot thickens on the political stalemate in the smallest country in mainland Africa.

President Jammeh lost elections to real estate developer,Adama Barrow, and conceded defeat only to alter his decision a week later.

During the swearing-in ceremony of his replacement at State House, Jammeh disclosed:

“We have seen disastrous failures in programmes that were meant to help the youth; we have seen the erosion of confidence between the Ministry and the GFF and let me make it very clear that the GFF is not opposed to Gambia government, but an arm of The Gambia Government with specified responsibilities.

"Unless the Minister of Youth and Sports and GFF president and staff work together, sports will not do overwhelmingly in the country especially football. The government has continued to invest hugely in the development of sports and football in particular".

Information Minister jumps ship, releasing statement soon

The Gambia’s information Minister, Sheriff Bojang, is not within the territorial confines of The Gambia, corroborating wide-spread online media reports.


Contacted by this medium to shed light on reports of the alleged flight to Dakar, Jammeh’s former image- maker revealed: "Definitely I am in Dakar. I will be putting out a statement soon .It is indeed true".
Several online media outfits reported the alleged flight of Sheriff Bojang to neighboring Senegal over the weekend, as the noose tightens on the neck of Gambia’s long-serving tyrant, Yahya Jammeh.

Sheriff Bojang used to be the proprietor of the independent newspaper, The Standard, prior to his appointment as Information Minister following a botched coup launched in the dying days of 2014.He has served in the post from 2015 to date despite calls on him to switch loyalty following vitriolic verbal attack by president Jammeh on the majority Mandingo tribe, as well as a refusal to accept December election results which he initially conceded.

Former high court judge: Gambian judiciary politicized, foreign intervention legal

A former high court judge in The Gambia, Emmanuel Nkea, has declared the judiciary of the Gambia “politicized” ,while declaring planned military intervention to oust Jammeh “legal”.

Writing in an opinion piece made available to this medium, he postulated:
“Popular and professional discontent against the judiciary has exposed the deep politicization and patronization of the judiciary in the Gambia. This has deeply eroded the independence of the judiciary, and in politically charged cases, the courts are seen merely as adjuncts to the incumbent.In a widely heralded Press Statement dated 12 December, 2016, the Gambia Bar Association highlighted some of the aspects of the politicization of the judiciary when they accused the Nigerian born Chief Justice Fagbenle of waving and dancing in support of the incumbent Presidential convoy, and for attending political rallies and for attending political rallies and wearing apparels of the incumbent APRC party on the Court premises, as well as distributing APRC party apparel to the Court staff, and making preparations for the victory celebration of the incumbent President.

They also accused him of interfering with judicial officials, and transferring cases to specific courts with a view to predetermine their outcomes, and for causing the dismissal of judges who handed down judgments which were deemed to be against the State’s interest.By section 49 of the 1997 Constitution and section 100 of the Elections Act, an election petition is the legal pathway to determine any election dispute in the Gambia. So normatively, the petition filed by Jammeh is within the ambit of the law. Historically, in the case of Lamin Kebba Saho - PPP v Sheriff M Dibba - NCP (Suit No EP/2/1992), the Gambia Supreme Court laid an important precedence on the legal effect of an irregular election petition. Election petitions are sui generis actions which must be determined in accordance with the local realities. Thus, rather than rely on Nigerian case law, recourse must be had to Gambian case law and jurisprudence. If the principle in Kebba Saho is properly applied to the current election petition by the APRC, then the omission of Adama Barrow as a party would prove fatal to the action and the petition would be dismissed. Seen from this standpoint, the APRC election petition is simply a spent force”.

He further added that an ECOWAS led military intervention would mitigate the loss in human life and property, and remains the only plausible option to uphold the election results in the Gambia.
“The legality of the intended intervention to inaugurate the democratically elected government of President-elect Adama Barrow must be weighed in light of the general prohibition on the use of force in Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter and the broader principle of non-intervention, recognized under customary international law.However, military intervention aimed at restoring or upholding a democratically elected government does not fall within the scope of the prohibition on the use of force contained in Article 2(4). The ECOWAS pro-democratic intervention would rather support the territorial sovereignty of the Gambia by enforcing the political will and sovereignty of Gambians, which would otherwise be violated by the hold on power”.

Host of political radio show laments closure, vows to persist

The host of a popular radio political talk show on Paradise FM, Kebba Camara aka DJ Kepz, has criticized the closure of the station characterizing it as an assault on freedom of expression.

The shut down followed an interview with a member of the Coalition, Halifa Sallah, who criticized the stinging dearth of adherence to the letter and spirit of the constitution by the outgoing government .

Speaking in an interview with this medium, he said:
"Gambians will be confused and there will be information black out. My platform was really enlightening people from Banjul to Koina. They will just be confusing people as they will be forced to watch only GRTS. This is an assault on freedom of expression. My show was for everyone including APRC, the Coalition and the GDC".

Prodded on what course his show will take following the order for closure of the radio station, the popular journalist declared:

"I wish to continue my show ,but other stations might fear closure. However, I will persist through innovative use of social media".

Gambia UN rep reacts to sex audio , denounces campaign of distraction

The deputy representative of The Gambia to the United Nations, Samsudeen Sarr, has distanced himself from a sexually explicit audio and Facebook chat screenshot being attributed to him.
In an interview with this medium, the former military colonel who was recently identified as the new Gambian ambassador to the United States, retorted:
"Talking about this issue is a serious distraction to the political issues at stake. And to dignify them with a response will give them
the relevance they are after.It's all false.

The rumors are opposition generated campaign. Even if it was true I don't see it's relevance to the political issues being discussed.
The main intent of it, as they are saying, is for me change my political position".

Mr Sarr further revealed that he would not invest more time countering an assault on his character by people who have not proven to be more superior morally, positing :

"If the person claiming to be the woman I have been talking to, whom they say is a Gambian protecting her identity, what sense does it make arguing with those forwarding her messages? If she is morally superior to me, why hiding? My case is rested. I can't be distracted unnecessarily".