The
President of Gambia is in desperately trying to impose himself on his
people as he has started yet another move to stay in power.
President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia
With less than a week to the end of the tenure of President Yahya
Jammeh, of Gambia, he has put in motion another ploy to extend his stay.
This time, his political party has filed a request with the
Supreme Court for an injunction aimed at blocking the swearing in of his
rival, Adama Barrow, who won the 1 December election.
The petition was filed on Thursday.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, confirmed receipt of
the petition, which was filed by Jammeh’s Alliance for Patriotic
Reorientation and Construction (APRC).
“It is filed today with the court registrar,” said Fagbenle, who did not say when a decision on the petition might be made.
Barrow, who won the poll and has received the support of the
international community, has said he will go ahead with his inauguration
on Jan. 19 despite Jammeh’s rejection of the result.
Aziz Bensouda, the secretary general of the Gambia Bar Association, said an injunction would be unconstitutional.
“The inauguration of the president-elect should be held when
Jammeh’s term officially ends. The court does not have any mandate to
put an inauguration on hold,” he said.
The election defeat of Jammeh, a former coup leader, after 22 years
of increasingly authoritarian rule was celebrated across the tiny West
African nation, and the incumbent initially accepted the result.
However, in a U-turn a week later that drew international condemnation, he denounced what he claimed was widespread fraud.
The APRC filed a challenge to the poll results, but the Supreme
Court was unable to hear the petition on Tuesday after several judges
failed to show up.
Fagbenle adjourned the hearing until Jan. 16.
The Supreme Court, which rights campaigners say is heavily
influenced by Jammeh, has not sat in over a year. Two chief justices
have been dismissed since 2013. One of them was jailed.
The court hired four foreign judges from Nigeria and Sierra Leone
to hear Jammeh’s appeal. Legal sources said this week that the judges
had not yet arrived in Gambia.
Regional bloc ECOWAS has sought to negotiate Jammeh’s peaceful
departure and Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is leading a
mediation mission to Gambia today.
On Thursday, Nigeria’s lower house of parliament approved a motion to authorise Buhari to offer Jammeh asylum if he steps down.
However, ECOWAS has also hinted at possible military action if he
stays beyond the end of his term in office next week, raising the
prospect of violence.
The U.S. Department of State, which has already advised against
travel to Gambia, warned American citizens on Thursday to avoid the
capital Banjul’s city centre. Embassy staff were required to be off the
streets by 6 p.m. (1800 GMT) until further notice.
The question of whether Gambia can install opposition figure Adama
Barrow as president is seen as a test case for African democracy.
-NAN
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