Newly sworn-in Gambia’s President, Adama Barrow, has disclosed that he would launch a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate possible crim
Newly sworn-in Gambia’s President, Adama Barrow, has disclosed that he would launch a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate possible crimes committed by the immediate past leader, Yahya Jammeh, of 22 years. Barrow however urged caution after an online petition called for Jammeh to be arrested and not be granted asylum.
“We aren’t talking about prosecution here, we are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission,” Barrow said.
Barrow, who took the presidential oath of office Thursday at Gambia’s embassy in Dakar with the backing of the international community, added that,
“Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together.”
Isolated in his official residence in Banjul, Jammeh had been abandoned by his security forces and several cabinet members.
Since losing the election to Barrow, Jammeh had for weeks refused to hand over power. He finally declared his intentions to step down and leave saying,
“I have decided in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation.”
He has since flown out of the country in an unmarked plane on exile to an unspecified destination. He waved to a small gathering of supporters on the tarmac dressed in his habitual white flowing robes shortly after kissing the Koran. He was accompanied by Guinea’s President, Alpha Conde who in the last 48 hours negotiated an exit plan for Jammeh whose details are yet to be made public.
Human rights activists demanded that Jammeh be held accountable for alleged abuses, including torture and detention of opponents.
It is believed that concerns about prosecution led Jammeh to challenge the December election results. At least 46,000 people have fled Gambia for Senegal since the start of the crisis fearing unrest, the UN’s refugee agency UNHCR said, citing Senegalese government figures.
