Gambian President, Adama Barrow has chosen a former minister of immediate past leader, Yahya Jammeh as vice-president. A former health minister in the
Gambian President, Adama Barrow has chosen a former minister of immediate past leader, Yahya Jammeh as vice-president. A former health minister in the early years of Jammeh’s 22-year rule, Fatoumata Jallow-Tambajang was specifically chosen to correct the gender balance in Barrow’s administration. She has been severally described as the woman who persuaded The Gambia’s divided opposition parties to club together and field a single candidate in the December 1 election which Barrow eventually won. She became a controversial figure in recent weeks after telling The Guardian newspaper that Jammeh would be prosecuted for crimes committed by his regime, an act almost immediately followed by the mercurial president announcing he no longer recognised the election result.
A development expert who previously worked of the United Nations, Jallow-Tambajang has also argued that a national commission for asset recovery should be established. This would be particularly pertinent given claims by Barrow’s team that Jammeh stole $11 million and several luxury vehicles before departing for Equatorial Guinea. Jammeh also had a female vice-president, Isatou Njie-Saidy, who stayed loyal to him for several years in an administration where defections and unexplained firings were common.
Meanwhile, the newly sworn in President is still holed up in Senegal where he took his oath of office. Ecowas commission chairman Marcel Alain de Souza said that part of the security forces needed to be immobilised as Jammeh had reportedly hired mercenaries during the stand-off. The new President is therefore likely to return only when Ecowas thinks it is safe. While army chief, Ousman Badjie has pledged his loyalty to Barrow, it is unclear whether the elite presidential guards support Barrow. There are also concerns that weapons may have been hidden or taken to Kanilai for future sinister use.
