Gambia’s President-Elect Adama Barrow To Stay In Senegal ‘Until His Inauguration’

Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow is in neighbouring Senegal and will remain there at the request of west African leaders until his planned inauguration this week, Senegalese sources said Sunday.

“Senegalese President Macky Sall accepted on Saturday in Bamako to welcome Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow in Dakar until his inauguration,” the official APS agency said citing an official.

Barrow is expected to take power on January 19 when President Yahya Jammeh’s mandate runs out, but the long-serving leader has refused to cede power after disputing the result of a December 1 election won by Barrow.

A source with the Senegalese presidency confirmed to AFP that Barrow was in Dakar following consultations with heads of state from the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) at a Bamako summit.

“Barrow is in Dakar as of Sunday, just after midnight,” the official source told APS. “The Senegalese president accepted the request of his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the current ECOWAS president,” it added.

Barrow flew into the Malian capital as a surprise guest at the Africa-France summit after talks broke down Friday between a three-nation west African delegation and Jammeh.