West African Force Poised to Ensure Gambian Transfer of Power

West African troops are gathered at Senegal’s border with Gambia poised to intervene to ensure President-elect Adama Barrow’s inauguration goes ahead Thursday, as the leader of Mauritania spearheaded last-ditch efforts to negotiate a settlement to the crisis in the tiny country.

Nigeria and Ghana committed troops and aircraft to the buildup that’s centered in Senegal, which surrounds Gambia on three sides. Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz flew between the capitals of the two countries in the early morning hours, meeting in Dakar with Barrow and Senegalese President Macky Sall before leaving again.

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote later Thursday on a resolution that would urge the Economic Community of West African States to enforce the outcome of last month’s elections in which Barrow defeated Yahya Jammeh, who’s ruled Gambia since a coup in 1994 and refused to leave office.

“If Ecowas does not intervene, its ability to maintain political order among its member countries would lose credibility,” Adeline van Houtte, Africa analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, said by e-mail. “And if Mr. Jammeh manages to cling onto power, it would also damage the credibility of so-called democratic elections in the region.”

State of Emergency

The regional states decided to take the action after Jammeh, 51, declared a 90-day state of emergency late Tuesday. The African Union has said it will no longer recognize Jammeh as president as of Thursday.

“The regional body Ecowas has reiterated its determination to take all necessary measures to ensure the transfer of power to President-elect Barrow,” Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said in a statement. “The UN supports regional efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.”

The Nigerian Air Force said on its Facebook page that it’s deploying 200 men, fighter jets, transport aircraft and a helicopter to Senegal, which surrounds Gambia on three sides, for the operation. Ghana sent more than 200 troops to bolster the intervention force, presidential spokesman Eugene Arhin said in an e-mailed statement.

Jammeh has been criticized by human rights groups for jailing opponents and cracking down on journalists. Gambia, a nation of fewer than 2 million people, depends on tourism for the bulk of its revenue.

The U.S. Embassy closed all non-emergency services on Wednesday and will remain shut on Thursday.

Ecowas previously sent 600 troops to Guinea-Bissau following a coup in April 2012. The soldiers are due to be withdrawn this year.

The regional group also sent soldiers to Ivory Coast in 2002, when a failed coup split the country into a rebel north and a government-run south. The troops were deployed to patrol the dividing line between the warring parties and were later redeployed as UN troops.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-19/west-african-force-poised-to-ensure-gambian-transfer-of-power