1/22/2017 Defeated Gambian Leader Ends Standoff and Boards a Flight Into Exile - The New York Times

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AFRICA

Defeated Gamian Leader nd

Standoff and oard a Flight Into
xile
By JAIME YAYA BARRY and DIONNE SEARCEY JAN. 21, 2017
BANJUL, Gambia — As a military band played, the defeated president of Gambia,
who had set off a tense standoff by refusing to step down after his election loss, left
the country on Saturday night, boarding a flight that would send him into exile.

Teary supporters gathered at the airport to usher off the former leader, Yahya
Jammeh, as he finally let go of the presidency, two days after a new president,
Adama Barrow, was inaugurated in nearby Senegal, where he had fled out of fears
for his safety.

Mr. Jammeh, who seized power in a coup in 1994, arrived at the airport in
Banjul, the capital, in his Rolls-Royce and dressed in all white. A military band
played the national anthem and a song it had composed just for him that it often
played to accompany his journeys. Mr. Jammeh walked slowly toward a waiting
airplane, shaking hands with a line of people and escorted by Alpha Condé, the
president of Guinea. A Quran in one hand, he waved with the other to the crowd.

As of Saturday night, it was still unclear exactly where Mr. Jammeh would wind
up.

Mr. Jammeh had appeared on state television early Saturday morning and
announced that he would step down.

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“I am truly and sincerely proud of being of service to you,” he said in a somber

speech.

With Mr. Jammeh’s long record of unpredictability, many Gambians had

questioned whether he would actually give up power after he was defeated in an
election last month. On Saturday, a wave of relief spread across Mr. Barrow’s
supporters.

Mr. Jammeh’s departure ended a tense stretch for the West African nation,
which had been at a standstill, with foreign troops and military vehicles inside its
borders and the presidents of both Guinea and Mauritania intervening to persuade
Mr. Jammeh to step down to make way for the newly elected president, Mr. Barrow.
Fearing for his safety in Gambia, Mr. Barrow was sworn in on Thursday in Senegal,
as Mr. Jammeh refused to vacate the statehouse.

For weeks, Mr. Jammeh, who has a long record of human rights abuses, has
insisted that results of the election that ousted him were flawed. He had called for a
new vote, even after initially conceding the election to Mr. Barrow, a real estate
agent and a member of the opposition party. Mr. Jammeh vowed to protect his
presidency with the help of his military.

A coalition of West African nations, with the support of the United Nations, had
sent troops into Gambia on standby to forcibly remove Mr. Jammeh from office. The
military action paused when Mr. Jammeh said he would step down.

On Friday, Mr. Barrow addressed the growing members of the Gambian

diaspora, many of whom left the country years ago fearing oppression under Mr.
Jammeh, who routinely jailed opponents, some of whom died under questionable
circumstances in prison. Finally, Mr. Barrow told them, it was time to return to their
country.

“You now have the liberty to return home,” he said. “The rule of fear has been
vanished from the government for good.”

In Gambia, one anxious citizen, Famara Kamara, said he had already called his
family on Saturday and planned to pick them up at the border with Senegal. He had

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taken his wife and two sons across to Senegal last week as tensions rose. He was
relieved that his family would not have to live in a refugee camp in another country
— a terrifying notion.

“I have seen documentaries of people living in refugee camps,” Mr. Kamara

said. “It’s a terrible experience. I am so grateful to God and to President Jammeh for
putting the interest of the Gambian people first.”

In recent days, Mr. Jammeh’s base of support crumbled. Many ministers in his
cabinet resigned. The African Union said it would refuse to recognize him as
president.

In Banjul, citizens were relieved to hear that Mr. Jammeh seemed ready to go,
but their unease would not fully disappear until he was officially outside the nation’s
borders.

Capt. Momodu Njie of the Gambian Army said he had been in a state of
confusion in recent days, unsure which president he was serving. “Both Yahya
Jammeh and Adama Barrow said they were constitutional presidents of the republic,
and as a soldier, I don’t know much about the clause in the Constitution,” Captain
Njie said. “This makes it difficult to take sides, and at the same time, I cannot serve
two commanders in chief.”

Gambia, the smallest country in continental Africa, suffers from widespread

unemployment. Thousands of people have left the country, not only to escape from
Mr. Jammeh but also to look for work, setting out on dangerous journeys by sea to
Europe. But many Europeans have flocked to the coastal country, known for its
beaches and bustling sex trade. The odd equilibrium was thrown off balance in
recent days as thousands of tourists jammed the airport in an evacuation organized
by tour companies.

The sentiments of the strange twist of events in Gambia were captured with
eloquence on local news broadcasts that replayed images of Mr. Jammeh’s speech
along with commentary. One anchor called Mr. Jammeh’s announcement an “end to
what was a troubling few days for this tiny paradise of happiness.”

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“It is a day like no other in the history of the Gambia,” the anchor said, “as
people waited in bated breath to receive the news of a lifetime, an end to a political
impasse, which took this beautiful land of ours to the brink.”

Jaime Yaya Barry reported from Banjul, and Dionne Searcey from Dakar, Senegal.

A version of this article appears in print on January 22, 2017, on Page A8 of the New York edition with the
headline: Defeated Gambian Leader Ends Tense Standoff and Boards Flight Into Exile.

© 2017 The New York Times Company

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