Gambia’s Foreign Minister, Neneh MacDouall-Gaye has resigned from her position just as President Yahya Jammeh has insisted on staying in power two days to the end of his tenure.

MacDouall-Gaye on Monday said she cannot perform her duties effectively any longer under “the prevailing circumstances.”

“This letter serves as a formal notice of my resignation as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of The Gambia,” Mrs. MacDouall-Gaye wrote.

“After due deliberation, I am of the conviction that under the prevailing circumstances I cannot effectively serve as foreign minister,” she added.

She prayed to Allah that the country’s political “impasse be resolved peacefully to the pride of The Gambia nation.”

The foreign minister’s resignation comes barely a week after Gambia’s information minister, Sheriff Bojang, resigned and fled the country.

MacDouall-Gaye was one of Jammeh’s most trusted allies who had served under various capacities in his government.

There are unconfirmed reports that the country’s minister of finance and economic affairs, Addou kolley, minister of trade, industry and employment, Abdou Jobe, minister of Environment, Ousman Jarju, may have also resigned from the government.

Jammeh had vowed not to relinquish power as the inauguration of President-elect draws closer on Thursday. </s> Gambia’s Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Trade and Environment have resigned from President Yahya Jammeh’s government, according to report on Tuesday.

They all resigned as regional forces prepare to oust the veteran leader unless he steps down by Thursday.

The surprise loss was seen as a boost to democracy in the former British colony, which has had only two presidents since it gained independence in 1965.

But Jammeh’s defiance has sent the tiny West African country into crisis, causing government defections and opening up the prospect of military intervention by other countries in the region.

A senior Nigerian military source said Nigeria and other West African nations were prepared to intervene militarily to remove him if he remains in office after Wednesday, when his presidential mandate runs out.

“The chiefs of defence staff of West African countries met on Monday to discuss strategies on the best way to get Yahya Jammeh out if he refuses to hand over power,’’ said the Nigerian source, who declined to be identified.

“Some West African countries will be contributing troops, including Nigeria, for the operation,’’ said the source, adding that the United Nations and African Union had offered support to regional body ECOWAS for the plan.

According to Gambian state television on late Monday, Finance Minister Abdou Kolley was being replaced.

Ministry sources said other government leaders including Foreign Minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye had left the government and the country.

Their departures follow the resignation of communications minister Sheriff Bojang last week.

The mayor of the capital Banjul has also resigned, according to sources at the city council.

This post was syndicated from Nigerian News from Leadership News. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook </s> Gambia’s tourism and culture minister on Tuesday said he will step down, in what was a sign of dwindling support for Gambia’s outgoing president Yahya Jammeh, who refuses to recognise his loss in a recent election. Benjamin Roberts is the sixth member in the incumbent president’s cabinet to resign in less than 48 hours, following the ministers of trade, foreign affairs, finance, environment and sport. Observers believe the resignations showed that Jammeh, who ruled Gambia for 22 years with an iron fist, is increasingly politically isolated.

This post was syndicated from The NEWS. Click here to read the full text on the original website.

Also, Like us on facebook </s> Four more cabinet ministers in Gambian President Yahya Jammeh’s government have defected, a source close to the regime told AFP on Tuesday, as citizens stream out of the country in fear of unrest.

With two days left of his mandate, Jammeh has caused a political crisis by refusing to step aside and allow president-elect Adama Barrow to take power following his December 1 election victory.

Foreign minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, finance minister Abdou Kolley, trade minister Abdou Jobe and tourism minister Benjamin Roberts had all resigned, the source said, requesting anonymity for safety reasons.

Roberts was appointed to replace Kolley on Monday, meaning he spent less than 24 hours in the new post, local media said.

The latest resignations came after the high-profile defection last week of information minister Sheriff Bojang, who is now sheltering in neighbouring Senegal.

Meanwhile, citizens packed their bags and streamed out of Banjul by road and ferry for Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, taking as many possessions as they could carry.

One traveller told AFP that those arriving at 10am would have to wait until the following day to board a ferry at Banjul port to cross the river headed for Senegal, unless they bribed officials, due to huge numbers exiting the city.

The UN’s refugee agency has said several thousand Gambians have crossed the border in the last few weeks to shelter with extended family while they await January 19, when Jammeh is due to hand over power.

Barrow is in Senegal, where he plans to remain until the inauguration on Thursday.

The spectre of a military intervention in The Gambia has arisen in recent days following declarations by the United Nations and African Union that boots on the ground could get the green light without a rapid resolution to the crisis.

Fears of conflict were ramped up in Banjul following the weekend arrest of soldiers suspected of being sympathetic to Barrow, underlining significant disagreement within the armed forces over whom they will support come Thursday.

“Captain Babucarr Bah and some junior officers close to him were arrested on Sunday night at the Fajara barracks by members of the Republican Guards,” a security source told AFP, adding they were still being held at the headquarters of the feared National Intelligence Agency.

Republican guard commanders personally protect Jammeh and are picked for their loyalty.

Bah had told the guards that the army should be loyal to the state and Gambian people, the security source added, when the elite troops came to solicit support for the president just days ago.

Elsewhere Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hit out at Jammeh for broadcasting a conversation they held by phone on Sunday on Gambian television without her knowledge.

“Unfortunately, being the person that he is, Jammeh recorded and televised their conversation without advising her of his intent to do so,” a statement from the Liberian presidency said.

Sirleaf was then quoted as saying that as of Monday “there is no change in ECOWAS position. The Constitution of The Gambia must be respected.”

The 15-nation Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) has repeatedly called on Jammeh to respect the result of the vote and leave after 22 years in power.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sirleaf and Ghana’s ex-president John Mahama have appealed to Jammeh to step down twice in person, without success, most recently on Friday.

Jammeh has lodged a challenge to the election result with The Gambia’s Supreme Court and last week filed a fresh injunction to prevent the chief justice from swearing Barrow into office.

But on Monday, Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle said he could not hear the new case, dealing a blow to Jammeh’s efforts to halt Thursday’s inauguration.

In Rabat, it was reported that Morocco had offered Jammeh asylum for accepting the election defeat and stepping down “in return for a golden retirement”, but Banjul sources were reluctant to confirm the offer. </s> BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after refusing to hand power to opposition leader Adama Barrow, who won an election last month.

State television said the emergency would prevent a power vacuum while the supreme court rules on Jammeh's petition challenging the election result.

That suggests Jammeh will stay in power beyond Thursday, when Barrow was due to be sworn in as president.

Regional leaders have threatened to intervene militarily if Jammeh does not step down and on Tuesday a senior Nigerian army source said Nigeria and other West African states were preparing a military force.

"I...hereby declare a state of public emergency throughout the Islamic Republic of Gambia," Jammeh's declaration said.

The state of emergency banned "acts of disobedience" and "acts intended to disturb public order".

Jammeh took power in a coup in 1994 as only the second president since Gambia's independence in 1965 and his government gained a reputation for torturing and killing perceived opponents, rights groups say. In 2015, he declared that the country was an Islamic Republic.

Pro-democracy activists across Africa welcomed his defeat and his refusal to step down has provoked an internal crisis as well as a test of mettle for regional leaders.

Gambia's top judge on Monday declined to rule on Jammeh's election petition and in a political blow to the president, the ministers of finance, foreign affairs, trade and the environment have resigned, according to ministry sources.

The Nigerian source said that defense chiefs of staff of West African countries met on Monday to discuss strategies to remove Jammeh.

"Some West African countries will be contributing troops, including Nigeria, for the operation," said the source, adding that the United Nations and African Union had offered support to regional body ECOWAS for the plan.

State television said on Monday Finance Minister Abdou Kolley was being replaced by Benjamin Roberts, the Minister of Tourism. Finance ministry sources said on Tuesday Roberts had also resigned.

Ministry sources said other government figures, including Foreign Minister Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, had left the government and the country. The mayor of the capital Banjul has also resigned, according to sources at the city council.

Hundreds of Gambians have fled into Senegal, Gambia's only neighbor, fearing for their safety because of the turmoil, and Senegalese authorities have increased security. Barrow is also in Senegal, his aides say.

"We are scared. There are soldiers with guns all the time," said Awa Sanneh, 25, from Birkama in Gambia, who was leaving with two children and 24 other family members.

One of the smallest countries in Africa, Gambia is reliant on tourism and one main crop, peanuts, to fuel its economy. </s> Saidy abandoned President Yahya Jammeh, 24 hours to the deadline issued to him by African leaders to hand over to opposition leader, Adama Barrow.

She announced her resignation hours before official end of the tenure of Mr. Jammeh’s administration as the country’s political impasse gets worse over the refusal of Mr Jammeh to relinquish power to the President-elect Adama Barrow who was scheduled to be sworn in on Thursday.

The country’s minister of higher education, Aboubacar Senghore, who was appointed to the position last July, also resigned on Wednesday saying he cannot serve in the post beyond the tenure of the outgoing president.

“Given my strong religious and legal background, I feel it is now ethically and legally speaking time to step down as minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology and Religious Affairs as the constitutional mandate of the current government expires today, Wednesday 18th January 2017,” he wrote in his resignation letter to Mr Jammeh.

The resignation of Mr. Senghore, who was the country’s former foreign affairs minister, brings the number of minister that have resigned from Mr Jammeh’s cabinet since the political logjam to eight.

A source who asked not to be named for fear of being arrested, told PREMIUM TIMES that the increasing resignation of ministers may have forced Mr. Jammeh to dissolve his cabinet.

Having lost all legal avenue to stop the inauguration of Mr. Barrow, the Gambia president, relying on a motion by the parliament, controlled by his party, declared a 90-day state of emergency, which effectively extended his hold on power.

The situation in the tiny West African country has become dire after the failure of a team of leaders from the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, failed to convince Mr. Jammeh to allow for peaceful transition.

ECOWAS has since prepared troops drawn from countries in the region including Nigeria to forcibly remove Mr. Jammeh from office.

Reports indicated that a Nigerian warship was already sailing towards the country on Monday.

On Wednesday, thousands of Western tourists trying to leave the country before the expected deployment of the regional force, gathered at Gambia’s international airport.

Earlier, Nigerian soldiers and a Nigerian warship were sent to the Gambia to terminate the 22-year old leadership of President Jammeh who lost the December 1 election but has vowed not to hand over power today when his term runs out.

Jammeh, who was defeated by Adama Barrow, first conceded defeat but later changed his mind citing irregularities. He has since challenged the results in court but has suffered several setbacks.

Nigerian leader, Muhammadu Buhari was appointed chief mediator in the Gambia by ECOWAS but all attempts to convince Jammeh to leave power peacefully after 22 long years failed. </s> Finance, foreign affairs, trade and the environment ministers quit Jammeh's government as end of his term looms.

The Gambia's ministers for finance, foreign affairs, trade and the environment have resigned from President Yahya Jammeh's government, according to ministry sources and state television.

The resignations were announced on Tuesday less than a day after the country's Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle pulled out of a case filed by Jammeh seeking to stop the inauguration of President-elect Adama Barrow.

Fagbenle said late on Monday that he could not hear the new case, dealing a blow to Jammeh's efforts to halt the inauguration of Barrow, who remains in Senegal.

Inside Story: Can a showdown be averted in Gambia?

The inauguration is scheduled for Thursday, when Barrow is expected to return from Senegal.

"Given that the injunction affects me in my capacity as the chief justice, I will recuse myself from hearing it," he said.

"The motion therefore waits for the constitution of the Supreme Court or allow the judges to arrive in The Gambia."

Edward Gomez, a lawyer for Jammeh's party, conceded that it was "certainly not possible under these circumstances" to have an injunction barring Barrow from being sworn in.

On Tuesday, Morocco's Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar and a top secret service official arrived in The Gambian capital Banjul to hold talks with Jammeh, Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque reported from neighbouring Senegal.

There have been talks of a possible asylum or exile for Jammeh to an African country, in exchange for him stepping down.

The small West African country has been plunged into political turmoil since Jammeh disputed Barrow's December election victory and refused to cede power.

Jammeh has lodged a challenge to the election result with The Gambia's Supreme Court and last week filed a fresh injunction to prevent the chief justice from swearing Barrow into office.

Last week the Supreme Court said Jammeh's challenge to the election result could not be heard for several months as it did not have a full bench, and the extra judges needed to hear the case were not available.

The Gambia relies on foreign judges, notably from Nigeria, to staff its courts due to a lack of its own trained professionals.

With tensions running high, Jammeh said on Sunday that he had spoken to Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and was adamant he would not budge until the Supreme Court had heard his challenge to the poll result.

"The so-called deadline of January 19, 2017, is not cast in stone and all parties shall await the outcome of the Supreme Court," he said on state television.

Leaders of neighbouring countries and the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, have repeatedly called on the long-serving strongman to leave office peacefully, so far to no avail.

As well as Sirleaf, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Ghana's President John Mahama, who left office 10 days ago, have appealed to Jammeh to step down twice in person, without success, most recently on Friday.

Barrow was the surprise guest at a Bamako summit over the weekend, where he was welcomed as a head of state and introduced to several world leaders.

On Sunday, a personal tragedy struck his family when his eight-year-old son Habibou died after being bitten by dogs, according to a family source.

The prospect of military intervention in The Gambia has even been floated in recent days, following declarations by the United Nations and African Union that boots on the ground could get the green light without a rapid resolution of the crisis.

The head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel said on Friday that ECOWAS would ask the Security Council to approve the deployment of troops to The Gambia if Jammeh continues to refuse to leave office.

On Friday, it was reported that the Nigerian military issued a memo to prepare 800 soldiers for a possible deployment in Gambia. There have also been reports that the Nigerian military has sought training and logistical support from British advisers before any military intervention.

Before his inauguration on Thursday, Barrow's special adviser Mai Fatty read a statement on his behalf in Dakar, urging Gambians to "exercise restraint, observe the rule of law and not to respond to provocation". </s> Gambia’s Minister of Information, Sidie Njie, has insisted that Yahya Jammeh will not step down as President.

Njie is the only Minister still in support of Jammeh, after six of his colleagues resigned two days earlier.

He has now told the BBC that his principal was still in control of the West African nation, despite Adama Barrow being sworn-in on Thursday.

Barrow defeated Jammeh in the December 1 presidential election and although he initially conceded defeat, Jammeh went on to reject the result of the polls. He is also refusing to vacate office amid regional and international pressure.

In his inaugural speech, Barrow urged the Gambian armed forces to remain loyal to the constitution.

“As commander-in-chief, I call on all personnel of the armed forces and other security agencies to be loyal to the Constitution and the Republic,” he said.

“As their commander-in-chief, I command all members of the armed forces to remain in the barracks and those found wanting or in possession of firearms without my command shall be considered rebels.”

He added that his administration had developed a think tank to put in place inclusive development, and urged all Gambians to “join hands to effect the change that will bring liberty and prosperity to everyone”.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Marcel de Souza, ECOWAS commission president; Moustapha Cisse Lo, ECOWAS parliament president; and Alima Ahmed, ECOWAS commissioner, political affairs, peace and security. </s> Jan 23 Gambia's central bank deposits are "intact", a spokesman for President Adama Barrow said on Monday, a day after the new leader had said there was no money left in the state coffers.

Barrow said on Sunday that it appeared his exiled predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, had looted state resources after his election defeat. A Barrow adviser later said Jammeh had withdrawn the equivalent of over $11.5 million before he flew out of the country as West African troops were poised to remove him.

That amount would represent 1.2 percent of Gambia's 2015 GDP, according to World Bank figures.

"There had been information to the public about the central bank. It was of particular concern but the inspector general (of) police told me that everything is intact," Halifa Sallah said at a news conference in Gambia's capital Banjul.

It was not immediately clear if Barrow and his adviser, Mai Ahmad Fatty, had been referring to central bank funds or other state resources. Fatty could not be reached for clarification.

Jammeh is believed to have acquired a vast fortune, including a fleet of Rolls-Royces and an estate in a wealthy suburb of Washington, D.C during his rule.

The veteran leader, who had refused to hand over power after his defeat in December's election, flew out of Gambia late on Saturday en route to Equatorial Guinea after negotiations backed by regional military pressure.

But even before the cheers to celebrate Jammeh's departure had died down, there was dismay that the former soldier was being allowed to flee into luxurious exile and might hold onto his fortune.

Rights groups also accuse Jammeh, who took power in a 1994 coup, of jailing, torturing and killing political opponents - charges Jammeh has denied. Barrow denied on Sunday that Jammeh had been offered immunity.

Sallah on Monday also announced that Barrow had named Fatoumata Tambajang, the country's former health minister, as vice president. Tambajang was the architect of the opposition coalition that backed Barrow in the election.

He added that the director general of the country's National Intelligence Agency had assured him that all prisoners held by the agency had been released but that the new administration would be looking into additional claims of missing persons.
Four Cabinet of the Gambia members resign, including Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Abdou Kolley, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Neneh Macdouall-Gaye, Minister of Trade, Abdou Jobe, and Minister of Environment Pa Ousman Jarju.