Senegalese President Macky Sall on Saturday in Bamako agreed to accommodate Gambia’s President-elect Adama Barrow in Dakar and provide him security until his inauguration day next week, the Senegalese news agency APS is reporting.
Mr Barrow has since arrived arrived in Dakar early Sunday shortly after midnight, source said.
Mr Barrow’s divertion to Senegal while returning from the 27th France-Africa summit under the theme of partnership, peace and emergence, was at the request of the Chairwoman of the Authority of Heads of States of ECOWAS and Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
According to APS, Senegalese President Macky Sall responded favorably to the request of his Liberian counterpart and agreed to host President-elect Barrow until the inauguration day when he will be safely escorted to Banjul and inaugurated officially.
Meanwhile, it is reported that ECOWAS will continue its efforts for a peaceful transfer of power, with the aim of convincing outgoing President Yahya Jammeh to leave power peacefully until on 18th January, the evening of the official end of his mandate.
The sub-regional body tasked Nigerian President Muhammadou Buhari accompanied by Ghana’s former President John Mahama and Liberian Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to mediate the political crisis. They have visited the Gambia on two occasions but both talks failed.
On Thursday, the UN Security Council renewed its request to outgoing President Jammeh to respect the sovereign choice of the people of The Gambia and to transfer the power unconditionally and without delay to the elected President-elect Adama Barrow.
The African Union which supports this mediation also called on outgoing President Jammeh to hand over power peacefully saying it will cease to recognise him as Gambia’s legitimate president as of January 19th, when his term ends.
In a statement issued after its 647th meeting held on 13th January 2017, in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, its Peace and Security Council also warned of “serious consequences in the event that his action causes any crisis that could lead to political disorder, humanitarian and human rights disaster, including loss of innocent lives and destruction of properties”.
