Gambia Set To Rejoin The Commonwealth

The Gambian government withdrew in 2013 under its then leader Yahya Jammeh, who called it a “neo-colonial institution “.

But Adama Barrow, who had been sworn in as president in January, lived in Britain for 36 months when he was younger and has said he wants to rekindle ties.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will be visiting the West African nation on Tuesday, where he will meet President Barrow and look at the British-funded Medical Research Council.

Mr Johnson said he was “delighted” to be the initial British foreign secretary to visit The Gambia since the nation won its independence from Britain in 1965.

“I am also glad that Gambia will rejoin the Commonwealth and we will also ensure this happens in the coming months,” he added.

Mr Barrow’s path to the presidency wasn’t smooth.

He have been a political unknown but was thrust to the limelight when eight opposition parties put him forward as a unifying figure.

The former Argos security guard defeated hardline ruler Yahya Jammeh in December, but Mr Jammeh clung to power, saying there have been irregularities in the election.

Troops from other West African countries willing to cross the border to force him to cede power and Britons in the country were warned to obtain out amid safety concerns.

After a lengthy stalemate, Mr Jammeh finally went into exile and Mr Barrow returned from Senegal, where he had taken refuge.

Mr Jammeh, who’d been in power for 22 years, has been accused of emptying the country’s banks of 500m Gambian dalasis (£9.2m) in the last fourteen days of his reign.

Source: http://www.newspaperupdate.com/gambia-rejoin-commonwealth-four-years/