A day after the country’s Supreme
Court advised an out-of-court
settlement, Gambian President
Yahya Jammeh has appointed a
mediator to liaise between him and
the President-elect Adama Barrow.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how
Emmanuel Fagbenle, Gambia’s Chief
Justice, advised the settlement after
ruling that the court could not hear
Mr. Jammeh and his party’s appeal
against the result of the presidential
election due to non-formation of
constitutionally required quorum of
5 Supreme Court judges.
Mr. Fagbenle advised Mr. Jammeh
and his party to either adopt the
West African ECOWAS peace initiative
led by President Muhammadu Buhari
or utilise Gambia’s Alternative
Dispute Resolution mechanism .
On Wednesday, Mr. Jammeh
appointed a mediator to facilitate
meetings between himself and Mr.
Barrow.
Mr. Jammeh, who ruled the small
West African nation with an iron fist
for more than two decades, refuses
to accept the result of the December
1 presidential polls, which saw him
lose power.
Mr. Barrow, a former real estate
agent, who was little known before
he announced his candidacy, is
scheduled to take office on January
19.
The ruling party’s secretary general
will mediate between Mr. Jammeh’s
supporters and the opposition to
“resolve any mistrust and issues,” Mr.
Jammeh said in a televised address
to the nation early Wednesday.
He refuses to accept the election
result because it was “full of
arithmetic errors and anomalies, it
also could not be credibly
explained,” the outgoing president
added.


Mr. Jammeh ordered the justice
minister and national assembly to
draft a general amnesty bill, while
issuing an executive order not to
arrest or prosecute citizens for “acts
or omissions’’ committed during the
pre and post electoral period,
between November 1 and January
31.
The announcement comes a day
after the Supreme Court postponed
hearing on a court petition filed by
Mr. Jammeh to challenge the
election results.
The case was adjourned to Monday,
since only one of a required
minimum of five judges was present,
the court’s registrar said.
Several West African heads of state
meanwhile postponed a meeting
with Mr. Jammeh aimed at helping to
resolve the political crisis from
Wednesday to Friday.
http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/220099-gambia-jammeh-seeks-reconciliation-appoints-mediator-barrow.html