President Jammeh's political party makes plans against Barrow as inuaguration draws close ~ Zeniths Blog

President Jammeh's political party makes plans against Barrow as inuaguration draws close

– Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) the political party of President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia has filed a request for an injunction to block the swearing in of the president-elect Adama Barrow

– The Supreme Court Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, confirmed receipt of the petition, which was filed by Jammeh’s political party

– Aziz Bensouda, the secretary general of the Gambia Bar Association, says an injunction would be unconstitutional

Gambian President’s party seeks to block rival’s inauguration

The political party of President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia, on Friday, January 13, filed a request with the Supreme Court for an injunction to block the swearing in of his rival, Adama Barrow.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Emmanuel Fagbenle, confirmed receipt of the petition, which was filed by Jammeh’s Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC).

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Fagbenle, who did not say when a decision on the petition might be made said “It is filed today with the court registrar,.’

However Aziz Bensouda, the secretary general of the Gambia Bar Association, said an injunction would be unconstitutional.

He said: “The inauguration of the president-elect should be held when Jammeh’s term officially ends the court does not have any mandate to put an inauguration on hold.’’

Barrow, who won the poll and has received the support of the international

community, has said he will go ahead with his inauguration on Thursday, January 19 despite Jammeh’s rejection of the result.

The election defeat of Jammeh, a former coup leader, after 22 years of increasingly authoritarian rule was celebrated across the tiny West African nation, and the incumbent initially accepted the result.

However, in a u-turn a week later that drew international condemnation, he denounced what he claimed was widespread fraud.

In a related development, President Muhammadu Buhari will travel to Banjul, the capital of The Gambia and Bamako, the Malian capital from January 13 to 14, 2017.

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Buhari, as the mediator in The Gambia, is scheduled to meet with President Yahya Jammeh and President-elect Adama Barrow to continue dialogue on the political situation in the West African country.

President Buhari would be joined by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Chairperson of the Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, President Ernest Koroma of Sierra Leone and the immediate past President of Ghana John Mahama who is the co-meditator of The Gambian mission.

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