JAMMEH VOWS TO RETURN NEXT MONTH

For the first time since he went into exile, nine years ago, former president Yahya Jammeh has emphatically announced a date for his return to the country. He said will come back next month, November 2025.

He made the announcement yesterday through audio messages sent to thousands of his supporters who travelled to his native Kanilai village to hear him speak.

The former president has always said he has a right to return home under an agreement with the international community which mediated his departure in January 2017. However this is first time he himself set a date for his return. “I want to tell you that I am coming in November and the exact date and time would be announced by the interim leader of the APRC,” Jammeh said.

He said he rejected the election results in 2016 after IEC declared two different results and that was what brought about the problem.

Jammeh detailed the international pressure he faced, including interventions from Ecowas, the EU and the UN with a former president of France even declaring Adama Barrow president of The Gambia, regardless of the outcome.

He also mentioned that his representatives were denied the opportunity to defend his position at emergency meetings held by Ecowas and the EU. “The next thing I heard was the EU calling an emergency meeting to which I was not invited to defend myself,” he said.

The former president said the terms of the agreement brokered by Alpha Condé and the UN Secretary-General’s representative guaranteed his right to return to The Gambia.

He recounted the circumstances of his departure, citing a desire to avoid conflict and protect the Gambian people. “I don’t want any Gambian child to be a refugee. We know the conditions of the refugee camps,” he explained.

After he made the announcement, the crowd cheered and went into joyous celebrations that lasted through the night.

Source: The Standard