Gambia Archives - Voice of the Cape

Canada, Netherlands join Gambia’s genocide case against Myanmar

Canada and the Netherlands will formally join The Gambia's legal bid to hold Myanmar accountable over allegations of genocide against its mostly-Muslim Rohingya minority in a move described by observers as historic. In a joint statement on Wednesday, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and his Dutch counterpart Stef Blok said the two nations were intervening in the case before the International Court of Justice in order "to prevent the crime […]

3 September 2020

International News

Gambia rejoins Commonwealth as it seeks to rebuild world standing

Gambia has rejoined the Commonwealth, the tiny West African former British colony’s foreign ministry said on Thursday, five years after its now exiled former authoritarian leader withdrew his country, calling it a “neo-colonial institution”. During his 23-year rule, Yahya Jammeh, who fled Gambia a year ago after regional militaries launched an operation to remove him, repeatedly clashed with British authorities over criticisms of his government’s human rights record. He withdrew […]

9 February 2018

International News

Freed from Libyan jails, frustrated migrants pose challenge to Gambia

Jobless, restless and frustrated, 24-year-old Saikou Jammeh persuaded his father to sell the family home and give up his life savings to pay for the journey from Gambia to Europe. Jammeh saw no future for himself in Gambia, a tiny impoverished country on West Africa’s coast, so he joined an exodus of young men willing to sacrifice everything to leave. But after being robbed, beaten, and locked in a Libyan […]

30 January 2018

International News

World Bank pledges $60m in support for Gambia

The Gambia is set tor receive $60 million in budget support from the World Bank. This was revealed on Saturday by the Bank’s president for Africa, Makhtar Diop, during a meeting with the newly installed government. Diop told journalists after the meeting that he had pledged to give $40 million before June with the remainder to follow later. The funds will help fill empty state coffers following allegations that former […]

27 February 2017

International News

Gambia’s President Barrow to return home on Thursday

Gambia's President Adama Barrow, who was inaugurated in neighboring Senegal as mediators engineered an exit deal for longstanding ruler Yahya Jammeh, is to return to Gambia on Thursday, a senior aide said. Barrow has asked a regional force of several thousand soldiers to stay and help him restore democratic governance after they entered Gambia last week to enforce election results that brought an end to Jammeh's 22 years in power. […]

26 January 2017

Opinions

Gambia: A lesson for African dictators

OPINION by Solomon Dersso Soon after the peaceful transition of power from Barack Obama to Donald Trump in the US, Gambia's crisis was also resolved without a single gunshot. The embattled President Yahya Jammeh appeared on national TV announcing his decision "to relinquish the mantle of leadership". Jammeh's decision to step down was not only important to his own people, as he effectively decided not to push the country into […]

23 January 2017

International News

Adama Barrow sworn in as Gambia’s president in Senegal

Troops from a bloc of West African countries have entered Gambia in support of Adama Barrow, shortly after the new Gambian president called for international backing following his inauguration in neighbouring Senegal. Longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh, who came to power in a 1994 coup, has refused to step down despite losing a disputed December 1 presidential election to Barrow, deepening a political crisis. In a statement, Senegal's army said on […]

20 January 2017

International News

Military intervention looms as Jammeh clings to power

Gambia faces the prospect of military intervention by regional forces after a last-ditch attempt to convince Yahya Jammeh to step down as president failed. Jammeh, who lost a December 1 presidential vote to Adama Barrow, has refused to leave office despite international pressure and a threat by leaders of the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, to enforce his election defeat. Thousands fleeing to Senegal amid Gambia crisis […]

19 January 2017

International News

AU fails to persuade Yahya Jammeh to step down

The African Union says it will cease to recognise Yahya Jammeh as The Gambia's legitimate president after last-ditch attempts to persuade the longtime leader to step down failed. Jammeh, a former coup leader who has ruled the country since 1994, lost a December 1 election to Adama Barrow by a slim margin. He initially conceded defeat but a week later contested the poll's results, stating irregularities. He now refuses to […]

14 January 2017

Gambia

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