Africans Rising for Justice, Peace and Dignity delegation arrives in Gambia to push for a peaceful transition by 19 January 2017
Africans Rising launch director, Kumi Naidoo is currently in Banjul leading a delegation to meet with key stakeholders to urge President Yahya Jammeh to accept the results of the December 2016 elections and ensure a peaceful transition of power to President-Elect Adama Barrow by the 19th January, 2017 which will be the end of his term of office.
The delegation plans to meet with the Negotiator General, Mr. Musa Jallow who is President Jammeh’s Representative on Monday 16th January, 2017 where it is expected they will appeal for President Jammeh to rescind his earlier statement annulling the election results and pave the way for a peaceful transition of power.
The delegation was to also meet with the president-elect on Monday. Media reports suggest that he is in Senegal and will return with the Senegalese President in time for the inauguration on 19 January. Africans Rising will now plan to meet him in Dakar on Tuesday. The delegation will go ahead with consultations with civil society and have a meeting with the coalition team members that won the election on Monday 16th January in Banjul.
The four-person delegation includes Rokhayatou Dieye, the Chairperson of LEAD Senegal, Ifeoma Charles-Monwuba, the Country Director of ActionAid Senegal, Kyle Naidu, a young human rights activist and, the Head of Delegation, Kumi Naidoo, launch director of Africans Rising for Justice Peace and Dignity. The delegation held a series of meetings with several Gambian activists in neighbouring Senegal earlier on Saturday.
Speaking from Banjul, Naidoo said “the new President is supposed to be inaugurated on 19 January but there is tremendous uncertainty on the ground. Thousands of people have left the country and thousands more have left the capital city for rural areas. There is a very real possibility of another violent conflict and we are here to add the voice of civil society across the African continent calling on the outgoing President to avert that at all costs.”
Issued by: Kumi Naidoo – Launch Director, Africans Rising
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