The Presidents from eight West African states (Togo, Senegal Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauretania, and Sierra Leone) attended the swearing in ceremony of His Excellency President Barrow yesterday at the Independence stadium. There were more Presidents present in Banjul yesterday than in most ECOWAS meetings! This is for a reason.
It tells us that The Gambia has a pride of place in the ECOWAS space which we must guard jealously. It is easy to forget that just under five years ago, thousands of Gambians were fleeing this country into Senegal as the tyrant Yahya Jammeh refuse to give up power following his defeat at the polls after he lost the polls in a free and fair election. By January 19th 2017, our towns were ghost villages as people fled hoping that Jammeh’s stupid intransigence will lead to war. Even the ever busy Serekunda market, which many Gambians never saw empty, was void of people!
Thanks to ECOWAS intervention, the tyrant fled into exile and The Gambia was ushered into the embrace of freedom and the rule of law. The ECOWAS leaders who were here yesterday were therefore all faithful players in supporting us restore of lost dignity from Jammeh.
The high turnout of Presidents at yesterday’s august gathering is therefore a motion of full confidence in our last presidential elections, which had close to 90 per cent voter turnout, and also a confidence in The Gambia’s quick recovery that our country has made in five years. Our cherished freedoms have been restored such that now we have media freedom, rule of law and free and fair elections all back on the dinner table of our Republic.
Our challenge now is to keep it up and build upon the success of the past five years, so that The Gambia will continue to be a great nation in the ECOWAS Space. For The Gambia, Our Homeland.