West African leaders in Gambia to urge Jammeh to hand over power

Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari (left), Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (second left), Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma (second right) and Ghana's outgoing President John Mahama (right) with The Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh (centre) at State House in Banjul on December 13, 2016. PHOTO | NIGERIAN PRESIDENCY 

By AFP

In Summary

• Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana's outgoing President John Mahama landed by 1200 GMT and immediately convened at a luxury hotel ahead of talks with Jammeh.
• The heavyweight grouping, all of whom who have significant ties to The Gambia, will be joined by United Nations West Africa envoy Mohamed Ibn Chambas.
• President-elect Barrow says he wants Jammeh to step down "now", though the longtime leader has the legal right to stay in office until mid-January.

Four African heads of state landed in The Gambia on Tuesday with a mission to persuade President Yahya Jammeh to leave office after his defeat at the ballot box.

Jammeh's party has vowed to challenge the December 1 vote result in court, leading to an avalanche of international condemnation and multitude of calls for him to cede power to opponent Adama Barrow, who was officially declared the winner.

READ: Confusion in Gambia as Jammeh 'annuls' poll result

Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and Ghana's outgoing President John Mahama landed by 1200 GMT and immediately convened at a luxury hotel ahead of talks with Jammeh.

They were not met at the airport by the president but by his deputy Isatou Njie-Saidy.

"We hope we can talk and that the will of the people will prevail," President Sirleaf told journalists after her arrival as head of the delegation.

The heavyweight grouping, all of whom who have significant ties to The Gambia, will be joined by United Nations West Africa envoy Mohamed Ibn Chambas.

After meeting Jammeh the African leaders will hold separate talks with Barrow, several sources told AFP.

Banjul-based diplomats say Buhari in particular has long been annoyed by Jammeh's provocative behaviour and disdain for protocol.

Up until now the president of the tiny country of fewer than two million people may have exasperated his peers but has never threatened peace in the sub-region, a situation that has dramatically shifted since Jammeh's move to void the election.

"It is unacceptable that there is an election and one person turns down the result," Liberia's information minister Eugene Nagbe told AFP on Tuesday. "The message of President Sirleaf and her delegation to Jammeh will be that he accepts the result and gives way to smooth transition."

'Draconian decisions'

If Jammeh and the delegation did not reach an agreement, west African states would "contemplate more draconian decisions", a top official with the regional ECOWAS bloc headed by Sirleaf told French radio station RFI late Monday.

Meanwhile Gambian army chief Ousman Bargie seemed to reverse a previous declaration of support for Barrow and arrived at the talks sporting a badge with Jammeh's face on his uniform.

Bargie said he supported the "commander in chief, President Yahya Jammeh" in brief comments to journalists.