By Sainey Darboe:
Former Gambian representative to the United Nations, Sam Sarr, has lifted the lid on the shock that gripped the seat of power as Jammeh struggled to come to terms with the reality of his downfall.
He recalled:
“It found me in the Gambia and like most people, I was caught completely by surprise because of what I had witnessed at the Statehouse in the early morning hours of December 2, 2016 where I first learnt about the election results compiled from the polling stations showing the APRC losing to the coalition party by a margin of about 19,000 votes. The vice president, some cabinet ministers, permanent secretaries, deputies, two ambassadors and the speaker of the house were all present.
But like everybody around I was very shocked to say the least and just didn’t know what to make of the situation. So we all waited for Mr. Jammeh to come out and share his thought about the downfall. I expected him to initiate a discussion on how and why the party lost and to perhaps seek the opinion or advice of everybody on the way forward”.
Sam Sarr, who accuses Senegal of hegemonic designs for their stewardship of military intervention efforts in the ensuing crisis added:
“However when he emerged into the conference hall from an adjacent room where he had spent most of the time with his family that night, he appeared well composed, seemingly unconcerned and slowly sat on his high chair before addressing us. He was brief and straight to the point assuring us that he was not at all going to challenge the results but will definitely hand over the government to the winner, Mr. Adama Barrow.
He emphatically explained the reliability of the voting process which he had said had had no room for any errors whatsoever. Like I said, it was a brief statement that ended without any questions asked or any comments made. He finally thanked us all and wished us a good night before trudging back to the same room.
The first lady Mrs. Zainab Jammeh soon came out as well to thank us and bid us farewell”.
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