Halifa Sallah: Nothing can prevent Jammeh from returning to The Gambia

Exiled former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh retains legal rights as a citizen to make a triumphant return to The Gambia if he so chooses, PDOIS Secretary General, Halifa Sallah has declared.

Yahya Jammeh ruled The Gambia for over two decades with a well publicized record for human rights abuse and governance deficits. He lost power in elections in 2016 which he conceded and later recanted, leading to military intervention from West African states, Ecomig.

Halifa Sallah has said that Gambian constitution allows Jammeh to return home if he chooses to do so, but will he come based on information received about what Jammeh have done as President

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Lamin Njie of Fatu Network over the weekend, Halifa explained:

“These are issues we definitely are over-exaggerating.There’s nothing that prevents Jammeh from coming to The Gambia. That’s in your constitution. No Gambian can be prevented from, not coming to The Gambia or leaving The Gambia.That’s the constitutional provision. What has Jammeh done to leave and what may prevent him from coming back. That you should ask? What’s being done now? What information has been received? Is he comfortable in coming to The Gambia with such information. That’s for him to decide. It’s not for me. Jammeh is like you and me.

He is a citizen of The Gambia with right to come and live in The Gambia. You may also recall he left The Gambia because of certain issues and he may not wish to come because of certain issues. That’s left to Jammeh and I don’t think people should continue to give the impression anybody has the power to do this or do that regarding a citizen. That’s my opinion. I don’t think it’s really fair for anybody to say this or that about a particular citizen”.

Halifa suggested that Jammeh’s exile to Equatorial Guinea under the terms of an Ecowas deal to ensure his exit after the 2016 elections is a political process in which the possibility of a softer glare exists in time and space.

“Let’s talk about what he has done and to handle what he has done. Commissions are working. They’ve already seized all his properties. Those are all Commission activities that have taken place. The same thing with Jawara. You can see eventually his properties and properties of PPP were....these are political transitions,”he added.