- Title: Gambia electoral commissioner flees country after threats
- Date: 3rd January 2017
- Summary: BANJUL, GAMBIA (FILE - DECEMBER 2, 2016) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE HELD BY GAMBIA'S INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION JOURNALISTS AND CAMERAS AT NEWS CONFERENCE PRESIDENT OF GAMBIA'S INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION, ALIEU MOMARR NJAI, SURROUNDED BY OTHER MEMBERS OF COMMISSION JOURNALIST RECORDING NEWS CONFERENCE ON MOBILE PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRESIDENT OF GAMBIA'S INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSION, ALIEU MOMARR NJAI, SAYING: "I hereby wish to give the final results of the election as follows: Adama Barrow - 265,000... 263,515 votes, 263,515 votes. Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya Jammeh Babili Mansa - 202,000... 212,099 votes, 212,099 votes. Mamma Kandeh - 102,969 votes, 102, 969 votes." NEWS CONFERENCE FINISHING ADAMA BARROW'S SUPPORTERS CELEBRATING IN STREET SUPPORTERS RIDING ON CAR, SHOUTING AND CELEBRATING VARIOUS OF MORE PEOPLE CELEBRATING / CAR HONKING
- Embargoed: 18th January 2017 15:39
- Keywords: Gambia Alieu Momar Njai flees election threats
- Location: BANJUL, GAMBIA
- City: BANJUL, GAMBIA
- Country: Gambia
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA0015XJ1NIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Gambia's electoral commission chairman Alieu Momar Njai has fled the country because he received threats after declaring incumbent President Yahya Jammeh the loser of the election held on December 1, 2016, a family member and a colleague said on Tuesday (January 3).
It was not known where Alieu Momar Njai might have gone.
President-elect Adama Barrow won the vote and Jammeh conceded defeat but on Dec. 9 he said he would not step down - a change of heart that drew international condemnation.
Gambian security agents closed three private radio stations near the capital, Banjul, on Monday (January 2) amid an escalating political crisis triggered by Jammeh's refusal to step down.
The veteran leaders' refusal to relinquish power has opened up the possibility of a military intervention by West African forces after the ECOWAS body said it was putting military forces on alert. Jammeh called that a "declaration of war".
Barrow's election victory was seen as a surprising triumph for democracy in Gambia, which gained independence from Britain in 1965 but has since had only two presidents.
But the elation seen on the streets of Banjul in the days after Barrow's victory was quickly extinguished by Jammeh's defiant stance. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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