BANJUL, Gambia: Gambian ex-President Yahya Jammeh will be allowed to keep his collection of 13 luxury cars and fly them out to his exiled home in Equatorial Guinea, a spokesman for new President Adama Barrow said.
Barrow’s spokesman confirmed to AFP an agreement had been struck to facilitate Jammeh’s exit on Saturday in order to end a weeks-long impasse caused by the ex-leader’s refusal to recognize Barrow’s election victory.
“What is very clear is that arrangements were made and the government was fully prepared and supportive of Jammeh to leave and as a result they found it is better to leave with all his properties instead of coming down and checking properties,” spokesman Halifa Sallah said.
An airport source who saw the cargo being prepared on Saturday night when Jammeh flew out of the country said “two Rolls Royce and one (Mercedes) Benz” were loaded onto a Chadian cargo plane, while others await shipment.
The spokesman added that the decision was also aimed at minimizing return visits by Jammeh.
“He leaves with all his properties so he is not coming up and down to check,” Sallah said.
Another Barrow spokesman had alluded angrily to the luxury cars on Sunday, but did not say that the new president had agreed that Jammeh could leave with them.
As of Tuesday, the source added, “10 cars” were still earmarked for future shipment, which diplomats and others familiar with the matter confirmed included a Bentley, Land Rovers, a red Mini Cooper, and another Mercedes.
“No information or orders have been given by this new government to stop shipping the cars,” said the airport source.
He described Jammeh’s entourage as struggling between the choice of two larger Bentleys or three smaller cars, eventually opting for the Mercedes and the Rolls Royces on the night he left the country.
“They were trying to check which one fits. If they took the bigger cars they could only take two,” he said.
The news is likely to anger Gambians who have also learnt Jammeh took off with $11 million of state funds, leaving the coffers nearly empty.
An “entry-level” Rolls Royce costs $250,000, and most Gambians live on less than $2 a day.
As regional troops continued security sweeps to prepare for Barrow’s return to the country, a presidential spokesman announced that Gambia’s new vice president will be a female leader of the opposition coalition that helped bring the new president to power.
The appointment of Aja Fatoumata Tambajang as vice president was announced at a press conference by Sallah.
Barrow remained in Senegal, where he traveled more than a week ago when it was uncertain whether Jammeh would acknowledge defeat in the December election and step down.
Mediators said Jammeh’s destination was Equatorial Guinea, though that country has yet to confirm Jammeh’s arrival.
Equatorial Guinea’s opposition has denounced the government’s decision to welcome Jammeh.
President Teodoro Obiang will be held responsible “for what might occur” as a result of Jammeh’s presence on the country’s soil, according to a statement e-mailed on Monday by Andres Esono Ondo, secretary general of the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy.
Jammeh should not qualify for political asylum because he triggered Gambia’s crisis by refusing to step down for weeks after he lost the December vote to Barrow, said the Democratic Opposition Front, in a separate statement.
“We are not against Pan-Africanism, but we are in favor of a more objective Pan-Africanism that does not consist in just bringing over the waste of Africa,” the group said.
Barrow’s spokesman confirmed to AFP an agreement had been struck to facilitate Jammeh’s exit on Saturday in order to end a weeks-long impasse caused by the ex-leader’s refusal to recognize Barrow’s election victory.
“What is very clear is that arrangements were made and the government was fully prepared and supportive of Jammeh to leave and as a result they found it is better to leave with all his properties instead of coming down and checking properties,” spokesman Halifa Sallah said.
An airport source who saw the cargo being prepared on Saturday night when Jammeh flew out of the country said “two Rolls Royce and one (Mercedes) Benz” were loaded onto a Chadian cargo plane, while others await shipment.
The spokesman added that the decision was also aimed at minimizing return visits by Jammeh.
“He leaves with all his properties so he is not coming up and down to check,” Sallah said.
Another Barrow spokesman had alluded angrily to the luxury cars on Sunday, but did not say that the new president had agreed that Jammeh could leave with them.
As of Tuesday, the source added, “10 cars” were still earmarked for future shipment, which diplomats and others familiar with the matter confirmed included a Bentley, Land Rovers, a red Mini Cooper, and another Mercedes.
“No information or orders have been given by this new government to stop shipping the cars,” said the airport source.
He described Jammeh’s entourage as struggling between the choice of two larger Bentleys or three smaller cars, eventually opting for the Mercedes and the Rolls Royces on the night he left the country.
“They were trying to check which one fits. If they took the bigger cars they could only take two,” he said.
The news is likely to anger Gambians who have also learnt Jammeh took off with $11 million of state funds, leaving the coffers nearly empty.
An “entry-level” Rolls Royce costs $250,000, and most Gambians live on less than $2 a day.
As regional troops continued security sweeps to prepare for Barrow’s return to the country, a presidential spokesman announced that Gambia’s new vice president will be a female leader of the opposition coalition that helped bring the new president to power.
The appointment of Aja Fatoumata Tambajang as vice president was announced at a press conference by Sallah.
Barrow remained in Senegal, where he traveled more than a week ago when it was uncertain whether Jammeh would acknowledge defeat in the December election and step down.
Mediators said Jammeh’s destination was Equatorial Guinea, though that country has yet to confirm Jammeh’s arrival.
Equatorial Guinea’s opposition has denounced the government’s decision to welcome Jammeh.
President Teodoro Obiang will be held responsible “for what might occur” as a result of Jammeh’s presence on the country’s soil, according to a statement e-mailed on Monday by Andres Esono Ondo, secretary general of the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy.
Jammeh should not qualify for political asylum because he triggered Gambia’s crisis by refusing to step down for weeks after he lost the December vote to Barrow, said the Democratic Opposition Front, in a separate statement.
“We are not against Pan-Africanism, but we are in favor of a more objective Pan-Africanism that does not consist in just bringing over the waste of Africa,” the group said.
