Gambia: Ecowas invasion wrong - MP

Member of Parliament for Adaklu, Kwame Agbodza, has accused ECOWAS of militarily interfering in the Gambian political stalemate and criticised the regional body’s decision to use force to oust the country’s defeated president by force.

After the Gambian election which President Yahya Jammeh lost and refused to concede, ECOWAS threatened military action against him. This led Mr Jammeh to exit the country on Saturday, 21 January paving the way for President Adama Barrow to begin his reign.

Speaking to Class News, Mr Agbodza criticised the threat of military action and wondered if the situation would have been the same if a similar scenario played out in Nigeria or Ghana.

“Somebody can stay here and say that because we threatened Yahya Jammeh he backed off. They may be right in taking that decision but the question is: if this situation was in Nigeria or Ghana, who will stand at ECOWAS and threaten them that we will come and remove you by force?” he quizzed.

“So, I foresee ECOWAS having two levels of membership where because Gambia is a small country with just about a 1000 soldiers as a nation and that country is so small and it is more or less embedded inside Senegal, we could do this but in another occasion, in an unfortunate event if it happens in Ghana or Nigeria they can’t because they will not have the muscle to do that. Nobody in West Africa can say they are going to have a military intervention in Nigeria,” he added.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyire Frank Anor Dompreh on Wednesday 26 January told parliament it was not enough for Mr Jammeh to just leave The Gambia but should be dragged before the ECOWAS Court of Justice if suspected or found guilty of any wrong doing.