With the statement that “nobody can prevent me from coming in,” former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who has been living in exile in Equatorial Guinea since his departure in 2017, has declared plans to return to The Gambia in November 2025. I’ve missed my nation.
His fans gathered in his hometown of Kanilai on Sunday afternoon heard the announcement in a taped audio clip. Jammeh said in his message that his exile, which was first only supposed to last six months, has already lasted over nine years.
“I can hear you people yearning for me to come back. It is not that I don’t want to come back. I always make it very clear that I want to come back. In Sha Allah, by the will of the Almighty, I will come back in the month of November 2025. I want to come and stay peacefully in my motherland,” Jammeh stated.
He stated that the deputy administrative secretary would work closely with the party’s executive interim head, Momodou Yafaye Tamba, to announce the precise date and travel plans for his return.
Former President Yahya Jammeh informed his followers in Kanilai on Sunday afternoon via audio that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had been signed, allowing him to return within six months with no conditions.
Jammeh said he had originally intended to resign and return to his farms, but ECOWAS diplomats told him that coalition government members did not want him to stay in the nation because of his “massive support” from the military and the populace.
“They said I could return to the Gambia as a citizen, and a lot of things were guaranteed, but you all know what happened as soon as I left,” he stated.
During discussions with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinean President Alpha Condé, Jammeh informed his followers that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was drafted in his presence.
He clarified that President Adama Barrow was in Dakar at the time, thus Halifa Sallah signed the Memorandum of Understanding. Jammeh went on to say, “I signed it, and I believe Alpha Condé and others did as well,” adding that Chambas signed on behalf of the UN Secretary-General.
He thanked the APRC for their ongoing assistance and reminded party members to follow the law, stressing that they are renowned for upholding the rule of law and shouldn’t try to impose their own justice.
“I have a right to stay because the Supreme Court was supposed to judge. That is the democratic and legal solution to the problem. The constitution was disrespected because there was a hidden agenda,” he stated.
