On February 9th we published a statement attributed to a deputy mayor of Douala informing Cameroonians that opposition leader Issa Tchiroma Bakary who was in exile in The Gambia was imminently returning home to form a new government of national unity.
Asked about this while talking to local journalists on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Serigne Modou Njie said The Gambia government was not aware of anything relating to that. He explained: “Mr Bakary’s presence in The Gambia was facilitated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We hosted him purely on humanitarian grounds and it is temporary. He ran away because he knew he was going to be arrested and taken to court in Cameroon, so discussions with the international community should come from him or from Cameroon. If they want to solicit The Gambia’s support in making sure there is negotiation in this matter then we will engage with the international partners.”
However, a statement titled “Final Draft” purportedly from the Ministry of Information claimed that the three months period granted to Bakary to stay in The Gambia has ended and that the government had not received a request for extension and therefore working on his departure.”
But Information Minister Ismaila Ceesay told this paper that the information was “false” and “fake” and did not originate from his ministry.
He stated: “The ministry has not issued such a statement, nor has it authorised any person or entity to publish or circulate the said statement on its behalf. Members of the public, media houses, and stakeholders are therefore advised to treat the circulating document as fake information and disregard its contents entirely.”
However, unconfirmed reports surfaced online yesterday that Mr Bakary has left the country for the United States. The Standard could not get a confirmation from members of the Cameroonian expatriate community close to Mr Chiroma.
