Adama Barrow has been sworn-in as president on Gambian soil, marking the end of a tense political standoff with the West African nation’s former leader.
Dressed in flowing white robes Barrow arrived at the Independence Stadium on Saturday to fanfare in Bakau, a town 20km from the capital Banjul, waving to supporters from his vehicle.
Several world leaders and thousands of Gambians witnessed Barrow’s second swearing-in ceremony.
Barrow first took the oath in an official ceremony at The Gambia’s embassy in neighbouring Senegal in January, as former leader Yahya Jammeh refused to cede power.
International pressure and the threat of regional military intervention led Jammeh to finally accept his December election defeat and fly into exile in Equatorial Guinea.
Hundreds of thousands of Gambians welcomed Barrow’s return to The Gambia on January 26.
Barrow, 52, was born the year that The Gambia gained independence.
He has promised to reverse many of Jammeh’s policies which stretched over more than two decades of power.
Already, Barrow has committed to stay in the International Criminal Court (ICC), rejoin the Commonwealth, and free political prisoners.
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