Opposition activists say security forces fired blindly into protestors during yesterday’s voting.

There’s no official confirmation of the number of deaths as security forces responded to attacks on polling stations and the stoning of electoral officials.

Guinean opposition parties are  calling for further protests against the killings and President Alpha Conde’s determination to cling to power after his two-terms at the helm runs out.

The referendum will extend presidential terms to seven from five years.

It will also nullify Conde’s previous terms so he can start his presidency afresh.

It is feared that in the charged atmosphere further protests will end in more bloodshed.

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A 20 year-old man was shot dead by security forces.

The violence in the capital Conakry and across the country follows an opposition call for a boycott of the poll because of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Three polling stations were stormed, Electoral officials were stoned and voting material was burned.

Since October there have been protests against President Alpha Conde apparently seeking to prolong his term at the helm by extending the years in office from five to seven.

There’s a growing demand for him follow the example of neighboring Ivorean President Alassane Ouatarra by stepping down after the constitutionally mandated two terms as president

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The run-off poll scheduled for next Tuesday has been delayed by the Supreme Court while allegations of electoral fraud are investigated.

Attempting to head off the political crisis, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf hosted Guinean President Alpha Conde and Togolese leader Faure Gnassingbe .

Conde is currently serving as Chairman of the African Union, while Gnassingbe chairs the Economic Community of West African States.

They met with George Weah and Joseph Boakai , who are in the run-off contest to succeed Johnson Sirleaf as president.

It turns out that Boakai has also backed the claims of electoral fraud in the October 10 poll where he was beaten by Weah.

The Supreme Court has summoned Liberia’s electoral commission to explain any irregularities

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The bloodless and belated departure of Yayha Jammeh after he lost an election in Gambia is an undoubted African success story.

Even the light-fingered denouement – with Jammeh taking $11 million from the state coffers into exile with him – has not taken the icing off the cake.

That decorative delicacy was provided by the intervention of neighbours of this thin silver of a country that has just experienced its first democratic change of government.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) made it immediately clear to Jammeh that it would not tolerate his staying in power when he contested the fairness of the December 1 election he lost, by his own admission, to Adama Barrow.

It made a number of unsuccessful demarches on Jammeh, urging him to step down before the victor’s scheduled inauguration date of January 19.

Jammeh declined offers of asylum in Senegal, Morocco, Mauritania and Guinea.

He hoped to wait around for the supreme court to consider his arguments about the unfairness of the election.

The court reminded him that he sacked half the judges last year and said they would be able to consider the matter before May.

ECOWAS decided to play hard ball. The grouping sought approval by the United Nations Security Council to use force, if necessary, to move Jammeh.

Senegal, which surrounds Gambia on three sides, and Ghana, moved troops to the border to show the region’s seriousness.

If Jammeh  had any doubt of this, the ECOWAS forces crossed the frontier and deployed in the capital Banjul.

They gave Jammeh a deadline of noon last Friday to either go or be forcibly removed.

The defeated president successfully requested an extension of this deadline while he spoke to Presidents Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz of Mauritania and Alpha Conde of Guinea.

He’s been abandoned by key members of his cabinet and finally by his military commander.

The game was up for this man who took power in a bloodless coup 22 years ago.

Eventually Jammeh loaded a string of luxury cars onto a Chadian cargo plane.

Then, seen off by a small group of hardliner, he boarded a plane with President Conde and headed for Guinea.

Gambian, who could not believe their good fortune had been demonstrating their delight at Jammeh’s imminent departure for day.

They cheered ECOWAS troops patrolling the capital.

Barrow, who was inaugurated at the Gambian embassy in Senegal, says he will go home within the next week once his security can be assured.

He has his work cut out tracing the $11 million that Jammeh looted from the public purse.

He also has to get back the tourists who are vital to Gambia’s economy.

Alone with more than 46 000 Gambians, the tourists quit  the country when military action to move Jammeh looked likely.

So, chalk one up to ECOWAS’s unlinking determination to see that democracy triumphed.

Consider too the benefits of other African regional groups showing the same courage and application against the hard-to-move leaders who have cynically disregarded their constitutional limitations on power.

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President Adams Barrow is awaiting assurances about his security before leaving neighboring Senegal and returning home to role the country.

Adviser to President Adama Barrow, Major Ahmad Fatty says they’re trying to evaluate the exact loss to Gambia’s public purse.

He says Gambia is in financial distress.

Luxury cars and other costly items were seen being loaded onto a Chadian plane  before Yayha Jammeh boarded a plane for Guinea with that  country’s President Alpha Conde.

Troops from a number of West African countries are deployed in the Gambia capital Banjul waiting for the return of Barrow.

They’re controlling strategic points to guarantee his safety and that of his people.

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