President John Dramani Mahama,Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS ) Authority of Heads of State and Government on Sunday stopped over in Banjul, on a short solidarity visit following an attempted coup in the small West African country.
Accompanied by the Vice President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Toga Gayewea Mcintosh, President Mahama said his visit, though brief, was to show ECOWAS' solidarity with President Yahya Jammeh, and the people of the Gambia.
A statement sent by the Flagstaff House Communications Bureau and copied to the Ghana News Agency said, the President told journalists that "In the African tradition, if anything happens in your brother's house, you have to go and visit and make sure that things are okay, and that is why I came.
"You also know that our ECOWAS protocols do not support violent overthrow of governments, so we want to remind all member-states of the protocols that ECOWAS has, that a change of government must be through democratic means, and as far as possible, we should try and abide by that."
President Mahama was received at the Banjul International Airport by the Gambian leader, government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, hundreds of Ghanaians living in The Gambia and Gambian nationals.
The President inspected a Guard of Honour mounted by The Gambian Armed Forces, both on arrival and before his departure.
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