Under unremitting pressure from the regional bloc ECOWAS, the African Union and the UN, Gambian strongman Yahya Jammeh fled into exile in Equatorial Guinea. There are credible allegations of serious human rights violations against him, covering his 22 years in power. Jammeh can run but cannot hide. Everything possible must be done to bring him to justice.

How long will it take before SADC has the means and the will to remove rulers who have either been defeated in an election or who refuse to leave at the end of their terms? Will what has happened in West Africa in the case of The Gambia help persuade SADC to move towards more effective interventions to remove dictators and other illegitimate rulers?

President Yahya Jammeh should save his family and thousands of innocent lives by retiring to his Kanilai Villa and later face the International Criminal Court. But as it is, he has chosen a worse fate. No effort should be spared to take down The Gambian tyrant and to install President-elect Adama Barrow.

It looks increasingly likely that the West African regional bloc will have to send troops into The Gambia to remove Yahya Jammeh and install President-elect Adama Barrow. But ECOWAS should keep in mind that military intervention is fraught with risk. It is essential that thorough and efficient planning is done beforehand to avoid civilian deaths.

Apart from perhaps Senegal and Ghana, none of the West African nations now holding Yahya Jammeh’s feet to the fire has conducted a credible election. Gambians must be allowed and supported to resolve their crisis without threats from regional powers. West Africa is arguably Africa’s most troubled region; another front of confrontation, this time in The Gambia, must be avoided.

There are several reasons why the West African regional grouping ECOWAS should not allow Yahyah Jammeh to stay in office beyond January 19, but three stand out – a bad precedent, violation of the will of majority of the Gambian people and violation of regional norms and standards.

The upcoming AU Summit will be “closed”, allowing only the accredited delegations and staff to participate in and witness its deliberations. What is clear is that it will give the current class of Africa’s Heads of State a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-shape the organization.