Gambia rejoins Commonwealth 5 years after exit

By Mustapha K Darboe

BANJUL, Gambia - Gambia has rejoined the Commonwealth of Nations five years after the former dictator Yahya Jammeh cut ties with the organization.

Gambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ousainou Darboe described the readmission into an international body as a "historic milestone" after he received the Commonwealth Charter on Thursday.

"The withdrawal of Gambia from the Commonwealth was a unilateral decision by former president and [it was] not the will of the Gambian People," Darboe said.

At a joint news conference at Gambia's Foreign Affairs Ministry, Sharon Wardle, the Commonwealth high commissioner to the country, said they are "enthusiastic to be welcoming Gambia back to the Commonwealth."

On Thursday, the Commonwealth Member States accepted Gambia's application to return to the international body.