Small West African nation The Gambia has been accepted into the Commonwealth as the 53rd nation-member after the country withdrew in 2013 under ousted leader Yahya Jammeh after 48 years.
The Commonwealth Secretariat welcomed The Gambia to the voluntary group on Thursday after a year’s re-application process launched in February 2017 by the new president Adama Barrow who vowed to rejoin all the organisations his predecessor had withdrawn from including the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The #Commonwealth welcomes #TheGambia! 52 countries become 53
Find out more about The Gambia: https://t.co/HKrlNTG6Ab pic.twitter.com/TBsDPATueE— The Commonwealth (@commonwealthsec) February 8, 2018
The Gambia is the fourth country to return to the Commonwealth after South Africa, Pakistan and Fiji.
Former President Jammeh who is currently in exile in the Equatorial Guinea described the group as a neo-colonial institution after he was called to order following several human rights violations in the country.
The Commonwealth is an international organisation made up of the United Kingdom, former British colonies, dependencies of those colonies and other countries with no relation to the British.
