Mr Sabastine Hon (SAN), a constitutional lawyer, has expressed support that Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) should use force in The Gambia political logjam.

ECOWAS and AU plan to force President Yahaya Jammeh of The Gambia out of office and install the President-elect, Adama Barrow.

Hon, who supported the use of force decried the vexed political situation in The Gambia, noting that it had reached a situation that called for urgent action.

He said the use of force became necessary to forestall a large scale humanitarian challenge, regional instability and anarchy.

Hon told newsmen that on no account should the world, ECOWAS and the Afrcian Union stand aloof and watch the ethos of democracy being destroyed by a sit-tight dictator.

He said that the only justification for Jammeh clinging to power after he was defeated in a fair and credible election was his illusion of “non-foreign intervention” and the backing of his zombie military establishment.

“Yet, by section 63(1) of the Constitution of The Gambia, the five-year tenure of office of Jammeh will end on 19th January, 2017.

“This section was inserted by the Jammeh-led government in 2001, but his current actions show clearly that he wants to breach the law he created himself,” Hon said.

He said the reported resolve of ECOWAS to use force, if necessary, to topple him and then to install the winner of that election (Barrow) was not only a welcome development but was protected both under the United Nations Charter.

He said it was also protected under existing ECOWAS legislation and under historical and empirical happenings worldwide.

He listed the various pre-United Nations military interventions in sovereign countries to include, “the Russian, British and French Anti-Ottoman military intervention in the Greek War of Independence, 1824.

The Russian unilateral Anti-Ottoman military expedition in Bulgaria, 1877 and U.S military occupation of Haiti in 1915.