The new president of Gambia, Adama Barrow, who has been hibernating in neighbouring Senegal where he was sworn-in recently, has told citizens of his country that he was returning home.

His decision to return followed the agreement reached between defeated Yahya Jammeh and some African leaders on Friday, January 20 for him to step down from office.

Barrow tweeted on Saturday: “As Yahya Jammeh officially stepped down from office — I will be returning to my homeland, the Republic of The Gambia. #NewGambia.”

Those close to the new president say he has two major tasks to urgently tackle when he returns to Gambia.

According to them, he will face the task of building confidence across the country and making residents who had fled in the heat of the political crisis to return home.

He would also be expected to free many of the political prisoners in the country.

Barrow floored Jammeh in an election in December after the latter had spent 22 years in office as president.

Jammeh finally agreed to step down during a last-minute discussion with leaders from the ECOWAS region amid preparedness by foreign troops to launch a major action against him.

Speaking in a television broadcast on Saturday, January 21, 2017, Jammeh said he was leaving the seat of power because he did not want the spilling of blood.