Gambia rejoins the Commonwealth of Nations 5-years after it withdrew

Gambia is rejoining the Commonwealth, almost five years after it withdrew under the rule of ex President Yahya Jammeh who branded it a "neo-colonial institution".  

The occasion will be marked at the Commonwealth's headquarters in London later today.

President Adama Barrow applied for The Gambia's readmission to the body soon after he took office last January. The Gambia will be the fourth country to return to the Commonwealth - after South Africa, Pakistan and Fiji.  

Jammeh clashed with the Commonwealth over his government's poor human rights record.  Mr Barrow has sought to improve The Gambia's relationship with Western governments, and to secure much-needed funding to tackle poverty and unemployment.