Yahya Jammeh, the exiled former leader of The Gambia, has ignored a warning by incumbent President Adama Barrow not to intervene in the country’s election campaign before polls early next month.

In a controversial move, Jammeh late on Thursday spoke remotely at a public meeting of Mama Kandeh, the presidential candidate he has endorsed in the December 4 election, in which a total of six contenders, including Barrow, are vying for the country’s top post.

Jammeh, whose 22-year rule was marked by extrajudicial killings, torture and forced disappearances, had refused to concede defeat to Barrow following the previous election in December 2016. After a six-week crisis that led to a military intervention by other West African states, he was forced to flee to Equatorial Guinea in early 2017.

Urging Gambians to back him and Kandeh, Jammeh alleged that Barrow and his allies had “rigged” the 2016 polls and accused his successor of having “destroyed the country in just four years”.

“I want to assure you that … if you vote for us, you are going to have all of what I’ve told you,” he said at the meeting.

“That is free education, free medical care for all Gambians … and Gambia will be developed to a point where it will be one of the most developed countries in the world.”