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I am The Gambia- Yahya Jammeh
Friday, 20 May 2011 14:40
Take a look at the man who has not only embraced the art of personality cult, he has made it the bedrock of his rule: His Excellency Sheikh Professor
Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh, Commander In Chief of The Armed Forces and Chief Custodian of the Sacred Constitution of The Gambia.Dictator Jammeh controls the media, is head of the armed forces, holds absolute power over the judiciary and legislature, and is also in charge of transportation, agriculture, mining, construction and, well, pretty much everything in the tiny country.
He conducts Presidential tours, and has constructed a massive arch, under which only he may drive. He loves to give himself titles (and bogus awards and degrees), and has a massive Presidential HIV cure campaign. He has insisted that he’ll be President for at least another 40 years, and has even rallied support for his drive to be named absolute monarch- King of The Gambia. His assertions that he is able to speak to demons and evil spirits, and that he has god-like powers, well, those are not just crazy rumours. He has gone from being little-known Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh, a roleplayer in the military coup which saw him take the Presidency, to being, literally, all things to all men, women and children in the country. Yahya Jammeh IS the Gambia.
Yahya Jammeh loves to party. He’s known for courting important women, and is no stranger to throwing massive costly celebrations:The guests last year at his birthday party included the US popstar, Jermaine Jackson, who had brought an entourage of 57 people, including several of his children, from Los Angeles at the president’s invitation. At the party there were hours of films screened celebrating his life, and stage performances all geared towards flattering the man.
The Jammeh Daily: Media Control
Here’s the feared dictator steering the media: For years, Jammeh has refused interviews with anyone except his own state media, which includes The Observer- a newspaper which is little more than a tool for Jammeh-flattery. For example, the Observer recently published an article about the dictator receiving four international awards. Upon closer examination, the article’s assertion that US President Barack Obama had heaped praise on Jammeh was a fabrication, and that the four awards were completely bogus, coming from fictitious institutions and invented organisations. One of the awards, as an indication, named Jammeh as “Admiral of the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska”. The US state is landlocked, and has no navy. He has also accepted the title “Grand Doctor of Philosophy” from the sham institution, IPSP. According to the Daily Observer newspaper, Jammeh claimed on July 26, 2010, that the Gambia had played an important role in the aviation industry, specifically, “that the first Atlantic flight and the first flight from Eastern Europe landed in The Gambia.” At the same time Jammeh also stated that “this country is one of the oldest and biggest countries in Africa that was reduced to a small snake by the British government who sold all our lands to the French.”
The newspapers clearly print whatever nonsense they are told to, for fear of reprisals- He’s been implicated in intimidating and murdering journalists- but has evaded charges relating to these.
As of December 2009, Internet web sites spreading rumors of the government are blocked, such as the US-based Freedom Tabloid.
The Farmer President
Jammeh has been talking about agriculture a lot lately- his “Back to the Land” program coincided with his buying up of farms. He has managed to attract a multi-million dollar investment from the World Bank, who clearly don’t know that his agricultural excellence relies on “volunteers”- Gambians, mainly women and youths, who are forced to work on his farms, and punished if they leave. He also uses the police force and soldiers as free labour on the farms.
Doctor, Healer: I can cure HIV
In 2007 the dictator stated that he had invented a cure for HIV-Aids using local herbal remedies.
He said: “Now I am saying I am not giving anybody ARVs, all what I am doing is getting rid of the virus; and my treatment is free.”
On the State House website, Jammeh’s government site, there’s a whole section dedicated to his HIV “treatment” programme, including lists of people who have allegedly been cured, and photographs of former patients- named “beneficiaries of the Presidential Treatment Programme Group” who are now “cured”, waving banners with messages such as “Thank you President Jammeh”
He has claimed he can cure all sorts of illnesses, from erectile dysfunction to strokes and skin cancer. All totally unverified claims.
The Great Benefactor
He’s often seen handing out all sorts of gifts to selected people- tractors to chiefs, buildings to other leaders. And every time he does so, his name is attached to it. “Jammeh donates this” is a common headline in his State media. He’s clearly a very generous man. What the newspapers don’t say is that the funds paying for these gifts are looted from the government coffers.
On the State website, there’s a link to The Jammeh Foundation:
“The Jammeh Foundation for Peace (JFP) is an independent, non-political, charitable organisation based in The Gambia, West Africa. Its’ principal goal is to effect a substantial and sustainable improvement in the quality of life of all communities in the Gambia, by providing support in the sectors of Education, Health, Agriculture, Women and Youth Development.”The Foundation, which is the brainchild of the Gambian President, His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh has the First Lady of The Gambia, Madam Zineb Yahya Jammeh as the President of the Foundation. His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh continues to be the Chief Patron of the Foundation.” Quoted from his website.The foundation is little more than a channel for stolen funds, all under the guise of Jammeh-generosity.
Spiritual Jammeh
Jammeh is an odd mix of Muslim and African spiritualism. He’s always loved the support of certain clerics who allow him to spout his strange brand of religious rhetoric: In July 2010, Jammeh stated “If you don’t believe in God, you can never be grateful to humanity and you are even below a porker.”Which wouldn’t be too bad on its own, but it often leads to bizarre happenings, such as his announcing a “government policy to screen witches.” This followed a dream in which he believed witches had killed his aunt. After the dream, he sent his militias into villages to round up witches, forced them to drink a bizarre concoction and arrested hundreds. Many died from drinking the chemical brew.
The presence of Jammeh is not just constant, it’s pervasive. There’s no government to speak of- it exists to carry out his whims. Every activity in the country must have his stamp of approval, or the owners, entrepreneurs, activists, opposition members, and even ordinary Gambians find themselves expelled from their own country if they get in his way.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a country which is so personality-driven, and this cult of Jammeh which invades every aspect of life will be hard to get rid of.
He is standing for a fourth presidential term in office next year.
Source: africandictator.org
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