Yahya Jammeh Blames External Forces For Africa’s Wars

(JollofNews) – President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia has accused foreign governments and multinational companies of jeopardising peace and stability in Africa.

He said for sustainable peace and security to hold in Africa, the West must desist from perpetually blaming Africans and their leaders and take a stance especially under the auspices of the UN to end the proxy wars that are being fought by external powers in the continent.

Addressing delegates at last week’s Elysée summit for peace and security in Africa in Paris, France, Mr Jammeh who is also chairman of the African Union Peace and Security Council for December 2013, said he found it flabbergasting that while the West keeps talking about extreme poverty in Africa, rebels in some poor African countries are using the latest and most expensive weaponry to kill each other.

“No one wonders how these poor people can have access to these lethal weapons that are difficult to obtain even by some states,” he said.

“It is ironical that our wars are sometimes blamed on poverty and at the same time the rebels have access to enough resources to sustain their rebellions year in year out.  What is obvious is that Africans are not benefitting from the wars that continue to plague them but rather it is the arms traders, multinational companies and foreign governments that stand to win in such a situation.

Racist
President Jammeh called for the role of the Western media in African conflicts to be scrutinised. He accused the ‘racist Western media’ of fanning African wars while ignoring the thousands of good stories of progress in the socio-economic sectors in Africa.

“They must tell us how come they have access to African warlords and rebel leaders through satellite phones when the same media do not report positive developments taking place in most African countries under the pretext that they have no information on these developments,” he said.

“One also wonders why there seems to be constant propaganda campaigns against some African leaders by depicting them as corrupt.  With such a smear campaign against any leader, that leader’s credibility is undermined locally and internationally, thereby creating the conditions conducive to civil unrest at home.  The characterisation of African leaders as corrupt dictators must stop and external interference in our continent needs to be stopped immediately, if there is going to be any form of genuine and sustainable peace and security in Africa.”

He said African countries cannot afford to be treated as colonies forever and the world must respect African institutions the African Union and other regional organisations.

“We can no longer stand by and watch outside forces intervene in our continent without our authority,” Mr Jammeh said.

“If anybody genuinely cares about poverty in Africa, he should not only stop the flames of war but also prevent the setters of those flames in the first place.”