George Odok|18 January 2017
At 51, President Yahya Jammeh is richer than his country Gambia. He transformes himself from a military ruler to a civilian president. He has ruled Gambia for a whooping 22 years.
Jammeh was born on 25 May 1965. He is a Gambian politician and former military officer. He is the 2nd President of the Gambia. As a young army officer, he took power in a 1994 military coup and later became a civilian President.
In the 2016 presidential election in Gambia, Jammeh was defeated by Adama Barrow. He openly accepted defeat and congratulated Barrow for his victory. But, a few days later, Jammeh in a nationwide broadcast rejected the outcome of the election, saying it was marred with irregularities.
His refusal to quit power and handover to his successor has drawn international attention into Gambia. Presidents from ECOWAS member states have initiated several peace talk to ensure that Jammeh hands over and create political stability in Gambia has not yielded any result.
The international community have issued an ultimatum to Jammeh to vacate office. Africa is ready to deploy troops to force Jammeh out of office and bring in Barrow who won the election. Currently, the Nigerian government has deployed one of its warship, Nigerian Navy Ship Unity (NNS-Unity) which is said to be sailing the coast of Gambia now.
Like Muammar Gaddafi and Idi Amin of Uganda, Jammeh MUST GO.
Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, was captured and killed on 20 October 2011 during the Battle of Sirte. Gaddafi was found hiding in a culvert west of Sirte and captured by National Transitional Council forces. He was killed shortly afterwards. The NTC initially claimed he died from injuries sustained in a firefight when loyalist forces attempted to free him, although videos of his last moments show rebel fighters beating him and one of them sodomizing him with a bayonet before he was shot several times as he shouted for his life.
In 1971, General Idi Amin overthrew the elected government of Milton Obote and declared himself president of Uganda, launching a ruthless eight-year regime in which an estimated 300,000 civilians were massacred.
His expulsion of all Indian and Pakistani
citizens in 1972 along with increasing military expenditures brought about the country’s economic decline, the impact of which lasted decades. In 1979 his reign of terror came to an end as Ugandan exiles and Tanzanians took control of the capital of Kampala, forcing Amin to flee. Never brought to justice for his heinous crimes, Amin lived out the remaining of his life in Saudi Arabia. He died on August 16, 2003.
How come African leaders hold unto power for a long period of time and yet the continent is still underdeveloped?
George Odok
Is a Senior Defense Correspondent with News Agency of Nigeria
