His time in office has indeed brought about many significant changes in the country but his legacy will surely go down in history as the worst. Yahya A.J.J Jammeh, former president of the Gambia seized power through a military takeover, and was able to stay in power for 22 years tormenting Gambians ruling with an iron fist.
He was young and very ambitious, a self-proclaimed Pan Africanist who was ready to sacrifice his life for both his country and Africa. Dressed in his all white African attire and a sword which he always carries. Yahya Jammeh represented the epitome of evil and pretense.
He will appear so religious in public but a deeper look into his private life says the opposite. During the peak of his reign, he was feared and worshipped because of the power and influence he had with him at the time. The military apparatus, state secret services, police were at his beck and call. He was the law and no one dares question his authority. Detention centers and secret death squads was all he needed to further consolidate himself in power.
These people who carried out his orders tortured and murdered, political opponents on behalf of the dictator. They destroyed families, brought fear and anarchy in the very fabric of the Gambian society.
At the latter part of his time in office, Yahya Jammeh became isolated and very paranoid. He has betrayed all the people he seized power with, and surrounded himself with sycophant’s who misled him even more and made him think that he will never lose power.
After the announcement of the December 2nd, 2016 election which declared him defeated, the kanalai born dictator felt the biggest shock and humiliation of his life. Not only was he forced into exile, but most of his atrocities were uncovered by TRRC, which indicate the former dictator as the mastermind of all the heinous crimes perpetrated under his time in office.
Today, he is being contacted by the international criminal court for crimes committed during his reign. It is indeed a sad end for once a powerful dictator, who now faces a possible life sentence or death penalty if convicted of all his crimes. Now, we all eagerly await his first day of trial at The Hague with great expectation. Finally justice is served, once a divided country will forever live in a more democratic country.
The Gambia’s Pens
