Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former soldier, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017. He was the Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 1994 to 1996.
Jammeh was born in Kanilai, in West Coast Region of the Gambia, and is a Muslim of the Jola ethnic group. He attended Gambia High School in Banjul from 1978 to 1983 and served in the Gambian National Gendarmerie from 1984 to 1989. He was then commissioned as an officer of the Gambian National Army, commanding the Military Police from 1992 to 1994. In July 1994, he came to power by leading a bloodless coup d'état that overthrew the elected government of Sir Dawda Jawara. At first ruling by decree, he was elected president in the 1996 election. Jammeh was re-elected as president in 2001, 2006 and 2011, but lost to Adama Barrow in 2016.
His presidency oversaw a shift towards authoritarianism, demonstrated in particular by his policies towards anti-government journalists, LGBT+ people and opposition parties. His foreign policy led to constant difficulties with the country's sole neighbour, Senegal. In 2013, Jammeh withdrew the Gambia from the Commonwealth of Nations and in 2016 he began the process of withdrawing the country from the International Criminal Court, one year after he declared the nation an Islamic republic. All three decisions were later rescinded by his successor's government, despite Jammeh's supporters arguing that his foreign policy encouraged self-sufficiency and anti-colonialism.
Jammeh has been implicated in serious human rights violations, such as murder, rape and torture, as highlighted in the final report of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. He is now living in exile in Equatorial Guinea. His assets around the world have been frozen by many countries amidst additional accusations of stealing millions of dollars from his country to fund a life of luxury. Jammeh has denied the allegations against him and has not been formally charged.
Early life and military service Jammeh was born on 25 May 1965 in Kanilai, a village in the Foni Kansala district of the Western Division of the Gambia. He is the son of Aja Fatou Ashombi Bojang, a housewife and trader, and Abdul Aziz James Junkung Jammeh, a career wrestler. Jammeh's grandparents migrated to the Gambia from the Casamance region of Senegal.M'Bai, p. 90 He had a rural upbringing as part of a Muslim Jola family, primarily focused in Kanilai. One of his closest childhood friends was reportedly Mustapha James Kujabi. He attended Kanilai primary school, Saint Edwards primary school in Bwiam, from 1972 to 1978. After passing the common entrance (CE) exam, he was awarded a government scholarship to Gambia High School in Banjul, in 1978. His formal education ended after he was successful in his O Levels in 1983.Hughes and Perfect, pp. 109-111
In April 1984, Jammeh joined what was then the Gambian National Gendarmerie as a private. He was part of the Special Intervention Unit from 1984 to 1986 and was an escort training instructor at the Gendarmerie Training School from 1986 to 1989. He was promoted to sergeant in April 1986, and to cadet officer in December 1987. A former Gendarmerie officer, Binneh S. Minteh, later claimed that Jammeh "had always singled out Mandinkas as bad people" during his time as a Gendarme. In particular, Minteh recalled Jammeh's "ruthless and disrespectful encounter" with sergeant major Kebba Dibba, and when he "brandished a pistol and threatened to shoot" a captain named Ebrima Camara simply on the basis of his ethnicity.
He joined the Gambian National Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 29 September 1989, serving as the officer in charge (OIC) of the Presidential Escort, part of the Presidential Guards, from 1989 to 1990. In 1991, he served as the officer commanding (OC) the Mobile Gendarmerie, and from 1992 to 1994 was the OC of the Gambia National Army Military Police. On 1 February 1992, he had been promoted to lieutenant. Jammeh was the head of security detail attached to Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Gambia in February 1992. He attended the Military Police Officers Basic Course (MPOBC) at Fort McClellan in the United States from September 1993 to January 1994.
1994 coup d'état and military rule
1994 coup d'état Jammeh was one of the four junior Army officers who organised the 1994 coup d'état against Sir Dawda Jawara's government. The other three were Sana Sabally, Sadibou Hydara and Edward Singateh. The coup, which took place on 22 July 1994, was successful and bloodless, leading to Jawara fleeing into exile.Hughes and Perfect, p. xxix Four days later, on 26 July, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) was formed with Jammeh as its chairman. Jammeh promised that it would be a "coup with a difference", and that the country would be returned to civilian rule "as soon as we have set things right". One result of the coup was that the European Union and the United States, the major donors of foreign aid to the Gambia, suspended their aid programmes until the country was returned to civil rule. Jammeh claimed the suspension of aid programmes amounted to "neocolonialism". A Western diplomat who spoke to The New York Times said, "This is exactly the same phenomenon we have seen elsewhere, with the only difference being that so far there has been no violence." In particular, the coup was compared with Samuel Doe's in Liberia, which led to the First Liberian Civil War.
The 1994 coup d'état in the Gambia, overthrowing Jawara's government, represented a reversal in the general trend in sub-Saharan Africa after 1989 away from authoritarianism and towards multiparty politics. The Gambia had previously represented an anomaly in Africa as one of the few countries that had a functioning democracy prior to 1989.
Rule through the AFPRC In the aftermath of the coup, Jammeh governed by decree alongside four other junior officers and several civilians. He banned all political activity, arrested two socialist journalists, and detained several of his Army superiors. He also confined ministers of Jawara's government under house arrest. On 17 October, Jammeh announced that there would be a four-year transition to civilian government. In November 1994, the same month when Jammeh was formally promoted to the rank of captain, there was an unsuccessful coup attempt by several disaffected young officers leading to numerous deaths, but Jammeh remained in power. The National Consultative Committee (NCC) was appointed on 7 December to review the transition process, and when they reported on 27 January 1995, they recommended a two-year transition period. The same day as the NCC's report, two of the original coup leaders, Sabally and Hydara, launched an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow Jammeh as chairman. Subsequently, Edward Singateh was appointed as vice-chairman of the AFPRC, and Hydara died in prison on 3 June.
The Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) was appointed in April 1995 and reported to the government in November 1995. Its report was published in March 1996 was put to a national referendum on 8 August 1996. The new constitution, which provided for multiparty elections, an unlimited number of five-year presidential terms, and a lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18, was approved by a majority of 70%. According to Gambian American author Abdoulaye Saine, Jammeh would "[enjoy] unrivalled political and economic power as a consequence of the new constitution. In contrast, opposition political parties [would be] sidelined and allowed little political space in a one-sided electoral contest in which Jammeh was the assured ‘winner’."Saine, p. 261 Decree no. 89, issued on 14 August, reiterated the ban on the PPP, the NCP and the GPP, but lifted the ban on the PDOIS and the PDP. In 1996, on 28 August, Jammeh was formally promoted to the rank of colonel and then retired from the army on 6 September, one month before the 1996 presidential election.
President of the Gambia
1996 and 1997 elections
Jammeh won the 1996 presidential election as the APRC candidate, winning 56% of the vote and beating Ousainou Darboe, Hamat Bah and Sidia Jatta. Darboe was forced to seek refuge in the Senegalese embassy in Banjul, fearing an assassination plot. In the 1997 parliamentary election, the first to the new National Assembly put in place by the 1996 constitution, the APRC won a majority of seats. However, these two elections, the first following the transition from military to civil rule, were "marred by provisions of the new, doctored constitution, an electoral commission appointed by Jammeh alone in 1995 and a political network that included the Green Boys – a now-disbanded vigilante group that was mobilised to intimidate the electorate to ensure Jammeh’s ‘victory’." Saine argues that this combination of intimidation and harassment of the opposition, an inherent bias provided by the 1996 constitution, as well as a distinct financial advantage, meant that "the presidential and national assembly elections were lost long before the first ballot was cast."
Elections
Jammeh founded the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction as his political party. He was elected as president in September 1996.Background Note: The Gambia, U.S. Department of State, 22 April 2011. Foreign observers did not deem these elections free and fair. He was re-elected on 18 October 2001 with about 53% of the vote; this election was generally deemed free and fair by observers,Country Report on Human Rights Practices for The Gambia, U.S. Department of State, 4 March 2002. despite some very serious shortcomings ranging from overt government intimidation of voters to technical innovations (such as raising the required deposit to stand for election by a factor of 25) to distort the process in favour of the incumbent regime."Democratization in Africa" by Diamond and Plattner (ed), Johns Hopkins University Press (1999), pages 216–227
A coup attempt against Jammeh was reported to have been thwarted on 21 March 2006; Jammeh, who was in Mauritania at the time, quickly returned home. Army chief of staff Col. Ndure Cham, the alleged leader of the plot,"Attempted coup averted, government says", IRIN, 22 March 2006. reportedly fled to neighbouring Senegal, while other alleged conspirators were arrested"Arrests over Gambia 'coup plot'", BBC News, 28 March 2006. and were put on trial for treason."Suspected Gambian coupists before court martial", Afrol News, 6 October 2006. In April 2007, ten former officers accused of involvement were convicted and given prison sentences; four of them were sentenced to life in prison., Reuters (IOL), 20 April 2007.
Jammeh ran for a third term in the presidential election held on 22 September 2006; the election was initially planned for October but was moved forward because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan."Q&A: Gambia votes", BBC News, 21 September 2006. He was re-elected with 67.3% of the vote and was declared the winner of the election; the opposition candidate Ousainou Darboe finished second, as in 2001."Gambian president is re-elected", BBC News, 23 September 2006.
In November 2011, Jammeh was again re-elected as president for a fourth term in office, reportedly having received 72% of the popular vote.
Domestic policy
Suppression of the press