We have noticed a giant billboard on the Bertil Harding Highway commissioned by State House displaying the portrait of former Gambian leaders: Sir Farimang Singhateh, Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, Yahya Jammeh and Adama Barrow. The billboard is announcing the diamond jubilee of The Gambia’s independence anniversary.
EFSCRJ hereby registers its total objection to the inclusion of Yahya Jammeh in this billboard for the following reasons. We recognise that it is a legal and historical fact that Yahya Jammeh was a former president of The Gambia between 22nd July, 1994 to 19th January, 2017. Notwithstanding, during his 22-year tenure as president of this country, Yahya Jammeh willfully and blatantly violated the constitution and other laws of The Gambia, constantly and consistently. He actively personalised state institutions while trampling on all principles and norms of good governance and accountable leadershihp. Consequently, his regime committed heinous crimes including extrajudicial killings, torture, crimes against humanity, sexual violence, and enforced disappearances among a string of human rights violations. Not only did his regime force scores of Gambians into exile, it also denied the return of dead Gambian bodies to be buried in their homeland. Jammeh imposed an autocratic rule in The Gambia characterised by blatant corruption and plunder of public resources and other economic crimes in total contravention of all standards of transparency and accountability.
To protect himself from accountability but to continue to perpetrate crimes against Gambians, the Jammeh regime undermined and controlled both the judiciary and the legislature purposely to serve his selfish interests. With the APRC majority in the National Assembly, he ensured that the constitution and laws were constantly amended, or new laws created to further give him more powers and take away citizen rights. Through the employment of mercenary judges, Jammeh ensured that court decisions are either in his favour as innocent citizens are convicted based on trumped charges imposed by either the police or the attorney general which he also controlled.
The misrule and crimes committed by Jammeh under his AFPRC and APRC regimes against Gambians and non-Gambians have been adequately documented by the TRRC and the Janneh Commission and other official inquiries. In addition, these crimes have also been recorded and reported by the United Nations, the Commonwealth, international human rights organisations as well as by regional bodies such as Ecowas and the AU.
Considering the foregoing, Yahya Jammeh, though a former president does not have the legitimacy to be recognised in any endeavour meant to celebrate The Gambia. This is simply because Yahya Jammeh’s rule represents irreparable harm to the Gambian nation. The fact that The Gambia has been undergoing a transitional justice process since 2017 to date, with efforts ongoing for the setting up of a special tribunal to prosecute him and co-perpetrators is self-evident that Jammeh and his regime represent the dark ages of The Gambia.
We call on President Barrow and his government to therefore remove the picture of Yahya Jammeh from this billboard and refrain from giving Jammeh any honourable mention or status in the entire celebrations. We call on Barrow and his government to be sensitive to the pain and misery that Jammeh inflicted on Gambians, many of whom will continue to suffer the consequences for life.
We refuse to accept those who seek to rationalize that simply because Jammeh was a former President therefore he deserves to be recognised.
We wish to remind those people that to be a president is not only a legal and political status. It is also a question of legal and political obligations and ethics to ensure justice, freedom, peace, security and dignity of citizens. A president is elected by the people to serve and protect the people by upholding and following the rule of law. Hence when a president willfully violates laws and practically closes all avenues for change or makes it costly for citizens to seek redress, then such a president has no legitimacy even if he holds that position. This was what Yahya Jammeh did to The Gambia and her citizens.
We wish to remind citizens that The Gambia is not the only country which had such a president in history. Germany had its Hitler. Cambodia had its Pol Pot. Rwanda had its Juvenal Habyarimana. Spain had its General Franco. Argentina had its General Jorge Rafael Videla. In all these countries and many more, these former tyrants are not celebrated or recognised with honour in anyway.
Rather, they were removed, captured, prosecuted, and sent to jail and their political parties were banned. For The Gambia too, Yahya Jammeh represents for us Hitler, Pol Pot and Habyarimana and others. Yahya should not hold a place of pride and honour in our national activities, even though he was a former president. Yahya Jammeh is a footnote to remind Gambians of our pain and misery, and what we must do to prevent another Yahya Jammeh from rising. Never Again. Because of Yahya Jammeh, there is an ongoing transitional justice process whose mantra is ‘Never Again’.
Therefore, if Gambians are celebrating their independence today, certainly Yahya Jammeh should not be part of that but a reminder of why and how we should protect our republic and citizens from abuse by the state and its agents. We call on all Gambians not to rationalise issues on the flimsy surface of reality. Let us abandon that unfortunate Gambian trait of taking things for granted, ignoring or excusing pertinent issues, or merely being indifferent about issues. It is simplistic, irresponsible and a denial of the brutal dictatorship to tell us that Yahya Jammeh deserves recognition simply because he was once a president. In the spirit of Edward Francis Small, For The Gambia Our Homeland 2025: The Year of Transparency and Accountability
EFSCRJ is the Edward Francis Small Centre for Rights & Justice. It is founded and led by activist Madi Jobarteh.
