Banjul

By The Standard Newspaper 2 min read
Jammeh debunks claims he’s recruiting mercenaries to invade Gambia
Jammeh debunks claims he’s recruiting mercenaries to invade Gambia

Former president Yahya Jammeh has issued a statement disassociating himself from one “Angel Sillah” who has been making seditious threats online to bring down the government of President Adama Barrow.

In the audio statement released on Friday from his exile home in Equatorial Guinea, Jammeh said he heard “Angel Sillah”’s audio a fortnight ago and clarified he does not know Sillah, does not subscribe to his utterances and that Sillah is not a member of his party.

The former president said as a patriot, he will never enter a complot with anyone to destabilise The Gambia and be the architect of mayhem in the country that could lead to the death of children and Gambians becoming refugees in foreign lands.

He sharply criticised President Barrow and his government, accusing them of “spreading lies” by reporting him to Ecowas that he was recruiting rebels and “terrorists” to invade The Gambia and working with Russians to return him to The Gambia.

Jammeh also alleged that in March 2017, the coalition government falsely reported that he gave US$4m to a warlord to invade The Gambia.

He accused the Barrow government of “looting” his properties, “terrorising” his people,  and turning his Kanilai family home into a military garrison, and even using military drones to shoot people gathering firewood.

He said under Barrow, The Gambia has degenerated from being the smiling coast to a “weeping coast” for most ordinary Gambians.

The Standard could not reach the government spokesman for an immediate reaction to Jammeh’s broadsides against the president and the government.

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Filed underGambia News

First published on standard.gm — 7 September 2026

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