GAMBIA: Arms Seized From Yahya Jammehs Home

The ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG) has seized weapons and ammunition from the private home of exiled former President Yahya Jammeh in his hometown in the west of the country.

The commander of the joint mission, General François Ndiaye announced the seizure on Monday without specifying the quantity of weapons nor the day they were seized.

“All weapons and ammunition are now in the custody of ECOWAS, so nothing will happen there (Kanilai). The situation is under control … the Gambian armed forces have been very cooperative,” he said.

General Ndiaye also confirmed the arrest of the head of an elite unit of the Gambian army, General Bora Colley in Senegal without giving details.

He also mentioned the arrest of four members of Jammeh’s bodyguards who had accompanied him into exile but tried to return to The Gambia.

They were arrested in the Senegalese city of Karang, bordering the Gambia, and were detained on Monday in Dakar. He declined to give further details on the operations.

The ECOWAS forces were deployed to enforce a peaceful transfer of power and to protect the rights and freedom of civilians if defiant Yahya Jammeh decides to use the military to remain in power.

New Gambian President Adama Barrow who returned to the country last week said over the weekend that the ECOWAS troops will remain in the country indefinitely until they are not needed anymore.

Barrow decided to maintain the head of the army General Ousmane Badjie and also keep the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) but change its name.

GAMBIA: European Union Gives €33 Million To Adama Barrow Government

The European Union (EU) is set to release significant budgetary aid to The Gambia. The funds were earmarked for the year 2015/2016 but were frozen due to concerns over human rights and good governance in the Yahya Jammeh led government.

According to the EU Ambassador in the Gambia, Attila Lajos, the sum of €33 million will be made available to the Barrow administration. The EU envoy added that more funds will be made available if the government delivers on its promises.

“It is a fundamental concern of the European Union to support this democratic process in this country… We are at the start of a completely new chapter of the history of the EU-Gambia relations,” Lajos told journalists after a meeting with President Adama Barrow.

Talks to release the funds were stalled under the Jammeh regime after an EU Envoy Agnes Guillaud was expelled by the former government in 2015. It will be recalled that Jammeh refused the EU observers entry into the country in the run-up to the December 1, 2016 presidential elections.

The Gambia, Africa’s smallest mainland country was nearly thrown into political instability after former President Yahya Jammeh attempted to overturn a poll loss last December. Jammeh’s posture put the country on edge as his mandate expired on January 19.

Barrow took his oath of office in neighboring Senegal due to the security climate in the country. He however returned days after Jammeh accepted to leave the country into exile. He is currently in Equatorial Guinea after 22 years as president.

The Gambia is the smallest country on the African continent with a total area of 11,300 km² and a population of 1.9 million people (2013 census). It ranks 172 out of 187 countries on the 2014 UNDP Human Development Index. In 2014 the GDP per capita was US$ 543.

The partnership between the European Union and The Gambia is guided by the principles and objectives laid down in the Cotonou Agreement, the institutional framework which governs the relationship between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. The Gambia is a signatory to the Agreement.

GAMBIA: Adama Barrow Inaugurated, Civilians And Soldiers Celebrate, Yahya Jammeh What Next

Gambians including the country's army chief took to the streets on Thursday in scenes of wild celebration after President Adama Barrow was inaugurated in neighbouring Senegal.

Young men shouted and sang while hanging out of cars, and children danced with their mothers on main roads near the capital, Banjul, where the long-serving leader Yahya Jammeh was believed to remain despite the expiry of his mandate and a military intervention that could remove him at any moment.

Gambians briefly forgot the Senegalese troops flowing over the border and the lack of resolution of the country's political crisis, cheering the president they have wanted to see take power for so long.

In Westfield, a traditional opposition stronghold outside Banjul, people witnessed dozens gathered in groups wearing "Gambia has decided" and opposition coalition T-shirts. Stern soldiers looked on but didn't halt the proceedings.

"We are grateful that God has answered our prayers," said Barrow supporter Soloman Jarja, grinning widely as he stood by the side of the road.

Army chief among revellers

The chief of the Gambian army Ousman Badjie was spotted among the revellers in the area, after vowing on Wednesday night his men would not fight African troops approaching the capital.

Living under the uncertainty of a state of emergency, citizens had earlier gathered in their homes to witness Barrow's inauguration on television.

On a near-deserted street in another suburban neighbourhood, the Kah family and their friends stood to attention with heads bowed for the moment Barrow took his oath.

Singing softly along to their national anthem, the extended family sat in near silence to hear Barrow's speech from Dakar promising reforms and a new future for one of the world's poorest nations.

"We have decided!" shouted musician Mohammed Kah when Barrow finished, jumping up from his sofa and causing an outbreak of laughter.

"Gambia has decided", is the phrase that has come to define the population's resilience in the face of Jammeh's efforts to stay in office despite losing the December 1 election to Barrow.

"Thanks God that we all witnessed it, it is history that we will never forget, said Ibou Mbye, an entertainment manager who joined the Kahs to watch the ceremony.

"I am very proud to be part of it," he said, smiling from beneath a black baseball cap.

Acknowledging that as of late Thursday Jammeh remained firmly installed in Banjul while Barrow was sworn in, Kah said he welcomed the deployment of African troops.

"Right now the president, he doesn't want to step down. The ECOWAS force is preparing to come… and remove him."

Jammeh remained in Banjul on Thursday despite the expiry of the deadline for his mandate, and made clear when declaring a state of emergency Tuesday that protests would be unwelcome.

Joy in Senegal too

Gambians who have fled to Senegal, many fearing violence during the political crisis, were also jubilant.

When they heard that Barrow was to be sworn in, many crowded into the narrow street where their Dakar embassy is located, dancing, cheering and waving the national flag.

Organisers set up a giant screen outside the embassy to allow them to watch the ceremony.

"He (Jammeh) has been in power for 22 years. It's time for him to leave", said Alieu Momar Njie, the former head of Gambia's electoral commission who fled to Senegal recently.

Said Mody Cisse, who has lived in Senegal for five years: "I came to Senegal because of the economic problems in Gambia. I would like to return" after Jammeh leaves.

GAMBIA: Good Bye Yahya Jammeh, Good News For Gambia Tourism

Yahya Jammeh, president of The Gambia, has surprised his critics by accepting defeat after 22 years in power.

Known for walking around with his trademark prayer beads and a stick, he was reputed to be one of the world's most eccentric and ruthless leaders.

Born in May 1965, he came to power in 1994 as a 29-year-old army lieutenant in a country portrayed in tourist brochures as an idyllic holiday destination.

He became a portly president who portrays himself as a devout Muslim with miraculous powers, such as the power to cure people of Aids and infertility. He also believes that homosexuality threatens human existence.

Mr Jammeh divorced his first wife Tuti Faal and subsequently married two other women, though his official website refers only to Zineb Yahya Jammeh, who holds the title of First Lady.

According to The Gambia's privately owned Point newspaper, he married his second wife, Alima Sallah, in 2010, but Mr Jammeh's office issued an instruction that she should not be referred to as First Lady - in contrast to South Africa where all four wives of President Jacob Zuma hold the title.

"She is not to be addressed as the First Lady because, according to protocol, there can only be one First Lady and, in this case, that is Madam Zineb Yahya Jammeh," the newspaper quoted the presidency as saying.

Mr Jammeh won four multi-party elections before he was finally defeated.

After his 2011 victory, in a sign that his credibility among African leaders had plummeted, the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), refused to endorse his victory, saying voters and the opposition had been "cowed by repression and intimidation".

His decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth in 2013, which had been pushing for reforms in the tiny West African state, was a further sign of Mr Jammeh's growing isolation.

Mr Jammeh said he did not fear a fate similar to Libya's killed leader Muammar Gaddafi or Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

My fate is in the hands of almighty Allah.

"I will deliver to the Gambian people and if I have to rule this country for one billion years, I will, if Allah says so."

Mr Jammeh said he was not bothered by the criticism of human rights groups.

"I will not bow down before anybody, except the almighty Allah and if they don't like that they can go to hell," he said.

Mr Jammeh is known for expressing bizarre views. In 2007, he claimed that he could cure Aids with a herbal concoction - a view condemned by health experts.

Later, he also claimed that he could cure infertility among women.

Mr Jammeh is also known for his virulent opposition to gay rights, having once threatened to behead gay people.

In a 2014 address to the UN General Assembly, Mr Jammeh lamented that Western governments were pushing for homosexuality to be legalised.

"Homosexuality in all its forms and manifestations which, though very evil, anti-human as well as anti-Allah, is being promoted as a human right by some powers," he said.

The Gambian government's treatment of journalists and opposition parties has also caused huge concern among human rights groups.

Mr Jammeh's government has been under intense pressure to solve the murder of the editor of The Point newspaper, Deyda Hydara.

Gunned down in 2004, he has become a symbol of the campaign for press freedom in The Gambia.

The international media group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said there was "absolute intolerance of any form of criticism" in The Gambia, with death threats, surveillance and arbitrary night-time arrests of journalists "who do not sing the government's praises".

Mr Jammeh denied his security agents had killed Mr Hydara.

"Other people have also died in this country. So why is Deyda Hydara so special?" he said.

About Yahya Jammeh

- Born in May 1965
- Seized power in a coup in 1994
- In 2013, he vowed to stay in power for "a billion years" if God wills
- He also ordered the execution of criminals and political opponents on death row
- Claimed in 2007 he could cure Aids and infertility with herbal concoctions
- Warned in 2008 that gay people would be beheaded
- Denied his security agents killed journalist Deyda Hydara in 2004

In August 2013, Mr Jammeh used a speech to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid to announce that all prisoners on death row would be executed, effectively ending a moratorium that had been in place for 27 years.

"There is no way my government will allow 99% of the population to be held to ransom by criminals," Mr Jammeh said at the time.

Nine people were executed, including Alieu Bah, a former lieutenant in the army who was arrested and jailed in 1997 for plotting to oust Mr Jammeh.

He agreed to halt further executions, following unprecedented pressure from the African Union (AU) and the European Union (EU).

His defeat came as a huge surprise, given that he ran one of the most feared intelligence agencies in Africa, with its tentacles spread across the country - so much so that until the election, people in cities and villages feared speaking ill of the man who is officially referred to as his "His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Doctor Yahya AJJ Jammeh Babili Mansa".

In 2015, he added the title "Babili Mansa" - a Mandinka-language honorific which can be translated as "chief bridge builder" or "conqueror of rivers".

GAMBIA: Gambian President Declares Country Islamic Republic

The president of the Gambia has declared his country an Islamic Republic.

Yahya Jammeh claims the move marks a break with the colonial past and was in line with Gambia’s religious identity and values.

Over 90% of Gambians are Muslim.

Jammeh has said that no dress code would be imposed and people of other religions would be allowed practice freely.

Known for being an animated orator, Jammeh has earned a reputation for making surprise declarations since taking office 21-years-ago.

In 2013, he pulled Gambia out of the Commonwealth, claiming it was neo-colonial.

Relations with the EU have suffered in recent times with aid money suspended last year over its poor human rights record.

GAMBIA: Terror Attacks - Laico Atlantic Hotel Gambia Faces Closure, As EU And UN Freezes Assets Linked To The Gaddafis

In what can best be described as a tactical move to deceive the employees of the Laico Atlantic hotel about the imminent closure of the hotel by its owners, the Libyan General Manager of the hotel, Mr. Abdullah El Omurani, told the hotel staff that the hotel will be undergoing renovation works for a period of 8 months starting 1st December 2015 and informed everybody that the hotel will not be needing their services during this period anymore. In other words, they were effectively declaring them redundant.

What he did not inform them was the fact that most of the major European Tour Operators including Thomas cook and Corundum have advised all their traveling holiday makers not to use or be guests to any of the Libyan owned hotels operated by LAICO Hotels management. We have been reporting about this looming threat months ago and the meeting organized by the hotel’s General Manager this Thursday only lends credence to the gloomy picture facing the hotel for some time.

Whether asking the staff to stay at home for almost a year to carry out renovations at the hotel at this crucial time, when the tourist season is at its peak time is genuine or not, the truth is there have not been any major investments in the hotel to improve the dilapidated facilities which have been an issue with the Tourism Authorities for quite some time now. Thus forcing the GTA to revise down the hotel rating to a 3-star hotel.

The old carpets inside the hotel have not been changed for over seven years, the kitchen equipment are rusty and unfit for a hotel like Atlantic, there are cockroaches in the bedrooms, there are no flat screen TVs in the rooms and the swimming facilities have never been renovated since the hotel was bought by the Libyans.

While the hotel owners continue to owe the Government of Yahya Jammeh over D200 million for tax evasion and outstanding balance payment following the sale of the hotel in 1999, the current management have been busy transferring huge amount of foreign currencies from the hotel’s foreign-currency-denominated accounts at BSIC bank to overseas banks located in Dubai and Tunis.

Instead of using the limited money that the hotel is generating to service most of its debts and save the salaries of the desperate staff, the Libyans have been busy buying very expensive 4x4s from Dubai including the new Mercedes Benz that was the official vehicle of the former EU Charge D’Affaires who was forcefully asked to leave the country.

During the meeting with the staff, the General Manger disclosed that “all the Libyans hotels located around the world and managed by LAICO management groups have been asked by the EU and the United Nations to cease operations because of the current situation in Libya.”

With nowhere to turn to address their predicament, the 200 staff are now desperately looking for help from the government to rescue them and protect their jobs. There are three Libyans presently working at the hotel with each earning over $ 3,500 each per month when the average salary of the staff is less than D3, 000.00. Isn’t it time for the government to intervene and help protect the local jobs for the benefit of Gambians?

Atlantic hotel has a pivotal role in the history of tourism in the Gambia and it can only be preserved by this government that made the terrible mistake when making the sale of this historic hotel to none other than the late Gaddafi. Today most of the Libyan overseas investments made during the time of Ghadaffi cannot be properly accounted for.

The EU and others must have enough evidence to back up their claims. It is time to hear their call. Organizing a meeting at this very late in the day to tell the staff about the state of affairs of the hotel is just a ploy to cover up the unavoidable closure of Laico Atlantic hotel.