Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, Outgoing President
A turbulent, divisive and most detested dictator died on December 2nd, aged 51 after an agonizing defeat at the polls. He will finally be buried on Thursday, January 19.
Faced with the prospect of military intervention from ECOWAS with support from the African Union forces to remove him since he refused to step down and hand over power to Adama Barrow, the condition of Jammeh’s mental disorder worsened. He fought a good fight but he finally succumbed to infirmity.
Cause (s)of Death:
Aggravated mental depression
sleep deprivation with elevated blood pressure
coronary heart disease
chronic narcissistic personal disorder which includes abnormal attention-seeking, self-centeredness, a sense of entitlement, exaggerated self-appraisal and a lack of empathy for others.
Funeral arrangements
At the moment none of the countries in the West Africa region are willing to accept his dead body. Consequently, funeral arrangements will be announced later once a determination for his final resting place is arranged with any other country willing to offer his remains a sanctuary.
For now though, some family members are considering cremation over burial to dispose his body in the sea.
There will be no Muslim or Christian burial as no one is sure which religion he belonged to despite always carrying the book which many believe to be the Koran along with a dagger-like cross and black beads. Since he failed to explain the symbolic significance of these emblems, people have decided to bury him with everything.
Inglorious and messy Legacy
It took 22 years and five elections to finally unseat one of the most brutal dictators in Africa. He will be remembered as the cowboy president who:-
– Fiddled with election results to stay in power for “one billion years.â€
– Continuously changed the provisions in the Constitution to strangle and suffocate the masses with his reign of terror
– Seized significant amount of arable lands from poor farmers, women and destitute villagers forcing them to work on those farms for free.
– Skillfully manipulating the output of news contents at the GRTS for propaganda purposes
– Lack of sincerity and truthfulness always using subterfuge and being boastful to deceive the public
– Using torture, unlawful detention and intimidation to stoke fear among the people who elected him into office
– Spreading nepotism in the public service and ready to compensate blind loyalty
– Have no regards for improving the economic welfare of the suffering masses by articulating sound policies to create jobs and cut down poverty
-Undermining the independence of the judiciary, directing the prosecutor’s office and personally interfering in cases before the courts
-Succeeded in bamboozling the parliamentarians in the National Assembly who owe their allegiance to him instead of the people who voted them as MPs
With Jammeh gone, the weight of expectation bears down heavily on the shoulders of president elect Adama Barrow and his incoming administration. Gambians voted for change and expect it expeditiously.
To ensure that the spirit of Yaya Jammeh never come back to haunt us from the death, every Gambian both at home and abroad is ask to put small amount of ashes in their left hand and blow it outside under the sun. This should be done On Wednesday after the ZUHR (afternoon) prayer. Inshallah, Yahya Jammeh’s spirit will never be seen or heard in the Gambia again. Let this be the final nail in his coffin.
May His Soul Not Rest In Peace!
 Culled from The Gambia Echo Newspaper