Will Jammeh Go Quietly? Rafsanjani's Last Show of Force (Part 2)

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'I Will Slit Your Throat:' Gambian President to Gay Men

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh

ADVOCATE.COM: It's among the most direct, graphic threats the dictator has made in his long history of homophobic public remarks.

Gambia's infamously homophobic dictator, President Yahya Gammeh, has threatened to personally slit the throats of any man who wants to marry another man in Gambia, reports Vice News.

Ironically, the personal threat made against his gay countrymen in a public speech was supposed to be about "fostering a healthy atmosphere" for Gambia's youth.

"If you do it [in the Gambia] I will slit your throat — if you are a man and want to marry another man in this country and we catch you, no one will ever set eyes on you again, and no white person can do anything about it," said Jammeh, speaking in the Wolof language at Farafenni, a market town near the Senegal border. » | Thom Senzee | Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Gambian President Attends Rally with Protesters Declaring: ‘Homosexuality Is Forbidden in Islam’

Yahya Jammeh

PINK NEWS: The President of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, has attended a mass rally against homosexuality in the country’s capital Banjul.

AllAfrica reports thousands of protesters marched from the Gambian Parliament on Tuesday carrying placards and banners declaring: “Homosexuality is Inhuman”; “Even cows don’t do it!” “Homosexuality is forbidden in Islam”.

Islam is the majority religion of Gambia, with around 95.3% of the population being Muslims.

In November, President Jammeh signed into law a bill which calls for life imprisonment for people caught taking part in same-sex sexual activity. » | Scott Roberts | Thursday, December 11, 2014

Gay and Lesbian Gambians Live in Fear of ‘Aggravated Homosexuality’ Law

THE GUARDIAN: Few havens available in west Africa for people forced to flee homophobia and harsh new legislation

The tipoff late one night wasn’t unexpected. Since the crime of “aggravated homosexuality” had come into force in the Gambia in October, Theresa had been living in fear. Then a friend who worked for the country’s notorious police force warned her she would be targeted in a raid in a few hours’ time. Theresa’s crime was being a lesbian.

“I wasn’t surprised, I was expecting it anyway because the president has said many times he will kill us all like dogs,” she said. “But I was really, really scared. My friend said, if you don’t go now, it will be too late.” By dawn, Theresa was on a bus out of the country with her best friend, Youngesp, both of whom agreed to speak only if their real names were not used. The two have joined a growing number of people whose lives have been upended by anti-gay laws that trample on an already marginalised minority in west Africa.

That they ended up seeking refuge in neighbouring Senegal, where being gay or lesbian is punishable with five-year jail terms, points to the particularly dismal situation in the Gambia. Its politicians have long and publicly railed against homosexuality, with the tone set by President Yahya Jammeh, who this year labelled gay people vermin. » | Monica Mark, West Africa correspondent | Thursday, December 04, 2014

Gambia President Rejects English Language

President Yahya Jammeh has given Gambian public sector
workers a weekly extra day off

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: President's decision to shift official language from English to local language comes months after its decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth

Gambia's president said that he wants to implement a policy change that would shift the country's language from English to a local language.

"We no longer subscribe to the belief that for you to be a government you should speak English language. We should speak our language," President Yahya Jammeh said during the swearing-in ceremony of Gambia's new Chief Justice that aired on state-run Gambia Television Services on Friday.

The announcement comes months after the West African country announced it is withdrawing from the Commonwealth, a collection of 54 nations made up largely of former British colonies, saying it would "never be a member of any neo-colonial institution."

The United Kingdom recently warned its citizens of rising anti-British rhetoric from the president, who last year accused the former colonial power and the United States of organizing coup attempts in the West African nation. The allegations were denied. » | AP | Sunday, March 09, 2014