The Gambia Now an Islamic Republic, Says President Yahya Jammeh

President Yahya Jammeh, pictured, is looking to the Arab world
for support to replace western aid funding to the Gambia,
according to critic Sidi Sanneh.

THE GUARDIAN: Leader who quit Commonwealth in 2013 says Muslim-majority state will still respect others citizens’ faiths but he wants to shake off ‘colonial legacy’

The Gambia has been declared an Islamic republic by President Yahya Jammeh who said he wanted to further distance the west African state from its colonial past.

The tiny, formerly secular country – named after the river from which British ships are said to have fired cannonballs to fix its borders – joins the ranks of other officially Islamic republics such as Iran and Afghanistan.

“In line with the country’s religious identity and values I proclaim Gambia as an Islamic state,” said Jammeh on state television. “As Muslims are the majority in the country, Gambia cannot afford to continue the colonial legacy.” Read on and comment » | Staff and agencies in Bangul | Saturday, December 12, 2015

'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

The ROP Does It Again! British Missionaries in Gambia Jailed for One Year with Hard Labour for Sedition
THE TELEGRAPH: A British couple working as Christian missionaries in Gambia have been jailed for one year with hard labour for sending emails that were critical of the Muslim state.

David Fulton, 60, a former Army major, and his wife, Fiona, 46, pleaded guilty to making seditious comments "with intent to bring hatred or contempt against the president or the government".

Their sentence, in a country which has one of west Africa's worst human rights records, sparked concern after reports that other prisoners on similar charges have been poisoned while in jail.

The couple, originally from Torquay in Devon, have spent 12 years in Gambia. They were arrested on 29 November at their home at Kerr Sering, an hour's drive from the capital through tropical bush, and accused of spreading "hatred against the government" via a series of round-robin emails believed to relate to their missionary work.

Friends said that they were not given details of what exactly they were accused of until appearing in court.

They were sentenced in the capital, Banjul, and will be held at one of Africa's toughest jails, the former colonial penal institute of Mile Two Prison. They were also fined 250,000 Dalasis (£6,500). >>> By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent | Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

British Missionaries Charged with Sedition in Gambia
THE TELEGRAPH: A British couple who moved to Gambia to work as Christian missionaries have been arrested and charged with sedition.

David and Fiona Fulton, aged 60, and 46, were last night in police custody at separate cells in the West African state, which has a 90 per cent Muslim population.

The couple, originally from Troon, Scotland were detained on Saturday but have been unable to raise raise enough local people to vouch for them to secure their release on bail.

Mr Fulton, who is being held at Mile Two prison, a high security jail outside the capital Banjul, is said to be in poor health, and is refusing food. Mrs Fulton is at a police station with their adopted two-year-old daughter Elizabeth.

The pair appeared in court in Banjul yesterday accused of sedition, a serious charge brought against people suspected of undermining the government.

A friend of the couple said they feared the missionaries, who moved to Gambia 12 years ago, had fallen victim to power games in the tiny African state.

"As a chaplain part of David's job is to provide comfort to all sorts of people, people high up and people low down – and people who have perhaps fallen out of favour," said the friend, who did not wish to be named.

"I don't know of anything they have done that could be called sedition. Their whole focus has been teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"Sedition is a serious crime anywhere. The penalty would not be light. >>> By Matthew Moore | December 5, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>