Balla Jahumpa, Minister |
The smallest country on the African continent made history again a week later by reversing the results of an election that was certified by an Independent Electoral Commission and conceded to by the sitting dictator president and universally hailed by America, the European Union, the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and numerous countries alike.
Pierre Minteh with US Ambassador |
These civilians shown here in this blog post took part in the planning and execution of the coup in collaboration with Jammeh and his military. They did it for selfish reasons to protect the privileges they otherwise would not have earned in an open labor market. They are all cronies and hangers-on of a murderous regime that has been able to sustain itself only through assassinations, extra-judicial executions, torture, disappearances and the use of rape an instrument of suppression.
Seedy Njie |
Samsudeen Sarr, posing in front of UN |
Seedy Njie and Babou Gaye Sonko are parliamentarians of the ruling party- the former a nominated member representing the youth wing of the party and a chief propagandist and the latter an elected member who is a youth mobilizer and a leading propagandist of the party.
Alieu Jammeh, Sports minister |
Yankuba Colley is the mayor of Kanifing Municipal Council, the biggest local government authority in the country with one of the largest concentration of voters. He was the former youth mobilizer for the party and one of the fiercest defenders of not only the dictatorship but the style of governance that puts higher premium on torture as a means of controlling and subduing an otherwise unwilling population.
Yankuba Badgie, NIA |
In addition to these civilians, there are, of course, the assassination squad known as the "Jungulas" who confronted Yaya Jammeh when he conceded defeat and force him to have a change of heart. These class of killers felt betrayed and about to be thrown at the mercy of a new civilian government after carrying our Jammeh's orders to kill opponents of the regime. Jammeh assured them that his decision will be revert. Conceding defeat was a ploy to get the international community off his back and assured them "not to worry."
The international community's reaction to the decision to annul the results of the elections was swift and unequivocal. Senegal has asked the Security Council to convene, the U.S State Department has condemned Jammeh's action and so are most of the civilized world.
KMC Mayor, Colley |
The fact that Mohamed Bazzi, an alleged arms trafficker who is currently a subject of United States Treasury investigations and a financier of Hezbollah was able to gain access to President-elect a few days ago has raised concern among drug and small arms control agencies in the United States and Europe. A bank, Prime Bank, he owned in The Gambia was liquidated after a US Treasury investigation discovered that it was used to finance Hezbollah, an organization classified as a terrorist organization by the government of the United States.