Jammeh readies for war with ECOMOG as he prepares to use Senegalese residents as human shields

Adama Barrow with the AfDB President 

Deciding that the use of force by ECOMOG to dislodge him from the State House is imminent,  the outgoing Gambian president Jammeh is preparing his troops to fight it out with a regional military force that will be led by Senegal as decided by ECOWAS in their last December Abuja Summit, according to reliable sources.

Jammeh is reportedly prepping up a segment of the Jola ethnic group within the army by informing them that Senegal is keen to attack Gambia and that they must be willing to fight and die because, according to the same source, Senegal is determined to uproot a Jola leader for a Mandinka president.  For this reason, Jammeh is telling them that they must be ready to fight and die to prevent a Mandinka from assuming the presidency even though Adama Barrow's parents, like many Gambians, are from two different tribes and was raised by a member of a third tribe.  But to Jammeh, he must distort the narrative to fit his convoluted belief that the Jola is seen by Mandinkas as being an inferior class.

Jammeh has been preaching and promoting tribal division, in one form or another, since he seized power in 1994 with minimal success.  However, in recent years, his tribal propaganda has taken on an added urgency as he sees his grip on power slipping away from him after 22 years of repression, corruption and ineptitude.  His rhetoric against the Mandinka ethic group was so inflammatory that the United Nation's Special Adviser on Genocide had to reprimand Jammeh by classifying it as incitement to violence against an ethic group (the Mandinka) whom he threatened to kill one by one because they are foreigners as well as enemies of the state.

Jammeh is known for his tribalism as well has his anti-Senegalese rhetoric.  As he prepares to fight ECOMOG, he is utilizing two of his favorite subjects - Mandinkas and Senegal -  as whipping boys or boogeymen by inciting the Jola ethnic group in the Gambian military to fight to maintain their dominance which they will forfeit with his removal from power by Senegal.

He is also reportedly instructing a section of the military willing to accompany him along this suicidal path to round up Senegalese nationals to be used as human shields in the event of an imminent assault on the country by ECOMOG.  According to a source, Jammeh is ready to die with as many people as he can possibly take down with him because of the humiliating defeat he suffered at the hands of Adama Barrow - a rejection that he cannot endure given the absolute power he enjoyed over the 22-years he ruled the Gambia.