Yahya Jammeh

Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017, as well as Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council from 1994 to 1996.

Jammeh was born in Kanilai, in the Gambia, and is a Muslim of the Jola ethnic group.

Jammeh was born on 25 May 1965 in Kanilai, a village in the Foni Kansala district of the Western Division of The Gambia.

He is the son of Aja Fatou Ashombi Bojang, a housewife and trader, and Abdul Aziz James Junkung Jammeh, a career wrestler.

Jammeh's grandparents migrated to the Gambia from the Casamance region of Senegal.

He had a rural upbringing as part of a Muslim Jola family, primarily focused in Kanilai.

One of his closest childhood friends was reportedly Mustapha James Kujabi.

He attended Kanilai primary school, Saint Edwards primary school in Bwiam, from 1972 to 1978.

He attended Gambia High School in Banjul from 1978 to 1983 and served in the Gambian National Gendarmerie from 1984 to 1989.

After passing the common entrance (CE) exam, he was awarded a government scholarship to Gambia High School in Banjul, in 1978.

His formal education ended after he was successful in his O Levels in 1983.

In April 1984, Jammeh joined what was then the Gambian National Gendarmerie as a private.

He was part of the Special Intervention Unit from 1984 to 1986 and was an escort training instructor at the Gendarmerie Training School from 1986 to 1989.

He was promoted to sergeant in April 1986, and to cadet officer in December 1987.

A former Gendarmerie officer, Binneh S. Minteh, later claimed that Jammeh "had always singled out Mandinkas as bad people" during his time as a Gendarme.

In particular, Minteh recalled Jammeh's "ruthless and disrespectful encounter" with sergeant major Kebba Dibba, and when he "brandished a pistol and threatened to shoot" a captain named Ebrima Camara simply on the basis of his ethnicity.

He joined the Gambian National Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 29 September 1989, serving as the officer in charge (OIC) of the Presidential Escort, part of the Presidential Guards, from 1989 to 1990.

In 1991, he served as the officer commanding (OC) the Mobile Gendarmerie, and from 1992 to 1994 was the OC of the Gambia National Army Military Police.

He was then commissioned as an officer of the Gambian National Army, commanding the Military Police from 1992 to 1994.

On 1 February 1992, he had been promoted to lieutenant.

Jammeh was the head of security detail attached to Pope John Paul II during his visit to the Gambia in February 1992.

He attended the Military Police Officers Basic Course (MPOBC) at Fort McClellan in the United States from September 1993 to January 1994.

In July 1994, he came to power by leading a bloodless coup d'etat that overthrew the elected government of Sir Dawda Jawara.

Jammeh was one of the four junior Army officers who organised the 1994 coup d'etat against Sir Dawda Jawara's government.

The other three were Sana Sabally, Sadibou Hydara and Edward Singateh.

The coup, which took place on 22 July 1994, was successful and bloodless, leading to Jawara fleeing into exile.

Four days later, on 26 July, the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) was formed with Jammeh as its chairman.

Jammeh promised that it would be a "coup with a difference", and that the country would be returned to civilian rule "as soon as we have set things right".

One result of the coup was that the European Union and the United States, the major donors of foreign aid to the Gambia, suspended their aid programmes until the country was returned to civil rule.

Jammeh claimed the suspension of aid programmes amounted to "neocolonialism".

A Western diplomat who spoke to The New York Times said, "This is exactly the same phenomenon we have seen elsewhere, with the only difference being that so far there has been no violence."

At first ruling by decree, he was elected president in the 1996 election.

Jammeh was re-elected as president in 2001, 2006 and 2011, but lost to Adama Barrow in 2016.

His presidency oversaw a shift towards authoritarianism, demonstrated in particular by his policies towards anti-government journalists, LGBT+ people and opposition parties.

His foreign policy led to constant difficulties with the country's sole neighbour, Senegal.

In 2013, Jammeh withdrew the Gambia from the Commonwealth of Nations and in 2016 he began the process of withdrawing the country from the International Criminal Court, one year after he declared the nation an Islamic republic.

All three decisions were later rescinded by successor government, despite Jammeh's supporters arguing that his foreign policy encouraged self-sufficiency and anti-colonialism.

Jammeh has been accused of serious human rights violations, such as murder, rape and torture, as highlighted in the final report of the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission, he is now living in exile in Equatorial Guinea.

His assets around the world have been frozen by many countries amidst additional accusations of stealing millions of dollars from his country to fund a life of luxury.

Jammeh has denied the allegations against him.