Thousands of spectators from all parts of the African continent on Friday crowded at the Independence Stadium in Bakau to witness the second-to-none swearing-in ceremony of President Yahya Jammeh administered by the Chief Justice of The Gambia, Abdou Karim Savage.

The President was being sworn-in for his third term in office following his landslide victory at the September 22 Presidential polls.

In attendance were General Chief Olesugun Obasanjo, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Girma Wolde-Giorgis of Ethiopia, President Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, President Ould Mohammed Vall of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Su Tseng-Chang, Prime Minister of Taiwan, The Prime Minster of the Kingdom of Morocco, Driss Jetto, Vice President of the sister Republic of Sierra Leone Solomon Berewa, Vice President of the Republic of Liberia Joseph Boukai, The Vice President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, representatives of the Republic of Senegal, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakary, Egypt, South Africa, Lebanon, Tunisia, Tunisia, France, Kingdom of Malaysia, Kingdom of South Korea, Brazil, Japan, Democratic Republic of Algeria, Indonesia, Cuba, the Russian Federation, India, Turkey, the State of Qatar, and other representatives of international organisations.

In his inauguration speech, President Jammeh called for national unity describing unity as the cornerstone of any development process, without which nothing works. Below is the full text of the President’s speech.

Your Excellencies, Members of the diplomatic and consular core; My Lord, the Chief Justice; Honourable Speaker of the National Assembly; Secretaries of State; Members of the Public and Private Bench; Permanent Secretaries and heads of parastatal organisations; Service Chiefs; Governors; religious leaders and traditional leaders; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of my family and on behalf of the government and people of The Gambia, I thank you all for coming to The Gambia to witness these historic occasion. Despite the responsibilities you leave behind, you have taken the opportunity to come and join us here. May The Almighty Allah who has the power to reward people, reward you for your thorough and genuine friendship towards The Gambia and myself.

Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I have taken the solemn oath of office as the President of the Republic of The Gambia. I don’t wish to make a long statement but all what I want to say is to remind all Gambians that after the wonderful landslide victory, we should all join hearts and hands as Gambians, irrespective of our political affiliations, to work towards the development of The Gambia.

One thing is certain, 99% of the people of the Republic of The Gambia are patriotic citizens. They are development oriented and they want this country to move forward. It is not easy to build a nation. You are supportive and have the belief in me, in my ability to deliver. But let me also thank you for giving me the mandate, the power and the support for the past 13 years to make The Gambia what it is today. I know that together with you, we would be able to make this country, small as it is - sometimes you hardly see it in the map of Africa- the very smiling coast of Africa, an economic superpower that will stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s major economic powers.

Is it impossible? No! By the grace of The Almighty Allah, it is possible. But it will only be possible when we as Gambians put the destiny of this country into our own hands and hearts. Let us always remember that it is only Gambians that can make what it they want it to be. Our friends outside would only compliment our efforts. As from today, I appeal to everyone as Gambians, to work together as Gambians irrespective of tribe, religion, origin or region. If we work together as Gambians and pray to The Almighty Allah, we would be able to become the economic superpower of Africa. Being a small country, we could develop as the west but provided that we work hard.

Fellow Gambians, Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I have made pledges and promises and one thing is certain, what ever I promise, I mean it. I am not a politician. Whatever I tell you, that is what I intend to do for this country. As from today, let us forget about what has happened during the elections. Let us reconcile as Gambians and work together for the development of this country. Some people may not want to come, but I appeal to you on this noble Friday, please!!!!! come and join the majority, otherwise you will be very lonely and you are already lonely. Come to where there is happiness. Let us develop our country.

Fellow Gambians, this is your government. I have nothing against the aged but whenever we pray for tomorrow. We are praying for tomorrow’s leaders and that is you, the young people of this country.

For one to get out of poverty, and unemployment, we have to redouble our efforts and work. One thing that I want to emphasise is, to become an economic super power, needs a lot of hardwork, loyalty, honesty and of course discipline. We all know the story of Singapore. Singapore is one of the most disciplined countries on earth and that is why they developed fast.
There cannot be any development without discipline and you, the future leaders of this country, young people of this country, you must all change your habits, orientation and look forward to the good of all. You have to be patriotic. You have to be disciplined, you have to be focused, you have to be dedicated and you have to be patriotic. When I joined the Armed Forces as a recruit, one the instructors who had not even been to school, used to tell us: it doesn’t cost you anything to be disciplined, but it might cost you a broken arm if you are indisciplined. We have to change our attitudes. This is a country in transition. We have to respect our leaders, we have to respect the elders, and teachers. Anybody who is in authority, we have to respect him. Remember that someday you may be in a position of authority, and you will want people to respect you. If you don’t respect your elders today, your juniors will not respect you tomorrow.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in the next five years, in fact with regards to electricity by the end of 2007, power outages will be a thing of the past because without electricity, we can never achieve the dream of becoming the Silicon Valley of Africa. Without electricity, we cannot become an economic superpower.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all Gambians, those who have voted for me and those who have voted against me for this mandate to be the President of all Gambians. Concerning what has happened in the past, I forgive all of you and I expect all of you to forgive me.

For the past 13 years, I have made promises. 99% of the promises have been fulfiled, but all in all, man proposes, but The Almighty Allah decides what happens. But you can rest assured that in the next five years, if we all work together as Gambians, work for our country, I promise you that 99.9% of the promise will be fulfiled. I thank you all for you attention: Alsamadeeh!!!!!.