President Yahya Jammeh has declared yet again that the Gambia is a sovereign nation with all the powers to look after its own interests and affairs.

In a panoramic interview with Ardy Fatty of GRTS on New Year’s Eve, President Jammeh said no one would dictate to government of the Gambia on what to do.

He said: “Whoever comes to here will be determined clearly based on the interest of the country. The supreme interest of The Gambia is what we are after. All the rest is irrelevant. People who do not see eye to eye with the West are not my problem. I am not in the East, or in the West.”

According to him, you can’t solve a problem by antagonising people.

He explained that all those he invited to the AU summit held in Banjul last summer were people who had the interest of Africa and Africans at heart. He said: “As far as I am concerned, they have not done any thing wrong, and if I were to do it again I would still invite them.”

Jammeh then identified three different leadership categories in Africa. The first one, according to him, is the Pan-Africanists who are ever ready to champion the cause of Africa. The second category, he said, is the puppet rulers who are agents of forces hostile to Africa. He explained that leaders under this category pretend to be godfathers of Africa, but in actual fact they are only after their own selfish interests.

According to the Jammeh leadership theory, the third category comprises the chameleons. He pointed out that the chameleon leaders are those who are ready to sacrifice Africa’s interests, dignity and development just to satisfy their own greed.

He warned that Africans have to scrutinise their friends, because “those pretending to be friends are in actual fact are our worst enemies. We have to look at ourselves, look inward to move forward”.

President Jammeh then delved into his grouse with the West. He said: “If an African government needs something, the West tell you- democracy, human rights, good governance and then you have to allow the opposition to insult your mother. You have to allow the press to accuse you of all anything that is bad, then you are the champion of human rights, then they will give you chicken change. If you allow that to happen, the press will spark up a war or riot. If they give you one million [dollars] the riot will destroy ten million (people) and you go (back) to square zero, not even one. Their objective is to Africa stagnant, while the rest of mankind is moving forward. Why? Because Africa is a big market for them and is also a dumping ground for their goods that are not accepted anywhere, yet there are (African) leaders who work with them in that line. The West is called the West because they are developed at the detriment of Africa.”

According to him, the forerunner of NEPAD, Millennium African Partnership Project (MAPP), was set up basically to come up with a Rapid African Socio-Economic Trust Fund, whereby 10 per cent of our countries exports would be put into the trust fund.

He said the fund was meant as a loan scheme for African states to supplement the IMF and the World Bank, in a bid to regain Africa’s lost glory. But the MAPP was taken to Switzerland and renamed NEPAD, which was then referred to the G8 for funding. “For four to five years now, the NEPAD has not built a single highway. And the G8 said, ‘Oh, this is what we have been looking for. I’ll give you one billion (dollars)’ and you clap, not knowing what is behind it.”

According to him, NEPAD has not still received the one billion dollars pledged promised, yet two or three donor conferences were held after ousting Osama Bin Laden, where 50 billion dollars was pledged over a period of 10 years and got 15 billion was realised. “In Iraq, billions of dollars debt was cancelled, yet Africa cannot even get debt cancellation. You have to get through dancing on fire and still some Africans cannot see the difference.”

President opined that the next thing was the Peer Review Mechanism (PMR), as they wanted Africa to hang Mugabe for whatever he was doing. “Just because he was transforming Zimbabwe where 98 per cent of the most valuable land was controlled by the white minority as opposed to the black controlling only 2 per cent.”

He then gave his reasons for rejecting the PRM. According to him, he didn’t agree with the agenda set, and that some African leaders accepted the PRM without consulting others.

Jammeh added that patriotic Gambians find it extremely difficult to go to certain countries because of visa restriction, but it takes five minutes for a criminal or anti-government element to get a visa to travel. “Where government officials are subjected to all sorts of humiliation and endless interviews, criminal elements are encouraged to go so that they can use them to destroy their country,” he stated.

Jammeh further pointed out that after 400 years of colonial rule the country is now referred to as “the smallest country in West Africa because not only do we lost our cultural identity and golden chance for development, we also lost a large part of The Gambia. 400 years of British colony has reduced the Gambia from a giant to a lizard, without the authority of the Gambian people.

He said: “Our land was sold without Gambians even knowing that they have a big country being reduced into a snake. The Gambia is the only country in the world whose boundary lines are straight because they only wanted only 25 miles on either side of the River Gambia to control; that is why from any point of the bank of the River Gambia is 25 miles. And today they are talking about democracy and development, and human rights.”

He also revealed that “The Gambia was originally referred to as Ganbia, covering River Senega (now Senegal), Nelli (now known as lion mountain), Bowal, Jolof, St. Maries, as well as Cassamance and Guinea Bissau. He added that the colonial masters started slicing off The Gambia in 1833.

According to him, after the World War, the British and the French decided to work together to defend their interests against the Germans and subsequently changed the name of The Gambia to Senegambia. “The history of The Gambia has been distorted and hidden. All what is said about the Gambia’s history is lies,” he said.

He said he won the presidential election because of what he has done for the country, citing that his opponents have not established even a communal farm for communities or sponsor a single student or give any other assistance in terms of scholarship for anybody to have education. “Someone who said he is earning almost 200,000 (dalasis) a month which is ten times or more than my salary as president, yet still he has not given anybody a needle. The opposition are not genuine; they are just selfish and are supported by foreign elements who do not wish Africa well, let alone The Gambian people,” Jammeh said.

He said God have given him the mandate for a stipulated time, pointing out that there is bound to be opposition because even Allah Himself has enemies. “Who am I to say I will not have opposition?” he said.

Jammeh further maintained that Operation No Compromise is here to stay, revealing he had just recently sentenced his own nephew to eight years in prison. “I am not going to compromise because I am here to deliver. Operation no compromise is part and passel of life,” he said.

The Gambian leader said though he would not victimise anyone, he would warn and then warn again until the third time when he would have to ask the person concerned to go home or stay in his hotel – referring to the State Central Prisons (Mile Two).

Deyda Hydara’s Murder

President Jammeh blamed the killing of Deyda Hydara on those he described as enemies of The Gambia and his government, pointing out that the incident happened at a time when The Gambia was appraised by credible international organizations and was supposed be elected as chairman of ECOWAS. He added that those behind the killing then turned round to point accusing fingers at the Gambia Government.

“The death of Deyda Hydara, those who were behind it just jumped and said it was the government. Also dead bodies appeared around Ghana Town, and they said The Gambia government killed Ghanaians. All this is to fight against The Gambia,” he said

Jammeh said Deyda’s murder was masterminded to prevent him President Jammeh from being the next Chairman of ECOWAS, that was why it coincided with the ECOWAS Summit that was due to be hosted in The Gambia, where he was to be elected Chairman of the regional body.

He added: “When they know that the AU Summit was going to be hosted in The Gambia, the border closure was imposed on us without any justification. And then they sponsored the coup.”

President Jammeh added: “So Gambians have to really watch out. This teaches us a lesson that as from now we should learn that next time we are hosting any major event we should stand by and be our own securities.”

But he thanked Gambians who took part in the solidarity march pass to condemn the March 21 abortive coup. “This showed the outside that the patriotic Gambians are united and they are in the majority and every Gambian is ready to die to defend his or her country and defend the gains the have made over the past 12 years. Nobody is going to destroy the country for us. We will not allow outsider, much more insiders, to destroy the country because Allah will never allow it,” Jammeh said