Source: BBC
Gambia’s President, Yahya Jammeh, declared his West African country an Islamic republic, at a political rally, on 11 December – making it Africa’s second, after Mauritania.
The president justified his announcement by saying he was breaking from The Gambia’s colonial past.
The announcement was unexpected and similar to President Jammeh’s decision to leave the Commonwealth in 2013 (after 48 years membership), which he also justified as an effort to fully decolonise.
These announcements came at moments when President Jammeh’s international relations but also domestic politics were increasingly strained, not helped by a deteriorating economy with a growing public-debt burden, which according to the IMF, reached about 100% of GDP at the end of 2014.
President Jammeh had enjoyed close relations with Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi, and Tripoli provided significant aid and cash.
And, in July 2009, the president bestowed The Gambia’s highest order, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Republic of The Gambia, on Gaddafi.
But President Jammeh surprised everybody in February 2011 by calling on him to resign as the Arab Spring began to hot up.
Losing Gaddafi’s money punched a big hole in The Gambia’s budget.
The president also broke off relations with Taiwan, in 2013, after it refused to provide more money to bail him out.
He had probably hoped China would reward him for rupturing relations with Taipei, but this has not happened.
Categories: Gambia, The Muslim Times, Western Africa