African Leaders and Their Selfish Attitude (Jammeh, Gbagbo and Gaddafi)

By Mike

Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambia politician and former military officer. He is the 2nd President of the Gambia. As a young army officer, he took power in a 1994 military coup.

He was elected as President in 1996; he was re-elected in 2001, 2006, and 2011. He was defeated by Adama Barrow in the 2016 election. Although he initially conceded defeat, on 9 December 2016, he later refused to recognise the results. On 18 January 2017, the Gambia Parliament voted to extend his term by 90 days.

Rise to power

On 22 July 1994, Lt. Yahya Jammeh with a group of young officers in the Gambian National Army seized power from President Sir Dawda Jawara in a military coup by taking control of key facilities in the capital city, Banjul.The coup took place without bloodshed and met with very little resistance. The group identified itself as the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC), with the 29-year-old Jammeh as its chairman.

The AFPRC then suspended the constitution, sealed the borders, and implemented a curfew. While Jammeh's new government justified the coup by decrying corruption and lack of democracy under the Jawara regime, army personnel had also been dissatisfied with their salaries, living conditions, and prospects for promotion.

Elections

Jammeh founded the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction as his political party. He was elected as president in September 1996. Foreign observers did not deem these elections free and fair. He was re-elected on 18 October 2001 with about 53% of the vote; this election was generally deemed free and fair by observers, despite some very serious shortcomings ranging from overt government intimidation of voters to technical innovations (such as raising the required deposit to stand for election by a factor of 25) to distort the process in favour of the incumbent regime.

A coup attempt against Jammeh was reported to have been thwarted on 21 March 2006; Jammeh, who was in Mauritania at the time, quickly returned home. Army chief of staff Col. Ndure Cham, the alleged leader of the plot, reportedly fled to neighboring Senegal, while other alleged conspirators were arrested and were put on trial for treason. In April 2007, ten former officers accused of involvement were convicted and given prison sentences; four of them were sentenced to life in prison.

Jammeh ran for a third term in the presidential election held on 22 September 2006; the election was initially planned for October but was moved forward because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He was re-elected with 67.3% of the vote and was declared the winner of the election; the opposition candidate Ousainou Darboe finished second, as in 2001.

In November 2011, Jammeh was again re-elected as president for a fourth term in office, reportedly having received 72% of the popular vote.

Ahead of the 2016 presidential election a number of opposition members, including United Democratic Party leader Ousainou Darboe, were sentenced to three years in jail for staging pro-democracy protests. In a public address, Jammeh called members of the opposition "opportunistic people supported by the West," adding that "I will bow to only Allah and my mother. I will never tolerate opposition to destabilize this country." The election itself took place on 1 December 2016 and, in a surprise result, Jammeh was defeated by Adama Barrow leading a coalition of opposition parties. Jammeh stated that he would not contest the result. Although he initially conceded defeat, on 9 December 2016, he rejected the result citing "unacceptable abnormalities". He subsequently announced he had annulled the result, pending a new vote. He then filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the Gambia to contest the result. The court began hearing the case on 21 December. ECOWAS warned on 23 December that it would militarily intervene to uphold the results of the election if Yahya didn't resign by 19 January. He has recently appointed six new judges to the Supreme Court, having sacked all but one in 2015. The hearing was to be heard be on January 10, but is now being heard in May. He has stated he will only relinquish the presidency, if the court upholds the election result. The African Union has additionally stated that it would stop recognizing Jammeh as president as of 19 January 2017. He attempted to have Barrow's inauguration blocked, but the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court refused to rule on the matter. On Tuesday 17 January, he declared a 90 day state of emergency, prohibiting "acts of disobedience" and "acts intended to disturb public order". Various ministers resigned, and hundreds of civilians fled the country

Religion

Jammeh, like the majority of Gambians, practices Islam.

In July 2010, Jammeh stressed that people should believe in God: "If you don't believe in God, you can never be grateful to humanity and you are even below a pig."

In 2011 he told the BBC, "I will deliver to the Gambian people and if I have to rule this country for one billion years, I will, if Allah says so."

On 12 December 2015, Jammeh declared the Muslim-majority country to be an Islamic republic, saying the move marked a break with the Gambia's colonial past. Jammeh told state TV that the proclamation was in line with Gambia's "religious identity and values." He added that no dress code would be imposed and citizens of other faiths would be allowed to practice freely.

Laurent Gbagbo

Laurent Gbagbo (Gagnoa Bété: Gbagbo [ɡ͡baɡ͡bo]; French pronunciation: ​[loʁɑ̃ baɡbo]; born 31 May 1945) was the President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011.

A historian by profession, as well as an amateur chemist and physicist, Gbagbo was imprisoned in the early 1970s and again in the early 1990s, and he lived in exile in France during much of the 1980s as a result of his union activism. Gbagbo founded the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) in 1982 and ran unsuccessfully for President against Félix Houphouët-Boigny at the start of multi-party politics in 1990. He also won a seat in the National Assembly of Côte d'Ivoire in 1990.

Gbagbo claimed victory after Robert Guéï, head of a military junta, barred other leading politicians from running in the October 2000 presidential election. The Ivorian people took to the streets, toppling Guéï. Gbagbo was then installed as President.

Following the 2010 presidential election, Gbagbo challenged the vote count, alleging fraud. He called for the annulment of results from nine of the country's regions. Alassane Ouattara was declared the winner and was recognized as such by election observers, the international community, the African Union (AU), and the Economic Community of West African States. However, the Constitutional Council, which according to Article 94 of the Ivorian Constitution both determines disputes in and proclaims the results of Presidential elections, declared that Gbagbo had won. After a short period of civil conflict, Gbagbo was arrested by backers of Alassane Ouattara, supported by French Forces of "Operation Unicorn". In November 2011, he was extradited to the International Criminal Court, becoming the first head of state to be taken into the court's custody.

Early life and academic career

Laurent Gbagbo was born on 31 May 1945 in the village of Mama, near Gagnoa in the then French West Africa. He became a history professor and an opponent of the regime of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. He was imprisoned from 31 March 1971 to January 1973. In 1979, he obtained his doctorate at Paris Diderot University. In 1980, he became Director of the Institute of History, Art, and African Archeology at the University of Abidjan. He participated in a 1982 teachers' strike as a member of the National Trade Union of Research and Higher Education. Gbagbo went into exile in France.

Muammar Gaddafi

Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi (/ˈmoʊ.əmɑːr ɡəˈdɑːfi/;  audio (help·info); c. 1942 – 20 October 2011), commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He governed Libya as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libya Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the "Brotherly Leader" of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. He was initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, but he came to rule according to his own Third International Theory before embracing Pan-Africanism.

Born near Sirte, Gaddafi was the son of an impoverished Bedouin goat herder. He became involved in politics while at school in Sabha, later enrolling in the Royal Military Academy, Benghazi. He founded a revolutionary cell within the military; in 1969, they seized power from the monarchy of King Idris in a bloodless coup. Gaddafi became Chairman of the governing Revolutionary Command Council (RCC); he then abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Republic, ruling by decree. He implemented measures to remove what he viewed as foreign imperialist influence from Libya, and strengthened ties to Arab nationalist governments, particularly Gamal Abdel Nasser's Egypt. He was intent on pushing Libya towards "Islamic socialism", introducing sharia as the basis for the legal system and nationalising the oil industry, using the increased revenues to bolster the military, implement social programs, and fund revolutionary militants across the world. In 1973, he initiated a "Popular Revolution" with the formation of General People's Committees (GPCs), purported to be a system of direct democracy, but retained personal control over major decisions. He outlined his Third International Theory that year, publishing these ideas in The Green Book.

In 1977, Gaddafi dissolved the Republic and created a new socialist state called the Jamahiriya ("state of the masses"), officially adopting a symbolic role in governance. He retained power as military commander-in-chief and head of the Revolutionary Committees responsible for policing and suppressing opponents. He oversaw unsuccessful border conflicts with Egypt and Chad, and his support for foreign militants and alleged responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing led to Libya's label of "international pariah". A particularly hostile relationship developed with the United States and United Kingdom, resulting in the 1986 U.S. bombing of Libya and United Nations-imposed economic sanctions. Gaddafi rejected his earlier ideological commitments and encouraged economic privatisation from 1999, seeking rapprochement with Western nations while also embracing Pan-Africanism and serving as Chairperson of the African Union from 2009–10. Amid the Arab Spring in 2011, an anti-Gaddafist uprising broke out, led by the National Transitional Council (NTC) and resulting in the Libyan Civil War. NATO intervened militarily on the side of the NTC, bringing about the government's downfall. Retreating to Sirte, Gaddafi was captured and killed by NTC militants.

Gaddafi dominated Libya's politics for four decades and was the subject of a pervasive cult of personality. A controversial and highly divisive world figure, he was decorated with various awards and lauded for both his anti-imperialist stance and his support for Pan-Africanism and Pan-Arabism. Conversely, he was internationally condemned as a dictator and autocrat whose authoritarian administration violated the human rights of Libyan citizens and supported irredentist movements, tribal warfare, and terrorism in many other nations.

Conclusively African leaders do not serve their people rather people serve them, and after spending so many years in government they still refuse to step down when the people gave their mandate to another candidate.
Yahya Jammeh (Gambia) 1994-2017, 23years in government.
Laurent Gbagbo (Ivory Coast) 2000-2011, 11years in government.
Muammar Gaddafi (Libya) 1977-2011, 34years in government.

The problem isn’t because they are not educated in fact they went to the best schools yet it did not reflect in their attitude.
People are like the leaders they choose, and then it shows the greed in us is a societal problem in Africa.
An average African leader wants to be in power forever except for few like Nelson Mandela of South Africa.
Let us learn from a man that went to prison for his country and ruled for just 4years.
It is therefore imperative for us as Africans to love, respect and be cheerful to one another, let us learn from our colonial master.

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