Anorak News | Death Of The Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh Aims DDT At LGBT Human 'Vermin'
Death Of The Gambia: President Yahya Jammeh Aims DDT At LGBT Human 'Vermin'
by Anorak | 20th, February 2014
TO Gambia, where the country's President Yahya Jammeh says homosexuals are akin to malaria-causing mosquitoes. They are "vermin".
The Gambia uses DDT to kill mosquitoes. Will it soon be killing gays? If gays are killed, it will be god's will. Jammeh's spokesman opined:
"Allah entrusted this position to Yahya Jammeh, and anybody who is averse to the decree of Allah can bite their nose."
Jammeh made his comments not in private, but over a TV address. saying:
"We will fight these vermins [sic] called homosexuals or gays the same way we are fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes, if not more aggressively."
Will any threat from the West to withdraw aid to the former British colony soften Jammeh's outlook? (While major direct aid to Gambia was stopped in 2011 on the grounds of being poor value for money, an estimated £8 million still goes via contributions to international donors such as the EU and World Bank.)
Jammeh answers that question:
"We will not accept any friendship, aid or any other gesture that is conditional on accepting homosexuals or LGBT as they are now baptised by the powers that promote them. As far as I am concerned, LGBT can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhoea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis; all of which are detrimental to human existence."
Jammeh is no great fan of the West. He took Gambia out of the Commonwealth in 2013. He said on the TV:
Gambia "will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism."
He told the United Nations General Assembly in October 2013:
"Those who promote homosexuality want to put an end of human existence. It is becoming an epidemic, and we Muslims and Africans will fight to end this behaviour."
He's not into reconciliation:
In August last year, Mr Jammeh used a speech to celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid to announce that all prisoners on death row would be executed, effectively ending a moratorium that had been in place for 27 years.
"By the middle of next month, all the death sentences would have been carried out to the letter; there is no way my government will allow 99% of the population to be held to ransom by criminals," Mr Jammeh said at the time.
He's no fan of reason.
In 2007, he was using herbal rubs and tinctures to treat people with HIV in the compound of the presidential palace with his herbal rubs and drinks. His homemade cures were better than the antiretroviral drugs, said Jammeh.
Souleymane Mboup, from the University of Dakar, said the cure wasn't a cure:
"The interpretation by the Gambian authorities of the results of HIV antibody and viral-load testing on blood samples sent to my laboratory is incorrect…Of those samples that were HIV-positive (66.66%), none could be described as cured."
The Banjul Daily Observer had more:
Addressing the patients shortly before the start of his herbal treatment, the Gambian leader told the patients that there is no discrimination as far as his treatment is concerned. He said during the course of his treatment, patients must not smoke, steal or have sex, saying even the couples in the treatment are not exempted from these conditions.
He informed them that they will not take any food from outside, other than what will be given to them by him. He also told them that they will not take any Western medicine, except for what will be administered to them by himself. He also urged the patients to refrain from eating coffee, attaya, as well as chewing kola-nut and chewing gum.
…The President informed the patients that some of the patients in previous batch were cleared of HIV/Aids within the first-10 days, saying "there are different metabolic reactions to the treatment. It does not mean that those who did not recover quickly from the illness violated the rules. The longer the medicine stays in your body, the more effective it will become".
What about the women?
Gambia's first lady Zineb Yahya Jammeh listens to speeches during a meeting dubbed 'The Mobilisation against sexual violence towards women in conflict' attended by the first ladies of African nations, held alongside the Summit for Peace and Security in Africa, at the Musee d'Orsay, in Paris, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. France is hosting dozens of African leaders for a summit on security, just as the French military is launching an intervention in the Central African Republic and encouraging African governments to take more responsibility for peacemaking on the continent. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)
Mr Jammeh divorced his first wife Tuti Faal and subsequently married two other women, though his official website refers only to Zineb Yahya Jammeh, who holds the title of First Lady.
According to The Gambia's privately owned Point newspaper, he married his second wife, Alima Sallah, in 2010, but Mr Jammeh's office issued an instruction that she should not be referred to as First Lady – in contrast to South Africa where all four wives of President Jacob Zuma hold the title.
"She is not to be addressed as the First Lady because, according to protocol, there can only be one First Lady and, in this case, that is Madam Zineb Yahya Jammeh," the newspaper quoted the presidency as saying.
He sounds nuts.
So why is the Gambia a holiday destination for 65,000 Britons?
The place has changed. In 1975, the country's Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism declared:
'The Gambia Ten Years of Nationhood'. A climate that has been described as one of the best in the world, mile upon mile of such splashed beaches, tall coconut palms, blue tropical skies, a river that can take you deep into the heart of Africa….."
Now, the Foreign Office says:
Following The Gambia's recent decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth, there has been an increasing amount of anti-UK rhetoric from the Gambian President shown on TV and reported in the newspapers. This may increase anti-UK sentiment among parts of the wider population. You should avoid discussing politically sensitive topics.
Following political disagreement between the government of The Gambia and the European Union about the deterioration of human rights in The Gambia there has been an increase in political tension which may lead to unannounced demonstrations in Banjul and other parts of the country. You should avoid all demonstrations.
Most visits to The Gambia are trouble-free although independent travellers are at increased risk due to the lack of local support in an emergency. If you're travelling independently, make sure next of kin in the UK have details of your itinerary and keep in regular touch.
Some foreign nationals have been detained by the police in relation to homosexuality and there has been an increase in inflammatory homophobic rhetoric across the country. ..
There is a zero tolerance towards LGBT people in The Gambia. Although there are no laws specifically covering homosexuality, the Gambian Criminal Code states that any person who has or attempts to have 'carnal knowledge' of any person 'against the order of nature' is guilty of a crime and could face 14 years' imprisonment. Any private citizen has the power of arrest for these offences. There is increasing inflammatory homophobic rhetoric from the Gambian President. Foreign nationals have been detained by the police in relation to suspected or alleged homosexuality. Gambian law criminalises the act of men dressing as women with a 5-year jail term.
Is that a country you want to holiday in? So long as it's hot and the beaches are white and soft, do you care what your money supports?
Posted: 20th, February 2014 | In: Reviews Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink