presidential poop: Jammeh says, “kill all the gays!”
The guy in this photo may seem like he’s all sh*ts and giggles, but he may want to kill you.
Yahya Jammeh, president of Gambia has sworn to kill all gays and lesbians in his country if they haven’t left within 24 hours of his ultimatum. The formal language was “cut off the head,” I believe. And Gambia’s homosexuals are not alone; Jammeh included “drug dealers, thieves and other criminals” (the “bad elements,” as it were) to his list.
The president’s edict violates the African Union’s Charter on Human Rights, which could cost the country serious economic aid from the international community. (Where exactly is Gambia again?)
While Jammeh’s Muslim-induced dreams of genocide may be a shock to our systems here in the U.S. (although I wouldn’t be surprised if conservative religious groups like the Family Research Council are planning house parties to celebrate), it shouldn’t really come as a surprise, should it?
After all, this isn’t Jammeh’s first sign of lunacy. Last year the ignorant buffoon was certain he could treat asthma and HIV/AIDS (among other things*) by smearing herbs on people’s rib cages and forcing them to eat bananas, claiming that “within three days the person should be tested again and I can tell you that he/she will be negative.” One of his flunkies told BBC News they couldn’t actually mention the types of herbs used, but that it would be “known to the whole world later on.” What idiocy.
But that’s not all. The president claims to have spent over 10 million USD towards the development of his country (a republic of close to 2 million people) since he came to power in 1994 as a result of a bloodless coup. He also said about 98% of it had gone to foreigners, which would explain his rumored massacre of 44 Ghanaians in 2005.(And to think I was planning to go to Gambia on holiday this year. Guess I’ll have to get a refund on that plane ticket. Damn!)
While this latest exercise in terror is nothing to joke about, what exactly are we to think of such an irreparable act of ignorance? Jammeh’s unfamiliarity with reality and the fact that he’s remained in power for so long, criminalizing all sectors of his society, give credence to the misguided notion that Africa may in fact be the “dark continent.”
Will someone please turn the lights on already?
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notes:
*A Freedom Newspaper Op-Ed piece claims that, despite Jammeh’s crackpot “cure” for infertility, his former wife, Tuti Faal, could not give him one child throughout their entire marriage.
The UN Integrated Regional Information Networks recently reported that President Jammeh retracted his threat to behead homosexuals in the country. The article also points out that situations are more oppressive in British colonies where traditional laws – referred to as “Victorian relics” – are still hard at work.
Meanwhile, Norway has adopted marriage for same-sex couples. It is the sixth country in the world to do so.
Take that President Jammeh!