President Yahya Jammeh has traveled to Ethiopia to frustrate the African Union’s plans to deploy peacekeeping mission in Burundi, a country that risks sliding into another genocide. Burundi and its neighbour Rwanda both went through genocide resulting to mass termination of Tutsis.
President Jammeh is so far the only African leader who has voiced out his opposition to the deployment of 5,000 AU peacekeepers in the troubled East African nation.
“It is not only Burundi that is resisting that idea,” Jammeh told reporters at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa. He has failed to name any opposition nation. Mr. Jammeh said The Gambia was among the countries that opposed the AU proposal “without the consent of Burundi.”
Burundi had earlier rejected the African Union’s Peace and Security Council’s announced plan to send troops in December.
President Pierre Nkrunziza’s decision to run for a third term last year left Burundi reeling with endless violence. Close to 400 opponents of the government were reported killed by Burundian forces.
Amnesty International has provided satellite images of mass graves near the capital, which according to activists, should pressure African leaders to avoid the country slipping deeper into genocide. But some African Union leaders like Yahya Jammeh would not want to set a precedent that could turn against them in the future. This leaves the union to put the matter to vote. With a two-third majority vote, the AU Charter allows forces to be sent against the host country’s will if there is a risk of “war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.”
President Nkrunziza, who is represented by his Foreign Minister, described the deployment as an “invasion.”
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This goes to show that Jammeh has no regard for human life. This is tipping point lesson for us Gambians to brace up for the worst in our struggle to remove Jammeh from office.
The voting system of the AU should definately be adopted by Ecowas in all matters of decisions including the constitutional presidential term limit.
I remember some three years ago an interviewee on Freedom mentioning that Yaya Jammeh was very mad when Senegal intervened in Gambia to suppress the Kukoi’s 1981 coup d’etat in the Gambia. Despite the killings, the looting, the atrocities and the total chaos in 1981 our Babili mansa Chief Witch preferred to see more blood and destructions in Gambia than having our neighbor restore peace.
Sometimes I tend to ask myself what have we done to deserve such a blood sucker for 21 years counting?
Please Gambians let us vote him out this coming election thereby creating the perfect condition for the world to witness and intervene if he refuses to leave the office.
Jammeh’s biggest fear is loosing the elections and seeing the AU giving mandate to ECOWAS to throw out of office. This is the best opportunity we have in 2016.
Hydara , Dictator is true reflection of Gambian people . He is Gambian’s creation , aided and abetted by Gambians .
Without a doubt , Yaya Jammeh has prepared for such eventuality for The Gambia . I believe that he is not going to leave without a fight whether we accept that or not . The only way that might not happen is when he die naturally . Gambian opposition leaderships must be prepared and UNWILLING to die with the support of vast majority of citizens if we are serious about getting rid of him . Election will be catalyst to this efforts or show of defiance / confrontation . Let us all remember that Jammeh committed a treasonable crime to become a criminal leader . He has too much blood in his damn hands and knows his fate when he leave power .
Should the decision to send troops into Burundi fail, it would be simplistic to confer credit on Gambia for concocting an infamous diplomatic coup.
Rather it must be seen as a failure of the continental body to fix problems besetting Africa. It will be a testimony that big influencial countries in Africa are gladly hiding behind outspoken irrelevant leaders of near failed states, to avoid taking on their responsibilities.
In fact these leaders, who should spearhead the transformation, are incapable and at worst harbouring dictatorial intentions.
As in all events in Africa, in which the leaders rescind their responsibility through lack of action like in Burundi right now, there are others lurking around to fill the vacuum.
Dictator Nkrunziza’s presiding over a peaceful a Burundi is over. Whatever the outcome at the addis ababa meeting.