Gambia's President Jammeh says rejects outcome of Dec. 1 election
Source: Reuters
Gambia's President Yahya Jammeh said on Friday he rejects the outcome of last week's election that he lost to opposition leader Adama Barrow and called for fresh elections.
The announcement made on state television throws the future of the West African country into doubt after an unexpected election result that ended Jammeh's 22-year rule and was widely seen as a moment of democratic hope.
"After a thorough investigation, I have decided to reject the outcome of the recent election. I lament serious and unacceptable abnormalities which have reportedly transpired during the electoral process," Jammeh said.
"I recommend fresh and transparent elections which will be officiated by a god-fearing and independent electoral commission," he said.
<snip>
Read more: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN13Y2QO
= new reply since forum marked as read
Yahya Jammeh, president of The Gambia, has surprised his critics by accepting defeat after 22 years in power. Known for walking around with his trademark prayer beads and a stick, he was reputed to be one of the world's most eccentric and ruthless leaders. Born in May 1965, he came to power in 1994 as a 29-year-old army lieutenant in a country portrayed in tourist brochures as an idyllic holiday destination. He became a portly president who portrays himself as a devout Muslim with miraculous powers, such as the power to cure people of Aids and infertility. He also believes that homosexuality threatens human existence.
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.
Mr Jammeh won four multi-party elections before he was finally defeated. After his 2011 victory, in a sign that his credibility among African leaders had plummeted, the regional body, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), refused to endorse his victory, saying voters and the opposition had been "cowed by repression and intimidation". His decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth in 2013, which had been pushing for reforms in the tiny West African state, was a further sign of Mr Jammeh's growing isolation.
In an interview in 2011 with the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme, Mr Jammeh said he did not fear a fate similar to Libya's killed leader Muammar Gaddafi or Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak. "My fate is in the hands of almighty Allah," 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." Mr Jammeh said he was not bothered by the criticism of human rights groups. "I will not bow down before anybody, except the almighty Allah and if they don't like that they can go to hell," he said.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-24383225
Why should they have it any better than us? 
