When Jammeh, came to power in July of 1994, he decided to disband the National Security Services (NSS) which doubted his citizenship. In order, to avoid Gambians challenging his citizenship, he hurriedly tampered with the constitution to suit his own selfish interest. He knew at the time that the old constitution, which he overthrew was not in his favor.
Emerging from a poor family back ground, Jammeh quickly amassed wealth in a span of eleven years. This author who visited Kanilai in the early days of the coup, discovered that most of the inhabitants of the village were of Casamance origin. One of the elders of the village told me that they have long been marginalized and neglected by the Jawara administration and that the coming of Yahya, will certainly put them on the Gambian map. Indeed!!! Kanilai is today Gambia’s second capital. Jammeh, had succeeded in making the former hamlet a first class city.
Most of the villagers at the time spoke Jolla and little French. When I asked about Jammeh’s parents and their origin, the village elder said the old man was gone. That he died. “His mother is alive, but the father is death.” said the village elder. He told me that most of the residents of kanilai including Jammeh’s father were from Casamance.
The old man became suspicious about my probing questions and asked me where I worked and what was my mission. I was bid frightened knowing what will visit me if he should contact Musa Jammeh of the State Guards, who was passing at the time. I down played the conversation and asked him to excuse me for a minute as somebody called me on my cellular phone.
I never showed up to see the old man. I proceeded to a neighboring village in Casamance, where I was told that most of the Kanilai villagers at some point settled in their village before migrating into The Gambia. They told me that Yahya’s dad was a local marabout who healed those who had fractured legs and hands. The Village head said he had a family in Kanilai and that Gambia was his second home.
During the early days of the coup, Jammeh never trusted his colleagues. He decided to secretly hire some MFDC rebels to serve as undercover operatives in The Gambia. These rebels were monitoring the movement of Council Members and those perceived to be a threat to National Security. Few people were aware of the presence of the MFDC max men in The Gambia. Ask MFDC'S Alexandara Gibba, he will tell you something about this. There are more revelations to come. Look out for part three…..