Thirst for luxury. Car collection of ex-president of Gambia

Deposed Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has Africa’s largest collection of luxury cars and the continent’s largest VIP aircraft, while also being president of the smallest country on the African mainland. He broke these records when he was among the poorest countries in the world, with half of the population living on less than $2 a day. During his 22-year tenure, Jammeh embezzled tens of millions of dollars from state-owned businesses and even used the state pension fund to buy one of his private jets. From taking power in a coup in 1994 to being ousted in 2017, Jammeh spent most of his ill-gotten fortune on luxury cars, private jets and palaces.

Focus He translated a new article about the former President of The Gambia, Yahya Jammah.

Jammeh was born in Kanilai, a remote village near the Senegalese border. Deciding to transform it into a model village and home base, he built a presidential palace, residences for his family and his most ardent supporters, a luxury hotel, a mosque, a private zoo, and, for some reason, a wrestling arena. This huge complex was tightly guarded by an army equipped with T-54 tanks, BRDM-2 tanks and 23mm ZU-23 guns. The private army also accompanied the president on controversial country tours in one of seven Hummer H2 (SUT) limousines.

Important

Rather than gracefully stepping down after losing an election in 2017, Jammeh delayed his opponent’s victory for as long as possible, tried (and quite successfully) to drain the state treasury, and got as many cars out of the country as possible before he left. He was exiled to Equatorial Guinea. The deal to get Jammeh out of The Gambia was made only after new president Adama Barrow guaranteed Jammeh to keep 13 of his favorite cars and take them back to Equatorial Guinea! The reason for Jammeh’s electoral defeat was his belief that an easy victory was guaranteed to him – so he did not make the necessary effort to falsify it.

It is not known whether Jammeh continued his work as a healer for HIV/AIDS, asthma and infertility patients after he went to Equatorial Guinea. One of his few positive achievements was the paved roads he built throughout The Gambia to make it easier for him to travel from one palace to another.. When authorities searched for Jammeh’s assets across the country in 2017, they found a fleet of more than 100 vehicles owned by Jammeh for personal use or protection. His name was engraved on all the cars: His Highness Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr. Yahya Abdul-Aziz Awal Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Din Babili Mansa.

Jamma owned cars were mainly imported from USA, Germany and UK. Jammeh clearly had a weakness for the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Rolls-Royce Phantom, but he didn’t like any car more than the Hummer H2 (SUT) limousine. He bought a total of seven Hummer H2 limousines over several years. Two of them joined a convoy of more than a hundred cars during Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s visit in 2008, and Gaddafi ironically entered this embodiment of Americanism. Jammeh also owned two Great Wall Hover Pi limousines he bought after his country started supporting China instead of Taiwan.

Jammeh never bought real sports cars as they were generally unusable in The Gambia. To make up for this, Jammeh purchased a Su-25 attack aircraft that entertained spectators during parades in Georgia. (After the dismissal of the pilot, the plane was abandoned). Jammeh was known for his indecisive behavior and making questionable decisions. After losing the election to Barrow, Jammeh went so far as to call him live on state television to congratulate him on his victory and announce his election as “God’s will”. Just a few days later, Jammeh appeared on state television again, this time to announce that “the election results were completely rejected and therefore the election was completely cancelled”.

As fate would have it, Jammeh accepted a peaceful transfer of power, but only after he emptied the state treasury and assured him he could hold 13 cars. A C-130H-30 government aircraft from Chad is believed to have delivered at least three of them, although it has not been confirmed whether these were actually lifted. After Jammeh left, the new Gambian government put up for sale 30 cars and all of their planes, hoping to raise at least $10 million. It is difficult to sell even the most modern cars in such a desolate place (as evidenced by Papua New Guinea’s attempt to sell 40 Maseratis for almost zero in 2018), and it is unknown whether they were actually sold.

Yahya Jammeh—the man who once said he could “rule for a billion years” and would never step down “unless God decides otherwise”—accepted exile in exchange for keeping thirteen of his favorite luxury cars. A more infamous end could not be imagined for a reign that was in itself an unprecedented disgrace, and the only good thing was that Jammeh’s penchant for luxury could save the people of Gambia from a possible bloody civil war. Leaving behind the frenzy that marked his reign, they can now seek to create a system that values ​​the welfare of the people rather than the excesses of monarchs.

In the list below, we tried to collect all of Yahya Jammeh’s cars at the time he was overturned in 2017. Only their personal vehicles are included in this list, not those used by the large security force that monitors their every move or journey. If you add them to the list, the number of luxury cars used by Jammeh and its environs would easily exceed 150.

Gambia President’s luxury cars (at least 44)

• 5 Hummer H2 limousines
• 2 Hummer H2 SUT limousines
• 2 SUV Hummer H2
• 1 Cadillac Escalade ESV limousine
• 2 Cadillac Escalade ESV
• 3 Lincoln Town Car limousines
• 2 Great Wall Hover Pi limousines
• 1 SUV Infiniti QX56
• 1 SUV Lexus LX 570
• 1 Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W211)
• 1 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W126)
• 1 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W220)
• 2 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W221)
• 2 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W222)
• 1 SUV Mercedes-Benz G-Class
• 2 BMW 5 Series (E60)
• 1 BMW 7 Series (G12)
• 1 BMW X6 (F16)
• 7 Rolls-Royce Ghost Sedans
• 2 Bentley Mulsanne Saloons
• 1 Range Rover (L322)
• 1 Range Rover (L405)
• 1 Range Rover Evoque
• 1 Mini Cooper Convertible
• Dozens of Toyota Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrol and Cadillac Escalade ESV SUVs for protection

Motorcycles (3)

• 1 Harley-Davidson MT500
• 2 unknown motorcycles

Airplane (8)

• 2 VIP aircraft Il-62M
• 2 Boeing 727 VIP aircraft
• 1 Bombardier Challenger 601 VIP aircraft
• 2 AT-602 corn
• 1 Su-25 attack aircraft (purchased to entertain the crowd during the Jammeh parades).