In the 1994 Gambian coup d'état, a group of soldiers led by 29-year-old Lieutenant Yahya Jammeh seized power in a bloodless coup d'état on the morning of 22 July, ousting Dawda Jawara, who had been President of The Gambia since it became a Republic in 1970.
Popular discontent with President Dawda Jawara (pictured 1979) contributed to the push for a coup.
Yahya Abdul-Aziz James Junkung Jammeh is a Gambian politician and former military officer, who served as President of the Gambia from 1996 to 2017, as well as Chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council from 1994 to 1996.
Jammeh in 2014
Jammeh electoral poster in 2005
Yahya Jammeh.
Yahya and Zeinab Jammeh with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in the White House, August 2014.