The president of the republic of The Gambia, Dr. Alhagi Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh, has reiterated his total opposition to the efforts of some African leaders to form a continental government, describing it as a joke and an insult to Africa.

Speaking in a television interview over the weekend, President Jammeh said that there could only be a union government when one is independent.

“How many countries in Africa are really independent today? We cannot have a United States of Africa when people cannot move from one country to the other,” he asserted, adding the policies of those calling for the integration are all anti-African.

According to President Jammeh, Africa’s problem is not about creating a union government but to bring about unity and solve the common problems that constitute a real fix for every African. The problems, he went on, are poverty, disease and violence.

The Gambian leader noted that there could not be a union government when some members of the African Union are members of the Arab League, a situation which, he opined, might lead to problems when a union government is put in place.

“Why don’t we put up our resources together to create a fund where we will be free from the IMF and the World Bank so that we have an African Monetary Fund where all African countries can benefit,” Jammeh queried.

Africa, President Jammeh added, needs real unity where the problem of one country becomes the problem of all others. “Somebody wants to be an emperor for Africa but one thing is very clear. Gambia will not be colonized twice,” he noted.

He was however quick to add that such a government could never be brought about by the heads but that it has to be engineered by the people at the grassroots level.

He noted that this is only possible if the people know each other, relate and interact freely as Africans.

Turning to the West, President Jammeh said instead of putting an end to Africa’s wars, the G8 saw a golden opportunity to fuel wars in Africa by saying that African leaders must judge each other. “In their peer review mechanism in the West, are there the same violations of human rights?” he queried.

The Gambian leader concluded by charging that Africans and Asians are being killed on a daily basis and no investigation is carried out just because they are black or brown and not Europeans.