Kanilai is a village in southern

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

, near the border with

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

. The former

president of The Gambia The president of the Republic of The Gambia is the head of state and head of government of the Gambia. The president leads the executive branch of the government of the Gambia and is the commander-in-chief of the Gambia Armed Forces. The post w ...

Yahya Jammeh Yahya Abdul-Aziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh (born 25 May 1965) is a Gambian politician and former military officer who was the leader of The Gambia from 1994 to 2017, firstly as chairman of the Armed Forces Provisional Ruling Council (AFPRC) from 199 ...

, was born in this village and expanded it after coming to power. Previously, the town had been a quiet backwater, home to small-scale maize and groundnut farmers and little else. It is now home to a presidential palace, a wrestling arena, a luxury hotel and a

game park Game Park was a South Korean company that was founded in 1996 and went bankrupt in March 2007. It is responsible for creating the GP32 and the never-released XGP. GamePark Holdings was founded by former employees of Game Park in 2005. Foundati ...

and zoo. The zoo, which Jammeh said would allow Gambians to "experience African wildlife", was unsuccessful at first, with animals dying due to hunting, predation and insufficient food. On 19 January 2017, Senegalese troops took control of the village from pro-Jammeh Gambian Army and

Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (french: Mouvement des forces démocratiques de Casamance; MFDC) is the main separatist movement in the Casamance region of Senegal, founded in 1982. It was supported by Guinea-Bissau President Jo ...

(MFDC) troops at the beginning of the

Invasion of the Gambia The ECOWAS military intervention in the Gambia or the ECOWAS Mission in The Gambia ( abbreviated ECOMIG) – code-named Operation Restore Democracy – is an ongoing military intervention in The Gambia by several member states of the Economic C ...

External links

Sindola LodgeGambia News

References

Populated places in the Gambia West Coast Division (The Gambia) {{Gambia-geo-stub