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The titles and appellations that precede the name of the president of The Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, are a "whole poem to rehearse," renowned Ghanaian pastor, Dr Mensa Otabil, has said.

The leader of The Gambia is officially known as "His Excellency Sheikh Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Abdul-Aziz Awal Jemus Junkung Jammeh Naasiru Deen Babili Mansa".

He is Commander-In-Chief of The Armed Forces and Chief Custodian of the Sacred Constitution of The Gambia.

The Gambia's long-serving President had the title of "Babili Mansa" added to his string of titles in June last year. The Mandika-language phrase is loosely translated as "chief bridge builder" or "conqueror of rivers".

"It's a long poem to rehearse before you say his name," Dr Otabil said at the Accra headquarters of his International Central Gospel Church (ICGC) on Sunday June 26, as he introduced a preacher from that country, Pastor Francis Forbes, to the congregation as a guest preacher.

"I suppose if I said Mr Jammeh in The Gambia, I’ll be in big trouble because he has a long appellation before his name appears. I think His Excellency Professor Dr Sheikh Alhaji …Mansa …" the general overseer of the Ghanaian church said, adding Mr Jammeh's proclamation of The Gambia as an Islamic Republic sometime last year, has "created a lot of problems for the Christians there, and, so, keep Pastor Forbes in your prayers as he does the work of God and raises the witness of Christ in The Gambia. It's not easy to be in such an environment and still preach Jesus, but he is soldiering on and still preaching, God is blessing him, his church is growing, lives are being transformed, people are being converted and we thank God for His grace and for His mercy."

"…Africa has all sorts of leaders…" the respected Ghanaian motivational speaker said. Making reference to the UK's recent referendum to exit the European Union (EU), as an example to draw a contrast between the leadership cultures of the two continents, Dr Otabil said: "…You know, the British voted out of the EU and people are panicking, [but] here [Africa], we take things easy. We have all kinds of things happening [but] we just flow".

Mr Jammeh seized power in 1994 as a young army lieutenant and has won four widely-criticised multi-party elections since then. His iron-fisted government has also crushed several coup attempts. He told the BBC in 2011 that he would rule for "one billion years... if Allah says so". He has a bad image in the international community, as a ruthless dictator and autocrat, who has no tolerance for press freedom, human rights and criticism.

The 51-year-old leader, who claims to have a cure for AIDS, also imprisons alleged 'witches' and has threatened to cut off the heads of all homosexuals, because they are "anti-God and anti-human."