The Gambia became a nation independent from the colonial rule of the British Empire in 1965 and adopted a constitution. The constitution was suspended by a military "coup d'état" in 1994. A revised constitution that came into effect in January 1997 then marked an official return to civilian control of the government, although the leader of the "coup", Yahya Jammeh, remained in power as President for another 20 years and exercised strong "de facto" personal control over the country.