(JollofNews) – The newly appointed head of the Gambian Armed Forces has pledged to enhance civil military relationship and work towards boosting the morals of men and women in uniform.
Lieutenant General Masanneh Kinteh, Chief of Defence Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces said the new government has got some reforms, restructuring and transformational plans for the armed forces and they think he will be crucial in ensuring those things are carried out.
Until the confirmation of his appointment as the army boss on Sunday, Kinteh was initially named President Adama Barrow’s military aide.
A retired Lieutenant General who had served as army chief from 2009 to 2012, Kinteh was also the former Gambian Chief of Mission in Havana, Cuba.
“I will spare no effort of myself and time to be able to get those reform done.
“My immediate priority is to bring back the confidence in the troops, lift their morals and bring back the civil-military relations that has eroding over the period as a result of the political impasse. I want to make sure that we get over that hurdle,” General Kinteh said.
Good governance , Smells like ethnic cleaning , there will not be any high rank jola in the new Gambia !!!
Well all high tankers have been jolts for the past 22 years and most of them never had any qualifications and some were not even born in Gambia. It’s high time Gambian took their own country back .
Stop this tribal nonsense. The only leader in the history of the Gambia to blatantly use the tribal card is Yaya Jammeh. The reason why Badjie was removed is simple, he flip flopped all over the damn place during the impasse, on 2nd Dec he was seen celebrating with the crowd, when Jammeh changed his mind, he told Reuters that his loyalty lies with Jammeh because he pays his wages. He was incompetent and stupid, Gambian tax payers paid his wages not Jammeh. Ethnic cleansing means “systematic force removal of ethnic groups from a given territory” which is not what happened in this case. Gambians are one big family, we all have different tribes in us so please stop trying to divide us into tribes just like what Jammeh tried to do which contributed to his demise, Gambian saw through him so rejected him and good riddance.
Ansu Badjie, Janjan1 both of you have hit the nail on the head but be careful otherwise you will be label as a Jola traitor or a Mandinka tribalist by some APRC idiots.
My advice to CDS. General, tradition dictates that armies remain at our country’s border weak points to defend the nation. Remove your soldiers from all city barracks and deploy them to Posts near the border. They may not enter the city unless with permission to conduct business or visit family. Soldiers must not wear uniforms outside the barracks unless on official duty.
Based on our geography and essential need, GAF should be reduced to no more than one brigade. That translates to One Maj Gen, one Brig Gen, two Col and three Lt Col etc. Establish a professional metric to determine who remains in the GAF, to include physical fitness, psychological health, scores in Gambia army exams and scores in established best practices army examination like US or GB and make it transparent by publishing results to all stakeholders. Facilitate transition of professional soldiers into other security organizations since they are already trained, to reduce cost and maintain moral. Establish a professional military police. Discourage politics in Army posts. Review Army pay and benefits and ensure that it is appropriate inline with regional standards. Establish Army training and doctrine institution for continued military education and training.
Finally dismantle all legacy of Yahya’s military, it’s continued presence can only undermine, contaminate and destroy any program you put in place.
God Bless The Gambia
Dr Isatou Sarr, you may need to keep to your doctoring what ever field that is.
Gambia does not even have one brigade, Gambia has two infantry battalions and one guards battalion. A brigade, is a composition of 5 or more battalions.
Gambia does NOT need a brigade, we need a single battalion for national defense and the rest of the security could be handled by the police.
Stick to what you know, bye.
Our unity, peace, security, and justice is the foundation of our lasting development, and the reinforcement of our democracy. We should do our best to defeat CORRUPTION, without which we are bound to fail.
Although i never him, but I like the guy. I think CDS Badgie is a nice guy who was in the middle of a difficult and very polluted political development in The Gambia. I think president Barrow was smart in the decision to let him take a foreign position.
I meant to say I never met the guy.
Saja I stand corrected. I meant battalion. But my brother or sister why are you insulting me like that. Be careful I might get you arrested by police
Saja you could’ve easily rectify Dr Sarr’s error without being rude about her academic achievement. What ever her doctorate is in, it has broaden her understanding on geopolitical issues. Your suggestion is not much different to what she suggested apart from you trying to shout her down. I have no reason to doubt what you said about Gambia having only 3 battalions. However with the number of Generals we have in our arm forces one should be forgiven to think that we have Brigades.
Gambians we have long way to go,may God bless my brother ousman badjie
Gambians I have problems with barrow, he is dismissing all the jolas from there possible and living the mandinkas enables in there possible,gambias this is not fear but no one is talking about it
Dr, ideally agreed in all what you mention and a big thanks for the suggestion concerning the arm forces, but why should soldiers be sent away only on borders?yes they should sent but not all and remember there are divisions of labour in the army, those responsible for borders are there and those responsible for the nation guards are there let us try to understands this, the republican national guards are not responsible for borders but for the Gaf who are responsible, this soldiers are our brothers and sisters, and I also apreciate the considerations of qualifications in the army , and please it was a big problem for the army to set up the airforce that they already have the persons who went and study but where never given the go ahead and the support, and the material for them to recur outer pathetic airforce , please let them out in to considerations.
Fansaine, can you please name the “Mandinka enablers” that Barrow has left in their posts? CDS has been redeployed and from his interview I saw he appears genuinely happy because it is a promotion for him. Can we all try and stop presenting our personal opinions as facts or mixing the two. Yankuba Badjie is half Mandinka half Jola and he was arrested with people from other tribes, the other senior military officers relieved of their posts are all from different tribes and David Colley’s case is well documented. Badly baba, the main reason Jammeh dropped the air force idea is because Gambian air force cannot fly in any direction for more than 10mins without crossing into Senegal’s air space. If Jammeh didn’t pursue it why should barrow? Can the Gambia afford an expensive air force in this economic climate?
buba sanyang the enables I mean is yankuba sonko , landing sanyang, babucarr sanyang ect and ousman is maybe not happy the way you think and yankuba badjie is a jola and anyway i have said my opinion als you do too so what is your problem
we are all humanbeings and we have different minds
I suggested border posts because this is where they are needed. The core responsibility of national army is external deterrent. The threat from within is typically the responsibility of police and other security agencies. Historically African armies have been used as a tool to control civilian populations and perpetuate dictators and other bad actors in power. Our case is unusual because of our unique geographic location. We are completely surrounded by a sister nation who shares our interest in peace and maintaining law and order. Frankly as we have said time and time again in this medium, maintaining GAF is more sentimental than strategic. It does not make sense economically. There are those that will disagree and I accept that, but even if we decide to keep the army for national pride, let’s be realistic and understand they are ceremonial. We cannot allow the army to be used against our civilians again, therefore they need to stay outside city limits. I sense that Mr Fatty is a pragmatist and when the dust settles he will significantly reduce our military, change where and how they are deployed and posted and redefine their responsibility. We should expect a better equipped and trained police, customs and prison officers.
Finally no one is targeting any tribe. Gambia is a small country. It is not unusual to see one of us with DNA from all the major tribes. We inter marry often, some believe there is no pure Jolla or Mandinka or Fula anymore. I for one agree and I don’t have to look outside of my own family to accept this. You cannot ethnic cleanse The Gambia, without hurting yourself. Ask Yahya Jammeh. That was one of his downfall. Every person so far that was fired or arrested deserves it. They should be given all rights and protection required by our constitution as Gambians, but you know and they know they are criminals.
Dr. Sarr, I concur with you on this. If you remember when the British left we had the field force for years. Six formers where the commanders and sergeant majors. It works out fine. Wonder when our people will learn to live within their means. If you can’t afford an army don’t buy one. Just found out that our army was useless, dancing in front of an invading army to defend our constitution.
Well put Dr Sarr
Fansaine, I have no problem with you voicing your opinion but you should not present it as a fact. That is misleading. The names that you mentioned above could be Mandinka or Jola names so make it specific please. Tell us where they work then we will know if your statement can be substantiated. We have to stop making accusations without evidence to back it up with. As for Ousman Badjie, I have no reason to doubt his sincerity when he said he is happy to move on.
Buba sanyang lets move on als how i say, we have different thinking and opinions gambian is for all of us , my comments will not mislead anypeople because this is my opinion so the way you understand it is you thinking and you can not change opinion
too. please let move forward