Gambian MPs have voted to send peacekeeping troops to Sierra Leone as part of an ECOWAS stabilization mission aimed at maintaining peace following recent tensions and a failed coup attempt.
The vote, held on Tuesday, overwhelmingly supported the government’s proposal to contribute a motorized infantry unit to the mission, which will be fully funded by ECOWAS, including troop allowances.
The need for peacekeeping arises from ongoing instability in Sierra Leone, particularly after an attempted coup nearly a year ago, which was linked to former president Ernest Bai Koroma.
Koroma, charged with treason, has been in exile in Nigeria for health reasons. ECOWAS is working to prevent a recurrence of the devastating civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002.
Although Gambia has a small military, it has a history of contributing to regional peacekeeping efforts, notably during the Liberian civil war in the 1990s.
ECOWAS already oversees peacekeeping missions in both The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.
