(JollofNews)- Beneath the glittering festivity dotted by match pass of security forces, school children and civil societies which submerged Gambians into a euphoric trance of reassuring peace, tranquillity, contentment and hopefulness laid three deaths and dozens wounded as a result of gross security negligence and police ineptitude at the stadium.
Albeit most of the media houses remained mute on this disturbing reality, dependable reports emanating from Banjul confirmed the three deaths and dozens wounded gracing Gambia @52 nationhood celebration. Observers at the two in one celebration noted with dismay the gross abdication of duty by the Police Commissioner of Operation resulting in the dead of three and dozens wounded.
Most of the gates were manned by three paramilitary officers to control and manage over thousands of people vying to enter the stadium. As a result of inadequate presence of security personnel to control and manage the crowd, a stampede ensued. Diplomats, distinguished guests, women and children were uncouthly ruffled in the process. As a former security officer who partook in several parades, crowd control and management, I was shocked with the news of such a gross security lapse.
A contingent plan must have been drawn by the Commissioner of Operation to curb any contingency of an unprecedented crowd turn out. Standby and backup platoons must have been readied to support units deployed to control and manage the crowd at the stadium. President Barrow has pulled extraordinary crowds in the past and will continue to do so in many more occasions. So for the Commissioner of Operation to fail to provide adequate security personnel to manage and control the crowd during Gambia @52 two in one celebration is a gross neglect of duty and ineptitude.
Your laudable strives to overhaul the security services particularly the police will not succeed if they are continually thwarted by the security services in the spirit of sabotage and abdication of duty.
During my time with the police, on such occasions, the Commissioner of Operation will request a number of officers and other ranks from Immigration Department, Prison and Fires services to form platoons with the paras to be deployed on road-lining to direct and manage traffic low and the rest deployed at the venue to control and manage the crowd.
Dishearteningly, the celebration was marred by measured security lapse such that it was impossible to control the press around the President. At one point, he was almost engulfed by the press leaving his safety at the mercy of chance. The SIS has also failed in letting a pocket of demonstrators slip into the stadium and manifest in the presence of all the delegates and diplomats present at stadium. Even though it is their constitutional rights to dissent but there should be a time and place for it. Besides, one of those demonstrators could have cause bodily harm to the person of the president or any of the state guests. The space of change is slow and painful.
Many Gambians and friends of the Gambia believe most of the security chiefs and senior officers are still loyal to Jammeh. As such, they will always undermine the efforts and security of your government. One diaspora Gambian who travelled to witness the celebration revealed, “The only notable change is the executive and the cabinet. Other than that, everything remains unchanged”. Until thorough review and changes are made on the security services, the country will continue to sit on fragile stability. As a result, I request your office to speedily investigate the abdication of duty by the police service during Gambia @52 celebration.
While counting on your response to my request, I remain in the service of The Gambia.
Your faithful,
Sulayman Jeng
Mr. Sulayman Jeng is a professional police officer and I would accept his analysis of the poor crowd control – if it had been first hand information.
But the statement that “sabotage and abdication of duty … security chiefs and senior officers are still loyal to Jammeh … will always undermine the efforts and security of your government” seems without tangible evidence.
We all know what a bastard Jammeh was and it can be said fairly that the first night MOST SECURITY CHIEFS slept peacefully in their beds was the night Yahya Jammeh ran away. Before that, the security chiefs were MORE at risk of death and imprisonment than other Gambian citizens. So I don’t see why they would want to “sabotage” because of “loyalty to Jammeh”. JAMMEH WAS LOYAL TO NO-ONE and NO-ONE WAS LOYAL TO JAMMEH – they just FEARED the bastard.
The professional elite who robbed the banks, the treasury and businesses are much more likely to “sabotage” the new government – just let us see how far the Finance Minister will get with his investigations.
Sulayman, sabotage? I think you are giving too much credit to the commissioner of operations and other security chiefs. I do not think they are trying to sabotage the new government, they are just simply incompetent at their jobs nothing else. They have been reduced to circus monkeys in the past 22yrs so they have no clue what real policing is about. All their plans are based on “Insha Allah” nothing will happen. Now that something has happened they will say it was Allah’s will and that there’s nothing they could have done to prevent it. Anyone who wants to challenge them to reflect on what had happened so that lessons can be learnt will be label as a heretic and that will be the end of discussion. Anticipating potential problems and planning to prevent or reduce their impact is not very Gambian. We don’t like planning in advance, we leave everything to Allah and expect Him to solve all our problems. We blame Allah for all our failings and failures. So I won’t be surprised if we see a repeat of such abysmal policing. I must add that it was not only the police who were at fault but also the organising committee , they should take some of the blame.
Ok, I will go along with the Allah explanation Buba. Inshallah!
Buba, Buba, Buba: Summer down with the name calling and labelling of your Cohorts. Let’s analyse the situation dispassionately. Halake is more on point on this matter of the Independence/Inauguration ceremony and the reported near riot and mayhem that led to the deaths of at least three innocent fellow Gambians and other injured. What went wrong and down hill at the Independence Inauguration ceremony or as I call it, the “Do Over” Swearing in ceremony? Most of what is known is from Second hand information due to the Secretive nature of Barrow, Mai Fatty and Ousainou Darbo regime. When a government or organization fails to communicate with the people that Voted it into Power and the Press is Co-Opted to Surpress or Keep Silent, every one, every Gambian should be highly Concerned and Worried. At some point, Adama Barrow Mai Fatty and Ousainou Darbo regime would have to take responsibility for their regines’ inability to get the most mundane things “Right”. Everything cannot be laid under the “Jammeh” or the so-called “Jammeh loyalist” instead of taking the responsibility to take into account what Adama Barrow, Mai Fatty and Ousainou Darbo and most of their Supporters already sing and dance about, the generalized believe that only Non former Jammeh loyalist or employees can be considered loyal. The rational and logical question is, why out them in charge? The simple fact is, the Derelict of duty and the responsibility of what happened at the Independence/Inauguration ceremony lies squarely on the Interior Ministry and Mai Fatty. His Extremist Views and Kneejerk thought process could not permit or allow him to think “in the interest of the Country and Gambians”. Instead, he thinks in terms of Mai Fatty and the Narrow ethnic interest path. He deployed only those he thought were loyal to Mai Fatty and to the ethnic interest group he sees himself as the Custodian. Unfortunately for Mai Fatty, the people he deployed did not perform to the expected professional levels befitting a High profile event such as this event. As usual, he came out failing the grade. His Extremist Views and Kneejerk thought process could have cost more lives and even placed the Gambia in jeopardy if any of the Presidents, Ambassadors and Dignitaries were harmed or may Allah/God forbid killed. Former President Yaya Jammeh has gone and is thousands of miles away from the Gambia. Besides, Paranoia and the irrational continued name calling and Demonization of the Supporters of former President Yaya Jammeh, who genuinely are interested in supporting the new regime, if the regime would embrace all Gambians and Not just those it seems more Comfortable embracing, the Gambia would Heal and Unite much more Sooner than is the Case at present. You make Peace with your Perceived “enemies” not your “friends”. Arresting and Beating up women and children whose only Crime is Wearing APRC Supporters Colors, and got into a back and forth shouting and insulting fracas with Pro-government Militants, may Divert attention from the Sad and Provincial Amateurish Planing and Execution of the Independence/Inauguration ceremony that ended up Costing lives and limbs. However, such a Staged incident with the pre-planned result of Arresting APRC Supporters, may Divert people’s attention from the Clamity of at the Independenc or Inauguration Ceremony, but it would only add to Suspicion and Distrust of the Current regime as being for a Certain segment of the Gambian Society and Not all Gambians. “Leaders are not born”, I always say, they are Nutured and molded through time and lessons learned”. It seems that the New regime cannot execute, perform or carry-out a task without managing to Mess the Whole thing up. That may in time be mitigated. However, the Fear and irrational beliefs and practices associated with Jammeh and the So-called Jammeh loyalist and Ghosts needs to be laid to rest. There is too much work to be done and too little time to do it. The Gambians can’t afford to wait for Decades to reap the Peace and freedom Dividend. Enough with the Demonization, Lies, and Cheap Photo Ups for the Cameras and the Press with One Conspiracy or another about former President Yaya Jammeh or the Supporters of APRC. For the Press, my Caveat is, allowing yourself to be Co-Opted and rendered the Mouth piece of the regime would not only Compromise your Journalistic Code of ethics but would also Undermine your authority and integrity. Your Silence would render you powerless and more significantly Unreliable and become a Part of the Problem Corrupt and Corruptive System. Hope Not. In my World view, The Press is Moses’s Firewall between the Israelites and the Chariots of the Pharaohs. If the Press is Silenced, the Civilized Society would be left with and a the Mercy of the Barbarians. That will not do. Gambia is more than the Sum total of One Individual, One Ethnic group or Region. One Gambia, One People, One Destiny.
Internal security should ideally be handled by those with training and experience in the field. Gambia Police is not trained nor are they competent to manage such responsibility. For years they were relegated to harassment of the harmless civilians. The Barrow administration appointed a lawyer without basic security operational expertise, whose only interest is running for President in 3 years as Interior Minister. He has wasted the last few weeks campaigning instead of finding ways to understand the inner workings of the department of interior. Such gross negligence is unacceptable. Blame should land squarely at the feet of Mai Fatty. I am concerned and disappointed about the missed opportunity to do what Gambians expect from the present government. I know there is time for remedy, but this guys are acting like they are brain dead or they are not students of history. The same arrogance and incompetence that gave us Yahya is starting to raise its ugly head in blind ambition of Coalition members. Gambians do not deserve that!
…and these fatal incidents were not on news headlines of 18feb?
Sidi, if you believe in your own twisted fabricated stories that’s good for you. Am not wasting my time and energy on you. I have better things to do. I will debate with people who can make intellectual arguments not with hate mongers.