The Gambia government has found itself in a rather awkward situation on Monday when a top Gambian diplomat Alkali Conteh launched into a fiery broadside against the Gambia’s number one diplomat Dr. Mamadou Tangara, accusing him of retreating from the etiquettes of diplomacy.
Dr. Tangara recently made an appearance at the government town hall dubbed Mansakunda, where he highlighted some of the challenges that the foreign ministry encounters vis-a-vis political operatives deployed to the Gambia’s diplomatic missions across the world.
The Gambia’s minister of information Dr. Ismaila Ceesay told Coffee Time With Peter Gomez breakfast show on Tuesday that what had happened between Alkali Conteh and Dr. Mamadou Tangara was undesirable.
He said The Gambia government will deal with the situation only he did not elaborate.
Asked by host Peter Gomez as whether the government will deal with the situation by dismissing Dr. Tangara or Alkali Conteh, Dr. Ceesay responded: “That’s not my decision. What I can assure the public is that the government is aware and the government has taken note and it’s an unfortunate situation and government will take appropriate action as usual.”
“Does the government in this case mean the president?” further asked Mr. Gomez. “Yes. the buck stops with the president. Obviously, he will take appropriate action. We will deal with it internally,”responded Dr. Ceesay.
According to the Gambia’s information minister, the divergence of perspective is nutritious for democracy.
“It’s not unprecedented for there to be disagreements. Disagreements are healthy in a democracy,” he pointed out.
He, however, expressed unhappiness about the washing of the government’s dirty linens in the public.
“It should not happen in the open but it has happened and it has happened and it shows there is democracy,” he stated, adding,”[The] government will deal with it in an appropriate manner. I am not sure whether action will be taken or not. It is not a desirable situation and [the] government will deal with it in an appropriate manner.”
He later clarified that an action may not be necessarily taken but that the situation will be dealt with in an “appropriate manner”.
