(JollofNews) – The head of Gambia’s Armed Forces has revealed plans to reform and restructure the military into a professional one that will play its constitutional and pivotal role in national development.
Lt. General Masanneh Kinteh said the new army will be non-tribally inclined and free from partisan politics.
“I always believe that is possible because if we pay attentions to the needs of institutions as part of the reform process I think we should be to correct all those wrongs of the past,” Kinteh who appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in February by the country’s new president, Adama Barrow, said in an interview with the state owned GRTS television.
“We have been given a lot of opportunity again as a country and a security institution to be able to design policies and programmes that is going to transform the armed forces and bring it to the same level to other armed forces in the sub-region.
“I believe training is very critical in developing our man power and resource base. We want to make sure that men and women know what are their roles and functions and how to do their job better and smarter. Other areas that we are looking at is how do we enhance the capacity of the armed forces in ensuring that we can play a big role in terms of international peace keeping missions.
“Another area is to ensure that the living condition of the ordinary soldier is improve, the pay and allowances of the soldier are improved and how do we ensure that they have good shelter in their barracks and adequate logistic support to be able to undertake their operational and administrative activities such as transportations, communications etc.”
The former ambassador to Cuba added: “You cannot imagine the Gambia as a sovereign nation in the world without a standing military even if our role only stops at securing our border from the southern part so that the rebellion that is in that part of the region does not cross over to the country even if our roles stops at only that I think is something that is worth pursuing.”
During the 22 year rule of former President Jammeh, the Gambian army was used to strengthen his grip on power and in the arrest, torture and extra judicial killings of government opponents and critics.
But Kinteh who previously served as Chief of the Defence Staff in the Jammeh regime from October 2009 to July 2012, defended his role in the Jammeh regime saying: “I have no regrets working with the past government because I was working for the interest of the Gambian people.
“I was working in an institution where I think I have the requisite knowledge and skills to be able to make a change and during my time as the Chief of the Defence Staff, I was able to initiate programmes that were able to put the Gambia Armed Forces back on track. Example, such as the reforms that we had conducted in ensuring that the Armed Forces understand its role as to an institution that it supposed to be subservient to the civil authority and at the same time a key player in national development.
“It was during that time that we were able to construct projects like the Mayork secondary and the Faraba project so those were days that the Armed Forces was very much into national development and we had undertaken a lot of developmental activities within the country and even outside while we serving peace keeping around the world.”
Some things never change; They just get painted a different colour.
The Gambia does not need a military:
http://thegambiaecho.com/gambia-should-abolish-its-wasteful-military/
The Gambia has a mass of military within its borders coloured in camouflage . Unfortunately, they take orders from Foreign governments whose colours are many. No one trusts the NIA now painted in SIS colours. No one trusts the GAF, they have schizophrenia that is a confused colour, and no one trusts anonymous donors, who prefer to remain opaque.
GAF is a club full of thugs in uniform, consuming precious resources that can be better used in other places. Some still hold on to the old thinking that we need an army. For what? Ok I won’t waste my time. Just let go the sanctimonious nonsense about reform and restructure. It makes no sense except as a wasteful nationalist emotional narrative. The Gambia security is linked to her strong economy.
God Bless The Gambia
The GAF remained fiercely loyal to Jammeh right upto the very last minute. Indeed they were also playing a strange kind of reward politics. I would have thought any army has first allegiance to the flag and to the people. Why put all those burdens on one man. But of course the American President has the power to destroy the earth. Jammeh could only kill his own. Trump can kill us all.
For those who like to make comparisons.
I would have though no army is many times better than an army that can’t be trusted.
I remember vividly my day into army killing, when I shat my pants on April 10th 2000. But of course I could bath and change in my luxury hotel. Many others didn’t return home for there last supper. I say fuk the army they are not worth the expense.
The GAF became what it is today due to the policies of the Jammeh regime, but that situation can be changed, through reform, restructuring and retraining, with a view to returning them to their conventional role, as established by the law.
The story of Lance corporal Buba Sadio, son of long time Cassamance separatist leader, Salif Sadio (as reported by Kaironews), is indicative of the challenge the GAF’S composition poses to the new dispensation.
I think that, notwithstanding all the problems with the GAF, we still need the institution, as a nation state. We will be naive to think that Senegal will guarantee our security for nothing. No country will take that responsibility for us for nothing.
Gambia does not have
Money
Minerals
Oil
Gold
Diamond, Nothing!
We have liabilities
What will any invader want on our soil and who will the invader be. Our family in Senegal or the buggyman from the sea. We are sorrounded by Senegal. Can we think outside of the box . Who said every republic needs an army. You design security based on creative and sound need analysis not emotion. I know we love our country and we are too proud to admit the obvious, we rather bury our head in the sand. In order to progress like Japan and other great ” republic ” let’s learn from those who can see, hear and think!
We are surrounded by Senegal, so are you suggesting that we should rely entirely on them for the defence of our national borders till the end of time…. because I can’t see how we are going to settle all our liabilities any time soon.
Jawara said we can’t till dooms day and it was only a third of what it is today.
Our geography is unique. We are a poor country with very long, porous borders that frankly is not defendable. We do not have the man power nor resources to do it. If we recruit every able bodied man and woman in the nation, we still don’t have the numbers, we can agree we don’t have the funds. I am simply suggesting a pragmatic approach. Fact, if Senegal chooses to overrun Gambia, let’s just say and agree that nothing can stop them. No other nation will invade, unless they invade Senegal first. So what are the choices. 1. Make peace with Senegal 2. Conserve our resources by not spending it recklessly on an entity ( GAF ) that will yield a negative return on investment 3. Strengthen our economy, that, with a professional police force will maintain internal security.
We may choose to be recalcitrant and maintain a GAF whose legacy of failure we already know, I can assure you there is no redemption, you cannot reform the GAF. I do understand the emotional investment we have in this issue, truth is we are in dare situation and must swallow our national pride and make very difficult decisions. Yes Bax, our survival is entirely based on Senegal good will. Nothing wrong with that we are one and the same.
God Bless The Gambia
Dr Isatou Sarr..
You make a lot of sense from an economic point of view (I suspect you’re an economists) and I can only agree with you, if viewed from that perspective. However, maintaining a state is much more than the economic decisions we make. There are the political decisions too, and I would argue that the political decisions are far more important than the economic ones.
Why, one may ask? Because the political decisions, more often than not, determine conditions of a state. A good example is Libya: economically, the richest country in the continent, where living standards were either on the same level or even higher than some advanced countries. Today, it is a failed state because of the political decisions (not the economic ones) its leadership made.
I agree that we do need good relations with Senegal to enhance our security, but a strategy of complete reliance on its goodwill for our national security, will have very serious implications for our existence as an independent, sovereign state….(and that’s not about nationalistic egos and emotions.)
Moreover, not only can the problems of the GAF be solved, it can also generate resources, if the political decision makers have what it takes to organise and manage national resources. A special Police Force, no matter how well trained, is simply incapable of guaranteeing our territorial integrity and National Defence needs, because the Police have a completely different role to the Army.
Perhaps China will donate Gambia an army ? Or maybe Israel or Turkey or even Iran. Meanwhile it’s no contest>>> the Ecowas forces have proven they can shoot to kill those who can’t shoot back.
Mike…Gaddafi relied on the goodwill of the West and abandoned his WMD projects. He paid dearly for it.
There will be a lot of noise in the Korean penensular, but Kim Jung Un will likely remain standing, because he has a deterrence.
The potential aggressors know that he has the capability to inflict very serious damage to them, their allies and interests, throughout the region.
A state cannot and never rely on the goodwill of others for its security.
Yes just like the British army in their destruction of Iraq, massacring the civilian population of Basra. Yes just like the British army in their shoot to kill policy in Northern Ireland. Amnesia and myopia are a common disease of the British. Hypocrisy, divide and rule are tools they perfected well and applied around the world to prolong the sufferings of the masses. If an Englishman control the gates of heaven, i wonder if a negro or brown people will ever get inside.
Mike Scales! please know that we Africans now wants to control our own destinies, something denied to us for far too long. An Englishman is in no position to morally condemned what ecowas forces did in the Gambia……………. Remind yourself of your bloody history of intrigue, betrayal, destruction, murder, day time robbery of what belonged to others. Please shove your condescending piece through any of your suitable holes.
Well said Natty!!!! Mike is a hypocrite. He has no good wish for the Gambia. He is only interested in promoting mediocrity in the Gambia because that will mean we will forever remain backward. This is why he always agrees with the likes of Babu Soli and Rambling Sidi. Mike should have been born during the colonial days because he could have been sent to Africa as a District Commissioner. Although am not sure if his breeding would have qualified him for that privileged position at that time.
“Let’s agree that Senegal can over run the country, if it chooses to”, you indicate. Yes, you’re absolutely right, but that’s only because of failures of our political decision makers since independence, to create an effective and efficient Armed Forces.
We can change that situation by building a GAF that will be perceived by potential aggressors as capable of inflicting serious damage to them and their interests, and thus, serve as a deterrence.
You don’t need a billion man strong force to achieve that. You only need a well trained, well motivated, well maintained and well equipped forces, with the right tools, to achieve this.
We don’t lack the resources to achieve this. What we lack is the leadership that is able to organise and manage our existing resources to generate revenue.
Unfortunately, many in leadership positions or aspiring to be leaders throughout the continent are nothing but copyists and imitators, wasting resources and valuable time for decades now….and hence, the main reason for the state of the continent today, despite its enormous riches.
Dr Sarr and Bax, you are both putting forward brilliant arguments for and against maintaining the GAF. Dr Sarr, whilst I completely understand the angle you are coming from, I agree with Bax that national security is too important to decide on economic cost only. The Gambia Navy used to generate a lot of revenue for the Government prior to 1994 coup, from intercepting foreign vessels fishing illegally in Gambian waters. With proper leadership and political will, a percentage of such revenues can be used to reform and modernize the GAF. With the right skills GAF can be used for low cost but time sensitive civil construction works like building roads to some villages, school works and rural water works. On the security front, the Gambia should strengthen our relationship with Senegal but we must not surrender out national security to Senegal because the last time we relied heavily on Senegal for our security it didn’t end well. Dr Sarr Senegal was entirely responsible for the security of President Jawara during the confederation but when the political leadership fell out Senegal withdrew Her security personnel from the Gambia within hours leaving the country and the Presidency exposed to external threat and guess what Dr Sarr it was the Gambia Armed Forces that immediately mobilized to fill the gap. So the GAF is what it is today mainly because of Jammeh’s policies. One could argue that Jawara’s failure to build the National Army to a professional standard was a catalyst for the 1994 coup. Furthermore, if the reports are true that the MFDC leader’s son was recruited into the Gambia Army then there is a possibility that there have been a lot of others like him. Without a national army, MFDC can change their base from Cassamance to the Gambia beyond the reach of the Senegalese Army. We may not be able to entirely secure all our borders but if the Army’s work is complimented by the work of the police, they can provide sufficient security and stability for the citizenry.
I would suggest that the minimum person specification for all security services be set high for all new recruits. These new standards should be well publicized so that the civilian population can have more confidence in the professionalism of the services. Serving personnel should be required to meet the new standards if they wish to continue serving when their current contracts come to an end. Those who meet the new standards can have their contracts renewed and those who fail to meet the new standards given their final marching orders.
Bax, A white man came to my fathers compound and erected a wall smack in the middle of our house. My brothers and sisters on one side and I on the other. We started fighting each other and soon we forgot we belong to the same father and mother. One day an elder in our village told us to take down the white man’s wall because we are siblings and should live together in peace.
The Gambia political reality is embedded in that analogy. Africans need to start a process of understanding our own history and determing our own future. We need to remove the vestige of colonial manipulation and mental slavery.
God Bless The Gambia
Beautiful analogy that has aptly captured, not only The Gambian political reality, but that of the whole of Africa. I entirely agree with the need to emancipate ourselves from this endless cycle of control, manipulation, dependence and exploitation, but the irony Dr Sarr, is that the very country you want us to entrust our national security to (Senegal), is a key player in that group of Francophone countries who are central in the scheme to maintain that standing “wall in the middle of our house”, to continually divide and weaken us, for easy control, manipulation and exploitation.
The Francophone countries, with the exception of the late Ahmed Saikou Touray’s Guinea, has thwarted every effort of our founding fathers to create a united Africa, since independence, and they continue to play the same vicious game today. That wall will hardly fall, as long as the mind set of these “assimilated mini Frenchmen” inhabiting Africa remain unchanged.
Bourne,
There are countries without armies: Andorra, Liechtenstein, Solomon Island, Grenada, Samoa…….
The need for an armed force depends on the objectives of constituting a standing armed forces. If they can be deployed to till our arable fertile lands for more agricultural production, fine. Better than get them sitting at the barracks to wait for turmoil in or outside the Gambia or to pray for the continuation of war in Sudan in order to anoint their points with Sudanese blood money.
Babu, these countries may not have standing armies, but they either have Formal/Informal Agreements with other countries (usually former colonial powers) which may themselves, be members of regional military blocks, for their defence needs or rely on Regional Security Systems.
Andorra, for example, depends on both France and Spain for its guaranteed defence needs, whilst Grenada relies on the Regional Security System of the Eastern Caribbean, which is guaranteed by the USA, under what was initially called, the PPS (Partnership for Prosperity and Security in the Caribbean), under the Clinton Administration. I think it is called the CBSI (Caribbean Basin Security Initiative) today. The point is, they have their security needs guaranteed even without a standing army.
You are spot on about the need to engage the military in productive ventures, rather than let them waste in the barracks or idle around town, but that is a political decision our leaders have to make.
I believe in this time & age, with realistic analyses of the security challenges & threats on the ground & cyber space our country needs it’s own security apparatus alongside regional & international cooperations as necessitated by the current times & events…
Terrorism affiliate groups are known & established in the our region & other parts of the world; we too need to continue our regional & worldly security contribution & cooperations just like our recent ecomig intervention to flush the evil kanilai devil chaired by Liberia ma’am sirleaf-johnson, coordinatedly chaired by president Buhari, in replica ecomog intervention in Liberia some time back chaired by D K Jawara of Gambia before…
Mfdc syndola is real & the threat still kicking & raring, kanilai killer devil ranaway with trained mercenaries who have local & regional connections; then there’s disasters &/ plagues, natural & man-made, etc (God forbid…Insha Allah);surely all above need & require the active standing service personnel with required training & facilities & equipment to deal with…
Then engineering, construction, medicine, research, technology amongst the other domains already mentioned by other commentators among all…
What the current Gambia Gambia army requires is orientation & reorganisation to conform as required & promulgated by the constitution being revised…