By Maria lopes
“We want a Gambia Armed Forces for all Gambians and not just some. We must learn from the mistakes of the past and remove all vestiges of factionalism, regionalism or other forms of patronage. This is a Gambia for all and not just a few. It must not matter whether you are a Mandinka, Fula, Wolof, Jola or Sarahulay, said Gambia’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubacarr Tambadou.
He made the statement at the security sector reform steering committee launching of the national security policy at kairaba hotel on Monday, saying that the exercise is not all about reducing the size or number of our security personnel.
He added: “That is perhaps at the bottom of our priority list and when it occurs, we want to assure everyone that it will be done with the requisite care, fairness, sensitivity and professionalism, and that no one will be targeted on account of their ethnicity, tribe, religion or region.”
He pointed out that, NSP fixation is not on the size but on the quality, noting that the armed forces that we want will be moulded in the best of military traditions with ranks that are reflective of a professional army and proportionate to the size that we need as a country.
“So we must get this process right and very quickly as well, because if we do not succeed in our security sector reform process, we risk undermining everything else that we have built and are still building over the past two years. Most, if not all, will not count for much if we do not succeed in this endeavour.
The Security Sector Reform process is therefore perhaps the most important of all reform processes in the country and we must devote the resources, both human and material, necessary to achieve our objectives. It holds the key to not only peace, but sustainable peace in our country,” Tambadou pointed out.
He further said the National Security Policy is the overarching policy framework for a comprehensive national security reform process that aims to maintain, safeguard and defend the National Core Values which will ensure the safety, security, and prosperity of The Gambia as an independent, peaceful, safe and stable country.
He stressed that it is the foundation of all other security policies, strategies and plans from which all the national security services shall derive their doctrines, adding that these include the security sector reform strategy, the national defence strategy, the national police and law enforcement strategy, etc.
According to him, the launching of the National Security Policy yesterday also provides an opportunity to reflect on the past and for teasing out lessons for the future.
“Indeed, the 1st of December 2016 created a unique window of opportunity that must be seized to transform our country into a modern democratic State.
Too many things, sometimes good and sometimes bad, have occurred in our country over the past two decades and The Gambia Armed Forces, for one reason or another, found itself at the center of those events,” he pointed out.
He also the Gambia Armed Forces are the country armed forces, the peoples’ armed forces, they are not enemies of the people.
“Yes there have been failings in the past when some of them did not to live up to our expectations and we cannot deny this obvious fact. Naturally, this has created mistrust between the armed forces and the people that it seeks to protect and serve. Indeed, this has been acknowledged on several occasions,” he said.
Tambadou said the reality is that every society, every community, every organisation, professional or otherwise, has bad elements and so this is not unique to our armed forces.
He noted that the fact remains that an absolute majority of the members of our armed forces are hard-working, honest, and dedicated professional men and women who on a daily basis put their lives at risk so that the rest of us and our families can live in a peaceful, safe and secure environment.
“It is because of them that we can go to sleep at night with our families not having to worry about our safety or the safety of our loved ones, and we must show gratitude to them for this. They deserve our respect,” he noted.
