By Binta Jaiteh
The Gambia’s security sector reform program has seen a tour to three nations that are said to have gone through ‘grave social and political upheaval’ despite transforming from dictatorship to democracy.
In an inter-ministerial weekly press conference, the nation’s security adviser, retired army colonel, Momodou Badjie said “study tours on the experience of Ghana, Sierra Leone and Kosovo were conducted for better comparative understanding of the real-life dynamics of SSR.”
“Like The Gambia, these are countries that went through grave social and political upheavals at various times of their historical evolution and witnessed significant transformation from totalitarian dictatorship to fledgling democracy,” he added.
He said the national defence and internal security reform strategies are being prepared for adoption. According to him, this includes the security vetting act that is drafted and training workshop on vetting is in progress.
“This process has its main target, the passing of the vetting act by the national assembly, enactment of the office of national security, operationalisation of the vetting agency and the development of a counterterrorism strategy,” Mr Badjie explained.
However, the security sector reform program face much criticism among Gambians – who say they are not seeing much commitment of the government in fast-tracking the process since the establishment of the program in 2017.
