By Mustapha Jarju
The former Gambian diplomat Bamba Mass has criticised the Barrow-led government over the coming of additional soldiers of ECOMIG in the country.
“We don’t know the reason why these soldiers are coming, but six hundred ECOMIG soldiers, should come to The Gambia in which two hundred soldiers should come from Senegal, one hundred and fifty to come from Ghana, one hundred and fifty from Nigeria this is the mandate of ECOMIG which the Gambians agreed for them to be in the country,” he said.
“The government should be under the voice of the people and is the people who supposed to run the government, the relationship between The Gambia and Senegal is joyous, Senegal is the Gambia`s elder the bilateral and the multilateral relation of these two neighbouring countries is very strong,
“The Gambia don’t have best friend in the world more than Senegal, The Gambia is a country of its own that’s why we are not a province in Senegal. Anything that is coming in to The Gambia, the citizens should be aware of the reason this is very important. And I am speaking to the National Assembly Members who are responsible of the country’s law and the president, who is responsible with the running of the law,” he added.
He urged Gambians to respect the security in the uniform as they are doing their work which they are task for, adding “I want to say this and I want the whole Gambia to quote me, said Bamba Mass that “there shouldn’t be any soldier to enter The Gambia when there is no war in The Gambia while the Gambians are not informed.”
“It seems to me like president Barrow don’t have trust in the Gambian soldiers”, he said, ECOWAS stabilization force, (ECOMIG), came in to the Gambia on the 22nd January 2017 to make sure they remove former president Jammeh from power after his defeat in the presidential election, after which the mission continues to stay in the country by helping to maintain the peace and stabilization of the country. In September 2020, president Adama Barrow went to Niger to attend the ECOWAS summit, and the president made a pledge from the member countries to extend the mandate of the ECOMIG forces in the country, on consideration of the country`s efforts to restore democracy, which was agreed by the ECOWAS member states which led to the continuous existence of west African force in the Gambia up to this moment, “he disclosed.
