By: Nyima Sillah
Germany-based Gambian political commentator Abdoulie Sanyang has expressed disenchantment over the ‘’lack of effective inter-security agency collaboration” in The Gambia, saying robust inter-agency cooperation would avert security failings and reinforce national security.
Sanyang, who was a member of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), described the level of collaboration between the Gambia’s intelligence community as insignificant, adding that effective operational collaboration between the sister intelligence agencies would help them to cover more grounds as far as the maintenance of national security is concerned.
According to him, if the SIS, CID and the Military Intelligence coordinate their activities effectively, the Gambia’s security lapses would be significantly reduced.
Sanyang accused the Gambian authorities of not treating the Security Sector Reform (SSR) project with the seriousness that it deserves.
He explained that the return of democracy to The Gambia should encourage and embolden intelligence services to work in a mutually reinforcing manner, especially intelligence sharing, recalling how dictator Jammeh used the NIA as the population as a weapon of oppression.
‘’Democracy should prompt the security institutions to collaborate. They are not working together. Our institutions are collapsing. The security sector reform is still an issue,” Sanyang posited.
“Our sovereignty is at stake. The SIS and other intelligence services should be deployed at all major checkpoints and entrances to our communities. During Jammeh’s time, even departments have SIS attaches,” he added.
He argued that the continued presence of foreign forces in the country continues to anger the citizens.
“What is happening now [uptick in insecurity] is a clear manifestation for people to see how dysfunctional State institutions are. The Ministers are secure but the citizens are not secure,” he asserted.
Mr. Sanyang hinted that the current SIS boss OusmanSowe has nothing to do with such a reputable institution as the SIS as, according to him, Mr. Sowepresided over the NIA when it was used by former President Jammeh to bully, kill, maim and summarily imprison Gambians. He described as pathetic the appointment of Jammeh’s henchmen in public offices.
Meanwhile, he accused Jammeh of stoking tribalism within the security sector, arguing that the former President is responsible for the country’s current security predicament.
“The former President is responsible for the dysfunction in the security domain. He fanned division between the security forces and tribalism among the citizens, which is still causing a trust deficit in the security services,” he stated.