One of the challenges that confronted the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF) shortly after the departure of former President Yahya Jammeh in 2017 was the issue of bloated ranks.
Like the late “Field Marshall” Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, Jammeh had been capriciouslyelevating himself and some members of our military. These whimsical promotions were later found to be not only problematic to the army as regards regimentation and morale but also drained tax-payers, economically and financially, bearing in mind that every promotion had to go with some economic and financial incentives.
There is no denying that credit must be given where it’s due. There is also no gainsaying thatpeople must be rewarded for excelling in their professions. What is contestable though is theburdening of taxpayers with the financial and economic costs of unnecessary promotions.
Consequently, the Police High Command, PMOand PSC should be advised to endeavour harder to cut the cost of policing as the force wrestleswith the enervating resource constraints to keep our communities safe.
The Police High Command should be advised that effective service delivery and job satisfaction do not hinge only on promotion.
Needless to say, government agencies and departments should learn to be austere with taxpayers’ money by avoiding unnecessary financial and economic commitments that can sweep the population further down the poverty line.
Apparently, our concern about the recent mass promotion of police officers revolves around the economic and financial cost of the move.