President
Adama Barrow, together with CDS General Masanneh Kinteh, bade farewell to
ECOMIG General François Ndiaye at a closed-door meeting held yesterday at the
Kairaba Beach Hotel.
General
François Ndiaye was accompanied by the Chief of Defence Staff General Masanneh
Kinteh.
Speaking
to journalists after the closed-door meeting, CDS General Masanneh Kinteh said:
“We paid a courtesy call on President Barrow, as well as to bid farewell to
General François Ndiaye who has been in the country since in the beginning of
the mission in January.
And
now it is time for him to leave, and he has handed the team to the Chief of
Operations, who will continue from where the General left off.”
The
CDS added that General François Ndiaye had a very good discussion with
President Barrow concerning the security situation within the country and
sub-region, and at the same time the state of the mission, ECOMIG, which the
General outlined from the beginning to his handing over to the Government of
President Barrow.
“The
ECOMIG Team has really delivered the mandate they are here for, and they are
making sure that the population live in peace and ensure that all the
conditions are there for normal business to go on and ensure a free and safe
environment for all.”
Speaking
to journalists, General François said: “Everything is under control and all
people are going about their businesses without hindrance.”
He
further clarified the ECOMIG mandate in The Gambia, saying: “The team was given
a mandate and the mission was decided and planned in the ECOWAS headquarters in
Abuja. And the provision of the mandate
stated clearly that we have to wait and know that the population of The Gambia
is safe.”
He
added: “ECOMIG will still continue to stabilize the country and to see to it
that the people of The Gambia are well secured, and are in good hands before
they finally bid farewell to the people.”
Since
their arrival in The Gambia, he noted, they had been doing “tremendously well
in the protection of the people”, as they continue to uphold their mandate in
the country.
