Your
Excellency and Dear Brother Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal,
Honourable
Ministers of The Gambia and Senegal present,
Executive
Secretary of the Senegalo-Gambian Permanent Secretariat,
Senior
Officials and members of the delegations of The Gambia and Senegal to this
Presidential Council Meeting,
Distinguished
Guests,
Ladies
and gentlemen,
At
the outset, and with your kind indulgence Your Excellency, I propose that we
observe a minute’s silence in recognition and in honour of the late Mr. Yahya
Jallow, former Deputy Executive Secretary of the Senegalo-Gambian Permanent
Secretariat who passed away recently after spending the latter part of his life
working to consolidate the ties between The Gambia and Senegal. May his soul
rest in perfect peace.
Allow
me to express sincere thanks and appreciation to Your Excellency for the
cordial welcome and hospitality accorded to me and my delegation and for the
excellent facilities put at our disposal for this Second Edition of the
Presidential Council Meeting. We feel at home among our brothers and sisters in
this beautiful city of Dakar.
I
express delight and satisfaction that Your Excellency and I are once again
co-chairing this session of the Presidential Council Meeting between The Gambia
and Senegal following the first session which was convened in Banjul in March
2018.
This
assembly provides the political leadership of the two countries with an avenue
to dialogue on key issues of common interest and take concrete decisions on
them for the mutual benefit and socio-economic development of our two peoples.
Through
this meeting, therefore, our two governments and indeed the two of us, have
committed ourselves to raise the bar of the bilateral cooperation between The
Gambia and Senegal to a strategic partnership and offer the latter as a model
for emulation in the sub region and a beacon of hope of integration at the
continental level.
Your
Excellency;
Honourable
Ministers;
Ladies
and gentlemen,
The
political situation in The Gambia remains calm. My Government has taken all
necessary engagements to ensure that participation of all political parties and
political groups within the country’s political space goes on unhindered in an
environment characterized by the tenets of democracy and good governance.
As
Your Excellency is quite aware, the Security Sector Reform in The Gambia is
ongoing. In fact, the process is at an advanced stage. The ECOMIG presence in
the country is a stabilizing factor, and the participation and support provided
by Senegal both in maintaining stability and building capacity within our
security services have gone a long way in assisting my Government and its
partners to gradually implement the Security Sector Reform.
I
hence seize this opportunity to express our sincere thanks and appreciation for
the support which Senegal continues to render both bilaterally to our security
sector and through ECOMIG.
Furthermore,
the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) and the Truth Reconciliation and
Reparations Commission (TRRC) continue with their engagements.
In
fact, the CRC has presented a Draft Constitution for review, after conducting
final consultations in-country. The TRRC has made much progress in fulfilling
its mandate, as it continues to hear testimonies. It is envisaged that a
National Referendum on the Draft Constitution will follow, and that the TRRC
will soon enter into the concluding phase of its work.
Your
Excellency;
Honourable
Ministers;
Ladies
and gentlemen,
During
the first session of the Presidential Council Meeting between The Gambia and
Senegal, recommendations were made on reinforcing our resolve to address
defense and security matters. Also, key actions were proposed to facilitate
trade and the free movement of persons, goods, and services.
Agreements
were also reached in other key sectors vital to the development of the two
countries.
Although
successes and appreciable levels of implementation have been registered since
the Presidential Council Meeting in Banjul, more needs to be done to enable
both countries to fully and successfully implement the programmes agreed
jointly.
Under
our economic cooperation, tourism and trade are two areas where the two
countries can make significant strides. Our tourism sectors have been
collaborating with the aim of building capacity and strengthening hospitality
institutions in both The Gambia and Senegal through the exchanges of good practices
and students. Destination sharing is also an area that we could venture into
for mutual benefit given our geographical proximity.
As
such, experts from both countries could undertake studies and propose areas of
agreement.
Potentially,
this could lead to establishing a single tourism destination market that is
adequately competitive against other destination markets in the sub-region and
beyond.
In
the area of trade, a key success story has been the inauguration and the
opening of the SeneGambia Bridge. The bridge enables free traffic flow between
the northern and southern parts of both The Gambia and Senegal. It enables farmers and traders to reap the
benefits accruing from the ease of movement and, to a larger extent,
facilitates increased sub-regional trade in pursuance of our ECOWAS integration
objectives.
I
am happy that, through constant engagements between senior officials and the
political leadership of the two countries, hindrances to smooth transport of
persons, goods and services between The Gambia and Senegal through border
closures are being successfully managed, as dialogue with unions on both sides
is yielding fruit accordingly.
Under
our security cooperation, an Agreement on Defense and Security between The
Gambia and Senegal was signed during my first official visit to Senegal in
March 2017 and, subsequently, the first Joint Military and Security Commission
meeting between the Republic of Senegal and the Republic of The Gambia was held
in Dakar on 11th and 12th September, 2018.
The
Meeting reviewed, adopted and signed the Draft Protocol on Operational
Arrangements. The Joint Military and
Security Commission recommended that a meeting be convened, by the end of
November 2018 in The Gambia, for the various operational commands and staff to
define the operational activities for the implementation of the Protocol.
The
efforts of both countries towards hosting this meeting should be stepped up and
supported to enable the Commission to define the operational activities to be
carried out.
In
the area of combating trafficking, I am delighted by the strides made through
the strong partnership between the drug law enforcement agencies of our two
countries. This has taken the form of joint operations, investigations and
investigative support. It amply manifests the commitment of the two agencies to
combating organized transnational crime.
I
am delighted to observe further that this Presidential Council Meeting provides
us the avenue to enhance our cooperation and explore new areas. Already, I have
been informed that important agreements, particularly in judicial matters and
in other key areas, will be signed in the course of this session. As such I
entreat all of us to endeavour to implement these agreements fully following
signature.
Your
Excellency;
Honourable
Ministers;
Ladies
and gentlemen,
I
will conclude by reiterating that the Republic of The Gambia and the Republic
of Senegal are tied by destiny.
We
may be two nations, but we are one people. Our development aspirations are
closely linked.
This
means that, as a people, and as political leaders of the two countries, our
endeavours should revolve around enhancing the advancement of our peoples and
fostering the economic development of the Senegambia region. This is a
responsibility that both governments should task themselves.
I
remain confident that with Your Excellency my dear brother, we can cement our
existence as two nations living in peace and prosperity.
Once
again, I thank you and your government for hosting us for this meeting.
Long
live Senegambia!
