One
key sector that needed immediate reform at the advent of the New Gambia in 2017
under the leadership of President Adama Barrow was the security sector. This is
because security is a key element in the country’s democratic transition. And
being one of the most affected institutions by Jammeh’s 22 years of
authoritarian brutality, despite its significance in the democratization
process, it is quite commendable that the Security Sector Reform (SSR) project
was launched. Following the launching was appointments of a National Security
Adviser, a deputy National Security Adviser and a Director at the Office of the
National Security Adviser. However, aside some sporadic developments here and
there since the launch, which included the drafting of a policy document, there
has been less visible and concrete reforms in this sector.
To
begin with the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), it has virtually been dormant since
the coming of the ECOMIG forces in 2017 to stabilize the political climate in
wake of an impasse. And since there have been appointments, dismissals here and
reinstatements and promotions there. In fact, two weeks ago, President Adama
Barrow effected a minor but significant reshuffle, in which he removed the
former Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Lt. Gen. Masanneh N. Kinteh and replaced
him with his (Kinteh’s) former deputy, Major General Yakuba A. Drammeh. The
former Army Commander Brigadier General Mamat O. Cham has also been appointed
as Deputy CDS. Masanneh Kinteh is now appointed as Ambassador to China.
What
the army actually needs, go beyond mere appointments and replacements at the
command echelon. As part of the reforms process, that institution needs serious
capacity building. This should go along with some institutional re-arrangements
and this must include the regularisation of some of the appointments and
positions or ranking. For example, the GAF Act of 1985, and the 1997
Constitution do not mention the nomenclature of the deputy CDS; instead, the
1997 Constitution stated that the most senior officer under the Office of the
CDS is the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Chapter XIII of the 1997
Constitution of The Republic of The Gambia clearly states under Section 186
Part 1 that there shall be the Armed Forces of The Gambia which shall consist
of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and such other services for which
provision is made by an Act of the National Assembly. Under this provision, the
Chief of Staff is a senior principal staff officer under the Office of the CDS.
And that is what is referred to as Deputy CDS. This nomenclature was introduced
during the Jammeh era after the 2006 abortive coup.
It
is only sensible that government do away with Jammeh’s style of operation.
Hence, Brig. General Mamat O. Cham’s designation should be Chief of Staff of
the Armed Forces, instead of being referred to a Deputy CDS, as the terminology
‘deputy CDS’ is a position that does not exist in the 1997 Constitution. It is
necessary to adopt what is stated in our reference materials.
Another
important move towards the reform process in the armed forces, is to appoint an
Army Commander and a Commander of the Gambia National Guard (GNG). There is not
yet an official appointment of a new Army Commander to fill Brig. General
Cham’s previous designation and there is no one officially appointed as
Commander of the Gambia National Guard, also referred to as Republican National
Guard.
Most
of the officers of the Gambia Armed Forces were promoted during former
President Jammeh’s regime without getting the necessary training and
background. Many other officers were promoted to various officer ranks without
any criteria, negating the Terms and Conditions of Service for soldiers and
officers. The Terms and Conditions of Services clearly state the requirements
to be fulfilled before being promoted to any officer rank.
For
example, Saul Badjie who was a Staff Sergeant in 2007, got promoted to Major in
2008. And from that time onwards, he gained promotion almost every few months,
until he became a Major General. This was wrong and Saul Badjie was unfit to be
an officer at the time because he had no education, no military courses and
except a junior officer course he did in Libya.
However,
in a professional army, NCOs cannot be promoted beyond a Major in the Officer
Core. They (NCOs) are promoted under a Quarter-Master Commissioning, which is
basically to aid and handle logistic support positions.
Although,
it is important to understand that in the military setup, any rank beyond a
Colonel and the appointments of the Service Chiefs and Chief of Intelligence,
have political inclination and are at the prerogative of the Commander-In-Chief
of the armed forces. Therefore, the former president Jammeh could have used his
prerogative promote to any rank, those who were with the rank of a Colonel, but
not junior officers being promoted directly without any background.
Accordingly, during the Jammeh era, officers
like Major General Saul Badjie, Brigadier General Umpa Mendy, Brigadier General
Ansumana Tamba, etc; were seen to handle command positions which are only
supposed to be manned by Regular Combat Commissioned Officers or in some cases,
direct short service commissioned officers.
As
a matter of fact, the two most senior officers in the army currently, being the
newly appointed CDS, Major General Yakuba A. Drammeh and Lt. General (Retired)
Masanneh N. Kinteh, the immediate -past CDS, were both commissioned in 1990 and
1994 respectively. Lt. Gen. Masanneh N. Kinteh was commissioned on 9th December
1994. He became a 2nd Lieutenant on 9th December 1994, whilst Yakuba A. Drammeh
was commissioned on 1st September 1990 and he became a 2nd Lieutenant on 29th
March 1991. This shows that all the other senior officers of the armed forces
were commissioned after 1994 and that this was during Jammeh’s regime when the
army had lost its glory.
The
immediate-past CDS Lt. Gen. Masanneh N. Kinteh was quoted last Tuesday, during
the handing over ceremony held at the Armed Forces Headquarters in Banjul as
saying he had worked hard to transform the Gambia Armed Forces to a “highly
transformed, motivated, non-political and non-tribally inclined army, that is
fully equipped and prepared to execute the constitutional roles and contribute
to national development.”
Despite
these achievements as mentioned, Lt. Gen. Kinteh, should have also revoked the
last promotion of all the soldiers and officers who were promoted during the
political impasse after the election when Jammeh refused to step down. Kinteh should have referred them back to
their original ranks. This is because that promotion was basically meant to buy
the officers’ loyalty, but it was not done in line with the principles and guidelines
of the service; hence Jammeh had already lost the election and rejected the
results, thereby refusing to step down. He did that on purpose to have the
backing of the army to remain in power.
It
would be recalled that former president Jammeh, on 8th December 2016, decorated
27 senior officers from the rank of Captain to Major; 14 senior officers from
the rank of Major to Lt. Col, and eight (8) senior officers from the rank of
Lt. Col to Colonel.
This
promotion was followed by another decoration of junior officers held at the
Joint Officers’ Mess in Kotu.
Downsizing
the army
During
the First Republic under the late Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara, The Gambia’s
Defence Policy was to have a small but well-equipped, highly trained and
motivated army, although motivation was lacking somehow.
However,
this purpose was defeated during the Jammeh era, when there was an ongoing mass
recruitment for the armed and security forces, in order to establish a police
state, thus promoting and appointing without any regards to respective
administrative guidelines and principles.
Regarding
claims of having certain non-Gambians in the armed forces, this issue should be
verified and sorted out immediately. Non-Gambians should not serve in the army
unless they become citizens by registration and naturalization.
Therefore,
downsizing the army might be necessary, but it should depend on our existing
threats and existence.
Creation
of an Aviation Wing
As
part of the SSR, the Gambia Armed Forces should think of creating an Aviation
Wing, that will be equipped with helicopter gunships or platforms, to handle
search and rescue missions, medical evacuation when necessary, rapid response
and counter-insurgency operations, etc. This will help to boost our army to
another level.
Finally,
as the dust has now settled since the country’s political impasse in 2017, it
is high time The Gambia Government stopped requesting the extension of the
mandate of the ECOMIG forces, and develop the trust and confidence in its own
armed and security forces, to fully handle their constitutional roles. No
country can claim to have full sovereignty when their security is controlled by
foreign forces. As a result of the perpetual presence of ECOMIG forces, Gambia
has lost a high degree of credibility as an independent state.
Thus,
it is not in our interest that foreign security apparatus are made in charge of
our internal security matters. What the priorities, as far as the SSR is
concerned, are building the capacities of the soldiers and officers, increase
further training, re-organize the army, ensure that officers meet up to their
respective ranks and positions or be redeployed to other services.
Note:
The author, Assan Sallah is a Gambian journalist living in Germany. He was news
editor and security affairs reporter at the Daily Observer.
