The event was held at the Sir Dawda Jawara Conference Centre, Bijilo.
The director general of The Gambia Immigration Department, Seedy M. Touray, and Inspector General of Police Aboulie Sanyang were both recognised as West Africa’s security heroes during the Golden Star Awards in West Africa for 2021-2022.
About 50 security personnel, agencies and organisations from across the subregion were honoured for their exemplary performance in the security sector.
In the 17th edition of the SWAI annual conference and award with the theme, ‘Post-Covid-19: Sustaining security in Africa’, the committee had an exclusive deliberation and put forward a communique for addressing security challenges on the African continent.
Among the issues addressed were the need for intelligence sharing and synergy amongst sub-regional bodies on the continent as well as a periodic assembly to assess the Africa Security Environment.
There is the need for a unified enabling framework, a comprehensive all-encompassing strategy as well as a strengthened judicial system to address security challenges across Africa, said retired Brigadier General Sani Kuka Sheka Usman, a board member of trustees, SWAI.
He continued that there is a need for regular meetings of the security councils and commissions of sub-regional bodies such as ECOWAS amongst others.
The retired brigadier general continued that African countries need to collaborate more and look inwards for solutions to address African security challenges.
The former chief of defence staff of the Republic of Ghana, General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah who doubles as the chairman of the board of Trustees, Security Watch Africa Initiatives, in his opening remarks, congratulated the awardees for their outstanding efforts in serving their regions more so West Africa in peacekeeping.
About SWAI
The Security Watch Africa (SWAI) was established in 1997 with the primary objectives to monitor, collect, analyze and broadcast security issues on the African continent amongst others for public awareness as well as policy making.
In 2004, SWAI was initiated and inaugurated to recognise, appreciate, encourage and celebrate individuals, governments, agencies, brands, and companies who have excelled in security administration, practice and governance in Africa. It has remained a truly credible and glamorous international event.
