This challenging situation, he said, has left the department exceedingly engaged at a time when it needs to focus more on its reform agenda as envisaged in the National Development Plan (NDP).
“This has compelled the department to divert a greater chunk of its resources through the conduct of operations and capacity training to mitigate the menace of irregular migration,” he said during the opening of the GID’s retreat.
“However, the reform agenda of the department has led to the validation of the SP which conveys the department’s goals and creating the opportunity for the GID to secure much needed funds from the Swiss Federation through the EU to help review our obsolete legal and policy documents.”
The retreat was held at Bakau and attended by senior officials of the GID, senior officials of other security units, and officials from the Ministry of Interior. It was meant to assess GID’s on-going efforts, successes, challenge and progress made in the implementation of the GID Strategic Plan (2019-2024) and its indicators in the framework of the security sector reform.
The GID boss said: “Following the 2017 security sector assessment report, a series of recommendations were pronounced for the GID to hail and develop user friendly policies reflecting current realities in a bid to sanitise institutional odds.”
He added: “Going forward, the department committed massive resources and time to develop a five-year strategic plan on various interventions to ensure effective implementation of the general and specific recommendations highlighted in the 2017 SSR Assessment Report.”
DG Touray further stated: “This year’s retreat is one of the most important as it seeks to remind each and every one of us about our individual and collective efforts and compliance to the reform process, resulting in the drafting, reviewing and validation of several policy documents such as the vehicle management control policy, the policy on embassy attachment and postings, policy on handling smuggling of migrants among others.”
Hassan Tangara, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Interior, said: “I am honoured to be part of this important occasion in order to access the on-going efforts, success and challenges and progress made in the implementation of your strategic plan. As we gather here today to reflect on the achievements faced by the department, this year's retreat came at a time when it is much needed bearing in mind that the strategic plan for the department is on the verge of expiring. Therefore, the retreat will avail the department the opportunity to highlight the level of implementation of the strategic plan and come up with recommendations that would be useful to enhance the credibility and capacity of the GID.”
The ministry, he added, recognised the capacity of the GID in the reform process, saying: “The department is so committed to the reform agenda initiated by the government. Let us renew our commitment to the security reform process and to consolidate and sustain the reform agenda in line with the National Development Plan of the Gambia government.”
The GID Commissioner of Administration, Ebrima Mboob, underscored the significance of the retreat, saying: “When the new government came in power, one of their key priorities was to reform the security sector. Since then, the GID has been working tirelessly in working towards achieving that objective.”
